Jason Casey
Sweet Home pulled off one of the most improbable finishes in its football history Friday, with a last-second, come-from-behind 25-21 win over Sutherlin via a Hail Mary touchdown pass.
With one second left and the ball on the Sutherlin 30 yard line, quarterback Justin Tow lofted the ball into the end zone, where Daniel Virtue tipped it and Jesus Patricio grabbed it for the winning score.
The finale was the culmination of a wild fourth quarter that was as exciting as it gets – a series of questionable penalties, three touchdowns, and a blocked PAT.
“The last play was insane. I knew we could get the ball there but after that, anything could have happened,” said Brandon Keenon, who finished the game with 34 rushing attempts for 138 yards and one reception for 17 yards.
Head Coach Dustin Nichol said the Bulldogs were ready for Sweet Home.
“They were pretty hyped up for the game,” he said. “They came out and played a really good game.”
The final quarter of the game turned into a Wild West shootout that began with Sutherlin quarterback Tristan Needham throwing a 10-yard pass on fourth down to Dustin Eakin to close a 13-3 Sweet Home lead to 13-9 with 11:55 left in the quarter.
Keanu Aiona took the ensuing kickoff from the 24 yard line down to the two, and Brandon Keenon finished the drive with his third touchdown of his game to extend the Huskies’ lead to 19-9 with 11:05 to go.
The Bulldogs got the ball back and drove down the field. Patricio intercepted a Needham pass, but a Sutherlin player ripped the ball back and ran the ball down the field to the 45 yard line. The Bulldogs’ Wryland McKnight plunged in from the two yard line to close the gap to 19-15.
That was when the game got really interesting, and for Husky or Bulldog fans who were present, it won’t be soon forgotten.
Sweet Home got the ball back, but settled for a 42-yard field goal attempt after its drive stalled, giving Sutherlin the ball with 1:19 to go in the game. On the first play Neeland ran for a 28-yard gain, plus 15 more yards tacked on after the play for a personal foul penalty. After two incompletions the Bulldogs threw a pass behind the line of scrimmage to wide receiver Eakin, who threw it 32 yards down the field on the trick play. McKnight scored his second touchdown of the game with 32 seconds to go to take the lead 21-19.
“The final drive that Sutherlin had, they caught some lucky breaks, the face mask penalty that we had was a killer, and when Jesus had the ball stripped from his hands after he intercepted it, it was just really nerve-racking,” Tow said. “The biggest play, their double pass, was huge for them and it really felt like our season was ending. They had some great plays. I mean, I’ve got to give credit to Sutherlin; they played their hearts out and had a great game.”
Nichol noted that a look at the film later suggested that the face mask call came after a Sutherlin player “basically tackled” Sweet Home’s Dillon Stutzman “right in front of the sideline judge,” opening a big hole for the Bulldogs’ running back on the play.
“I don’t like to blame the officials, but they called three penalties against them and we had about 13.”
With half a minute to go, Patricio got things rolling for the Huskies when he caught a pass from Tow. Brandon Keenon then took a direct snap from center, ran left and pitched it to Tow, who then threw it to Patricio with one second left on the clock.
“The trick play that we ran we have been saving since week two,” said Tow. “Brandon Keenon has been begging Coach Nichol to let us try it for weeks. I guess he chose a good time to save it because it was a miracle that it worked and it was so crucial to setting up the play that followed. We had planned on setting it up by running option so they wouldn’t see the pass coming, but we just didn’t have time. With only 10 seconds left, we had to get the ball as close to the end zone as we could.”
On the final play of the game Tow rolled to his right and threw a 30-yard pass that went off Virtue’s hands. Patricio caught the deflection for the improbable win, giving the Huskies a 25-19 walk-off victory that keeps their season alive.
“We had called a time-out with one second on the clock and Coach Nichol came out and we talked about what our options were,” said Tow. “We talked about a trick play, a field goal, and then we just decided that our best shot was a Hail Mary. Our formation was three guys line up to the right, and they were all just gonna run into the end zone and try and catch it. When the ball was snapped, I saw that Daniel Virtue was in one-on-one coverage, so he was my target.
“I waited for him to get into the end zone and threw it high. He went up and it bounced off his hands, and Jesus had the great concentration to find the ball and secure the catch. The feelings that came after was unreal, it was the coolest feeling ever,” said Tow who finished with nine completions in 16 with 168 yards a touchdown and an interception on defense.
