BY MICHAEL DAVID

The Wood River Wolverines took to Phil Homer Field on Friday night against Minico with designs of  bringing home their first ever Great Basin Conference title.

They did just that, dominating the Minico Spartans 43-7. With the victory, the Wolverines also earned a bye in the first round of the 2016 State Championship.

The Spartans looked sharp at first as their defense forced Wood River to punt on its opening drive. The Spartan offense then proceeded to run at will against a seemingly bewildered Wolverine defense, driving 85 yards inside the Wood River red zone.

But abruptly the home team’s defensive unit dug in and thwarted the Spartan’s threat, stopping senior quarterback Chase Chandler short of the first down mark on fourth and three.

“We had to find something deep inside to stop their rushing attack” said senior linebacker Jeron Peavey. “We had to come together as a unit to get it done”.

Following that stop, the Wolverines drove the length of the field behind the arm of senior quarterback Cade Schott and the legs of Turner Maza and Travis Swanson. The drive culminated with a 35-yard scoring strike from Schott to senior Owen Gifford.

Wood River forced Minico into a three and out on their next possession, and the offense took advantage. A 48-yard pass play from Schott to Maza put the Wolverines deep in Minico territory, and Swanson took a Schott flare pass, shed two Spartan tacklers and vaulted into the end zone to put Wood River up 13-0.

Another three and out by Minico led to a short field, and Schott hit junior Ike Buxton on a 44-yard bomb  to put the Wolverines up 20-0.

The Wood River defensive unit got in on the scoring action when Peavey brought down a Spartan receiver in the end zone for a safety and 22-0 lead. Schott’s fourth touchdown pass--a two-yarder to Maza--completed the first half scoring, giving the Wolverines a 29-0 edge at the break.

Minico drove 80 yards on the opening drive of the third quarter and Chase  Chandler ran it in from two yards out to put the Spartans on the board. But the Wolverines answered right back with an 80-yard drive of their own, capped by a 5-yard touchdown run by Maza.

Wolverine’s head coach Kevin Stilling was overcome with joy following the victory.

“We were prepared for this game and we were looking for the victory, but to defeat Minico and to do it at our home in front of our fans…the feeling is incredible. I am so happy for these kids,” he said.

Stilling said he would take advantage of the bye week to scout the team’s next opponents and get some guys healed up. The Wolverines are now 8-1 on the season and 5-0 in conference play. Their one loss was a last-second loss to Kimberly.

Wood River 43, Minico 7

Minico                           0              0              7              0              7

Wood River                   0              29           14           0              43

Second quarter:

WR—Owen Gifford 35 pass from Cade Schott (PAT fail)  11:52

WR—Travis Swanson 15 pass from Cade Schott (Taylor Koth kick)  8:57

WR—Ike Buxton 44 pass from Cade Schott (Koth kick)  2:39

WR—WR defense safety 1:47

WR—Turner Maza 2 pass from Cade Schott (Koth kick) 0:29

Third quarter

M—Chase Chandler 2 run (Chancy Bott kick) 10:30

WR—Turner Maza 5 run (Koth kick) 5:37

WR—Turner Maza 9 run (Koth kick) 1:12