After five consecutive winning seasons from 2018 through 2022, the Riverton football team suffered through a tough campaign a year ago. This season, the Silverwolves made some progress. 

Riverton went 1-9 last season but improved to 3-8 in the regular season this time around. The Silverwolves earned the No. 15 seed in the Class 6A state tournament and hosted Pleasant Grove in the first round Oct. 25, after our press deadline. 

In a challenging Region 2, Riverton went 1-4. Its lone win was a big one, a 42-19 blowout of Copper Hills in the regular-season finale on Oct. 18. Playing on the road, Riverton secured its first league victory with steady play on both sides of the ball. Andrew Nielson scored on touchdown runs of 46 yards and 1 yard in the first half. The do-it-all quarterback also tossed three touchdown passes—31 yards to Seth Glover, 10 yards to Caleb Christian and 20 yards to Glover. 

Riverton’s other two wins this season were earlier in the year in non-region action. The Silverwolves conquered Syracuse 13-7 in the season opener on Aug. 16 and then toppled Pleasant Grove on Sept. 13 by the count of 21-7. The Silverwolves were hoping for a repeat performance when they faced Pleasant Grove in the playoffs. 

To some, a 3-7 record might not look like much, but the Silverwolves weren’t far from having a better record. 

Riverton had three losses by seven points or less, falling to Ridgeline 28-21 on Aug. 23, to American Fork 27-20 on Sept. 6 and to Bingham 21-16 on Oct. 4. There was also a 26-17 setback to Herriman on Sept. 20 and a 24-11 defeat at home against Mountain Ridge on Oct. 11. Only two of the team’s seven losses were by more than 13 points—and those were to eventual Region 6 champion Brighton (42-14) and Region 2 champion Corner Canyon (49-21). 

Nielson had a solid year leading the Riverton offense. The senior signal caller threw 15 touchdowns this season and rushed for four more. His favorite target was Dane Slack, who had eight touchdown catches. 

Defensively, Riverton showed promise this season. Outside of the Brighton and Corner Canyon losses, no team managed more than 28 points on the Silverwolves. 

Riverton loses some key players on both sides of the ball, leaving head coach James Freeland with some big shoes to fill for 2025. He’s looking for younger players to step up and take on bigger roles. Freeland is excited about the future of the program and is optimistic that the team can get back to its winning ways. Two years ago, the Silverwolves were 7-5. Freeland will head into his third season in 2025 and will guide the squad once again in a difficult Region 2 with state power Corner Canyon, always-tough Bingham and other foes Herriman, Mountain Ridge and Copper Hills. 

In this year’s state tournament, a win over Pleasant Grove in round one would have vaulted the Silverwolves to the second round to face No. 2 seed Skyridge on Nov. 1.λ