Wolverines beat Payette 28-0 in Homecoming rout

The Weiser High School football team recorded back-to-back shutouts with a 28-0 Homecoming victory Friday against conference rival Payette.

 It was the third shutout of the season for the Wolverines, which includes a 49-0 win against Cole Valley Christian on Sept. 16 and a 24-0 shutout against Buhl in week one (Aug. 26).

 The Wolverines are 5-0 overall and 1-0 in conference standings with the win over Payette. They occupy the No. 2 spot behind Homedale, which is 4-1 overall and 1-0 in conference after beating Parma 60-0 last week. The Trojans’ only loss came in a 28-21 battle against 4A Sandpoint on Sept. 16.

 Weiser’s offense has continued to show improvement with every game while the defense continues to dominate.

 “Yeah, another shutout tonight; I think anytime you shutout an opponent, you have to like it,” said head coach Tom Harrison following Friday’s victory. “We are playing nice defense right now. We have some work to do offensively; there are things we can do better, but Payette had a nice game plan defensively and did some things that caused us some problems. We weren’t quite prepared for what they did, but we made some decent adjustments.”

 Penalties have not been an issue for Weiser thus far in the season, but recorded 9 for 80 yards Friday against Payette, which had 11 penalties for 90 yards.

 Weiser had 422 total yards of offense, with quarterback Andrew Enders going 8 for 16 and 126 yards through the air. Defensive back and second quarterback Kolin Cook, a sophomore, came in to lead the offense late in the game, completing 1 pass for 10 yards.

 Payette was only able to muster a total of 100 yards of total offense.

 Junior Jayden Walker put up Weiser’s first points of the game on a 4-yard run and Ryndon Olsen’s point-after was good, making it 7-0 Weiser with 3:14 left in the first quarter of play.

 Both offenses struggled in the second quarter, but junior Kaleb Grove powered through to the endzone for a 1-yard touchdown run with 2:18 left in the half. Olsen’s point-after made it through the uprights, giving the Wolverines the 14-0 advantage going into the half.

 Enders would score in the third quarter on a 1-yard run, but Olsen’s kick was blocked by the Pirate defense, leaving the score 20-0 Weiser with 1:11 left in the quarter.

 The Payette offense showed some signs of life late in the third, but an illegal motion call and false start stalled the advance. The Wolverines, perhaps smelling blood in the water, ramped up its defensive pressure, with senior Blake Moser making a tackle for a loss in the Payette backfield, followed by back-to-back quarterback sacks on Pirate quarterback Abe Rodriguez at the hands of junior defensive lineman Braden Phillips. His two sacks led to a fourth down and 40 from Payette’s own 39-yard line, which ended with a punt.

 Phillips and sophomore middle linebacker Kash Cobb caught up with Rodriguez in the backfield again in the fourth quarter, snuffing out Payette’s offensive drive.

 “It was a great play call, honestly,” Phillips said of his initial sack. “It was a jet call, and you just go. I saw the quarterback was empty and I just flew. The next play, it was the same call. It was a great play by everyone. It was great coaching, and it was amazing to win tonight on Homecoming.”

 Michael Youngberg capped the game off with a 5-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter. Payette was called for offsides twice on the point-after play, the Weiser coaching staff then deciding to put its offense back on the field. Youngberg would score the two-point conversion, giving Weiser the 28-0 lead with 2:58 remaining in the game and the eventual win.

 “He got after it at the end and we are proud of him,” Harrison said of Phillips following the game. “He played well; he’s a fine player.”

 Harrison said he is pleased with his team’s effort on the season so far and thanked Wolverine fans for their support.

 “We are proud of these kids; we are proud of the community support here,” he said. “You look around and there are a lot of people here, it’s a great night. It’s a great night to be a Wolverine and we are ready to move on to the next game.”

 Weiser varsity and junior varsity will play McCall-Donnelly this Friday at home. Game time for junior varsity is at 4 p.m. and varsity will be at 7 p.m.

 The Vandals are 2-1 overall and 0-1 in conference play, according to MaxPreps.com, which shows a “missing score” for the team’s Sept. 9 game against Timberlake.