Scott Swanson
After a pair of losses to two of the state’s top teams, Sweet Home moved into the win column Friday, Sept. 20, downing Phoenix 22-7.
“It was good that we got a win,” said Head Coach Dustin Nichol, whose team had fallen to Marist and Banks, two of the state’s top programs, in their two previous games. “The kids played really good all the way around.”
Friday could have been a bigger score for the Huskies, who were in the red zone on both of their first two drives of the game, fumbling away the first opportunity at the 5-yard line and then watching four of quarterback Aiden Tyler’s passes fall incomplete from the 16.
“We had some missed opportunities,” Tyler said. “I probably underthrew or overthrew on some passes.”
Nichol said the early struggles were essentially mistakes.
“Every time we called a play, we had a kid make a mistake. If people run their routes, or block correctly, we walk it in for a touchdown.”
He said the Huskies could have attempted field goals early on, but they were having some issues with snaps – Tyler frequently had to reach high or even jump to pull down the ball during the evening.
“What I told the kids after the game is that field goals are not going to win postseason games against Marist or Banks. We need touchdowns. We can’t settle for field goals. This is what the preseason is about, working these things out.”
Defensively, though, Sweet Home took charge early and at the end of the first quarter Peyton Ullrich boomed a 50-yard punt from his 43 that set the visitors back at their 7. The Huskies drove them back and Iakona Howerton and Sevin Carson downed running back Mateo Lopez in the end zone on the first play of the second quarter to put Sweet Home on the board, 2-0.
The Huskies fumbled the ball away for the second time on their next play, and Phoenix took advantage, driving from their 46 to the end zone for a 7-2 lead.
At that point, Tyler appeared to really find his rhythm, completing two passes to Cole Baxter for 30 yards and hitting Jasper Korn with a screen pass for a few more to drive the Huskies to the 27-yard line, where Travis Thorpe ran it in for a touchdown on his first carry of the night to give the hosts an 8-7 lead.
“The first half, we had a lot of pressure from a blitzing backer, who kept on getting us on our counters,” Thorpe said. “Especially in the red zone, he was blitzing on almost every play. We figured out what his play calling was. We were able to block him, double back and make some plays.”
Nichol and his players all gave big thumbs-ups to the offensive line, which was “outstanding” all night, the coach said.
Other than the initial problems of containing Phoenix linebacker Mike Walker, the Huskies gave up one sack all night.
“There was very little to no pressure,” Nichol said.
“Our line blocked well,” Tyler said.
Nichol said that there was also good communication between Tyler and his receivers for most of the night.
Sweet Home finished with 410 yards of total offense, including 220 through the air as Tyler completed 15 of 23 pass attempts with no interceptions.
“They have worked really hard last five weeks,” he said of the quarterbacks and receivers, who have learned to read defenses and make adjustments at the line of scrimmage.
“I call plays and I want to say I’m always right but I’m not,” Nichol said. “I give the quarterback leeway to make adjustments.”
Also, he said, Tyler pulled the ball down and ran when the situation required it, which mixed things up and kept the Pirates off balance.
“By the time you do that, it makes for a good Friday night. We’re not just one-sided.”
Sweet Home really started clicking on both ends of the field in the second half, taking over on their 29 on their first drive of the third quarter, which Gavin Nichols finished eight plays later with a three-yard run for the Huskies’ second score with 6:12 on the clock.
“At halftime, we picked it up,” Thorpe said. “Definitely, having those long catches really made the difference. We had a couple of breakthrough runs.”
They had another chance on their next possession, driving inside the Pirates’ 1-yard line, but failing to score as Tyler tried to run it in three times, getting sacked on third down, and then missed on a pass attempt on fourth to give the visitors the ball back at their 6 yard line.
Phoenix took advantage, launching an 11-play drive that took them inside the Sweet Home 1-yard line, but the Husky defense held at the goal line on two successive attempts by the Pirates to plunge in.
“These guys are phenomenal,” he said.
In particular, Howerton, who is a two-way starter, “big” Paul Glynn (6-4, 270), Kai Bryson, Carson Smith and Taylor Moore made life difficult for Phoenix, he said.
