Ken Roberts
For The New Era
In the constant drizzle of the Lincoln City night, Sweet Home managed to hang onto the football long enough to down Taft, 22-7.
Sweet Home escaped with the victory despite five more turnovers, though they had three critical takeaways of their own.
?The defense handled the short field situation well,? said Younger, citing the consistent pressure applied throughout the game. ?We just played solid team defense.?
On the first Taft possession, however, the Tigers put together two long pass plays that had them down to the Husky 13 yard line. That is when Taft first became very familiar with Shorty Weikel, who once again led Sweet Home in tackles with 12, 10 in the first half.
Weikel forced a fumble on the quarterback exchange and Charlie Fitzsimons scooped it up and raced 73 yards for the opening touchdown. The point after was blocked.
On Taft?s next possession, they were forced to punt. This would be the first of three consecutive Husky fumbles that cost them possession of the ball. Tim Faulconer made a solid return but fumbled, which Taft recovered at the Sweet Home 34.
The first play would be the last mistake made by the Husky defense as James Driver scampered 34 yards, which, combined with Andy Hensley?s extra point, gave the Tigers the 7-6 lead that they carried into the second quarter.
The first two times the Sweet Home offense had the ball, they fumbled, once on a snap on the fourth play and the second time on a run during the second play. But the defense made up for it by applying continuous pressure on quarterback Kyle Hamlin, with Weikel sacking him twice in the second quarter.
Weikel has helped bring a new energy to the Husky defense with his quickness.
?It makes teams hurry and forget about their fundamentals, which helps us gets turnovers,? said Weikel. ?I hope to spread enthusiasm throughout the team. By me going as hard as I can every play, maybe I?ll be a role model for others to work harder.?
Sweet Home finally found a way to score with five minutes left in the second quarter, following a 10 yard punt return by Faulconer that put them just inside Taft territory. Trevor Tagle broke loose for a 26-yard run to the 19 and then watched his substitute, Weikel, find an open hole up the middle from 16 yards out. Tagle tacked on a two-point running conversion.
Tagle, who has averaged close to a 100 yards a game against tough competition, has used the big gain to add to those statistics rather than the steady drive down the field.
?Our coach keeps saying four yards a carry,? said Tagle. ?We are just trying to move the ball down the field and if we break a big one, we are lucky.?
Execution in the backfield has slowed that process somewhat.
?Our problem right now is that we are giving up the ball too often,? stated Younger, who was pleased with the improvement in the line play. ?We just need to go back to the fundamentals to work on handoffs and the center snap exchange. That will just take more reps in practice.?
Tagle opened the second half with big kickoff return of 35 yards to the Husky 47, where they began to put together a solid drive. But the fumble bug was still biting and the Huskies handed the ball over to Taft again following another mishandled snap exchange.
The Tigers, whose rushing game had been stymied, were forced into passing situations often. But, other than those early passes and a questionable catch late in the game, Sweet Home put a stop to that plan as well. Hamlin was only 7 for 25 on the night with two interceptions.
The first interception came on the second play of their opening drive when Cody Shipp swiped the ball and returned it all the way down to the Tiger 27 yard line. Six plays later, Tagle scored the final touchdown from ten yards out and then added on his second two point conversion.
The rest of the game was entirely defense with both sides unable to move the ball.
The Huskies racked up four more sacks with a pair by Joe Ellis. Kyle Aubert also had an interception and a 30 yard return late in the game.
The offensive statistics were even, with Sweet Home outrushing Taft 178 to 60 and the Tigers dominating the passing statistics, 137 to 17. Tagle had 101 yards rushing in 19 carries while Weikel chipped in with 60 yards in just 8 carries.
Sweet Home opens Capital Conference play at Sisters, who sports a 4-0 record.
However, they have played against less prodigious opponents in Burns, LaPine, Madras, and Philomath, who have a combined record of 4-13. Still, Sisters along with Stayton are the names that are being touted as teams to beat.
?Nobody in our conference has played a schedule like we have played,? said Tagle.
?Once we get into league play, it will be totally different than what people have been saying about us.?
Game Summary
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
SHHS 6 8 8 0 22
Taft 7 0 0 0 7
1st Quarter
SH?Fitzsimons 63 yd. fumble return (kick failed)
Taft?Driver 34 yd. run (Hensley kick)
2nd Quarter
SH?Weikel 16 yd. run (Tagle run)
3rd Quarter
SH?Tagle 10 yd. run (Tagle run)
4th Quarter
Team Stats
Rushing: SHHS 39-178; Taft 26-103
Passing: SHHS 17; Taft 137
Sacks: SHHS 6-43 (Weikel 2.5, Ellis 1.5,
Brewer 1, Bascom 0.5, DeLong 0.5);
Taft 0
Total: SHHS 195, Taft 197
1st Downs: SHHS 9; Taft 10
Turnovers: SHHS 5; Taft 3
Penalties: SHHS 8-85; Taft 8-71.5
Individual Stats
Rushing: SHHS: Tagle 19-101; Weikel 8-60
Bascom 4-25; Shipp 1-4; Aubert 7-(-12)
Taft: Driver 18-88
Passing: SHHS: Aubert 2-7-1, 17
Taft: Hamlin 7-25-2, 137
Receiving: SHHS: Bascom 1-15, Tagle 1-2
Taft: Driver 3-47; Milner 2-60
Punts: SHHS: Bascom 3-90 (30, 30.3 net)
Taft: Suiter 6-179 (29.8, 22.7 net)
Punt Returns: SHHS: Faulconer 4-43-1
Taft: 3-(-1)
Kick Returns: SHHS: Tagle 1-35; Fitzsimons 1-9
Taft: 4-22
Kickoff Average Yard Line:
SHHS: 43; Taft 28.3
Interceptions: SHHS 2 (Shipp,Aubert); Taft 1
Fumble Recoveries: SHHS 1; Taft 4
Tackles: SHHS: Weikel 12, Bascom 9,
Faulconer 8
Injury report
Kyle Pettit, bruised knee, could return this week; Ryan Elliott, waiting for MRI results on his knee, which he reports is feeling better; Adam Hummer, still out two to three more weeks recovering from appendicitis; Tyler Horner, broken arm, may return in week nine.