KANE — Jim Hillman told pretty much anyone who’d listen over the summer that his team had put a rough 2-7 season behind it and would be much improved in 2019.

Through two weeks, the Kane Wolves have more than backed up the words of their head coach.

After a 27-point opening week victory, Kane pulled off a 25-21 come-from-behind win over the Ridgway Elkers, by far the biggest upset in District 9 through two weeks of play.

“I liked the fact that we were the underdogs,” Hillman said. “All season long I’ve said this a million times: it’s business. We are treating this like a business and those guys come in focused just like last week… (Ridgway’s) a damn good football team and I’ll tell you what, if we continue to improve hopefully we’ll see those guys in the playoffs because that’s exactly where they are going to be.”

The two teams traded scores throughout the first half, but the Elkers (1-1, 1-1) went up 21-10 on a touchdown late in the third quarter.

From there, the Wolves (2-0, 2-0) went to work on both sides of the ball. Kane quarterback Zuke Smith connected with Jake Alcorn for a 34-yard strike and Smith converted on the ensuing 2-point conversion to pull within three.

After the Kane defense held Ridgway scoreless on back-to-back possessions, it was time for Smith and the offense to go back to work.

Following a penalty for too many men on the field, the Wolves took over from their own 5-yard line after a Ridgway punt.

That starting field position proved to be no problem for the Wolves’ offense, however, as Smith connected on a heave to Kevin Sharba on the very first play of the drive.

Sharba made the catch on a beautifully thrown ball in stride and did the rest, scampering 95 yards to the endzone and sending Paul R. Miller Stadium into a frenzy.

“I told my boys that we were going to go 90 in one play,” Smith confidently said afterwards. “I saw Kevin on the seam and I just threw it up there hoping that he’d catch it.”

For Hillman, it was a play that he and offensive coordinator Sean Jordan had been looking to exploit all game.

“We saw it, we talked about it, and hey, we have to go after it and give our guys and opportunity and we have to sling it. Kevin’s a big cat and there was a little bit of a mismatch here and Zuke threw a hell of a pass.”

Ridgway got the ball back with just over two minutes to play, and advanced the ball up the field until Kane stopped them on a fourth down with under a minute to go to seal the game.

Kane’s final two plays were run in the “victory formation,” a stark contrast to last year’s 34-6 loss to the Elkers.

“These guys just played their hearts out again and there is no stopping them,” Hillman remarked. “The whole culture has changed.”

Smith, who struggled a season ago, is part of that culture change. He went 6-for-16 with 188 yards and three touchdowns and has now thrown for six scores over the first two weeks of the season.

“He’s doing things this year that I never thought (I would have seen) watching him last year,” Hillman said. “He really was a freshman last year because he broke his wrist his freshman year and he comes out as a sophomore. He went through a bunch of camps all throughout the summer and he’s looking guys off and reading his keys and doing the things he needs to be doing and is doing a great job for us.”

And while Smith and the Kane offense will garner most of the headlines for its play down the stretch, it was the defense that kept the Wolves neck-and-neck with Ridgway throughout.

Kane forced three turnovers in the first half — including interceptions on back-to-back drives by Alcorn — to thwart a Ridgway offense that put up 42 points a week prior.

The Elkers finished with 333 total yards, but also ran 28 more plays than the Wolves. Ridgway quarterback Paul Gresco went 17-for-31 with 202 yards and two touchdowns and Gabe Watts led the rushing attack with 59 yards, including a 40-yard score.

But Ridgway was shut out for those all-important final 12 minutes of the game, an effort that Hillman credits to the young men playing in the trenches.

“You’ve got freshmen, sophomores and juniors doing it,” he said. “There’s not a senior on that offensive or defensive line except when some of our bigs come in. They are young, my God they are young, but they just played their hearts out.”

Despite the hot start to the season and the turnaround it marks — Kane didn’t win its second game until Oct. 19 last year — Hillman is keeping his hungry group of players humble.

“I told these guys that it’s business and we are going one week at a time,” he said. “Now we’ve got Bradford (next week) and Bradford always plays Kane well.”

Ridgway looks to rebound at home next week against Moniteau.

AT KANE

BY QUARTERS

Ridgway 0 14 7 0—21

Kane 0 10 0 15—25

TEAM STATISTICS

First Downs: R: 18, K: 10; Rushes/Yards Rushing: R: 37-138, K: 25-85; Yards Passing: R: 201, K 188; Comp-Att-Int: R: 17-31-2, K: 6-16-0; Penalties: R: 6-60, K: 5-30; Fumbles-Lost: R: 4-1, K: 0-0; Total Yards: R: 333, K: 273 Offensive Plays: R: 70, K: 42

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Passing: R: Paul Gresco 17-31-201-2-2, G. Watts 0-1-0-0; K: Zuke Smith 6-16-188-3

Rushing: R: Gabe Watts 11-59, Matt Dush 11-46, Jake Wickett 11-13, Tyler Watts 1-8, Gresco 3-12; K: Jake Alcorn 10-40, Teddy Race 8-30, Smith 6-15, Harley Morris 1-0

Receiving: R: Wickett 5-85-1, Austin Green 5-46, Dush 5-43, Bond 2-27; K: Kevin Sharba 1-95-1, Alcorn 1-34-1, Morris 1-33-1, Race 2-17, Caleb Holt 1-9

Scoring summary

First quarter

K: Hottel, 32-yard field goal, 8:05

Second quarter

R: Gabe Watts, 40-yard run (Gresco PAT), 2:36

K: Morris, 33-yard pass from Smith (Hottel PAT), 0:35

R: Dush, 15-yard pass from Gresco (Gresco PAT), 0:03

Third quarter

R: Wickett, 5-yard pass from Gresco (Gresco PAT), 1:49

Fourth quarter

K: Alcorn, 34-yard pass from Smith (Holt-Smith 2-pt),10:59

K: Sharba, 95-yard pass from Smith (Hottel PAT), 2:23