Sean McLean
For The New Era
While Sweet Home showed potential on both sides of the football Friday night against Junction City, it was the turnovers that doomed the Sweet Home Huskies.
Given great field position the entire game, Junction City took advantage of its opportunities, defeating the Huskies 26-9 in the last non-conference matchup for both schools.
Junction City and Sweet Home both came into the game with 4-4 records, but Tigers play in the tough Sky-Em League that includes the state’s top-ranked team, Sisters, as well as Marist and Cottage Grove, also powerful teams.
Sweet Home had seven consecutive possessions in which the Huskies lost the ball, at the end of the second quarter and into the third. That’s all Junction City needed.
“We came out in the first half with not much offensive consistency,” coach Rob Younger said. “I thought we looked very good on defense, but when you give them field position like that, it makes it more difficult. Seven turnovers won’t win you many football games.”
Sweet Home had success moving the football in the beginning but couldn’t capitalize when it needed to, as Junction City denied the Huskies any scoring opportunities. The Tigers got on the scoreboard first by going to the air. Quarterback Derek Braun connected with Tyler Larson on a 35-yard touchdown to give them an early 7-0 lead.
The Huskies got things going in the second quarter by kicking a rare field goal. Kyle Gutierrez, who also had an interception on the night, hit from 35 yards to cut the lead to four. It would be the closest they would get to the Tigers, as the turnovers began to hurt Sweet Home’s chances. After an interception and a blocked punt in the second quarter, Junction City had a two-score lead after Tyler Hogan connected with Larson again from seven yards out to give them a 13-3 lead heading into the break.
Only down 10 at halftime, the Huskies came out looking to get back into the game. But the turnovers that plagued them at the end of the first half continued into the third quarter. Sweet Home’s first four possessions resulted in turnovers, giving Junction City numerous chances to put the game away.
“I told the guys at halftime that we just need to execute, because we weren’t having problems moving the football,” Younger said. “But how we started the second half with the turnovers, we just can’t do that, and they responded well to our mistakes.”
The Husky defense held its ground by keeping Sweet Home in the game, but the Tigers finally capitalized with a pair of scores in the fourth quarter. New quarterback Colton McClintock found Nathan Slocum from 11 yards out, and a possession later, running back Andrew Thomas found a seam and ran in from 13 yards out to give Junction City a commanding 26-3 lead.
Tailback Amos Parmenter finally got Sweet Home into the end zone with a one-yard run, but it was far too late for the Huskies to rally. He would finish with another great all-around game on both sides of the football. He led the Huskies with 80 yards rushing on 16 carries, had a sack, and along with Nick Pitts, led the team with 10 tackles.
“We put together some good drives at the end with Amos scoring, so I was happy with that,” Younger said. “We stayed aggressive out there, kept our heads up, so I was pleased with our guys for continuing to play.”
Sweet Home quarterback Ryan Graville completed nine of 20 passes for 59 yards but was picked off twice. Marcus DeLong and Josh Riggs both had three receptions to lead the Huskies.
Duhn led Junction City with 83 yards rushing on 19 carries, while Larson caught seven passes for 67 yards and two touchdowns for the Tigers.
Despite the losing effort, Sweet Home’s defense had one of its better games of the season. They allowed only 196 yards of offense, picked off Hogan twice and forced a fumble.
With an overall record of 4-5, the Huskies face a must-win situation this week as they take on conference opponent Philomath at home on what will be both Senior Night and Homecoming. A win would put them at .500 in conference play and overall on the season. The Warriors will bring a 0-3 league record into the game.
“It’s an exciting week since it’s our homecoming game,” Younger said. “It will be our last game for the seniors, so I know the guys will be excited and be ready to play hard and it should be a great football game.”
Val-Co League Standings
Central 3-0
Newport 3-1
Sweet Home 1-2
Taft 1-2
Philomath 0-3
Game Summary
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
JC 7 6 0 13 26
SH 0 3 0 6 9
1st Quarter
JC: Tyler Larson 35 yd. pass from Derek Braun (Cody Garner kick)
2nd Quarter
SHHS: Kyle Gutierrez 31 yd. field goal
JC: Larson 7 yd. pass from Tyler Hogan (kick failed)
4th Quarter
JC: Nathan Slocum 11 yd. pass from Colton McClintock (pass failed)
JC: Andrew Thomas 13 yd. run (Garner kick)
SHHS: Amos Parmenter 1 yd. run (run failed)
Team Stats
Rushing: SHHS 37-130; JC 30-131
Passing: SHHS 9-20-2, 59; JC 8-18-2, 78
Total Yards: SHHS 166; JC 196
First Downs: SHHS 13, JC 8
3rd/4th Down Conversion: SHHS 5-14; JC 4-10
Penalties: SHHS 4-29; JC 5-55
Sacks: SHHS 1-3 (Parmenter); JC 1-13
Individual Stats
Rushing
SHHS: Parmenter 16-80; Pitts 11-35; Delong 5-17; Graville 2-2; Moyer 1-0; McGuyre 2-(-4)
JC: Duhn 19-83
Passing
SHHS: Graville 9-20-2, 59
JC: Hogan 6-15-2, 32; McClintock 1-2, 11; Braun 1-1, 35
Receiving
SHHS: Delong 3-26; Riggs 3-25; Pitts 1-6; McGuyre 1-4; Parmenter 1-(-2)
JC: Larson 7-67
Punting
SHHS: Puentes 4-78; 19.5; 19.5 Net
JC: Fielder 4-87, 21.8; 20.3 Net
Kickoffs
SHHS: Gutierrez 2-75, 29 Net; Callagan 1-33, 24 Net
JC 5-269; 53.8; 41 Net
Kickoff Returns
SHHS: Pitts 3-53; Delong 1-11
JC 2-26
Fumble Recovery: SHHS 1 (Riggs); JC 4
Interception: SHHS 2: Sipe, McGuyre; JC 2
Blocked Punt: JC 1
Tackles: SHHS: Parmenter 10, Pitts 10, Jones and Clark 5