Team Preview:
Written By: Sven Alskog

With all of the talent losses Wood River had from the playoff team of 2016, it was expected that there would be some lumps taken last season with a new-look roster in place.

A 2-7 record was the end result, however there are multiple bright spots within the program including a quality dual-threat quarterback in Andrew Nelson who has some good wheels to keep defenses honest.

One of the big benefits of going young for a year is all of the returning players for the next year or two after that. The Wolverines are no exception to that rule.

“A lot of returning starters from a team that is hungrier and feels like they have something to prove,” said head coach Kevin Stilling.

Many of those players who are coming back are on the offensive side of the ball.

“Junior Andrew Nelson returns as quarterback. Four of our five offensive linemen return for a second or third year starting for us [in] Hunter Geissler, KC Marcroft, Klayton Douthit and Brendon Cox. That groups experience up front should give Andrew more time to operate and allow us to have some balance to run the ball with Dom Leos and Joe Walker,” added Stilling.

He also likes the potential of the receiver group.

“We have an unproven group of receivers that we feel can help us, notably Wyatt Barth, Fabian Leos, Landen Eckardt and Brandon Uhrig.”

For a Wood River team that did not eclipse 27 points in any game last year, there is plenty of room for growth on the offensive end, but the unit appears to have the potential to do just that with so many returners coming back.

On the other side of the ball there is more turnover and a new scheme to implement.

“We have a lot of new faces on defense in an entirely new scheme. Kids who impressed us at camp were Dom and Fabian Leos at safeties and Brendan Uhrig at outside linebacker. On the defensive line, KC Marcroft and Rodrigo Rangel showed signs of being impact players. Connor Manning and Landen Eckardt looked really good at times at corner for us. Inside backers Hunter Geissler, Klayton Douthit and Alex Ortiz are in new spots, but have learned things quickly,” said Stilling.

Fabian Leos was a Second Team All-Conference outside linebacker last season and Dom Leos earned Honorable Mention accolades from the defensive backfield. Both will now be in the secondary, making a formidable duo for the Wolverines.

Wood River should learn plenty about the team it has in place this season in its opener against new conference foe Mountain Home in Hailey.