The Timberwolves gave him plenty to smile about Tuesday evening.

Cattaraugus-Little Valley — outscored 110-18 to open its season — rattled off 38 straight points and was better than the Black Knights in every facet of the game en route to a 38-14 win during a rare midweek game in northwestern Cattaraugus County.

“We got pretty well handled the first two games. … Coming off that it’s tough to build your confidence up,” Miller said. “We have worked and worked and worked at getting these kids to believe in themselves and to do the things that we know they are capable of. Tonight they started to put those things together.”

Quarterback Josh Halterman was 6 of 11 for 134 yards and two touchdowns; running back Clayton Frentz had 16 carries for 50 yards and a score; and wide receiver Christian Hines had three grabs for 67 yards to lead the Timberwolves.

Cattaraugus-Little Valley’s Joe Quigley steps away from a Silver Creek/Forestville defender during Tuesday’s Class D football game in Cattaraugus. P-J photo by Tim Frank

But what Miller’s team did best was take advantage of Silver Creek/Forestville mistakes.

The Black Knights (1-2, 0-2) opened the scoring on a Hunter Larson 2-yard touchdown run, but Cattaraugus-Little Valley (1-2, 1-2) answered with a nine-play, 61-yard drive capped by an 11-yard touchdown run by Gage Furl. The key play on the drive was a 20-yard completion from Halterman to Hines on a fourth-and-7 middle screen from the 33-yard line.

“We practiced Sunday and Monday, and here we are. In the last two quarters (Friday) against Franklinville/Ellicottville, we started to do some positive things, started to build some momentum,” Miller said. “After that game we talked to the kids about continuing on that path that we started there.”

From there, the Timberwolves built on their lead.

With less than nine minutes remaining in the second quarter, Silver Creek/Forestville lost 19 yards on a shotgun snap over quarterback Matt Woleben’s head. Facing a second-and-9 from the 12-yard line, another shotgun snap eluded Woleben and the Black Knights quarterback was forced to kick it out of the back of the end zone for a safety to give the hosts an 8-6 lead.

“We are doing a lot to help everybody else out except for ourselves,” Silver Creek/Forestville head coach Sean Helmer said. “We moved the ball, and then we’d sputter, fumble or snap the ball poorly. It seemed to be always something.”

Armed with a short field after the ensuing kickoff, Cattaraugus-Little Valley took advantage with a 11-play, 33-yard drive. Twice the Timberwolves converted short fourth downs before they scored on a 3-yard scramble by Halterman with 1:34 left in the first half.

The Black Knights failed to convert a fourth down after another fumbled snap to open the second half and on their second drive of the third quarter had a punt partially blocked to set the Timberwolves up at the 30-yard line. Five plays later, Halterman connected with Furl for a 15-yard touchdown on fourth down as the lead grew to 22-6.

“We were terrible,” Helmer said bluntly. “Cattaraugus-Little Valley played well. We did not.”

Cattaraugus-Little Valley recovered an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff and turned that into points three plays later as Frentz scored from 3 yards out. The key play was a second-down pass from Halterman to Dakota Allen for 41 yards.

“I would love to tell you that was my decision,” Miller said of the onside kick. “Our kicker (Joe Quigley) kind of decided that he saw something. He talked to the inside four guys … he put that together on his own. I was as surprised as you were.”

Halterman capped his night with a 35-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Hines and the Timberwolves began to celebrate their first home victory since beating Royalton-Hartland, 20-7, on Sept. 7, 2018.

“Josh is not a big kid. When he steps on the field against some of these bigger teams, you could see him rushing passes,” Miller said. ” … We tried to give him opportunities tonight where he could be successful early on and build off of that. …. His confidence, you could see it grow throughout the game.”

Woleben connected with Sam Braidich for a 13-yard touchdown late and the Black Knights recovered the ensuing onside kick, but by that point the Timberwolves already had the win secured.

“It feels great to get a league win,” Miller said. “It feels great to get any win with the way our season started.”

NOTES: Furl led Cattaraugus-Little Valley with 6.5 tackles while Halterman and Brodie Hill each had five. … Larson was credited with 8.5 tackles to lead Silver Creek/Forestville while Lennic Watkins had 6.5. … Larson had 17 carries for 84 yards and Braidich caught four passes for 53 yards. … The Timberwolves are scheduled to host Cardinal O’Hara on Saturday while the Black Knights host Maple Grove in Dunkirk that same night.

SILVER CREEK/FORESTVILLE 6 0 0 8 — 14

CATTARAUGUS-LITTLE VALLEY 6 10 14 8 — 38

SC/F–Larson 2 run (kick failed)

C-LV–Furl 11 run (pass failed)

C-LV–Safety

C-LV–Halterman 3 run (Allen pass from Halterman)

C-LV–Furl 15 pass from Halterman (Quigley run)

C-LV–Frentz 6 run (Frentz run)

C-LV–Hines 35 pass from Halterman (Allen pass from Halterman)

SC/F–Braidich 13 pass from Woleben (West pass from Woleben)