The Pinedale Wranglers jumped out to an early lead on the visiting Lyman Eagles and picked up a win, 28-22 behind a strong running game which compiled 240 total yards and three touchdowns.

“The game was tough,” said head coach Mitchell Espeland. “We jumped on them early by scoring thanks to a few mistakes they made [and] were able to hold onto the win.”

The Wranglers rushing total was buoyed by a big effort from Sammy White who finished with 144 yards on the ground.

The Wranglers (1-0) now make the relatively short trip to Jackson Hole High School where they will be facing off against the Jackson Broncs (1-0) who blew out the Bear Lake Bears in Montpelier, Idaho on Friday, 41-13. The win snapped a 16-game losing streak for Jackson.

According to Wyoming-Football.com this will be the first meeting on the gridiron between the two schools since 1982. The last time the two teams met in Jackson was in 1981.

Espeland says there is still work to do as the team looks to build on the win.

“The offense has some tidying up to do but overall we were very happy with our kids’ effort.”

The game between Pinedale and Jackson will be broadcast on Friday by SVI-2. The watch link will be available later this week at SVInews.com.