For much of Friday night’s football contest between the Sweet Home Huskies and the Crook County Cowboys it looked like Sweet Home was going to run away with the contest.
The Huskies jumped out to an early lead and led 27-13 going into the fourth quarter. However, the Cowboys rallied to score 14 points in the fourth period to escape with a 28-27 victory over the Huskies.
“I thought the kids played tough and we led most of the game,” said Sweet Home Coach Dustin Nichol. “We are going to have to find a solution for our rotation. We were going deep into our bench. When you travel with 27 or 28 kids and then dress down four or five sophomores, we look like a whopping 34 kids out there.
“We look pretty good with 25 kids, but when we want to win then we have to put our starters in and give it a go. If they aren’t able to go then that’s what the problem is and we had four starters get injured tonight.”
Last year, the Huskies lost three ball games right at the end just like tonight, Nichol said. “So I thought that we really should have been 3-1 instead of 1-4, and I hope that the kids are going to take from this that it isn’t the same old thing, just a different day because it doesn’t have to be that way.”
“Turn around and look at that thing (the scoreboard),” Crook County Head Coach Ryan Cochran said to his team following the contest. “When we talked at the half we said that if you play Cowboy football that thing will take care of itself. We played horrible football in the first half, but I couldn’t be more proud of your effort and of your heart. Let’s not worry about that thing anymore and just play football like it’s meant to be played.”
The Cowboys’ Trayton Libolt took the game’s opening kickoff and returned it to the 30-yard line. After a 15-yard run by Clark Woodward and a 14-yarder by Cole Ovens the Cowboys were in Husky territory.
A 10-yard pass from Blake Bartels to Ricky Hernandez moved the ball all the way to the Sweet Home 32 yard line. However, on fourth and seven the Cowboys dropped a pass in the end zone, and Sweet Home took over on downs.
The Huskies moved the ball quickly to midfield, but their drive stalled on the Cowboy 45-yard line and the Huskies were forced to punt. Cole Ovens muffed a short punt, and Sweet Home recovered the ball on the Crook County 22-yard line. Six plays later Brandon Keenon carried the ball across the goal line from one yard out and the Huskies had a 7-0 lead.
Libolt returned the ensuing kickoff to the 45-yard line and a five-yard face mask call on the Huskies moved the ball to midfield.
After a seven-yard run by Ovens, the Husky defense stepped up big, sacking Bartels for a huge loss, and the Cowboys were forced to punt.
Neither team was able to move the ball the remainder of the first quarter, and when the gun sounded to end the period Sweet Home still clung to a 7-0 lead.
The Sweet Home defense came up big again early in the second period sacking Bartels for the second time in the contest. Facing a fourth and 22 on their own 14 yard line Crook County was forced to punt. Facing a Sweet Home rush, Hernandez shanked the punt out of bounds on the 20 yard line and Sweet Home was once again in business.
Four plays later, Keenon scored his second touchdown of the game with an eight-yard run. Once again the kick was good, giving the Huskies a 14-0 lead with 9:05 remaining in the second quarter.
On their next possession the Cowboys quickly moved the ball down the field going 65 yards in six plays finally scoring on a four-yard Clark Woodward touchdown. Libolt ran the ball in on a two point conversion and the Cowboys trailed 14-8 with 7:08 still remaining in the first half.
After both teams were forced to punt Sweet Home took possession of the ball on their own 30 yard line with two minutes remaining in the first half. The Huskies quickly moved the ball down the field, scoring on a 10 yard pass from Justin Tow to Hunter Jutte. The kick was good and Sweet Home led 21-8 with just 9.1 seconds remaining in the half.
On the ensuing kickoff the Huskies surprised everyone with an onside kick which they recovered on the Cowboy 35-yard line. On the next play, Tow dropped back to pass, but Ovens intercepted the ball in the end zone. Ovens was tackled inside the one yard line, but a face mask call moved the ball to the 15 where time expired.
Sweet Home returned the kickoff to its own 48-yard line. However, the Cowboy defense immediately took control of the line of scrimmage. The Huskies were unable to move the ball and had to punt.
