Ken Roberts
Sports Writer
The Sweet Home-Marist football game last Friday may have been called a quarterfinal game, but it was played as if it were for the state championship.
Though the Huskies made it difficult, Marist used their two excellent running backs on a soaked, muddy field to defeat Sweet Home, 21-7, and end the season for the Huskies.
In a game that would probably be decided by field position and turnovers, Sweet Home made a step in the right direction with their first offensive drive. After a successful third down pass from Tim Matuszak to Seth Graves yielded a first down near midfield, Marist forced the Huskies to punt. Tyler Emmert’s punt for 31 yards with no return backed Marist up at their own 15 yard line.
Then the defense made a stand and had them stopped immediately, but an incidental face mask penalty allowed Marist to retain possession. From that point on, Marist displayed why they are considered the number one ranked team in the state. They went on a 16 play drive, all on the ground except for one late incompleted pass, that took up the remainder of the first quarter and on into the second before Drew Macha kicked a 27 yard field goal.
Holding the Spartans to a field goal was a big plus, and the Huskies followed that up by penetrating deep into Marist territory following a 39 yard jaunt by Graves to the Marist 25. But two plays later, Alex Zerzan intercepted a Sweet Home pass, something the Huskies couldn’t afford to do in a game of this magnitude.
Nonetheless, Sweet Home’s defense stood up one more time when Zach Reynolds, on a 4th down play, stopped the next Marist drive at the Husky 35. Following a five yard loss and a five yard penalty, Dale Morris intercepted another Sweet Home pass and this time Marist took advantage. 6’8″ quarterback Ryan Coldren capped off the seven play drive by extending his arms across the goal line from the one, but Macha missed the first of his two blown extra point attempts.
The Huskies started with good field position on their next possession after a short pooch kick by Macha was recovered at the 42. Runs of 18 yards by Matuszak and 14 by Travis Smith put the Huskies into field goal range, but Heath Belknap’s kick came up short, sending Sweet Home into the lockerroom at halftime, trailing 9-0.
“They took advantage of their two good running backs,” said coach Rob Younger. “It seemed like we didn’t have the ball very much, especially in the first half.”
In the third quarter, the Spartans reestablished momentum early. They scored on another extended drive on their first possession with Erick Hunt’s two yard run. Then they pressured Matuszak defensively, sacking him twice and stopping a completed pass to Smith for a three yard loss.
“Marist played off momentum,” said senior lineman Mack Reynolds, who along with Rob Martin were both injured early in the fourth quarter. “Our team hadn’t seen a team play that way and that hard.”
A 47 yard run by Morris on their opening play of their next long drive threatened the Huskies again. But with a first down and goal at the four, Sweet Home put up a fight, using a 10 yard Marist holding penalty to back them up to the 11. Then uncharacteristically the Huskies jumped offsides twice, allowing the Spartans to go for a touchdown rather than kick a field goal. Morris made Sweet Home pay for its mistake with a 3 yard run.
On the ensuing kickoff near the end of the third quarter, it appeared that Marist had recovered their short 20 yard kick, which would have been the finishing touch. However, the Marist player caught the ball in the air without letting it hit the ground, which is illegal. That gavethe ball to the Huskies at Marist’s 40 yard line.
Donny Cliver was inserted into the game at quarterback, his first action since breaking his fibula at Sisters.
“We needed to create something offensively,” said Younger, “so we thought we would go with Donny and spread the field and create some passing lanes.”
Lacking mobility with his heavily taped ankle, Cliver set up in the shotgun formation. Though they were successful on a couple of running plays early, they primarily threw the ball for the rest of the night. Trying to shake off the rust of inactivity, Cliver only completed one of his first six passing attempts.
“I just hoped I could get the team going,” said Cliver. “I hoped I could get the team going and get some momentum by putting a drive together. I think I was a little too excited after not playing for so long.”
Though Cliver’s first attempt to get a drive going didn’t work, it only took one play for Matuszak to recover a Marist fumble and give Cliver a second chance at the Spartan 35. He connected immediately with Brandon Miner for 11 yards, but then was sacked twice for 15 yards.
Then he threaded a pass over a Marist defender to Miner, who made a great catch for 33 yards to the Marist six. Finally it was time for Graves to pound it into the line three times for the touchdown.
In Marist’s next series, three penalties sidetracked their effort to salt away the game. To make matters worse for the Spartans, Travis Smith blocked Macha’s punt and Tomas Rosa recovered it at the Marist 25. Once again though, Marist rose to the occasion as Erick Hunt intercepted a Husky pass. Near the end of the game, the Spartans’ Tyler Coleman fittingly picked off their fourth interception of the night.
Though the game was intermittently shrouded by fog, it was clear at the end of the game that Marist had played an outstanding game and that the Sweet Home players never quit battling.
For the game, Morris ran for 185 yards on 28 carries and Hunt added 118 yards in 18 attempts.
The Huskies were limited to 94 yards passing and 76 yards total rushing after including the results of the four sacks.
“It was a combination of them executing extremely well and us not being at the top of our game,” said Younger.
Going into the game, a key aspect was control of the line of scrimmage. The Husky offensive line was able to handle their jobs, but it was difficult to overcome Marist’s extra stacking of the box and their outside speed and pressure they applied to the quarterback on passing plays.
“They always had one linebacker stepping up on the line each time,” said Graves. “I think their goal was to stop our run and make us pass. They did a pretty good job of that.”
The mobility of the huge Spartan offensive line surprised some of the Huskies.
“They wouldn’t have been so good if their offensive line wasn’t so good,” said linebacker Matt Zollman. “I thought they were going to be big slow guys. We didn’t think they would be able to sustain their drives, but they did.”
Offensively, the speed of the running backs was the decisive factor.
“Their running backs made you miss,” said safety Tyler Emmert. “It was hard to get an angle on them. They were the fastest team we’ve played and probably in 3A.”
It was equally frustrating to Brandon Miner.
“It seemed like there were three blockers always coming at me,” he said. “No matter what I did, they had the quickness to get out of it.”
It was a difficult defeat for the Huskies to take, especially the 15 seniors. But, with a 10-1 season, Coach Younger wasn’t about to let the seniors feel like they failed.
“Part of handling the game is dealing with adversity,” said Younger. “Our kids kept their composure and competed down to the last gun. I’m very proud of our team for doing that.”
There is a reason that Marist was ranked number one, but also a reason for this Husky team to be ranked among the best that has ever played for Sweet Home High School.