Ken Roberts
For The New Era
The Sisters Outlaws came from behind three separate times, the last time with 19 seconds left on the clock, to outduel Sweet Home, 21-18 Friday night in sisters.
The difference ended up being in extra point conversions. Sisters kicked three successfully three times. Sweet Home, after missing the first kick, failed to connect on a pair of two-point conversions as the Huskies attempted to close the gap.
Offensively and defensively, Sweet Home appeared to have the upper hand. The
Huskies held a total offense edge of 265 yards to Sisters’ 236. The Huskies also had nine tackles for negative yardage, including three sacks, while Sisters only managed that same feat twice, once at the end of the game when the Huskies were in a forced passing situation. Sweet Home had no turnovers and never put the ball on the ground. Sisters fumbled five times, losing one at the goal line.
The Outlaws gained an advantage twice on special teams, once on a kickoff return that gave them field position at the Husky 35, which led to a touchdown. The second came on a partially blocked punt that again gave them a short field and another score.
Sisters actually had two long kickoff returns, starting with the opening kickoff, which the Outlaws returned 43 yards to the midfield stripe. The Huskies responded by holding Sisters to a three-play series, helped by two penalties against the Outlaws.
Sweet Home proceeded to set its offense in gear with a 12-play, 48-yard drive that culminated with Ryan Graville connecting on three passes in the sequence, two to Josh Riggs, the final one a seven-yarder for a touchdown. Unfortunately, Riggs suffered on a high ankle sprain on the first pass reception, a 17-yarder that would have gone for much more had there not been a holding penalty that negated part of the gain. His touchdown catch ended up being his last play of the game.
“One of our goals was to get off to a good start,” said coach Rob Younger. “We were controlling the line of scrimmage early on.”
Sisters’ Brandon Morgan returned the ensuing kickoff 55 yards to the Husky 35, where Sisters began a touchdown drive of their own. It took just six plays, culminating in a four- yard run by Jared Nelson.
Sweet Home wasn’t fazed though, coming right back with a 71-yard drive keyed by senior tailback Amos Parmenter, who ran four times for 45 yards and caught a pass for 14 more. Initially, he scored on a 48-yard run, which was limited to 31 yards after a blocking penalty prevented the touchdown. After a Graville 12-yard scamper, Parmenter scooted in from the 10 yard line at the beginning of the second quarter for a second straight score on their first two opportunities.
Sisters came up just short toward the end of the quarter after quarterback Chase Kleint led them in running and passing to the Husky three. Nick Head, however, fumbled at the goal line and the Huskies’ Sean Potter came up with the ball to keep the halftime lead for Sweet Home, 12-7.
Early in the third quarter, Sisters’ defense stifled the Huskies while the Outlaws retook the lead with a short 41-yard drive after a blocked punt.
Keenon Martin, a sophomore, took over as the Husky quarterback in the second series of the second half. Late in the third quarter, Martin led the Huskies on a 73-yard march, primarily through the air. He completed all three of his passes, first a 23-yard toss to
Riggs’ substitute at tight end, Levi Marchbanks, and then twice to sophomore Tim McDowell for gains of 19 and 28 yards. McDowell’s final catch gave the lead to the Huskies one more time.
“I wanted to give Martin some experience on offense and Graville some defensive
experience,” stated Younger. “Both reacted extremely well. It will make us a better team because we have two quarterbacks.”
After a stalled series by each team, Sisters began its fateful march from the Sweet Home 48 following a short punt and nine-yard Sisters return. It took a total of 16 plays, during which the Outlaws had to muster up four crucial escapes led by the elusive Kleint.
Four times Sisters failed to gain positive yardage on first down plays, twice because of penalties, once on a fumbled pitch by Head, and once on a Parmenter tackle for a four-yard loss. But each time, Sisters managed to overcome that adversity despite third and long situations, once due to a Sweet Home encroachment penalty that changed a third and six to a third and one.
Kleint had two long runs to help the Outlaw cause, the final one for 12 yards that came with 30 seconds left and Sisters out of timeouts, forcing them to spike the ball to stop the clock and leaving them with a fourth down and two at the nine-yard line. The winning touchdown came when Kleint faked a handoff and then hit wide-open fullback Lucas Rietmann in the flat, where Rietmann scored untouched.
Sisters applied tremendous pressure on Martin on the Huskies’ final three forced passing plays, tipping two passes and then sacking Martin for a three-yard loss to end the game.
“Give Sisters credit,” said Younger, noting that both teams will be battling for playoff positions. “They are a good football team. They just made some plays down the stretch.”
Overall, Younger said he was pleased by the effort of the Huskies. Next week’s practices will emphasize execution, with attention being paid to special teams and running and defending the inside running game.
“This team needs to win,” said Younger, after successive seasons of 5-5 won-loss records. “But all our mistakes are correctable.”
Josh Riggs is the lone injured Husky, unlikely to be available for the home opener against Estacada this Friday at 7 p.m.
Game Summary
1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
Sweet Home 6 6 0 6 18
Sisters 7 0 7 7 21
1st Quarter
SH: Ryan Graville to Josh Riggs 7 yd. pass (kick failed)
Sis: Jared Nelson 4 yd. run (kick good)
2nd Quarter
SH: Amos Parmenter 10 yd. run (pass failed)
3rd Quarter
Sis: Drew Johnston 1 yd. run (kick good)
4th Quarter
SH: Keenon Martin to Tim McDowell 28 yd. pass (run failed)
Sis: Chase Kleint to Lucas Rietmann 9 yd. pass (kick good)
Team Statistics
Rushing: Sweet Home 31-152; Sisters 42-212
Passing: Sweet Home 7-15, 116; Sisters 6-12, 38
Sacks: Sweet Home 1-3; Sisters 3-14
Total Offense: Sweet Home 265; Sisters 236
First Downs: Sweet Home 11; Sisters 13
Tackles for Losses: Sweet Home 9; Sisters 2
3rd/4th Down Conversions: Sweet Home 5-11; Sisters 8-14
Penalties: SH 8-70; Sis: 9-65
Individual Statistics
Rushing: SH: Parmenter 19-103; Martin 3-16; Graville 2-14; Byers 4-9;
Moyer 2-5; Ward 2-2
Sis: Kleint 11-93; Nelson 12-61; Head 16-50
Passing: SH: Graville 4-7, 46; Martin 3-8, 70
Sis: Kleindt 6-12, 38
Receiving: SH: McDowell 2- 47; Jo.Riggs 2-24; Marchbanks 1-23;
Parmenter 1-14; Moyer 1-8
Sis: Rietmann 2-20
Kick Returns: SH: Macklin 3-19, Byers 1-18
Sis: Morgan 3-72; Head 1-43
Punts: SH: Parmenter 4-112, 28 avg.; Sis: 4-105, 26.3 avg
Punt Returns: SH: Cota 1-2; Sis 1-8