In what seemed to be early a shoot-out quickly became a 49-point triumph for the Savage football team in its first game of the season. Behind the arm of Shad Stanford and legs of Chris Reynolds, the Warriors blew past Stanford-Geyser 63-14 at home Friday night.

After Savage seemed to have complete control early in the game, the Wolves had two quick scores as Dylan Woodhall returned a punt for a 61-yard touchdown and Lucas Ridgeway got into the end zone after intercepting a Stanford pass and returning it for a 25-yard score to make the score 15-14 in favor of the Warriors.

With the momentum of the game quickly changing hands mid-way through the first quarter, it didn’t take long for the boys in orange to respond. “We had the jitterbugs early,” first-year Savage head coach Bart Haflich said. “They (Stanford-Geyser) had that early surge in the first quarter, but I was really proud of the way the kids reacted. They buckled down and played the way they are capable of.”

In the first play of the drive, Stanford connected with Reynolds for a 61-yard touchdown to give the squad a 23-14.

The Warrior defense came through on the Wolves’ next drive as Braden Ler, Shad Stanford and Xiang Zhao came up with stops to force a punt to end the quarter. Savage picked up right where it left off in the first as Stanford found senior wide-out Matt Trzinski for a 31-yard touchdown to give the Warriors a 31-14 advantage after the kick by Stanford.

Stanford-Geyser didn’t have an answer for the explosive Savage offense as the Warriors scored again on the next drive as Reynolds ran 42 yards for six points to make the score 37-14 in favor of the Warriors. On defense, Trzinski and Rase Basta added stops to force a Wolves’ punt.

After runs of seven and five yards by C. Reynolds and Michael Reynolds, the Warriors punched it in for another score with an eight-yard run by C. Reynolds. A PAT catch by Ler gave Savage a 44-17 lead.

The defense of the Warriors didn’t let up one bit as Basta and Wyatt Hagler made stops to force a Stanford Geyser punt. A C. Reynolds return of 24 yards set Savage up for a 25-yard touchdown pass from Stanford to C. Reynolds. A PAT pass to Trzinski made the score 51-14 in favor of the Warriors at the half.

Savage’s offensive production decreased in the second half with a running clock, but the Warriors still got on the board. In the team’s first drive of the half, first-down runs by C. Reynolds and M. Reynolds set the Warriors up for a 26-yard score by C. Reynolds to make the score 57-14 in favor of Savage.

The Warriors also picked up a touchdown in the fourth as a 13-yard pass from Stanford to Ler gave Savage the 63-14 victory.

“I was just really pleased with how the boys did,” Haflich said. “Overall, we executed well on both sides of the ball. We were pretty fundamentally sound.”

Leading the Warriors through the air was Stanford with 164 yards and four touchdowns. C. Reynolds was his favorite targets with 88 yards and two touchdowns.

On the ground, C. Reynolds led the way with 149 yards and four touchdowns. M. Reynolds added 25 yards on five carries.

Defensively, Ler led the Warriors with 10 tackles, two sacks and two forced fumbles. Trzinski added 11 tackles while Shad had seven. C. Reynolds had four tackles and an interception. Basta rounded out the squad with two tackles and a sack.

Savage scored its first touchdown of the game before ever touching the ball offensively as C. Reynolds returned an interception 37 yards to make the score 8-0 in favor of the Warriors. C. Reynolds found the end zone again on the next drive with a 37-yard scamper to make the score 15-0.

‘It was a good way to start the year with a solid victory,” Haflich said.