The Cowboys quickly gained a first down on a 12-yard run by Ovens. Two plays later Bartels dropped back to pass and hit Hernandez in the left flat. Hernandez streaked down the sideline for a 55-yard touchdown and the Cowboys were back in the game. The kick failed, and Sweet Home still led 21-14 with 9:13 remaining in the third quarter.
After an exchange of punts, Sweet Home scored its final touchdown on a one-yard touchdown pass from Tow to Jutte. The kick was no good and the Huskies led 27-14 with 3:45 left in the third quarter.
The Cowboys were forced to punt on their next possession and Hernandez hit a booming kick that backed the Huskies back all the way to their own 12-yard line. Sweet Home was unable to move the ball and was forced to punt. Crook County blocked the punt and recovered the ball on the Sweet Home one-yard line.
The Sweet Home defense stiffened, throwing Woodward for a three-yard loss on the next play. On second down Libolt attempted to go around right end, and Sweet Home was ready again dropping him for a one-yard loss.
On third down Bartels threw an incomplete pass into the end zone, but Sweet Home was called for interference and the ball was placed on the two-yard line.
The third quarter ended with the Cowboys on the one yard line. On the first play of the fourth quarter Ovens dove into the end zone and the Cowboys trailed just 27-21.
Sweet Home took the ensuing kickoff and quickly moved up the field, gaining big yardage on a series of runs up the middle by Kyler Gaskey. However, the drive ended when Bartels made a leaping interception in the end zone with 5:51 remaining in the contest.
On the next play Woodward gained five yards up the middle to move the ball to the 25 yard line. Then Bartels dropped back to pass, but overthrew a wide open Libolt deep down the field. On third and five, Bartels threw the ball into the left flat to Ovens for what looked like a short gain. However, Ovens broke a series of tackles and 75-yards later made his way into the end zone tying the contest.
“We gave up a short pass play that turned into a long touchdown run,” said Sweet Home Head Coach Dustin Nichol. “We had six missed tackles on the play and you just can’t win ball games with missed tackles.”
The kick was good and the Cowboys had their first lead of the game.
From there, the Cowboy defense came up big, stopping the Huskies. Facing a fourth and six with 4 minutes left in the contest the Huskies elected to punt. The punt was downed on the Cowboys 27-yard line. The Cowboys kept the ball on the ground, gaining a pair of first downs. A delay of game penalty left the Cowboys with a fourth and long with 3.2 seconds remaining in the contest. Bartels took the ensuing snap and raced backwards finally taking a knee 25-yards behind the line of scrimmage after time expired as the Cowboys escaped with a win.
Bartels completed 11 of 17 passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns.
Ovens finished with 55 yards rushing on 14 carries with a touchdown and added four pass receptions for 85 yards and another touchdown. Hernandez caught a team-high six passes for 96 yards in the game. Woodward added 51 yards rushing and a touchdown on 13 carries.
For Sweet Home, Keenon had 96 yards rushing in 26 carries with two touchdowns while Gaskey carried the ball six times for 75 yards. Tow threw two touchdown passes, but completed just 7 of 23 passes and also threw a pair of interceptions in the contest. Jutte led the Huskies in receiving with three catches for 35 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
With the win the Cowboys are 1-0 on the year, while the Huskies fell to 0-1.
“We need to get into just a little bit better game ready shape and I think we will be OK,” Nichol said. “It’s just a lot right now about our kids needing to keep their attitudes. You know we were really hyped up about the season and had a chip on our shoulder from last year. We came in wanting to prove something.
“These guys really wanted to prove themselves and they have really worked their rear ends off. Going to the camp up at Whitworth and working through doubles and summer workouts and stuff. These guys have worked hard all summer.”
Crook County 28,
Sweet Home 27
Sweet Home 7 14 6 0 — 27
Crook County 0 8 6 14 — 28
Sweet Home, Keenon 1-yard run, kick good.
Sweet Home, Keenon 8-yard run, kick good.
Crook County, Woodward 4-yard run, Libolt run.
Sweet Home, Jutte 10-yard pass from Tow, kick good.
Crook County, Hernandez 55-yard pass from Bartels, kick no good.
Sweet Home, Jutte 1-yard pass from Tow, kick no good.
Crook County, Ovens 1-yard run, kick good.
Crook County, Ovens 75-yard pass from Bartels, kick good.
Photo courtesy of Lon Austin of the Central Oregonian