Wolverines look to bounce back in home opener tonight vs. Eufaula

The Vian Wolverines are hoping a new week and being at the friendly confines of St. John Stadium will help them get their first win of 2023 as they entertain the Eufaula Ironheads at 7 tonight.

The Wolverines (0-1) suffered a 5513 road loss to the Class 2A defending state champion Washington Warriors in their opener last Friday night on zero week. Vian coach Gary Willis said the team has worked extremely hard to not only get better, but to forget about last week’s loss and prepare for the Ironheads.

“We need to go execute and play hard this week,” he said. “We need to get that one (last week’s loss to Washington) behind us and move on. That’s what we need to do. Eufaula will be a tough game. I don’t see it any differently this year. It’s a pretty big rivalry.”

Willis said the team learned a lot about themselves in last week’s loss to the Warriors.

“You get a lot more out of a loss than a win,” Willis said. “We saw a lot of areas where we need to improve on. I can promise you the entire team and coaching staff worked much harder this week. We worked much harder than if we had won by 40 (points).”

The Ironheads will be opening their season tonight, and Willis said they can be very physical.

“First and foremost, they’ll be physical and play tough,” he said. “They’ll bring their A-game.”