High school football: Riverton Silverwolves shooting to finally find postseason success

Note: Riverton finished with a 5-5 overall record in 2009 and a 4-1 record in Region 3. It lost to Pleasant Grove, 36-21, in the 5A playoffs' first round.

RIVERTON — Now is the time for Riverton's extraordinary senior class to shine.

Billed as a group of football players to watch since they were youngsters, eight of them started on offense last fall and six of them started on defense to help the Silverwolves to a pretty good season. Now that they're seniors, they're hoping to help Riverton High accomplish something that has ultimately eluded the school up to this point — a really great football season.

Going from good to great has been the challenge — and remains the challenge — out at Riverton, where the Silverwolves have finished second to Bingham in Region 3 in each of the last three seasons.

A year ago, Riverton finished with a 5-4 record at the end of the regular season despite playing a difficult nonregion schedule and subsequently gave powerhouse Pleasant Grove everything it could handle in the opening round of the 5A tournament before ultimately losing.

It was the fifth consecutive fruitless trip to the postseason for a school that's never won a playoff game in school history, and trying to finally get over that huge hump is a huge goal for this senior class.

"We have a lot of returning starters, and I'd expect for us to do pretty well," said senior tight end Landon Fisher. "I think we could make a deep run in the playoffs. I feel like this year we've grown together as a team a lot more. I've been playing with this group of guys my whole life — I have a lot of trust in every one of them."

When Fisher says they've been playing together their whole lives, he isn't really kidding. Most of Riverton's seniors have been on the same football team since they were 8 years old, have enjoyed tremendous success over the years and are now looking to show the rest of the state what they can do at the end of their careers.

"All the hard work we've put in — I feel like it's gonna pay off this year," said Fisher.

There are many things to like about Riverton's terrific senior class — not least of all is the fact that in Tua Laei, Ben Lindsey and Fisher, it has three stars that should all shine brightly all fall. But according to veteran coach Mike Miller, the thing that makes this senior class so special is its togetherness.

"They've always been a special group since I've had them at the high school, and I think they're overachieving kids," said Miller. "I think the thing they do best is they play well as a team and get along — they're friends.