In the end, the Huskies succumbed to the athleticism of the Central Panthers, losing their final league game 55-36.
“Our coaches did a great job preparing a sound scheme,” said coach Rob Younger.
“And the kids executed extremely well.”
The Huskies employed a tight slot formation to take advantage of some the things Central did defensively. That, along with the effective use of snap counts, kept the Panthers off balance.
Tim McDowell revved up the Husky engine with an opening kickoff return to midfield. From there, the offensive line opened up holes for the Josh Ward, Brent Moyer, and Amos Parmenter to move the ball downfield. Josh Riggs caught a five yard pass from Ryan Graville for the first score, but the Huskies were unable to convert on a two point conversion.
“Our coaches told us to cut it all loose, that we didn’t have anything to lose,” said senior linebacker Leif Erickson, who was one of the leading tacklers and the Husky punter for the first time this year. “We tried not to think about them being number one.
“We just wanted to treat it like a practice.”
The Husky special teams were superior all game long, from kickoff returns, to solid unreturned punts, to three two-point conversions, to kickoffs by Marc Callagan and kick coverage that kept the Panthers pinned deep in their own territory.
However, it didn’t seem to matter. Central had the offensive weapons to respond to the Huskies. The Panthers scored on their first eight possessions, on drives averaging 80 yards and never less than 65 yards.
In addition to that, six of their touchdowns featured five passes and one run over 30 yards each, starting with their opening 34 yard pass from Grant Hedrick to Michael Hamilton.
Sweet Home responded with another great kick return by McDowell. The passing of Graville and a couple of Central penalties put the ball in the red zone, where Kevin McGuyre caught a 15 yard pass for a touchdown. Parmenter followed with the first of three Husky two-point conversions.
Again Central stormed back, escaping a couple of opportunities for Sweet Home interceptions. This time Hedrick tossed a 30 yard pass to Eric Phillips, the second member of the Panthers’ all-league receiving corps.
Central, who had never trailed in a game, couldn’t contain the Huskies. This time, McGuyre returned a short kickoff to midfield and then caught a 34 yard pass from Keenan Martin, who threw while in the grasp of a Marist tackler. From the 21, Parmenter ran three times and scored from the 4 yard line to give the Huskies their third lead.
Central’s next score came mostly on the ground, using the quarterback Hedrick and tailback Aiden Braa-Stanley for this 80 yard drive. The Huskies maintained a two point lead with the second missed Panther extra point attempt.
But that would be the last time Sweet Home would be able to claim the lead. After stopping the Huskies on the 11-yard line, Central’s Hedrick completed two long passes over 40 yards, one to Phillips and the scoring 48 yarder to Hamilton, to take a 26-21 halftime lead with 15 seconds to go.
“They have so many weapons, starting with their quarterback and their skilled receivers,” said Younger, noting not only Hedrick’s passing ability but his speed as well.
“We couldn’t keep up with their athleticism.”
In the second half, Central dominated both offensively and defensively. The Huskies went three and out on all their early possessions except one, in which they executed a fake punt to perfection on a Graville pass to Riggs, who caught six passes in the game.
Meanwhile, the Central scoring machine continued. Hedrick ran for 56 yards for one score, threw bombs of 70 and 67 yards to Phillips and Hamilton, and completed a short two yard pass to tight end Marcus McArdle.
After liberal Panther substitution in the fourth quarter, the Huskies scored late twice.
Parmenter rushed for his second touchdown and Riggs caught his second from Ryan Graville, who threw for three. Ward rushed in for both two point conversions.
Despite posting 338 total yards, the Huskies could not match the 714 Panther yards, 299 rushing and 415 passing. Hedrick was responsible for all the passing yards, completing 18 of 25 passes, and also tacked on 114 yards rushing. Braa-Stanley rushed for 157 yards in 20 carries. Hamilton and Phillips each had six receptions combining for 354 yards.
Graville had an impressive quarterback outing as well, going 10-14 for 124 yards. McGuyre caught three of those passes for 82 yards.
The Huskies will complete their season hosting a non-league game with Junction City, which took third place in the Sky-Em Conference and is state-playoff bound. However, despite defeating Sisters 14-0, the Tigers lost to Central 44-6 and Newport 20-0. Junction City will present more defensive problems than offensive.
“The last game is going to be really big,” said Erickson, speaking about the Husky attempt at a third victory. “It will put our seniors minds to rest and give confidence to the younger guys.”
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
Sweet Home 14 6 0 16 36
Central 7 20 14 14 55
1st Quarter
SH: Ryan Graville to Josh Riggs 5 yd. pass (run failed)
Cent: Grant Hedrick to Michael Hamilton 34 yd. pass (Roman Daberkow kick)
SH: Graville to Kevin McGuyre 15 yd. pass (Parmenter run)
2nd Quarter
Cent: Hedrick to Eric Phillips 30 yd. pass (kick failed)
SH: Parmenter 4 yd. run (kick failed)
Cent: Aiden Braa-Stanley 3 yd. run (kick failed)
Cent: Hedrick to Hamilton 48 yd. pass (Hedrick to Jesse Peters pass)
3rd Quarter
Cent: Hedrick 56 yd. run (Daberkow kick)
Cent: Hedrick to Phillips 70 yd. pass (Daberkow kick)
4th Quarter
Cent: Hedrick to Marcus McArdle 2 yd. pass (Daberkow kick)
Cent: Hedrick to Hamilton 67 yd. pass (Daberkow kick)
SH: Parmenter 7 yd. run (Josh Ward run)
SH: Graville to Riggs 23 yd. pass (Ward run)
Team Stats
Rushing: Sweet Home 28-143; Cent 40-299
Passing: Sweet Home 13-24-1, 196; Cent 18-25, 415
Sacked: SH 1-1 ; Cent None
Total Offense: Sweet Home 338; Cent 714
First Downs: Sweet Home 15; Cent 18
Tackles for Losses: Sweet Home 2; Cent 3
3rd/4th Down Conversions: Sweet Home 6-13; Cent 9-14
Penalties: SH 3-20; Cent 12-93
Turnovers: SH 1 (interception); Cent 0
Individual Stats
Rushing: SH: Parmenter 13-53; Moyer 7-43; Ward 4-28; Martin 3-11; Graville 2-7
Cent: Braa-Stanley 20-157; Hedrick 9-114
Passing: SH: Graville 10-14, 124; Martin 3-10-1, 72
Cent: Hedrick 18-25, 415
Receiving: SH: Riggs 6-64; McGuyre 3-82; Moyer 3-23; McDowell 1-26
Cent: Hamilton 6-184; Phillips 6-168
Kickoffs: SH: Callagan 6-241 (27 returned); avg. start line: 27.7
Cent: 9-343 (147 returned); avg. start line: 38.2
Kick Returns: SH: McDowell 4-102; McGuyre 1-18; Parmenter 1-15; Macklin 1-12
Cent 4-27
Punts: SH: Erickson 3-106, 35.3 average; Cent None
Punt Returns: None
Interceptions: Cent 1
Sacks: Cent 1
Tackles: SH: Marchbanks 9, Callagan 8, Erickson 7
JV Football
Two teams entered the game undefeated and in first place, and Central came out on top, defeating the Huskies 39-18.
Steven Bidwell had 119 yards rushing and 47 yards receiving.
Tyler Holly had another good game hitting passes to Sean Potter for two touchdowns and 67 yards and Zach Miller for 33 yards.
— Dick Oglesby