Scott Swanson
Sweet Home got down to business right away Friday night, let visiting Sutherlin back into the game, then put it away, 40-22, to maintain a tie for first place as the league season winds down to its final game this Friday.
The good news for the Huskies was that they avoided a lot of the self-inflicted set-backs, mainly offensive penalties, that have dogged them and essentially, along with a couple of missed tackles, cost them two wins, at Junction City and at Crook County, Coach Dustin Nichol said.
Friday, Sweet Home played well enough to win going away.
“I thought all the way around, our team did a great job,” he said. “I was really happy with our offensive line. We brought in a retired referee, Dave Trask, last week and he called penalties. People lost starting positions because of it. I’m done with laziness and so forth. I want them to start stepping up.
Sweet Home finished with six calls against them that totaled 60 yards, the bulk of those coming from two back-to-back sideline penalties in the second quarter, that cost them 30 yards.
“It’s been a major factor every week,” said center Chris Melcher. “(Trask’s visits) helped. We didn’t have 100 yards in penalties this week like last game.”
Starting with a line-up featuring seniors in their final season home game – Ryan R. Adams, Eric Burks, Eric Flierl, Hunter Jutte, Ryan J. Adams, Cole Ashcraft, Kyler Gaskey, Kevin Seiber, Lane O’neal, Jacob Maas, Melcher, Patrick Bell, Brett Blachly, Jason Miller, Shawn Worthen and Bryson Mitten, the Huskies took over after holding the visitors to four downs and drove to 20 yard line, where theymissed a 32-yard field goal try by Hunter Jutte.
But after holding Sutherlin to a four-and-out, Sweet Home took over on the Bulldogs’ 35 yard line and marched to the end zone on seven plays, Brandon Keenon slicing in for the first of his three touchdowns with 54 seconds left in the first quarter.
Though the point-after kick failed, the Huskies got a 22-yard punt return from Jutte after another four-and-out by the Bulldogs, and on the first play from scrimmage – the 38-yard line, Keenon ran all the way to the end zone for Sweet Home’s second score. He finished with 18 yards on 124 carries.
But Sutherlin, which came into the game with one win on the season, showed it came to play, senior quarterback Taelor Carson bringing the Bulldogs right back with the first of his two touchdown passes to senior wide receiver Dustin Eakin, both in the second quarter and the half ended with Sweet Home on top 21-15. The visitors were helped considerably on that drive by the back-to-back penalties, which moved them from their 30 to the Sweet Home 30, and put them in easy range for Carson’s scoring pass.
The Huskies got busy with their first possession of the third quarter, coming out of the locker room to mount a 16-play drive that covered 75 yards, all on the ground with Keenon and Ryan J. Adams carrying the ball, Keenon plunging in from two yards out for a score with 3:52 left. Jutte’s kick game the Huskies a 28-15 lead.
After stopping Sutherlin at midfield, the Huskies took over at their 46 and five plays later, having moved forward 11 yards thanks to two five-yard penalties, Tow hit Jutte down the sideline with a perfect strike for a 45-yard score.
The conversion attempt ended up in a grounded pass from Jutte, the kicker, into the end zone, so Sweet Home’s lead was 34-15 going into the final quarter.
But the Bulldogs weren’t through. Ray Henderson, their main workhorse out of the backfield, who finished with 67 yards on 11 carries, bulled his way to the end zone on a 25-yards run, shedding Huskies right and left in a display of pure determination. The extra point kick made it 34-22 with 6:54 left.
But Sweet Home took over at the Sutherlin 48 after a failed onsides kick attempt by the Bulldogs, and marched to the 4 in seven plays, the drive capped by a 27-yard pass from Tow to Jutte, and Tow then hit Fliel in the end zone with another touchdown pass.
With 1:14 left, Sutherlin had time for another shot at the end zone but Flierl picked off the second of Carson’s pass attempts to end that threat and ice the game.
Nichol said he was pleased with his team’s defensive effort. The Huskies held Sutherlin to 178 yards, 92 on the ground.
“Defensively, we did really good except for two series,” he said. “Cole Ashcraft did a great job at linebacker. Ryan J. Adams and Bryson Mitten and George Rayborn and Shawn Worthen did a great job on the defensive line, keeping them pretty much contained.”
Seiber rated the effort as “OK.”
“We had a couple of breakdowns,” he said. “They should have scored maybe one touchdown. We could have been better.”
Flierl said the Huskies stepped things up late in the game and it paid off.
“To be honest, I don’t think it should have been as close as it was. But we had solid second half, came out and played harder. We got the victory – that’s all that matters.
With one game left to play in the regular season, Sweet Home, 5-2 overall, is tied with Junction City and Sisters at 3-1 in league.
The Huskies will play at Sisters at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 24. The Outlaws’ perfect run in league ended last Friday in a 47-14 loss to Elmira, which Sweet Home beat 13-7 in overtime on Oct. 10.
“Sisters is hard to figure out,” Nichol said. “One week they’re gangbusters and tough as nails and beat Junction City. The next week they get rolled by Elmira.”
The playoff picture is scrambled, with Sweet Home, Junction City and Sisters tied at 3-1 for the league lead, and Elmira lurking in fourth place at 3-2. Junction City plays at Sutherlin and Elmira
With the playoffs on the line, he said the Huskies can help maintain an even heartbeat with a win against the Outlaws, who run a wing-T and various variations of the double wing offense, similar to Elmira at Cottage Grove.
“If we don’t go over there and take care of business, it’s going to open up a whole can of worms that I don’t even want to go into,” Nichol said. “This is the last home game for them and there’s a lot riding on it,” Nichol said. “There’s a lot riding on this game for them and us.”
Players echoed that assessment.
“They’re no one to look over,” Melcher said. “They showed up to play against Junction City so they can show up against us.”
Flierl said the Huskies need to play their game and avoid penalties.
“We have a great team here,” he said. “We still have a chance. We have to fix the penalties and I think we’re golden.”
Seiber said it comes down to working together for Sweet Home.
“We can be great, but we have to have everybody doing the same thing at the same time – all 11 of us.”
Scoring Summary
SH 6 15 13 6 – 40
Sutherlin 0 15 0 8 – 22
First Quarter
SH – Brandon Keenon 5 run. Kick failed. :54
Second Quarter
SH – Brandon Keenon 38 run. Hunter Jutte run. 11:00
Suth – Taelor Carson 10 pass to Dustin Eakin. kick good. 8:26
SH – Kevin Seiber 5 run. Hunter Jutte kick. 5:38
Suth – Taelor Carson 30 pass to Evan Villalobos. Carson two-point conversion pass to Dustin Eakin. 3:42
Third Quarter
SH – Brandon Keenon 2 run. Hunter Jutte kick. Two-point conversion failed. 11:49
Fourth Quarter
Suth – Ray Henderson 25 run. Brandon Carrillo kick. 6:54
SH – Justin Tow 4 pass to Eric Flierl. Kick failed.
Individual Statistics
Rushing – Sweet Home: Brandon Keenon 18-124; Ryan J. Adams 12-82; Kyler Gaskey 15-53; Kevin Seiber 1-5; Total 273. Sutherlin: Ray Henderson 11-67; Wryland McKnight 3-13; Taelor Carson 7-12; Andrew Smalley 1-4; Total 92.
Passing – Sweet Home: Justin Tow 3-7-1-92. Sutherlin: Taelor Carson 6-14-1-81.
Receiving – Sweet Home: Hunter Jutte 2-88; Eric Flierl 1-4. Sutherlin: Dustin Eakin 4-49; Evan Villalobos 1-30; Wryland McKnight 2-26; Ray Henderson 1-4.