Sweet Home opened its abbreviated football season on a wet Friday night with a 20-8 loss at Elmira.
Field conditions were an issue all night, Coach Dustin Nichol said, noting that both teams finished with three fumbles.
“The mud was not kind to us,” he said. “Our defense, obviously, gave up three scores, but the bigger Achilles heel was snaps to the quarterback and punters.”
Sweet Home had one snap go over the punter’s head, which the Falcons downed in the end zone for a safety, and another that got past the punter ended up on the 4-yard line, where the hosts finished with an easy score.
The Falcons’ scored another touchdown on a short field when two Sweet Home defenders collided in the secondary, giving ballcarrier Ayden Wolfamott an easy route to the end zone.
The Huskies’ Cade Gaskey scored on a six-yard run in the first quarter and then added a two-point conversion for Sweet Home.
Wolgamott ran for two of Elmira’s scores and the Falcons’ Cobyn Herbert connected with Blake Wigham for a third.
Field position was a problem for the Huskies all night, Nichol said.
“We had other opportunities,” he said. “A lot of it came down to special teams. They did better than we did. That’s something we’re going to work on a lot this week.”
Sweet Home finished with 137 yards on 35 carries, 88 of it from Gaskey, who carried 21 times. Quarterback Aiden Tyler carried six times for 55 yards.
Tyler finished 11 for 30 in the air, for 112 yards passing. Cole Baxter had five catches for 60 yards, Gavin Michels finished with two grabs for 46 and tight end Russell Holly had three for eight yards.
Wolgamott led Elmira with 25 carries for 138 yards.
The Huskies will travel Friday to Stayton, which lost 37-21 to Marshfield in its opener.
Nichol said the Eagles are young and “big,” but their field is artificial turf, which may provide for better ball handling.
He said a problem for all the teams right now is roster size. Sweet Home took 28 players to Elmira, which dressed 23, he said.
Stayton had 34 players listed on its roster as of Monday morning.
“In football in general, I think across the board a lot of people are choosing not to participate because they have better offers to do other things, like stay at home and do nothing,” Nichol said. “A lot of guys have moved on and gotten jobs. With the uncertainty (caused by COVID shutdowns), who can blame them? They’ve made decisions and moved on.
“Right now we’ve got 39. That’s half what we’d normally have. In a normal season, we generally start with between 65 and 73, and we’ve never dropped below 60.”
He said he expects a tough challenge at Stayton.
“They have a seasoned, veteran coach in (Randy) Nyquist. I’m sure he’s going to put together a good team for this Friday.”