Bryson sat out most of last year with an injury and Smith and Moore returned to the team this year after not playing for the past two years.
“They’re having great seasons. It’s a pleasant surprise. You expect to have one or two surprises during the season, but I’ve got three pleasant surprises right there.”
After keeping Phoenix out of the end zone, the Huskies took over on their 5 and drove to the Pirates’ 14 in 10 plays, including some key pass completions by Tyler, the last to Zach Luttmer for a 12-yard score with 4:30 left to play, to move ahead 22-7 after Towry’s kick.
For Sweet Home, Thorpe led the ground game with 77 yards on eight rushes, with Tyler adding 62 more on seven carries.
Nichol said the “running back by committee” approach is working, which allows Gavin Nichols, who finished with 46 yards on 14 carries, Thorpe and Jackson Royer, who carried once for five, to start on defense.
“Right now, it’s a thing that’s been good,” he said. “The guys are understanding about our situation. We tell them, ‘you’ve got a series’ and in the fourth quarter, whoever is doing the best, we’ll pick that guy.
“A lot of other teams, guys would be bent out of shape. They’ve accepted the way I want to do this thing. In today’s self-centered world, I’ve got to give them credit. I respect them for that. They’re competing against one another, to get that nod for next week.”
Korn put in a workman-like night at wideout, catching eight passes for 98 yards, most of them screens. Baxter was the deep threat for the Huskies, pulling in four passes, including 15-, 25- and 29-yarders.
Phoenix finished with 244 yards on offense, senior quarterback Zach Dungey completing nine of 22 attempts, also with no interceptions, for 142 yards.
Sophomore Colton Samis rolled off 52 yards on four runs for the Pirates before getting injured in the third quarter.
League play begins Friday, Sept. 27, for Sweet Home, with a trip to Sisters. The Outlaws have three losses, 24-6 at No. 9 Burns (3-0), 22-19 at home against Valley Catholic (1-2) and 7-0 at No. 15 Crook County, which is 3-0.
“We’ve got our momentum, going into league,” said Luttmer, who caught two balls for 47 yards. “It feels pretty good.”
Nichol noted that Sweet Home is exactly where it was last year at this point in the season, when it went on to win the Oregon West championship.
“I feel really good going into league,” he said. “I like to win in preseason, but preseason is just status. We’re getting prepped for stuff that counts.
“They want a league championship,” he said of his players. “It starts Friday.”
He said the Outlaws don’t have the numbers they’ve had in the past, but “they’re working hard” under Coach Neil Fendall.
“They’ve got some athletes. They don’t have a lot of numbers but it only takes 11. I don’t care if we have 80 guys and they have 18, the best 11 will get the ball going their way. Sisters always plays tough at home.
Scoring Summary
Sweet Home 0 8 7 7 – 22
Phoenix 0 7 0 0 – 7
Second Quarter
SH: Mike Walker of Phoenix tackled in Pirates’ end zone. Safety. 11:55
P: Mike Walker 3 run. Kyle Braun kick. 9:29
SH: Travis Thorpe 27 run. Kick failed. 7:55
Third Quarter
SH: Gavin Nichols 3 run. Owen Towry kick. 6:12
Fourth Quarter
SH: Zach Luttmer 12 pass from Aiden Tyler. Towry Kick. 4:30
Individual Statistics
Rushing – SH: Travis Thorpe 8-77, Aiden Tyler 7-62, Gavin Nichols 14-46, Jackson Royer 1-5. P: Colton Samis 4-52, Mateo Lopez 2-23, Mike Walker 10-21, Davon Ruiz 2-13, Zach Dungey 5 – (-3), Kyle Cook 2-(-4).
Passing – SH: Aiden Tyler 15-23-0 – 210; P: Zach Dungey 9-22-0 – 142.
Receiving – SH: Jsaper Korn 8-98, Cole Baxter 4-61, Zach Luttmer 2-47, Gavin Nichols 1-4. P: Nik Goff 6-104, Eli Page 1-27, Mateo Lopez 1-7, Mike Walker 1-4.