Wolves Drop Opening Football Game Against Joliet
The Wolf Point Wolves experienced missed opportunities and suffered with early-season mistakes in their 45-0 season- opening loss against Joliet on Friday, Aug. 30.
Wolf Point’s defense started the home game on a good note when tackles by Dashaun Jackson, Kasey Reed and Aaryn Hamilton forced the J-Hawks into a third-and-four situation. Joliet, however, converted on a pass from Kaden Juhnke to Camden McQuillan into Wolf Point territory.
On a third-and-18 play from the 33, Joliet scored on a pass from Juhnke to Colton Woodard with 8:17 left in the opening quarter.
Wolf Point’s second possession featured nice runs by Sean Hamilton and Kasey Reed to march into Joliet territory. The threat, however, ended when a fourth-down running attempt came up two yards short.
Joliet moved ahead 14-0 when a pass from Juhnke to McQuillan covered 55 yards for a touchdown. McQuillan caught the ball at the Wolf Point 35 and was able to race the rest of the distance with 1:47 left in the first period.
Wolf Point’s offense showed life early in the second quarter on the strong running of K. Reed and Mike Bell. A counter run by Jayden Dominique picked up six yards during the drive. Joliet made a big play when Jake Cook intercepted a pass and went 56 yards for a touchdown to increase the margin to 20-0 with 6:32 remaining in the half.
A 57-yard pass from Juhnke to Porter Koerper set the J-Hawks up on the Wolf Point five late in the half. A fumble on Joliet’s rushing attempt was picked up by Koerper for a touchdown with 1:39 left in the period.
Joliet increased its lead to 32-0 when a bad snap by the Wolves on a punting attempt was recovered by Kyler Lind in the end zone.
A nine-yard run by Cook put Joliet ahead 39-0 with 9:11 remaining in the game. The team’s final touchdown was scored by Cook with 5:30 remaining.
Leading Wolf Point’s rushing attack were K. Reed with 74 yards and Bell with 61 yards.
The Wolves will host Baker on Friday, Sept. 6. Baker lost to Malta by a 54-14 final on Friday.
