Weiser wins season opener over Buhl 41-14

The Weiser Wolverines put up impressive offensive numbers in their 41-14 win over the Buhl Indians on Thursday in the season opener for both teams.
 Although he’s only a sophomore, Brett Spencer looked to be in command calling the snaps in his varsity debut at quarterback for Weiser. Spencer passed for three touchdowns and ran for another two touchdowns in the road win for the Wolverines.
 Weiser coach Tom Harrison gave Spencer credit for all the hard work he put in over the summer getting in shape and getting stronger. The young quarterback is a “tremendous asset to our team,” Harrison said.
 Harrison said he liked the overall effort by the offense, an effective mix of rushing and passing. Weiser had 400 rushing yards and another 128 passing yards on the night and only one turnover for the first game of the season.
 “We had over 500 yards of offense, and that’s a big day,” the coach said.
 After a scoreless first quarter, one in which a long first possession for Buhl ate up the clock but resulted in no points, the Wolverines methodically marched down the field on their first possession of the second quarter.
 Weiser’s trio of running backs – Jack Burke, Willy Shirts and Layten Tolman – were able to grind up the yards on the ground. With first down and goal, Spencer ran the ball in for Weiser’s first score with 10:33 to play in the second quarter.
 Weiser found success in both the run game and passing the ball against Buhl. Weiser’s offensive line dominated the line of scrimmage, clearing the way for Weiser’s backs to pick up chunks of yardage seemingly at will.
 Buhl made a game of it early. Quarterback Jade Juker burned the Weiser secondary with a 45-yard strike to a wide-open Jabe Bennett for the Indians first score of the night. The score was tied at 7-7 with 6:03 left in the first half.
 Harrison said the Wolverines had a couple of breakdowns on defense during Thursday’s game. Coverage in the secondary is something they will work on in practice, he said.
 “It’s OK to make mistakes. We just can’t repeat them in the next game,” he said.
 Weiser’s one-two punch in the backfield of Burke and Shirts, who both showed speed went back to work. Burke had a big run on the first play from the line of scrimmage on Weiser’s next possession. Tolman, a strong and determined runner picked up another 12 yards and a first down.
 Again, QB Spencer kept the ball, ran to the right side of Buhl’s defense and scampered for 16 yards into the endzone for his second running touchdown. Weiser took the lead 14-7 with 4:54 left in the first half.
 Weiser’s defense also came to play. After holding the Indians and forcing a punt, Weiser took possession with excellent field position near midfield. A miscue cost the Wolverines a few yards on a penalty.
 Spencer looked poised in the pocket for the first game of the season and his first start at QB. Weiser’s solid “O” line kept Buhl from putting much pressure on Spencer. He connected with a wide-open Caleb Harris midstride for a 74-yard pass play and another Weiser touchdown with 2:55 left in the first half. The first half ended with Weiser in front 21-7.
 Weiser’s Shirts found a big hole on the first play of the third quarter and scrambled for 25 yards. A facemask call against Buhl moved the ball into Buhl territory on the 40-yard-line. Weiser picked up another 20 yards on a run up the middle that was fumbled and recovered by Buhl. It was Weiser’s only turnover of the game.
 Weiser’s defense strung out Buhl’s attempts to run outside and gave up nothing. The Wolverines pushed the Indians back to their own 5-yard-line. After forcing Buhl to punt out of their own endzone, Weiser once again had good field position to start another drive with 7:11 left in the third quarter.
 A couple of plays later and Weiser was knocking on the door again after Burke ran the ball to Buhl’s 8-yard-line. Two plays later, Tolman got the carry and punched it in from one yard out. Kicker Angel Magana had a rare miss on the extra point and the score was 27-7 with Weiser solidly in front.
 Buhl wasn’t ready to give up with an excellent passer like Juker at quarterback. With four minutes left in the third period, Juker burned the Weiser secondary a second time with a 55-yard TD pass to Jose Rivera. Juker hit Rivera in stride and he sprinted into the endzone. Buhl was still trailing but narrowed the score to 27-14.
 Weiser answered with a touchdown pass from Spencer to Harris early in the fourth quarter to make it 34-14 with Weiser out in front with a commanding lead. Harris had a big night.
 The Wolverines put together another drive with Shirts carrying the ball that chewed up the yardage. Weiser was on Buhl’s 2-yard-line with 6:41 left in the second half. Spencer found receiver Kooper von Brethorst in the corner of the endzone for another Weiser touchdown. Weiser was way out in front at 41-14 and had the game all but wrapped up.
 The Wolverines put up 21 points in the first half and 20 points in the second half while holding the Indians to one touchdown in the first half and one touchdown in the second half.
 Spencer went 6-for-10 in passing for 128 yards. His favorite receiver was Harris, a player with good speed and good hands. He caught four balls for over 100 yards. Von Brethorst, the other receiver, and Harris also play cornerback on defense.
 “We are really fortunate to have two good wide receivers,” Harrison said.
 Weiser’s trio of runners had a good night. Shirts ran for more than 100 yards. Burke, a transfer student from Payette, showed a lot of shiftiness, Harrison said, and is “definately a shot in the arm for our offense.” Tolman is a power runner right up the middle.