Ken Roberts
For The New Era
Sweet Home needed a whipping boy and Yamhill-Carlton got the job as the Huskies dominated the Tigers, 33-8, for their first victory of the year.
“In the first three games, we felt that we were the better team, that we were just beating ourselves,” said Coach Rob Younger. “It was important for us to play well.”
And Sweet Home did, starting with their renewed emphasis on an aggressive defense.
The Huskies controlled Y-C with their stunt package and a new-look defensive alignment, especially on first-down plays. The Tigers ran 14 first-down plays during the game and gained a total of only 21 yards. Throw in four Sweet Home sacks, nine tackles for losses, four turnovers, including the first two Husky interceptions of the year, and a boatload of offensive penalties and what the Tigers ended up with was 73 yards of offense.
“We wanted to get them in a mentality of attacking,” stated Younger. “We wanted to put ourselves in positive down and distance situations where we dictate what happens.”
After stopping Y-C on its first series, the Huskies used a couple of offensive deviations to move the 68 yards to a touchdown. On a fourth down and one on Y-C’s 46-yard line, Ryan Graville executed a 41-yard run on a fake punt to keep the drive alive. A five-yard penalty backed the ball up to the 10-yard line, but Leif Erickson, inserted as a tailback, took the handoff and then threw a pass to a wide-open Levi Marchbanks.
On the second play of the next defensive series, Amos Parmenter harassed Tiger quarterback, Riley Martin, into throwing an interception picked off by Brent Moyer. Three plays later Parmenter scored the first of his three touchdowns, this one on a four-yard run.
In the second quarter, Sweet Home was stopped on a fourth-down play on the one yard line. Quickly, the Tigers fortunes changed negatively again when Riley Martin fumbled the ball back to the Huskies at the 11-yard line, one of two fumbles recovered by Shelby Johnston. Parmenter took advantage and produced another touchdown on the very first play.
With just a little over a minute to play in the first half, Ryan Graville intercepted another Y-C pass, which the Huskies also converted into a score, an eight-yard pass from Keenan Martin to Josh Riggs. The 27-0 halftime lead was too much of an obstacle for Y-C to overcome.
“We were very efficient offensively in the first half,” explained Younger. “Once we got the lead, we just worked on ball control.”
The Tigers did benefit from a Husky fumble on the very first play of the third quarter.
They converted a fourth and 2 on a 19-yard pass from Riley Martin to Zach Kelly. Then, on another fourth down play at the five yard, Austen Herb was nearly tackled for a loss but managed to escape for the lone Tiger touchdown followed by a two-point pass conversion.
Sweet Home fumbled twice in the third quarter but eventually took advantage of a 25-yard snap over the head of the quarterback. After a short punt, the Huskies put the finishing touches on a sparkling night with Parmenter’s 19-yard run.
With sack yardage included, the Tigers were in negative numbers in rushing while the Huskies used the run to control the tempo of the game and amassed 299 yards. Though Parmenter led the Husky backfield with 85 yards in 18 carries, the load was divided equally among five different Sweet Home carriers, giving him time to rest after defensive stints.
Parmenter believes the shared load keeps other players involved and provides a greater variety to their offensive threat.
“It keeps the other team guessing,” stated Parmenter. “It’s harder for them to key on just one person.”
While Sweet Home’s offense certainly took advantage of their opportunities, it was the defense that controlled the line of scrimmage and put constant pressure on the Y-C quarterback.
Linebacker Trevur Byers, who along with fellow linebacker Levi Marchbanks led the Huskies in tackles, felt the new defense gave the Huskies a chance to play an enjoyable attacking style with less thinking.
“By our defensive line slanting, it caused confusion,” explained Byers. “It kept their linemen off our linebackers and we were able to get to the ball.”
This Friday, the Huskies will have their hands full as they return home to play 3-1 North Bend. Only 5A Marshfield has beaten the Bulldogs, who also beat 5A North Eugene 35-14. This will be North Bend’s first game on the road. They also had narrow victories over Newport and Phoenix.
“The win boosted our confidence,” said Byers. “It’s going to give us a head of steam going into this next game.”
Scoring Summary
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
Sweet Home 14 13 0 6 33
Yamhill-Carlton 0 0 8 0 8
1st Quarter
SH: Leif Erickson to Levi Marchbanks 10 yd. pass (Erickson kick)
SH: Amos Parmenter 4 yd. run (Erickson kick)
2nd Quarter
SH: Parmenter 11 yd. run (kick failed)
SH: Keenon Martin to Josh Riggs 8 yd. pass (Erickson kick)
3rd Quarter
YC: Austen Herb 5 yd. run (Riley Martin pass to Zach Kelly)
4th Quarter
SH: Parmenter 19 yd. run (kick failed)
Team Statistics
Rushing: Sweet Home 48-299; Y-C 16-16
Passing: Sweet Home 5-7, 51; Y-C 9-21-2, 104
Sacked: SH 1-10; Y-C 4-47
Total Offense: Sweet Home 342; Y-C 73
First Downs: Sweet Home 15; Y-C 6
Tackles for Losses: Sweet Home 9; Y-C 5
3rd/4th Down Conversions: Sweet Home 9-16; Y-C 4-14
Penalties: SH 5-45; Y-C 9-70
Turnovers: SH 2 (2 fumbles.); Y-C 4 (2 fumbles, 2 interceptions)
Individual Statistics
Rushing: SH: Parmenter 18-85; Moyer 6-46 ; Byers 6-40; Graville 1-41;
Ward 7-31; Martin 6-26; Erickson 1-11; Newport 1-10; Jackson 1-9; Long 1-0
Y-C: Martin 5-8
Passing: SH: Martin 4-6, 41; Erickson 1-1, 10
Y-C: Martin 9-21-2, 104
Receiving: SH: Riggs 3-28; McGuyre 1-13; Marchbanks 1-10
Y-C: Kelly 5-60
Kickoffs: SH: Callagan 6-261 (40 returned); avg. start line 26.3
Y-C 2-68 (16 returned); avg. start line 34
Kick Returns: SH: Macklin 1-11; Parmenter 1-5 Y-C 5-40
Punts: SH: None; Y-C 4-108 Avg. 27
Punt Returns: SH: Cota 1-5; Y-C: None
Fumble Recoveries: SH: Johnston 2; Y-C 2
Sacks: SH: Wise, Parmenter, Moyer, Rowe
Tackles: SH: Byers 8, Marchbanks 7
JV Football
The Sweet Home junior varsity team had another great game against Yamhill-Carlton Thursday, winning by a score of 41-6 at Husky Field to take their season record to 3-0.
Quarterback Tyler Holly had another great game, along with Steven Bidwell, Sean Potter, Patrick Long, John Webb and Kyle Sorenson.
The JV team again produced a good balance of passing and rushing. Bidwell scored three touchdowns, one on a 70-yard kickoff return, the others on a 25 and one-yard runs for a touchdown. Potter made some key tackles and caught some passes for important yardage. The Frosh/Soph football team and many of their fans waited for one hour after game time on Tuesday for Cascade to show up, then they all went home. Cascade reportedly showed up two hours after the scheduled 5 p.m. game time.
– Dick Oglesby