Jackson Baer
For The New Era
Sweet Home’s football team pounded its way to a 22-16 victory over visiting Cascade Friday night as the Huskies raised their early-season record to 2-0.
Led by the running attack of junior Wade Paulus and sophomore Spencer Knight, Sweet Home was able to set the tone for most of the night. Despite four turnovers, the Huskies managed to hold on for a 22-16 victory with solid defense.
“We’re gonna work on doing a better job in practice on offense and holding onto the football,” said Coach Dustin Nichol. “We’re improving but we need to protect the ball better.”
Sweet Home got off to a nice start but fumbled at the Cascade 15-yard line on its first drive. Cascade responded by marching down the field with a nice mixture of passing and running. The Huskies came up with a big fourth-down stop on the half-yard line to halt the Cougars’ momentum and keep the score at 0-0.
Sweet Home continued to drive the ball with the rushing game in the second quarter but another fumble gave the Cougars the ball at their own 42-yard line. Cascade quickly capitalized on the turnover and struck first with a 41-yard touchdown run by senior running back Ryan Dozler. Cascade went for two and Dozler punched it in for an 8-0 lead.
After the kick-off, the Huskies responded with a big play of their own. On the first play from scrimmage speedy running back Spencer Knight popped loose for a 65-yard run, taking advantage of the pounding, physical running of Paulus earlier.
That run game set up a 13-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Cole Horner to Mitch Keenon with 2:19 left to play in the second quarter. The two-point attempt was no good and the Huskies trailed 8-6 just before halftime.
Cascade fumbled at itsown 21-yard line with :51 left before the half, recovered by junior Josh Wooley. Paulus took over and finished off short drive with a one-yard touchdown run with :20 left in the first half. He then punched in a 2-point conversion to give the Huskies a 14-8 lead heading into halftime.
“We’ve got some big ol’ hosses up front,” said Paulus of the linemen who opened things up for him. “We couldn’t do anything without those guys. They are the best group I’ve ever played with.”
Sweet Home came out with a lot of energy in the third quarter but turnovers kept the Huskies from putting the game away. After a 30-yard pass from Horner to junior Colton Holly, the Huskies were forced to punt just a few plays later. The special teams stepped up and senior Hunter Bidwell recovered s fumbled punt at the Cascade seven-yard line.
Cascade pushed the Huskies back and came up with a big interception at its own 14-yard line, courtesy of junior Jared Everetts.
Junior Josh Homan of Sweet Home responded with a big third-down sack to force the Cougars to punt at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
Mitch Keenon responded with a 22-yard punt return and the Huskies were quickly in the red zone once again. Paulus finished off the drive with a 10-yard touchdown run at the 9:22 mark for his second rushing touchdown of the night. The two-point pass from Horner to Keenon was good and the Huskies held a commanding 22-8 lead.
But Cascade did not go away quietly.
The Cougars marched down the field and junior quarterback Cody Crawford finished the drive with a five-yard touchdown run. The two-point attempt was good and all of the sudden the score was 22-16.
On the first play after the kick off, Cascade recovered a fumble by the Huskies at the 21-yard line, giving the Cougars great field position and a shift in momentum. Cascade drove the ball down to the Husky five-yard line but with 4:40 left to play, junior defensive back Colton Schilling came up with an 11-yard sack on third down.
On the very next play, sophomore Austin Horner recorded another 11-yard sack to put the game away.
The running game is noticeably improved over last year’s squad. The 2010 Huskies were used to getting run over by the opposing offenses but this years’ team is the one punishing opposing defenses. The youth movement is paying off and the teams’ confidence is beginning to grow.
“We need to do a better job in practice for preventing fatigue,” said Nichol. “We’re young but we’re getting better and learning to trust each other.” The team relies on a large number of juniors and some key sophomores sprinkled in.
Asked to what they contribute their success running the ball so well Knight responded, “Our speed and Wade (Paulus) is huge.”
The 2011 Huskies are noticeably more athletic and the running game is a formidable force to be reckoned with.
“We need to work on ball control,” said Paulus. “We had too many fumbles and we need to work on the passing game.”
The Huskies will travel to Central this Friday for a 7 p.m. rematch of last year’s play-in game for the playoffs in which then-surging Sweet Home nearly upset the heavily favored Panthers of Central but fell just short. This will be a tough test for the Huskies as the Panthers are also 2-0 and defeated Estacada 27-0 on the road last week. The previous week they beat Sisters 43-6, also on the road.
“Our defense really stepped up,” said Nichol of the Cascade performance. “Colton Schilling played a great game. Jerohn Coleman and Jesse Comstock never really came off the field. They played a great game for us.”
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total
Cascade 0 8 0 8 16
SH 0 14 0 8 22
Summary
Team Statistics
Rushing: SH 50-253; Cascade 42-171
Passing: SH 2-6-43-1; Cascade 5-14-74-0
First Downs: SH 14; Cascade 12
Penalties: SH 6-48; Cascade 6-34
Turnovers: SH 4; Cascade 2
SH Offensive Stats:
Total Yards: 295 yards Rushing: 252 yards
Passing: 43 yards
Individual Rushing:
Wade Paulus 27-16; Spencer Knight 17-108; Josh Wooley 1-0; Cole Horner 5-16
Individual Passing:
Cole Horner 2-6-1-43, 1TD
Individual Receiving:
Mitch Keenon 1-13; Colton Holly 1-30
Fumble Recovery:
Hunter Bidwell, Josh Wooley