Warriors put the clamps on Panthers in final minutes
Worland opens season with 14-7 win over Powell; travel to Cody next Friday for 7 p.m. matchup
September 1, 2018
WORLAND - The Worland/Powell rivalry never disappoints.
Friday night's season opener at Worland High School against the Powell Panthers saw the Warriors come out on top 14-7, in a matchup between the two 3A football rivals.
The Warriors were far from perfect in the win but when the game was at its most critical, they made the biggest plays.
"We had a lot of young kids stepping, and even some of the older guys were stepping, into new roles. So we had some of the first game jitters," said WHS football coach Ryan Utterback. "We were really hammering home that if you make a mistake you need to get back up and get back at it and rally past mistakes."
He added, "The kids showed that tonight, we had things not go our way but the kids rallied and made something happen. It was fun to see them rally – even though it's not good for my stress level – and keep pushing when things didn't go our way."
First game jitters got to both teams at the start but by the midway point of the second quarter, the two teams were finding their rhythms. The Warriors offense got it rolling first marching the ball into Panther territory thanks to big runs by junior Devon Mercado.
As promising as the drive looked the Warriors stalled out and were forced to attempt a field goal from the Powell nine yard line. The Panthers blocked the field goal and were able to scoop up the ball and bring it out to the Worland 39.
The Panthers brought the ball into Warrior territory but had no timeouts remaining and had to spike the ball on third down at the Worland 10. Powell's field goal, that would have been the game's first points, missed right and the two teams went into the half at 0-0.
Receiving the ball out of the break, Mercado showed again how dynamic of a playmaker he is by bringing the ball into Powell territory. The Warriors drive stalled but they were able to pin Powell deep in their own territory.
Mercado again showed up by picking off the Panthers on a third-and-long and bringing the ball to the Powell 14. Unfortunately, again the Warriors couldn't capitalize and turned the ball over on downs.
The Warriors next possession started at their 11 yard line, but this is where they turned in their best drive of the night. Picking up chunks of yardage on the ground and through the air Worland marched down the field. Just before the end of the third quarter sophomore Luke Goncalves powered his way through the heart of the Panther defense for a 20-yard gain to the Powell 22.
A few plays later sophomore quarterback Rudy Sanford muscled his way from 10 yards out for Worland's first touchdown of the season.
Up 7-0 the Worland defense had a hard time stopping the Powell offense and with 7:53 remaining in the game the Panthers tied the game at 7-all.
"We had a few exhales and you could tell when those were. That's when Powell would start driving and making things happen, then we buckled up. In the future, we'll have to reduce those as much as possible. We told them after the game, enjoy the win, they earned it, but we need to realize that there are things we need to work on. We weren't perfect, we made some mistakes and we have to keep getting better," said Utterback about his defense's lapse on the Panther scoring drive.
After trading possessions, the Warriors took over with 3:09 left at the Powell 47. A Sanford scramble brought the Warriors to the Powell 33. Then a pass interference on the Panthers brought Worland to the Powell 17. On the next play Sanford rolled out to his left and danger looked as if it were imminent, he found a wide open Mercado, who took the ball into the end zone untouched and gave the Warriors a 14-7 lead with 2:32 remaining.
"He [Mercado] was just sitting there with nobody around, just like I drew it up," joked Utterback.
Powell's next two drives ended in turnovers, the first was a fumble that defensive tackle Brody Hernandez recovered and the next was an interception by Sanford.
"The keys for us were the team aspect," said Utterback when talking about his team's scoring drives. "When we needed a play someone came up with one. Luke Goncalves got some big gains for us up the middle, then Luke Mortimer had a great catch and Devon Mercado would break one. The unsung heroes were the guys up front, we're probably giving up 50 pounds on the line but they're battling and battling. They did a great job of battling against guys way bigger than them."
The Warriors offensive and defensive lines will likely be undersized in every game this season but if they show the same fight they did against the larger Powell linemen, big things are in store for this team.
"Our big thing was to reflect back on when we told them if they play hard and keep coming and coming good things are going to happen. We made mistakes but they came back and that's why we won because we kept grinding," said Utterback.
The Warriors top three defensive point getters were Sanford with 18, Pudge Hofmann with 18 and Luke Mortimer with 14.
Next Friday Worland heads to Cody to face the defending champions at 7 p.m. at Cody High School. Last season the Warriors were a play away from beating them in Worland.
"We'll look at the film and see if we need to redo blocking schemes or get guys going the right way. The big thing is to look at the film and see what we need to fix and if there are any major issues, maybe we'll have to re-evaluate certain plays," said Utterback.