GREEN RIVER — The Green River Wolves showed resilience in the final quarter but came up short Friday night, falling 41-21 to the Riverton Wolverines in their Hall of Fame game. The loss drops the Wolves to 1-3 on the season.
Riverton jumped out quickly in a first quarter that saw 28 combined points. Quarterback Blake Gantenbein opened the scoring with a 3-yard touchdown run midway through the period. Green River responded as senior quarterback Max Hintz powered into the end zone on a 1-yard keeper to tie the game at 7-7 with five minutes left.
Check out the touchdown that tied the ball game up below.
The Wolverines struck back with a 18-yard touchdown pass from Gantenbein to Payton Larsen before adding a defensive score on a pick-six with 46 seconds left in the quarter to grab a 21-7 lead.
Riverton stretched its advantage in the second, as Gantenbein added another rushing touchdown from two yards out. Hunter Saltsgaver drilled a 33-yard field goal just before halftime to send the Wolverines into the break up 31-7.
After halftime, Clay Sheets broke loose for an 18-yard touchdown run, and Riverton tacked on another field goal to build a 41-7 lead.
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Despite the deficit, Green River refused to fold. Hintz connected with Irie Kuball on a 6-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter, and sophomore quarterback Oliver Wisniewski entered the game to score his first career rushing touchdown on a 6-yard keeper with just over two minutes to play.
Hintz led the Wolves offensively with 13 carries for 85 yards and a rushing score while also completing 8 of 19 passes for 119 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions. Wisniewski added 13 rushing yards and went 2 of 3 passing for 64 yards, including a 50-yard strike to Zane Dodson.
Dodson paced the receivers with three catches for 73 yards, while Dax Taylor added three receptions for 50 yards. Kuball hauled in two passes for 25 yards and a touchdown. As a team, Green River posted 312 total yards, 129 rushing and 183 passing, and notched 13 plays of more than 10 yards.
Defensively, the Wolves surrendered 416 total yards, including 259 on the ground. Green River forced five negative plays, and Riverton committed 12 penalties for 97 yards.
Gantenbein finished with two rushing touchdowns and a passing score while Saltsgaver powered the ground game with 131 yards on 14 carries.
Green River will look to rebound next week when it hosts Evanston in its homecoming game, scheduled for Saturday at 11 a.m.
