After losing their conference opener to Potosi/Cassville back on Sept. 4, coach Wade Winkers and his River Ridge football team responded with six consecutive victories to claim a share of this year’s Six Rivers conference title.

The Timberwolves put the wraps on the regular season last Friday night with a 26-12 victory over host Black Hawk/Warren, finishing with a conference record of 6-1 and improving to 8-1 overall.

The Timberwolves share this year’s title with Iowa-Grant and Potosi/Cassville, both of whom also went 6-1 in league play, as River Ridge beat Iowa-Grant, who beat Potosi/Cassville, who beat River Ridge.

For coach Winkers, it is his second conference title in his 18 seasons as head coach of the Timberwolves, having shared the title in 2021 with Black Hawk/Warren and Potosi/Cassville.

“I am super proud of our group and the way they have been hungry all year to accomplish this goal,” coach Winkers said. “Now we reset the goals and focus on Friday night and try to stack a few more wins.”

The Timberwolves now point their focus toward the WIAA playoffs, where they earned the program’s eighth straight postseason berth and the 11th overall for coach Winkers.

Needing a victory to secure their share of the conference title, coach Winkers’ squad responded on the road last Friday night, outscoring the host Warriors 13-6 in each of the two halves to claim a 26-12 victory.

“It was an amazing performance by our team to beat a really good Black Hawk/Warren team,” said coach Winkers. “We know every time we play those guys it’s going to be a physical battle and we answered the bell.”

While limiting the Warriors to 248 yards of total offense, the Timberwolves finished with 331 total yards, gaining 195 on the ground and 136 through the air.

River Ridge set the tone early in the opening quarter, scoring on their first offensive possession when senior quarterback Blake Reynolds connected with fellow senior Kameren Reynolds on a 22-yard TD pass.

The two would hook up again on a 39-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter, taking a 13-6 lead into the locker room at halftime.

After getting a stop on defense to start the second half, the Black Hawk/Warren offense put up their second score of the game, but again failed to convert on their two-point conversion attempt, making the score 13-12 with 6:34 to play in the third quarter.

River Ridge answered with an 11-yard touchdown run by junior Preston Gage and an extra-point kick by Luke Wehrle before the third quarter came to and end, and then went on to own the fourth quarter.

With an 11-yard touchdown run by senior Aaren Bedward, the Timberwolves extended their lead to 26-12 midway through the fourth quarter, and prevented the Warriors from adding to their total in the final 12 minutes.

“Our defensive performance was really impressive. We gave up two explosive pass plays on third and longs, but otherwise we held them in check all night,” said Winkers of his defense. “If you can hold Black Hawk/Warren to four yards a carry, which is half of their average, you are playing really good defense.”

Leading the River Ridge defense with 10 tackles, one for loss and one sack was junior Brogan Mezera, while Blake Reynolds had nine tackles, seven solo.

Offensively, the Timberwolves were led by Preston Gage and Kameren Reynolds, Gage rushing for a team-high 87 yards and one touchdown on eight carries, and Reynolds hauling in a team-high four receptions for 92 yards and two TDs.

Blake Reynolds accounted for 136 yards passing and two touchdowns on 8-of-12 attempts through the air, while also rushing for 57 yards on 10 attempts.

Bedward had two receptions for 37 yards and rushed three times for 19 yards, while Noah Copsey added 32 yards on nine rushing attempts.

The Timberwolves (8-1) enter their division 7 playoff bracket as the No. 2 seed, and will host No. 7 seed Elmwood/Plum City (3-6) in this Friday night’s level one contest.

The top seed in the bracket belongs to Cochrane-Fountain City (9-0), winners of the Dairyland Conference and the state’s No. 1 ranked team in the entire division 7 field.