Huskies keep playoff hopes alive with win at Elmira

Jason Casey

The Brandon Keenon show was back in action Friday after a week’s hiatus.

Keenon scored all four touchdowns for the Huskies in leading the way to the crucial 27-14 win over Elmira that kept postseason hopes alive for Sweet Home.

The first half of the game wasn’t pretty, with only 14 combined points scored by both teams. The Falcon’s defense stifled the Huskies, keeping Sweet Home’s offense out of the end zone.

After an early score by Elmira, the Huskies got a defensive break as Keenon returned an interception for a touchdown tied the game and ruffled the feathers of the Falcons.

“I dropped back and he threw it to me,” said Keenon.

Coach Dustin Nichol said it was simply good defense.

“Brandon had a great read. He got into the guy’s back pocket, the quarterback threw it a little short and Brandon stepped up and took it,” Nichol said. “The quarterback should have dumped it over the top, and even then I don’t think he would have made it. Brandon had him covered well and the sideline was right there. It was just a bad pass, and he threw it a little short. Brandon just planted and drove on it, made a play, and the rest is history.”

The offense came close to another score at the end of the first half, driving into the red zone where, on fourth-and-four, Nichol decided to reach into his bag of tricks and called a halfback pass by Keenon to Devin Stafford.

“He was open, I just overthrew him,” Keenon said. “I thought it was Danny Virtue so I thought he was a little bit faster, but it wasn’t, it was Devin,” said Keenon.

The ball sailed over Stafford’s head into the back of the end zone and Elmira took over on the 16-yard line. The Falcons moved the ball 51 yards in six plays to set up a 52-yard field goal by Devin Vestal that fell short just short for the junior kicker.

During halftime, Nichol told his troops to stay the course.

“[He said] just keep our heads up; we weren’t out of this by far,” said senior lineman Gavin Baskin. “We just have to shore up our little mistakes and keep playing hard.”

Sweet Home started the second half with a steady dose of Keenon that proved to be the difference in the game. He led way on the drive for the Huskies with eight rushes for 83 yards and a five-yard touchdown run to take the lead 14-7.

The mistakes and nerves that reared their ugly head the previous week in a Homecoming loss to Junction City were noticeably absent against the Falcons.

Nichol said the difference was turnovers.

“We didn’t have three quarterback-center exchange problems, we didn’t have two fumbles, two interceptions in the first half. We turned it over on downs but that’s as good as a punt. That was the biggest difference – (it) was the turnovers.”

Sweet Home took the lead in the third quarter with a five-yard run by Keenon.

The Falcons answered with a 69-yard drive and looked like they had the momentum after their double-wing offense started hitting on all cylinders, Levi Oilar plunging in from the one-yard line to tie the game at 14-14 with 3:12 to go in the third quarter.

“Our defense kept us in it,” said Nichol. “They bent but didn’t break for the most part this game. This offense is tough, they’ve got a lot of smoke and mirrors going on and you’ve got to be disciplined. As soon as you let down on your responsibly, they’re going to catch you. I thought, for the most part, our guys played a good defensive game and a hard-fought game.”

He credited Garrison Whitfield, in particular, for being “a juggernaut” in the game.

The Husky offense answered with a determined ground game, led by quarterback Justin Tow.

On fourth-and-4 the senior quarterback ran the option to the right and carried two Falcons with him to get the first down. Keenon capped the drive with his third of four touchdowns from the 1-yard line.

“Tow did good,” Keenon said. “We had a couple fourth-down situations where we had to go and he could have pitched it to me but he wanted to take it. He got the first down – That’s all that matters.”

After The Falcons got a first down on the next drive, Baskin got a huge sack to derail any momentum the hosts had. That forced them into third and long, a hole they couldn’t climb out of.

“Baskin was a holy terror against this offense,” Nichol said. “It takes a good defensive tackle to cause some disturbances up the middle.”

“I just read the play and was able to make my read and get there,” Baskin said. ”At the beginning we were a little slow but we each drive we started picking it up and improved every drive, and it really showed up the end of the game.”

The Huskies forced a fumble and Baskin recovered it with 3:43 to go in the fourth quarter. On the very next play Keenon rumbled into the end zone from six yards out and finished the game with 28 carries for 192 yards three rushing touchdowns and one on defense with his 35-yard interception return.

“I think he played great, I’m always happy to be able to block for him [Keenon],” said Baskin.

The importance of the win was not lost on the Huskies, especially after Junction City’s 34-10 loss to Sisters Friday, which leaves Sweet Home tied for third with Cottage Grove, which the Huskies beat three weeks ago.

“This is crucial,” Nichol said. “It is huge. This was a win-or-go-home, as far as I’ve been telling the kids.”

If Junction City beats Cottage Grove next week and Sisters wins at home against Elmira, Sweet Home will be the third-place team. If Junction City loses at Cottage Grove, which beat Sutherlin 44-0 Friday, and the Huskies beat Sutherlin on the road this Friday, there would be a three-way tie between Sweet Home, Cottage Grove and Junction City, which would be reconciled by a coin toss.

“If Cottage Grove wins the coin toss, then it goes head-to-head and we lose to Junction City,” Nichol said. “The only way we would benefit from a coin toss is if we won a coin toss or if Junction City won a coin toss.”

Cottage Grove’s win over the Bulldogs came after the Lions built a 44-0 halftime lead. Brinden Howell rushed for more than 100 yards and scored on an 80-yard touchdown pass in the first half from Blake Sentman, who finished with more than 200 yards passing and two touchdowns.

Baskin said the win at Elmira was “a great confidence booster.”

“I’m just really pumped right now and I’m excited for next week,” he said.

“This means a lot because we have to win both these games to get more games,” said Keenon.

Scoring Summary

SH – 7 0 7 13 – 27

EA – 7 0 7 0 – 14

First Quarter

EA Levi Oilar 1-yard run (Devin Vestal kick) 8:36

SH 4:03 Brandon Keenon 35-yard interception return (Jesus Patricio kick)

Third Quarter

SH 7:55 Keenon 5-yard run (Patricio kick)

EA 3:12 Oilar 1 yard run (Vestal kick)

Fourth Quarter

SH B. Keenon 1-yard run (Patricio kick)

SH B. Keenon 5-yard run (Kick failed)

Individual Statistics

Rushing – Brandon Keenon 28-192; Justin Tow 3-21; Garrison Whitfield 2-3.

Passing – Justin Tow 5-12-0-93; Brandon Keenon 0-1-0-0.

Receiving – Jesus Patricio 1-37; Daniel Virtue 3-45; Tyler Plebuch 1-11.

Total
0
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