The Sweet Home football team’s effort to establish a winning league record was thwarted 27-22 by a 5-3 Woodburn squad on Friday, Oct. 22.
“It was a fun game,” Head Coach Ryan Adams said. “We thought we had a chance. After the game, we were kind-of bummed. We felt like we let it get away.”
“Woodburn is well-coached,” he continued, “and we didn’t put enough finishing touches on drives. But our guys played hard, and we keep getting better week to week. We are continuing to work hard. We knew Woodburn was going to be a run heavy team. We struggled to stop the run for the majority of the game.”
Woodburn grabbed an early 7-0 lead.
“They ran wing-T type stuff on offense,” Adams said. “They pulled one out of Stayton’s playbook and ran it up the middle a lot. Their guys were bigger than ours.”
But Sweet Home quarterback Heath Nichol evened the score with a back-side slant on third down to junior wide receiver Brady Nichols, who took the ball 78 yards for a touchdown, breaking four tackles on the way, bringing the score to 7-7.
On their next series, the Huskies drove 10 plays to Woodburn’s five-yard line, where senior Russ Holly kicked a 22-yard field goal from the left hash, grabbing a 10-7 lead in the second quarter.
Woodburn running back Tomas Veliz sprinted for a 60-yard touchdown run to put his team up 14-10, then kicked a field goal to lead 17-10 at the half.
Sweet Home attempted an onside kick to start the second half, but Woodburn recovered and achieved a “pretty good return,” according to Adams. The Bulldogs ended up kicking a field goal, stretching their lead to 20-10.
Sweet Home nearly narrowed the margin on its next possession, storming down to Woodburn’s five. But the Bulldog junior linebacker Ian Metzger batted down Nichol’s fourth-down pass attempt to senior wide receiver Trenton Smith.
After the Huskies forced a turnover on downs, Nichol threw to Holly behind the line of scrimmage, and Holly then threw to junior wide receiver Kaden Zajic for a 74-yard touchdown. Holly’s ensuing point-after attempt failed, but it narrowed the deficit to 20-16.
Woodburn responded with another drive, capped by a two-yard touchdown run to put the Bulldogs up 27-16 in the fourth.
Needing a score fast, Sweet Home came through. A reverse to Nichols went for 35 yards, and the Huskies were able to “dink and dunk it” all the way downfield, Adams said. Ultimately, Nichols quarterback-sneaked the ball into the end zone from the one. Now down 27-22, Sweet Home went for two to try to bring the score to within a field goal. They did not convert on the two-point attempt.
The Huskies then put down an onside kick to try to get the ball back, but did not recover. Woodburn ran out the clock to seal the home victory.
This week, Sweet Home hosts Cascade at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 29. Cascade is ranked No. 1 in the state.
in Class 4A play.
“Cascade’s really freakin’ good,” Adams said, noting that the Cougars are a run-heavy team, having scrambled for more than 500 yards in four separate games this year.
“We’re going to try to find ways to let us get after it, and move our linebackers a little bit to stop their run,” he said. “It’s a David vs. Goliath, storyline for sure. We’re going to have fun with it, get after it and be competitive.”
Sweet Home enters its season finale at 1-2 in league and 3-5 overall.
Game Summary
Sweet Home 7 3 6 6
Woodburn 7 10 3 7
First Quarter
WB – Beyer 5 run. Unknown kick.
SH – Nichols 78 pass. Holly kick.
Second Quarter
H – Holly 22 kick.
WB – Veliz 60 run.
WB – Unknown 23 kick.
Third Quarter
WB – Unknown kick.
SH – Zajic 74 pass.
Fourth Quarter
WB – Pickett 2 run. Unknown kick.
SH – Nichol 1 run
Individual Statistics
Rushing – SH: Nichol 16-100; Nichols 1-36; Smith 1-6.
Passing – SH: Nichol 17-25-1-217; Holly 1-2-74.
Receiving – SH: Nichols 6-131; Zajic 2-83; Holly 5-44; Smith 1-14; Luttrell 3-9.