Ken Roberts
For The New Era
Maybe the Oregon Jamboree isn’t over for Sweet Home yet.
In Sweet Home, the Huskies are singing about heartbreak for the second week in a row, this time at the hands of Estacada, falling 42-41 in overtime.
For Estacada, it was a matter of Hyde and streak. Jake Hyde, Mr. Outside, was on the glory train for five touchdowns, four rushing and one receiving, as he gained 146 yards of total offense. However, it was Alex Pursel, Mr. Inside, who controlled the game by racking up 307 rushing yards in 35 carries. For the night, Estacada had 490 yards of total offense.
It wasn’t just a matter of playing some inexperienced players on the line. Coach Rob Younger said he didn’t believe that some of the Huskies’ key players had responded as physically as they had against Sisters.
“We came out very flat,” said Coach Rob Younger. “We were not emotionally ready to play.”
Despite the defensive breakdowns, it wasn’t that bad of a night for the Husky offense, however. For the first time in anyone’s memory, Sweet Home scored four passing touchdowns on its way to 202 total yards of passing combined with another 175 yards of rushing. Sophomore Keenon Martin threw three of those touchdowns, two to Sean Potter and one to fellow sophomore Tim McDowell.
“We are seeing a lot of defensive schemes that are primarily designed to stop the run because that’s what we’ve always done,” explained Younger. “Eventually, the teams will change their defenses, which should open up the running game.”
Ryan Graville started the scoring barrage with a 49-yard strike to Sam Macklin in the first quarter. Leif Erickson, the new placekicker for the Huskies, added the extra point, one of his five for the night. After that, the ball changed hands rapidly, either because of quick scores, turnovers, or a short series that ended in a punt.
Hyde put the Rangers on the board with a 32-yard run. Their kick failed, which forced Estacada into the two point conversion mindset from that point on and would ultimately be the difference in the game.
Quarterback Kyle Gould gave Estacada its first lead in the second quarter when he hooked up with Hyde on a 36-yard pass. Undeterred, Sweet Home responded with two touchdowns just 30 seconds apart. First, Martin tossed a six-yard pass to Potter and then, following an Estacada fumble recovered by Amos Parmenter, Martin caught McDowell behind the Ranger secondary for a 54-yard strike.
The fans didn’t have time to blink, because it only took Pursel 20 seconds to narrow the gap to one point at halftime with a 71-yard romp and a two-point conversion, making it 21-20 Sweet Home.
In the second half, the fast-paced drama continued. The Huskies were thwarted in their initial series, but McDowell applied a hit on punt returner Eli Durhkoop and Trevur Byers recovered the fumble to extend the Huskies’ possession. Five running plays later,
Parmenter, who was the Huskies’ leading rusher with 61 yards, scored from 7 yards out.
Sweet Home mounted another drive later in the third quarter and added to its lead on the first play of the fourth quarter with a Martin to Potter 35 yard pass.
Estacada was far from through. With Pursel leading the way, the Rangers drove 64 yards and Hyde finished things off with a 10-yard touchdown run and another two-point conversion. After an interception on a tipped ball, Estacada put together another long drive, this time 12 plays with Hyde sweeping the end from five yards out to tie the game. Setting the stage for its closing act, the Huskies stopped Pursel short on the conversion attempt.
After another Estacada interception on a desperation last-gasp pass by the Huskies, the game went into overtime.
Sweet Home took just five plays for Byers to score a one-yard touchdown and Erickson kicked the extra point. But it only took Hyde one play to race around end for the full 25 yards. Committed to the two-point conversion, Estacada would either win or lose with its extra point attempt. Hyde made sure they won, giving him 34 of the 42 Estacada points.
With injuries to linemen Josh Riggs and Logan Clark, the Husky linemen faced extended duty instead of their normal rest patterns. With the possibility that both might miss the next game as well, Sweet Home has to come up with a quick solution to stop the opponents’ rushing game.
“We will have to step up and play more physically,” said outside linebacker Brent Moyer. “We know we are getting better because we are playing against good teams. We’re bonding more as a team and learning from our mistakes.”
Offensively, the Huskies have been able to count on their passing attack for quick touchdowns. As a team, they are averaging nearly 20 yards per reception with McDowell and Macklin both averaging more than 30 yards per reception.
Part of the quarterback duo, senior Ryan Graville is enjoying his opportunity to play defense which he thinks also makes him a better quarterback.
“I get to see action from a different perspective,” said Graville. “It helps my reads to see what defenses do in certain situations.”
Now 0-2 on the season, by a combined margin of four points, the Huskies head for
Stayton this Friday to change their fortunes and overcome the heartbreaks. The Eagles are 1-1 for the season, having lost to Philomath 13-6 in their opener and beating Seaside 22-7 last week.