“Justin’s passing is what saved us a lot this week,” Nichol said. He credited Keenon, Virtue and Garrison Whitfield with big games on defense.
Patricio finished the game with four receptions for 78 yards and the game winning touchdown.
The sideline erupted, the players celebrated in the end zone, and the fans who traveled from Sweet Home went nuts.
“The kids competed right to very end, and they came out with the win,” Nichol said. “Guess it was karma or something.”
After Sweet Home scored its first touchdown in the first quarter it was held scoreless until the third quarter. The Huskies couldn’t get out of their own way.
“The offense in the first quarter was really clicking, we went down and scored on our first drive, and after that we had some mental breakdowns, we had a few turnovers in the red zone that really killed our momentum. I think after the first drive we thought that we were going to walk all over them, and that’s definitely not what happened,” said Tow.
Nichol said the Huskies were struggling with similar challenges they’ve had earlier in the season.
“It was one of those deals again, where, in the first half, we made it a game by not finishing some scoring,” he said. “We had penalties that stifled some drives in the first half. We came up short there a couple of different times.
“They were pumped up, ready to go. We kind of just showed up. We competed but we weren’t finishing.”
The win left the Huskies tied at 3-2 in league, 4-4 overall, with Junction City and Cottage Grove, who have identical records after the latter beat the Tigers 19-14 on Friday, but a coin flip relegated Sweet Home to No. 4 going into the playoffs, which means the Huskies travel to Coos Bay Friday to play Marshfield in a play-in game.
Nichol noted that Sweet Home would be No. 2 if the Huskies hadn’t had “one bad half” in a 22-8 loss to Junction City.
“If we played them 10 times, I think we’d beat them eight of 10,” he said. “But it is what it is. We’re going where we are going and we have another opportunity.”
The Pirates fell to North Bend 10-7 in a cross-city rivalry game Friday after North Bend’s Brody Lucero fell on a fumble inside his team’s seven-yard line, one of three turnovers for Marshfield. A field goal for the Bulldogs was the only score in the first half. North Bend scored again in the third quarter, and Marshfield’s loan touchdown came in the fourth, in a defense-dominated game.
The Pirates (3-1, 6-2) enter the playoffs as the No. 11 seed despite being ranked eighth in the final Oregon School Activities power rankings. Sweet Home is ranked 22nd.
Marshfield has outscored its opponents 302-110, including a 53-6 win over Sutherlin in the second week of the season. Its only other loss this season was at home to 3A Division Harrisburg, 18-15. A game at Douglas on Oct. 2 was cancelled due to the shootings at Umpqua Community College the previous day.
The Pirates, along with Cascade (No. 5) and Phoenix (No. 7) were bumped into the play-in round because of lower-seeded league champions Molalla, North Bend and La Grande, who were guaranteed a bye and a home game in the first round of the playoffs.
Nichol said Marshfield is “a big, physical team.”
The Pirates have 48 players on their roster, 24 of whom are listed at 200 pounds or heavier. By contrast, Sweet Home has 36, 11 of whom are listed in the 200-plus range.
“It will come down to depth and endurance,” Nichol said. “Our depth chart is not that deep and we have a lot of guys going three ways. That starts taking its toll this late in the season.
“We’ll have to bring our ‘A’ game, but I’m confident we have the tools to compete.”
Scoring Summary
SH 7 0 6 12 – 25
S 0 3 0 18 – 21
First Quarter
SH – Brandon Keenon 3 run (Jesus Patricio kick) 5:14
Second Quarter
S – Keaton Jones 31 field goal :29
Third Quarter
SH – Brandon Keenon 2 run (Kick failed) 5:54
S – Dustin Eakin 10 pass from Tristan Needham (Kick failed) 11:55
Fourth Quarter
SH – Brandon Keenon 1 run (PAT failed) 11:05
S – Wryland McKnight 2 run (Kick failed) 4:30
S – Wryland McKnight 6 run (Kick blocked) :32
SH – Jesus Patricio 30 pass from Justin Tow :01
Individual Statistics
Rushing
Brandon Keenon 34-138; Garrison Whitfield 2-2; Keanu Aiona 2-(-1)
Passing
Justin Tow 9-16-0-168
Receiving
Jesus Patricio 4-78; Justin Virtue 3-58; Brandon Keenon 1-17; Tyler Plebuch 1-15