Saratoga mauls Wolves

The Saratoga Panther football team continued their winning ways with their second game of the season against the Moorcroft Wolves.

“We played pretty good and it was a team that came here last year and beat us,” Head Coach Logan Wright said. “We are 2-0 for the first time since I have been here.”

Wright said he told the team being 2-0 was great, but being 3-0 would be better.

“Each week, it gets harder,” Wright said. “Next week we play Pine Bluffs and they just knocked off the number one team.”

Wright said the current team is fun to coach.

“They pay attention, they focus and they are physical,” Wright said. “Our defense is the real deal. I have been saying this as we started the season.”

The Wolves scored because of a busted play Wright said.

“That happens, but we kept them to very few yards,” Wright said. “The boys know their assignments and are hitting; they play fast and, this game, the team had strong mental toughness because it was 95 degrees on turf.”

He said Pine Bluffs will be a test.

“This is a team that passes more than what we have seen before. They have tall athletes and they run well too,” Wright said. “They are hard to score on, but it will be a challenge.”

Quarterback Geoffrey Johnson hit Heston Fisher and Silas Vannett both for scores.

“It was a 65 yarder to Silas,” Wright said. “Geoffrey is doing well.”

Wright said there was an interception and a fumble that did show the Panthers still need some work although the interception did not bother him.

“We were just trying to throw it deep just before the half and the other team knew we would,” Wright said. “We were just trying to get lucky.”

The coach said he would like to see a zero turnover week.

Besides Fisher and Vannett scoring, Tuker Carricato had two touchdowns and Alex Irby had one.

“It was balanced scoring against a team that was in our face,” Wright said. “We are young and well rounded.”

The balance of the defense makes Wright proud.

“I am very curious to see how the team responds to the adversity because the past two games we scored first and never were behind,” Wright said. “This Pine Bluffs team could very well score first and we may find ourselves in a drive that we have to score because we haven’t been in that position this year.”

Wright said they will prepare to not have Pine Bluffs score but he said if a mistake happens, and they do, the goal is to get the points back.

“I am showing the team tonight an example of exactly that,” Wright said. “A kid made a mistake and the next play he helped us score. Can we keep that going against a quality team?”

He said the team is very competitive and it is showing this year.

“It is homecoming and one more win and we match last year’s total wins,” Wright said. “That is sort of exciting this early in the season.”

The Saratoga Panthers will host the Pine Bluffs Hornets at 6 p.m. on September 17.