Ken Roberts
For The New Era
The running game returned last Friday night and with it a balanced offense that dominated Tillamook, 35-21.
Coach Rob Younger was elated with the improved blocking at the point of attack from both the line and the fullbacks.
“This was by far our best game that the offensive and defensive line has had,” Younger emphasized. “We controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides. That just opened up everything for us.”
The Huskies jumped to an early lead following a short kickoff and excellent field position at the 46 yard line.
Skyler Bascom, returning for his first game after recovering from an injury, opened a hole for a Cody Sells’ 23-yard run to the Tillamook 16. Two plays later, Chaz Davis scored his first touchdown on an 11-yard run.
After a quick defensive stop, it was Kyle Pettit’s turn to take charge. Pettit completed four passes to four different receivers in the 10 play drive, the final one to Adam Hummer for a 28-yard touchdown on fourth down with 16 yards to go.
The defense held the Cheesemakers in check on their first three series, including a fumble recovery by
Ridge McKinney. After a short punt that went out of bounds at the Tillamook 40, the Huskies struck quickly, using four runs and a finishing 16 yard strike from Pettit to Josh Riggs.
Late in the second quarter, Tillamook used a long 38-yard pass, its first completion of the night, from Jake Pugh to Treve Widmer to reach the Husky 11. Then that combination hooked up again for a 10-yard touchdown pass, but the Cheesemakers still trailed at halftime, 21-7.
The third quarter featured turnovers, four by Tillamook and two by Sweet Home. Greg Sipe recovered the first of three Cheesemaker fumbles on the opening series. The Huskies ripped off big chunks of yardage on the ground before fumbling it away themselves deep in Tillamook territory.
Three plays later, Riggs recovered a fumble at the Cheesemaker 31 and this time the Huskies capitalized.
Pettit converted another fourth down pass to Hummer for 24 yards before Sells scored on a 2-yard run.
After a Tillamook kickoff return to Sweet Home’s 42, Sipe made the first interception of the year for the
Huskies. However, after gaining some big yards, the Huskies coughed up the ball at the Tillamook 36.
But wait 15 seconds and things change. Pugh lost the handle on the ball as he went back to pass on the Cheesemakers’ first play and Nathan Whitfield made the recovery for the Huskies.
But wait 15 seconds. Actually, it didn’t take that long as Pettit opened with another 25-yard scoring strike to Hummer, his fifth catch to take his total for the night to 106 yards.
With the game in hand, Younger freely substituted and Tillamook picked up two meaningless touchdowns
in the fourth quarter. Of Tillamook’s 244 yards of total offense, 143 came in that final period.
Meanwhile, Sweet Home piled up 333 yards of offense with only nine in the fourth quarter on one series.
Sells ran 22 times for 111 yards. Pettit completed 11 of 19 passes, though several were dropped, for 158 yards.
Sells also had an excellent defensive game from his safety spot, as he and Steve Jones led the team in tackles with 8 each.
Sells gave credit to Bascom, one of the inspirational leaders of the team.
“He was fired up this week,” said Sells. “Everybody picked it up this week and I just ran harder.”
Whitfield, one of the leading forces on both sides of the line, saw the game as a pivotal one for the season.
“We just stepped up at a time that we needed to,” he said. “Otherwise, we weren’t going to do that well.”
Younger saw his defensive squad improve once again, especially with the turnovers produced.
“We worked on that aspect of the game in practice,” said Younger, noting that two of the fumbles were caused by clean strips. “When we put emphasis on something, our kids are usually good at responding to that challenge.”
The Huskies now ready themselves for a long road trip to Seaside, who was ranked in the top ten in the state before losing 13-0 to Newport last week.
“We haven’t won on the road yet,” said Younger. “We have to learn to do that.”
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
SHHS 13 8 14 0 35
Till. 0 7 0 14 21
1st Quarter
SHHS—Davis 11 yard run (Nunn kick)
SHHS—Pettit to Hummer 28 yd. pass (kick failed)
2nd Quarter
SHHS—Pettit to Riggs 16 yd. pass (Pettit run)
Till—Pugh to Widmer 10 yd. pass (Dickerson kick)
3rd Quarter
SHHS—Sells 2 yd. run (kick failed)
SHHS—Pettit to Hummer 25 yd. pass (Pettit run)
4th Quarter
Till—Delatorre 8 yd. run (Dickerson kick)
Till—Pugh 33 yd. run (Dickerson kick)
Team Stats
Rushing: SHHS 36-177; Tillamook 40-173
Passing: SHHS 158; Tillamook 78
Sacks: SHHS 1-7 Tillamook 1-2
Total: SHHS 333, Tillamook 244
1st Downs: SHHS 14; Tillamook 14
Turnovers: SHHS 2; Tillamook 5
Penalties: SHHS 8-62; Tillamook 8-60
Individual Stats
Rushing: SHHS: Sells 22-112; Davis 5-25; Horner 3-14; Pettit 1-13; Pitts 2-8; Bascom 3-5
Tillamook: Delatorre 21-89, Pugh 7-45
Passing: SHHS: Pettit 11-19, 158;
Tillamook: Pugh 5-14-1, 78
Receiving: SHHS: Hummer 5-106; Riggs 2-30; Bergevin 1-11; McKinney 1-9; Sells 1-8; Davis 1—(-6)
Tillamook: Widmer 2-48
Punts: SHHS: Delong 2-69 (34.5, 34.5 net)
Tillamook: Fetzer 2-49 (24.5, 24.5 net)
Punt Returns: SHHS: None
Tillamook: None
Kick Returns: SHHS: Ottre 1-8, Pitts 1-10; Sells 1-12 Tillamook: 6-79
Interceptions: SHHS:1 (Sipe); Tillamook 0
Fumble Recoveries: SHHS 4 (McKinney, Sipe, Riggs, Whitfield)
Tillamook 2
Tackles: SHHS: Sells and Jones 8