Weiser rumbles to 42-13 win over Vale

Weiser High School’s “Big Red” football machine continues to roll over opponents in one of the best starts to a season in years.
 The Wolverines beat Vale 42-13 on Friday night at Roy Dickerson Memorial Field, picking up win No. 4 and handing the Vikings their first loss of the season.  
 Vale came into Friday’s game with a 3-0 record and looked to give the Wolverines a competitive non-conference game. The Vikings had 315 yards of offensive production but could only get two scores.
 Weiser coach Tom Harrison gave the Vikings credit for playing tough in the losing effort.
 “Vale fought hard. They gave it everything they had,” he said.
 The unbeaten Wolverines will start SRV Conference play this Friday at home against the Parma Panthers. It’s also Weiser’s homecoming week and school spirit is at a fever pitch.
 Weiser’s offense put up 404 yards in the game against Vale – a total of 333 yards rushing and 71 passing – while the defense had a couple of key stops that ended Vale drives.
 Harrison said Weiser’s power run game, sweeps, traps and counters worked well against the Vikings.
 “The kids executed well and our offensive line was looking pretty good,” he said.
 The Wolverines started the game by going with the ground game, and all five Weiser touchdowns in the game came on running plays. With 7:49 left in the first quarter, Ande Jensen got lose and sprinted for a 31-yard rushing touchdown and Weiser’s first score.
 A subsequent Weiser possession was derailed by three penalties on one drive, which ended with a fumble that was recovered by Vale. The Vikings moved the ball to inside Weiser’s 5-yard-line and looked to score. Weiser’s stout defense made a goal-line stand that kept the Vikings out of the endzone.
 Harrison praised the defense for the goal-line stand on the 5-yard-line that kept the Vikings out of the endzone in the first quarter.
 “We’ve had a few of them this year and so that’s been really nice,” he said. “The goal-line stand was big for us.”
 Weiser led 7-0 at the end of the first quarter and shut out the Vikings on the scoreboard.
 Jensen was on the receiving end of a 21-yard pass from quarterback Brett Spencer and Weiser was on the march down the field again with 4:22 left in the second period. Running back Jack Burke carried the ball to inside Vale’s 10-yard-line. On a quarterback-keeper, Spencer ran the ball in from a yard out for Weiser’s second TD of the first half.
 It looked like Weiser would hold the Vikings scoreless in the first half and go into the locker room up 14-0. But Vale is a team that is known for never giving up.
 With just 59 seconds left on the clock, Vale quarterback Colton Kesey connected with Matt McBride for a 25-yard touchdown pass. Vale missed the extra point and trailed Weiser 14-6 at halftime.
 Weiser received the kickoff to start the third quarter and immediately began to march down the field. Power running back Layten Tolman sliced through the defense for good yardage. He had his best game so far this season with eight carries and 104 yards.
 Weiser got the ball inside Vale’s 10-yard-line, mostly by running the ball for chunks of yardage. A handoff to Burke resulted in a 6-yard run into the endzone. The Wolverines added to their lead with the score 21-6 with 8:31 left in the third quarter.
 Tolman’s best run of the night came with 4:50 left in the third quarter, when he found a hole in the Vale defense and broke open a run for 61 yards and another Weiser touchdown. The Wolverines were in front 28-6 at the end of the third quarter.
 The never-say-die Vikings put together a scoring drive early in the fourth quarter. Kesey hit TJ Speelman for a 32-yard touchdown reception to cut Weiser’s lead to 28-13 with 11:52 left in the fourth quarter.
 After the score, Vale kicked off to Caleb Harris and that was a mistake. Just like he did last week, Harris went all the way for a Weiser touchdown. He picked his way through the defense for an 85-yard kickoff return. The week before against Gooding he returned a kickoff for 77 yards and a touchdown.
 Weiser iced the game with 4:27 left in the fourth quarter. Spencer kept the ball and ran right, where there were no defenders. He sprinted to the endzone for another Weiser touchdown.
 The Wolverines scored 28 points in the second half against Vale. At the final buzzer, Weiser picked up the win with the score 42-13.
 Spencer went 5-for-13 for 71 yards passing and rushed 10 times for another 74 yards. He had two rushing touchdowns. Kooper von Brethorst caught 1 pass for 23 yards. Caleb Harris caught one pass for 15 yards.
 Tolman had eight carries for 104 yards and one touchdown. Ande Jensen had five touches for 53 yards and one touchdown. Jack Burke carried the ball seven times for 50 yards and also scored one touchdown.
 Caleb Harris had two returns for 115 yards and one touchdown. Willy Shirts had one return for 9 yards.