GREEN RIVER – Believe.

That was the word the Evanston High School football team kept repeating leading up to, and during, Friday night’s Class 3A West matchup against Green River, the No. 2-ranked team in the state.

“We went in there knowing we were going to get out of there with a win,” junior running back Tyus Cornia said. “(Head coach Pat Fackrell) gave us a big pep talk about how everybody thinks we’re not going to win and how we’re the underdogs. It motivated us. We went out there and we were like, ‘we’re bringing home a win. We’re going to prove people wrong.’”

After trailing by 10 in the first quarter, Evanston (3-3, 2-2) scored three unanswered touchdowns and held off a late Green River (4-1, 2-1) surge to claim a 27-24 win while handing the Wolves their first loss of the season.

“It was a total team effort,” Fackrell said. “The excitement that our kids had and played with in all phases of the game, from our offense, to our defense, to our special teams, to our sideline, was just a complete joy to be a part of.”

Evanston has known it was capable of winning big games all season. The Red Devils wanted to prove it to people outside the team.

“We’ll have people ask us, ‘What are your chances of winning this game tonight?’ Instead of just believing in us… I’m not saying everybody in the community, but there are people who think we don’t have a chance,” senior defensive back Nick Kunz said. “We didn’t feel like underdogs. We felt like this was something we needed to prove. We know we’re good. We didn’t show it against Star Valley.”

For 14 minutes into Friday night’s game, Green River put its top-ranked offense on display. The Wolves had cruised down the field on their first two possessions and held a 10-0 lead after the first quarter.

Then, Evanston got the spark it needed.

Jess Richins nearly came up with an interception, forcing Green River to punt for the first time with 9:41 to play in the second quarter. Kunz eluded pressure from the outside, and got fully extended to block the punt as the ball fell into the hands of Blake Overy, who returned it seven more yards to give the Red Devils possession at the Wolves’ 40-yard line.

Cornia had already run for four yards on a fourth-and-two situation from just outside the redzone on the possession before he got Evanston on the board with a two-yard carry with 5:54 to play in the first half.

“Our offensive line was really good,” Fackrell said. “They drove-blocked, stayed engaged and made holes, and Tyus ran the ball so hard.”

That was just the beginning.

Evanston went into the locker room at halftime trailing, 10-7. When the Red Devils came out, they did everything they needed to do to win.

“We knew we could win that game,” Kunz said. “We put our heart into all four quarters. That’s what we were there to prove – we can do this.”

Evanston’s defense forced a three-and-out on Green River’s first possession of the second half as the Red Devils’ offense took control at their own 27 with 10:17 left in the third quarter.

The drive ended with a four-yard run by Cornia with 1:09 to play in the third to give Evanston a 13-10 lead following a blocked extra point.

A lot happened in the nine minutes and eight seconds in between the first play of the drive and the score.

The Red Devils were 3-for-3 on fourth-down conversions leading up to Cornia’s second touchdown of the day. On fourth-and-seven from its own 49 and 7:55 to play in the third, Evanston faked a punt with Richins, who connected with Hunter Groll for a 13-yard gain. Then, on fourth-and-five from the Wolves’ 32, Seth Lloyed kept the drive going with a six-yard pickup on a quarterback keeper.

Finally, on fourth-and-inches from the 17, Cornia was found at the line, but fought for two more yards. Following a nine-yard run by Groll, Cornia got the call two more times before finding the end zone that provided Evanston a lead it would never give up.

“Our line stepped up huge,” said Cornia, who finished the game with 137 yards on 30 carries and two touchdowns.

Evanston’s defense followed with another stop as the Red Devils took over at their own 47 with 11:27 to play in the fourth quarter.

Lloyd connected with Pablo Escalante in the middle of the end zone for a 13-yard score to extend Evanston’s lead to 20-10 with 9:12 remaining.

“There were just a huge amount of guys that stepped up and made plays last night,” Fackrell said.

Green River had a quick response. Quarterback Chance Hofer, the top passer in 3A going into Friday’s game, found Devin Love for a one-yard touchdown to pull the Wolves within three.

Evanston was able to burn some clock, but the Red Devils were forced to punt with 3:21 to play while still holding on to a 20-17 lead.

With the ball on Green River’s own 26, Hofer dropped back to pass on third down. Rylie Griggs came across the middle of the field to intercept Hofer and returned the ball 33 yards for a touchdown to give Evanston a 27-17 cushion with 2:31 to play.

“That was a huge thing,” Fackrell said. “Green River has a quarterback that throws it really, really well. We worked all week on him and trying to get into those passing lanes like that. We had the momentum anyways, but that really took a lot of the wind out of their sails and gave us a little bit of a cushion to play with the rest of the game.”

Green River was able to find the end zone again when Hofer threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Cole White as the Wolves cut their deficit to three points with a minute to play in regulation.

After two unsuccessful attempts at an onside kick, Evanston went into victory formation. Lloyd took two knees before time expired and the Red Devils could celebrate their victory.

“That win was huge for us,” Kunz said. “We were so closely bonded together because of how bad we wanted to win this game.”

The victory was big for Evanston in more than one way, but the Red Devils are still taking it one game at a time.

“We’re not going to look at it (from a postseason perspective) because I think our team has done a really good job of taking one game at a time,” Fackrell said. “It is going to give us a very good shot at it, but we are going to have to take care of business against Worland in two weeks. That’s the No. 1 thing we’re going to preach and I know our kids will feel the same way.

“As much as anything, I think it was a win that let our kids know that we’re a good football team.”

If the Red Devils had doubted that before on Friday, it didn’t last long.

Lloyd threw an interception on his first pass attempt – the Red Devils’ second play of the game Friday – to give Green River possession at the Evanston 40-yard line. It took the Wolves three plays to set up a first-and-goal situation from the two-yard line.

But Kunz recorded a tackle for a 10-yard loss on a second-down option play, and Green River would eventually have to settle for a field goal.

“It really made everyone on defense that much more wanting to stop them,” Kunz said. “We were going to make them earn it. Because we made them earn it, they lost by that small amount.

Evanston drove 70 yards on its next possession that ended with a missed field goal, and the Wolves responded with a 20-yard run by Hofer to give Green River a 10-0 lead with 1:57 to play in the first quarter.

But the Red Devils didn’t stop believing.

“I think at that point our kids knew that we could play,” Fackrell said. “From there on, it just kind of turned.”