RIVERTON — While watching video footage in preparation for his team's game against Riverton, West coach Randy Schrieter was convinced this year's Silverwolves' starting quarterback and offense probably wasn't quite as good as last year's squad.

But like pro baseball games, the Grand Canyon and many guess-you-had-to-be-there jokes, some things are simply better in person.

Go ahead and lump Riverton's Wing-T offense in that group. Athletic quarterback Joe Schrader and the rest of Riverton impressed, if not surprised, their opponents during their 22-10 victory over the visiting Panthers on Friday night.

Schrader had about 150 yards of total offense while throwing for 96 yards and one touchdown, and Riverton's tricky-to-defend, old-school 'O' rushed for 300 yards and racked up 399 yards overall. Riverton's running backs were impressive as well as Jerris Koplin rumbled for 123 yards and a TD, and Weston Ellis ran for 75 yards.

"This early in the season, it's so hard to defend," Schrieter said of Riverton's well-balanced multiple-option offense. "And they don't make mistakes. They're tough. They're very disciplined."

That was especially the case in the second half Friday. Riverton dominated the first two quarters but only had an 8-0 lead heading into the locker room. The Silverwolves were stopped on downs by West's defense on the 4-yard line on their opening drive. They then missed three more scoring opportunities on botched field-goal attempts.

"In the first half we didn't finish drives," said Riverton coach Mike Miller.

Simply put: In the second half, they did.

After giving up a 29-yard field goal to West's Jeff Sanders out of the gates in the third quarter, the Silverwolves dominated. They efficiently marched 80 yards while gobbling up more than eight minutes on their next possession, which was capped by an 8-yard scoring rush by Koplin.

They forced West to punt and then proceeded to find the end zone a few plays later on a 19-yard dash by Jordan Marshall. Riverton's other two possessions included a punt and a mercy end-of-the-game kneeling on West's 5.

Miller credited the play of his mostly oversized linemen in the offensive trenches — Alex Rigby, Chris Julkenen, Jake Gorringe, Morgan Hunter and Matt Milkanan — for turning the tide in Riverton's favor.

"In that second half, we came out and ran the Wing-T better than the first," Miller said. "The offensive line did a great job handling the line of scrimmage."

The victory improved Riverton's preseason record to 2-0 and helped lift the spirits of Miller, who's coaching with a heavy heart after his father passed away a week ago.

Though part of the first half was sloppy, Schrader and Corbin Farnsworth gave the Riverton crowd something to cheer about in the second quarter when they hooked up for a sweet 38-yard touchdown in the air.

West's only touchdown came in the fourth quarter after it trailed 22-3. Andrew Vagaia had a 75-yard kickoff return, setting up a 12-yard TD toss from Scott Floisand to Jacob Sumbrunnen.