EVANSTON — Once the dust settled on Vista Ridge’s 38-14 win over the Red Devils at Kay Fackrell Stadium, Wolves head coach Matt Wibbels had some encouraging words for Evanston head coach Steve Moore, as well as his Red Devils.

“You worry about a team traveling that far, you want them to get something out of it,” Moore said. “But their coach [Wibbels] said, “Yeah, you guys play old school, smashmouth football,” and that’s what he wanted his team to experience. The teams they play down there, it’s more finesse — spread teams out, use speed and things of that nature. So he was really happy with the way we played and the physicality of the game. He said our guys came out and punched his guys in the mouth, and he thought it was really good for his team to play a team like that.”

While the Red Devils were able to earn the respect of their Colorado guests over the course of 48 minutes, the opening seconds didn’t instill much confidence among the Red Devils faithful. Setting up shop on their own 20-yard line after receiving the opening kickoff, the Wolves wasted no time getting on the board, courtesy of an 80-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Zayden Stevens to receiver Hammy Vanaman. Just like that, Evanston was down 7-0.

“You always worry when they score on the first play of the game,” Moore said. “I think it was what, 80 yards? It was a long one. So then it becomes, ‘How are we going to respond?’”

The Red Devils proved up to the challenge, shaking off Vista’s quick score to put together a sustained drive of their own, culminating in a one-yard touchdown plunge by Brayden Wallace. Victor Lozano’s extra point brought the game back to even at 7-7, and the Wolves suddenly found themselves in a ball game.

“Yeah, that was good to see from our club,” Moore said. “It was good to see that from our team — we talk about letting the last play go; the most important play is the next play. I thought we responded really well with a long, sustained drive, and just kind of punched them right back and we’re right in the thick of it. That was a good response by the club, and I was happy to see that.”

Evanston kept it close for the rest of the first quarter, though the Wolves speed and athleticism began to show towards the end of the first and into the second quarter. Vista scored 21 unanswered points and took a 28-7 lead into the break.

“I was pleased with our effort, we played for four quarters – we had no quit in us,” Moore said. “I thought our kids were doing a lot of really good things against a really good football team for sure.”

The Wolves scored 10 more points in the second half to make it 38-7, though Evanston would get on the board once more in the fourth quarter. Another nice drive engineered by quarterback Braunson Sims — and featuring a nice throw and catch to receiver Clayton Cook – culminated in Wallace’s second touchdown run of the contest, a 13-yard scamper, with an escort by pulling guard Grady Ivie, who cleared the road for Wallace to go in unscathed.

“Our run game was popping,” Moore said. “Our offensive linemen were getting on the blocks and maintaining blocks for the most part. I thought our run game was pretty good, and then we just passed the ball a little bit better. Nothing too deep, you know — short passes. We take what they give us. I thought we did a pretty good job with that.”

The game ended 38-14, though Moore said his players had nothing to hang their heads about. The Red Devils played hard for four quarters against a quality team, and gave them all they could handle, and then some.

“It’s high school football, and I thought our kids were confident – I don’t think they were overconfident by any means,” he said. “I think our kids believe in what we’re doing. The systems we got in place and you want that in a group of kids you don’t want to back away from anything. They knew they had a big challenge ahead of them, and I thought we went about it business-like, and our kids’ attitude was really good.”

Vista Ridge had a positive attitude, as well, as evidenced by their conduct following the game. As the Red Devils gathered at the center of the field for their postgame roundup, the Wolves players sprinted out to where Evanston had already kneeled and asked if they could join. Moore said it was an example of high school sports at its best.

“You know that was really cool,” he said. “We’re just doing our end of the game stuff – we do put-ups and talk about the game and what’s going on. They asked if they could join us, and came over and jumped right in our huddle. Kids were shaking hands, and giving each other hugs and you know, you just got done throwing punches pretty much, blow by blow for a couple of hours, and then they come together — you know, that’s what it’s all about. It’s good sportsmanship on their part, and I thought our kids responded with a great attitude. It really is what high school football should be about.”

Statistically, Wallace paced the Red Devils with 44 yards on 12 carries and two touchdowns; Sims followed with 39 yards on seven carries. Jesse Page finished with 27 yards on four carries, while Braxton Hanks and Bridger Roberts also got some touches, finishing with 19 yards and eight yards, respectively.

Under center, Sims went 9-for-17 for 52 yards and two picks; cook was his favorite target on the night, pulling in five catches for 68 yards. Wallace was 1-for-1 for 31 yards, completing a halfback pass to Cook.

Sims led the charge on defense with 17 points, followed by Page with 10 points. Brecken Rich and Brayden Wallace finished with nine points apiece, while Karter Moore and Bridger Roberts tallied eight points each.

“Our defense, I thought they played really well,” coach Moore said. “That quarterback was a handful, and that running back was a handful and I thought for the most part we tackled well. As we broke down film, there’s some things we gotta work on, and that’s evident. We’ll fix some things, but again, I thought we flew around really well. Everything we’re seeing is correctable and fixable and I know our kids will be, they’re coachable kids and they’re going to be coached up and get things fixed for sure. I thought we played with a lot of speed and tried to match their speed as best we could. Physically I thought we matched up really well.”

The Red Devils are headed to Riverton Friday to take on the Wolverines, another team that’s trending upward, and one Evanston is very familiar with.

“That coach, he’s the real deal,” Moore said. “He’s a really good coach – he does a lot of really good things with his kids, and I think he does a really good job with his personnel and scheming within his personnel. They do a lot of different formations offensively — they try to get you misaligned, and then do some things defensively. They’re looking tough; he’s got a good thing going, for sure.”