No matter where they were last Friday night, fans, coaches and players of Six Rivers conference football undoubtedly were monitoring the action at Patch Grove between Iowa-Grant and River Ridge.
After all, the implications of the week-six match up had a significant impact on this season’s conference title, and who would take the upper hand with just three weeks remaining in the regular season.
On Homecoming night at River Ridge, the host Timberwolves left no doubt they were willing to fight to keep their conference title hopes alive, and did just that with a convincing 39-26 victory over the previously unbeaten Panthers.
Iowa-Grant, who came into last Friday night’s contest with league wins over perennial conference powers Black Hawk/Warren and Potosi/Cassville, knew a win over the Timberwolves would essentially sign, seal and deliver a conference title, as they close out the season with games against Boscobel (0-4), Riverdale (3-1) and Wauzeka-Steuben/Seneca (0-4).
River Ridge, who already had lost to Potosi/Cassville earlier in the season, knew a loss to Iowa-Grant would all but eliminate them from contention for a conference title.
With Friday night’s victory, the Timberwolves not only kept their conference title hopes alive, but also created a logjam at the top of the conference standings, which Potosi/Cassville, Black Hawk/Warren and Riverdale all welcome with open arms.
River Ridge, Iowa-Grant, Potosi/Cassville, Black Hawk/Warren and Riverdale all now sit at 3-1 in league play with three weeks of competition remaining to decide a champion.
Riverdale has the toughest remaining schedule of the five teams, still having to play Black Hawk/Warren, Iowa-Grant and Potosi/Cassville.
Coach Mark Siegert’s Chieftains will host Black Hawk/Warren on Oct. 9, before closing out the regular season at Riverdale, while the Timberwolves close out the regular season at Black Hawk/Warren, following games with Wauzeka-Steuben/Seneca and Pecatonica/Argyle.
A lot will be decided in the next three weeks, but one thing is for sure, the Timberwolves now control their own destiny, and have momentum on their side after a big win over the Panthers last Friday night.
“I am super proud of our group,” said River Ridge coach Wade Winkers. “We had one of the best weeks of practice that I can remember, and our team was locked into what we needed to accomplish this week.”
“We got ourselves back into the conference title race and now we just need to keep stacking wins,” Winkers added.
The Timberwolves kept stacking up touchdowns last Friday night against an Iowa-Grant defense that had no answer for River Ridge’s running attack.
The Timberwolves concluded the contest with 368 yards rushing and five touchdowns on 49 attempts for an average of 7.5 yards per attempt.
River Ridge’s offensive line of Emery Simerson (LT), Mason Mezera (LG), Tony Hernandez (C), Landon Udelhofen (RG) and Brogan Mezera (RT) opened up running lanes for fullback Noah Copsey and wingback Aaren Bedward all night long and earned the praise of their head coach afterwards.
“I think our offensive line really played well, opening some creases for our fullback, who ran extremely hard all night,” Winkers said.
Copsey, who gained most of his yards on trap plays that Iowa-Grant had no answer for, finished with 166 yards and one touchdown on a team-high 25 carries. His one score came from five-yards out late in the third quarter, capping off a 12-play scoring drive that covered 53 yards.
Bedward was close behind with 144 yards rushing and one touchdown on just nine carries, scoring from 58-yards out midway through the fourth quarter to cap off a four-play scoring drive that covered 73 yards.
Senior quarterback Blake Reynolds scored three rushing touchdowns on the night and finished with 34 yards rushing on 11 attempts. His scores came from two and 14 yards out in the first quarter, and then from four yards out early in the fourth.
Through the air, Reynolds completed 6-of-11 passing attempts for 69 yards, including a 17-yard TD toss to Cael Koenig in the end zone as the second-quarter clock reached all zeros. Kameren Reynolds led all River Ridge receivers with three catches for 36 yards,
while Koenig had two grabs for 26 yards.
Defensively, the Timberwolves battled against Iowa-Grant’s potent passing attack, which managed 281 yards and one touchdown on 20-of-27 passing attempts.
Junior Draven Moris led the charge with a team-high nine tackles, one for loss, while fellow juniors Brogan Mezera was in on eight stops and Preston Gage five, including one sack.
The Timberwolves now travel to Wauzeka-Steuben/Seneca this Friday night, as the Blue-Golds (0-4, 0-5) are coming off a 32-14 loss to Potosi/Cassville.
