WORLAND - It has been a challenging start for the Worland Warriors football team. Starting the season against two of the 3A West best teams is part of those struggles, but the Warriors get one more shot at beating a 3A West team when they host the Green River Wolves Friday at 6 p.m.

Last week the Warriors traveled to Cody to take on the Broncs but lost 42-6, dropping them to 0-2 on the season.

"Cody is a great football team and program," said WHS football coach Patrick Sweeney. "I think the defense has shown they can play tough and play with anyone. If we had success, we had disciplined alignments, eyes, technique, stayed in coverage till the ball was out, and got eleven guys to the football. If we didn't have those things, we lacked success. We know what we have to do to be successful."

Senior quarterback Rudy Sanford connected with junior reciever Jorey Anderson for the Warriors lone score vs. Cody.

Offensively, the Warriors gained 40 yards on the ground and 140 through the air against the Broncs. Consistency is a goal for every team, and the Warriors are still working to attain that goal. And the hope is once the offensive line is healthy, that'll open up running lanes and create clean pockets.

"Offensively, we played a great D-line and a group of linebackers, and sustained more drives against Cody's defense than Powell's defense, so that was encouraging. We'll have to accept the things that are progressing right now and strive to improve the things that are not. Our offensive line and our coaches are working hard to get the run game opened up. We had a few kids sick last week, and still have an important guy banged up who plays on the line," said Sweeney. "We're excited to get healthy."

The Green River Wolves are 1-1, having lost to Lander in Week 1 28-7 and beat Buffalo 8-6 last week. The Wolves like to try and wear teams down with their run game, then as the defense creeps up, try to beat you over the top with some shot plays.

If Worland wants to get their first win of the season, it's all about containing Green River's run game, which should, in turn, limit their big-play ability.

"Green River plays really hard, they have great athletes up front and at the skill positions, and their run game is something we'll have to stop to be successful. They do like to stretch the field vertically, once they feel like they have you focused on the run, they'll dump one over the top. We, as a defense, can't have any explosive plays against us," said Sweeney. "I think the first focus is to continue to get better at what we do. If we could fix some of the silly things that get us into trouble, errors, turnovers, explosive plays, we'll see more good things."