Wolves streak at 5 with 46-0 home win over Townsend

Playing in front of the largest home crowd in recent memory, which included a thunderous student section on September 29 against Townsend, the Three Forks High School Football team wasted little time taking the lead when senior quarterback Shane Williams found the endzone on a 30-yard run with 10:04 left in the first quarter. It would be the first of four first-half rushing touchdowns for Williams, giving the Wolves (5-1, 2-0 Southern B) a 28-0 halftime lead on their way to a convincing 46-0 win over the visiting Bulldogs.

"Shout out to the community and the crowd. The student section was awesome tonight. It was a big win for us, and it's time to take the next step now and get ready for Manhattan," said Head Coach Connor Sullivan. "There was a lot of stuff going on with Homecoming this week, and Townsend is a good football program, and we knew that coming in. We can't take any team lightly in this conference. We had a good week of practice and came out tonight and executed."

Williams scored his second touchdown of the night on a 42-yard run with 5:11 in the first quarter and would score again on a three-yard touchdown on fourth and goal with 6:23 remaining in the opening half. The Wolves would score their fourth touchdown of the half with no time on the clock when Williams scored on a five-yard run.

Williams finished 141 yards rushing on 13 carries and added 117 yards passing and a touchdown.

Following the game, Sullivan said having a quarterback who can make plays running and throwing really helps the offense.

"We're not one dimensional. You've got to worry about the pass and the run. Fortunately for us, he can do both. It definitely helps us. He's a great player and a great kid," Sullivan said.

Colten Hayder showed his big play ability for the Wolves in the third, breaking an 80-yard run with 7:57 left in the quarter to push the lead to 34-0. Williams would connect with Hayder for an 18-yard touchdown pass to balloon the lead to 40-0 with 2:48 remaining in the third.

Three Forks would score the final points of the night on a nine-yard touchdown from Kanon Reichman with 5:07 left in the game.

"I thought we started great tonight, and then we laid off a little bit, but that's a great football team in Townsend, and they are well coached. We adjusted at halftime and made a few more plays. We came out and executed in the second half," Sullivan said.

During their five-game win streak, the Wolves have given up just 20 points. Sullivan said sometimes teams can move the ball on them, but they have a bend, don't break mentality and swell up in the red zone.

"They fly to the ball. They play physical, and I'm proud of those guys," he said.

Cole Sloan led the team in total tackles with eight, including two tackles for loss. Sawyer Andersen had seven total tackles, and Dylan Andersen had six, including three tackles for loss. Williams had four total tackles, including two tackles for a loss. Dylan Swenson and Marcus Pestel each had three tackles. Jack Hayder also had three tackles, including two for a loss.

Tallyn McCauley, Nicolai Kovnesky, Wyt Oliver, and Trevor Davis finished with two tackles. Caleb Van Vleet, Reichman, Colten Hayder, and R.J. Pyfer all had one tackle. Kovnesky had a fumble recovery for the Three Forks defense.

Three Forks ended the night with 406 yards rushing. Along with the big-time performance on the ground from Williams, Hayder had a massive night with five carries for 135 yards, and Sawyer Andersen had a great game with 12 carries for 93 yards. Pestel finished with 11 yards, Reichman and McCauley had nine, and Isaiah Gather finished with eight yards rushing.

McCauley led the team in receiving with two catches for 44 yards. Colten Hayder had three catches for 39 yards, Swenson had two catches for 24 yards, and Reichman had one catch for 10 yards.

Three Forks will next play on Friday, October 6, when they travel for a rivalry matchup at Manhattan. Both teams will enter the game with a 5-1 record.