Ken Roberts
For The New Era
Central revved up their offense using four big plays to explode past Sweet Home, 42-19, to drop the Huskies to a 1-2 record in Valco League play.
The four plays not only accounted for four touchdowns but also 209 of their 453 yards of total offense.
The first of the quick strikes occurred in the very first series on John Tirado’s 60-yard run.
Prior to that, Sweet Home had an impressive opening driving that mixed Tyler Horner’s running with two Kyle Pettit passes, one to Horner and another to Ridge McKinney. That drive fizzled on the Panther 20-yard line with two incompleted passes.
Following Tirado’s run, the Huskies fumbled on the first running play, which almost led to another Central score. However, the Panthers kicker, Peter Desmarteau, who was six for six on extra points, missed a short 28-yard field goal attempt.
Despite a 32-yard opening run by Skyler Bascom, the Huskies chose to punt later on fourth down after a controversial ruling on a measurement for a first down at the Central 39. Marcus Delong’s punt went out of bounds at the one-yard line, setting up a defensive stop by the Huskies.
Deep inside of Panther territory, Pettit completed a 28-yard pass to McKinney and McKinney knotted the game at seven with his extra point.
“Certain routes do better against certain teams,” stated McKinney about the exceptional passing night for the Huskies. “We have the ability to catch the ball and to throw it. We just have to step up and get it done.”
Then both offenses put on a show. Central responded to the Husky touchdown on the very next play when Michael Hamilton got behind the Sweet Home secondary for a 64 pass from Justin Cuellar.
Sweet Home also struck back quickly, starting with a 25-yard pass from Pettit to Adam Hummer and ending with a 16-yard run by Horner, though this time the Huskies missed on the extra point attempt.
Central wasn’t finished for the half. It appeared that the Huskies were going to force the Panthers to punt, but Cuellar took the snap and ran 26 yards through the heart of the defense to the 27 yard line. Four plays later, John Pratt ran for two yards to give Central a 21-13 halftime lead.
After a defensive stop to open the half, the Huskies once again put together a drive that died out deep into Central territory.
“We executed well at times, but we would break down in critical situations,” said coach Rob Younger. “Not just one play but back to back to back plays.”
Central scored on each of its next two possessions in the third quarter to put the game out of reach.
Robbie Music scored on a 53 yard run and then, following the Huskies’ second fumble, Cuellar again found a hole on a quarterback keeper up the middle from 32 yards out.
Near the end of the third quarter, Pettit produced a big play for the Huskies when he connected with Hummer on a catch and run for 52 yards. Central tacked on one more passing touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Pettit had his best performance of the year, completed 13 of 21 passes for 202 yards. Hummer was the leading receiver, making six catches for 101 yards while McKinney caught three balls for 58 yards. The Huskies also accumulated 191 yards rushing with Horner leading the way with 84 yards on 17 carries. Bascom and Pettit both totaled over 50 yards rushing as well.
“We had six and half yards per rush and completed over 60 percent of our passes,” Younger pointed out.
“Those are both marks that should win football games.”
But it was a night that the defense simply could not stop Central, which piled up 312 rushing yards led by 124 from Tirado, who didn’t even start the game, and 141 yards passing.
“Our secondary knows what to do,” said McKinney. “We just need to concentrate more.”
Next week’s Homecoming contest against Junction City is a non-league affair. The Tigers are 2-5, but four of its five losses are to top 10 teams in the state. Their two wins came in the last two games and were blow out victories over Pleasant Hill and LaPine.
So it won’t be a time when Sweet Home can relax, as they must adjust for the absence of Horner, who was injured in an automobile accident on Saturday.
Cody Sells, the starting tailback early in the season when Horner was injured previously, reacquires that job under difficult emotional circumstances.
“I feel bad for Tyler,” said Sells, who thinks the Huskies just need to be consistent and make plays. “I’m going to run hard and do the best I can.”
That is the effort that Younger seeks, especially a performance that is consistent.
“We as coaches and players have to be dedicated to getting that done,” he said.
Game Statistics
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
SHHS 0 13 6 0 19
Central 7 14 14 7 42
1st Quarter
Cent—Tirado 60 yd. run (Desmarteau kick)
2nd Quarter
SHHS—Pettit to Hummer 22 yd. pass (kick failed)
Cent—Cuellar 64 yd. pass to Hamilton (Desmarteau kick)
SHHS—Horner 4 yd. run (McKinney kick)
Cent—Pratt 2 yd. run (Desmarteau kick)
3rd Quarter
Cent—Music 53 yd. run (Desmarteau kick)
Cent—Cuellar 32 yd. run (Desmarteau kick)
SHHS—Bascom 24 yd. run (McKinney kick)
4th Quarter
Cent—Anderson 9 yd. pass to Dale (Desmarteau kick)
Team Stats
Rushing: SHHS 29-191; Central 39-312
Passing: SHHS 202; Central 141
Sacks: SHHS 0; Central 5-25
Total: SHHS 368, Central 453
1st Downs: SHHS 16; Central 13
Turnovers: SHHS 0; Central 0
Penalties: SHHS 3-15; Central 4-35
Individual Stats
Rushing: SHHS: Horner 16-81; Bascom 7-55; Pettit 5-53;
Sells 1-2;
Central: Tirado 13-124; Music 10-84; Cuellar 4-70
Passing: SHHS: Pettit 13-21, 202;
Central: Cuellar 6-11, 118; Anderson 2-2, 23
Receiving: SHHS: Hummer 6-101; McKinney 3-58
Horner 2-27; Bascom 2—16
Central: Hamilton 2-66
Punts: SHHS: 2-69 (34.5 Net)
Central: Hamlin 2-62 (31 net)
Punt Returns: SHHS: Pettit 1-0
Kick Returns: SHHS: Sells 3-37; Pettit 1-13; Pitts 1-7
Central: 4-38
Interceptions: SHHS 0; Central 0
Fumble Recoveries: Central 2
Tackles: SHHS—Bascom 9; Fisher 8; Schaefer 7