Younger isn’t focusing so much on what Stayton does as he is with using practice to hammer home the idea of finishing. Finishing blocks, tackles, runs, plays, and games.
“If they don’t get sick of hearing the word finish this week, something is very wrong,” Younger emphasized.
“The close games have been hard on our confidence to a certain extent,” he said. “But our players will get better because of it. To come that close against two good teams with as many mistakes as we are making shows you just how good this team can be.”
1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT Final
Sweet Home 7 14 6 7 7 41
Estacada 6 14 0 14 8 42
1st Quarter
SH: Ryan Graville to Sam Macklin 49 yd. pass (Leif Erickson kick)
Est: Jake Hyde 32 yd. run (kick failed)
2nd Quarter
Est: Kyle Gould to Hyde 36 yd. pass (run failed)
SH: Keenon Martin to Sean Potter 6 yd. pass (Erickson kick)
SH: Martin to Tim McDowell 54 yd. pass (Erickson kick)
Est: Alex Pursel 71 yd. run (Pursel run)
3rd Quarter
SH: Amos Parmenter 7 yd. run (kick failed)
4th Quarter
SH: Martin to Potter 35 yd. pass (Erickson kick)
Est: Hyde 10 yd. run (Hyde run)
Est: Hyde 5 yd. run (run failed)
Overtime
SH: Trevur Byers 1 yd. run (Erickson kick)
Est: Hyde 25 yd. run (Hyde run)
Team Statistics
Rushing: Sweet Home 37-175; Estacada 60-447
Passing: Sweet Home 9-19, 202; Estacada 3-5, 43
Sacked: None
Total Offense: Sweet Home 377; Estacada 490
First Downs: Sweet Home 11; Estacada 17
Tackles for Losses: Sweet Home 2; Estacada 3
3rd/4th Down Conversions: Sweet Home 5-12; Estacada 4-13
Penalties: SH 6-49; Estacada 4-30
Turnovers: SH 3 (1 fumble, 2 int.); Estacada 4 (fumbles)
Individual Statistics
Rushing: SH: Parmenter 14-61; Ward 8-41; Moyer 3-28; Graville 3-25; Byers 5-21; Cota 1-5; Martin 2-1; McDowell 1-(-7)
Esta: Pursel 35-307; Hyde 12-110
Passing: SH: Graville 3-4, 71; Martin 6-15-2, 131 Esta: Gould 3-5, 43
Receiving: SH: McDowell 2- 77; Macklin 2-61; Potter 2-41; Marchbanks 1-12; Parmenter 1-10; Byers 1-1
Esta: Hyde 1-36
Kick Returns: SH: Macklin 3-72, McDowell 1-15; Esta 6-81
Punts: SH: Parmenter 4-116, 29 avg.; Estacada None
Punt Returns: SH: None Esta: 3-13
Fumble Recoveries: SH: Parmenter 2, Marchbanks 1, Byers 1
Tackles: SH: Parmenter 13, Erickson 10, Moyer 9
.
Huskies JV 20, Estacada 14
The team played a great game defensively as the Rangers rushed on every play but two the entire game. Estacada’s one pass completion was a 60-yard touchdown pass and the other ended in an interception.
Patrick Long had five tackles for the Huskies, including two sacks, Jake Riggs recovered a muffed punt in the end zone for a safety.
Offensively, the Huskies had a very good game as Tyler Holley recorded a 60-yard touchdown pass completion, Kyle Sorenson had a 42-yard touchdown run and Steven Bidwell added a 40-yard touchdown run.
All of the scoring in the game came in the second half. The Huskies rushed for 101 yards and passed for 103.
Estacada scored its second touchdown with about two minutes remaining. The Rangers then attempted an on-side kickoff, recovering the ball on the Huskies 45-yard line. But Zach Miller sacked the quarterback as time ran out, a key play as it kept the clock running and the Rangers ran out of time.
Huskies Frosh Football
The freshman team ended up playing a scrimmage on Thursday, due to the Estacada not having a frosh-soph team and the Huskies having only 16 players on their roster.
The team needs players. Sweet Home played well, but only had 16 players, while the Rangers dressed 45. Boys who want to play football in the future need to get started as freshmen to learn the game.
The first half was all Estacada, as the Rangers scored three touchdowns. The Huskies played very well offensively and defensively in the second half, holding Estacada to only one touchdown.
For Sweet Home, quarterback Scottie Stocton hit Jacob Fisher for a 45-yard touchdown pass and then completed another to Glenn Hershberg for 25 yards.
Dick Oglesby contributed to this report.