Jason Casey
Sweet Home’s defense and special teams stifled Sutherlin all night long forcing three fumbles, intercepting the Bulldogs three times, and returning a blocked kick for a touchdown.
The Husky offense put together it’s second solid showing in a row after a slow start, giving Sweet Home the 25-7 win.
“It was good; I am happy for the kids. They fought hard through some adversity, some injuries, some dings throughout the week,” said Head Coach Dustin Nichol. “They overcame some stuff and did a lot of good things tonight, especially our defense.”
Sweet Home’s scoring got started late in the first half with a 15-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Daniel Virtue to Colton Smith, to put the Huskies ahead 7-0 with 29 seconds on the clock. Smith finished the game with 29 yards receiving, including that touchdown, and added another TD on special teams.
Virtue said better center-quarterback exchanges helped his team and it was a relief to finish on top after three straight losses.
“It was a lot better than losing, that’s for sure,” he said.
Virtue finished with 146 yards passing, 40 rushing yards, and two touchdowns one passing and one rushing.
Sutherlin’s only touchdown came on the opening kickoff of the second half. Conner Grauf collected the ball and took it back 73 yards for a touchdown with a little help from his friends.
“We had a little bit of a faux pas with the kickoff team there, but Connor got stinking tackled and they ran right over the top of him,” said Nichol.
The Husky defense harassed and hit the Bulldogs’ Tristan Needham all night. Sutherlin’s “running quarterback” finished the game with 14 yards rushing 18 passing and 35 receiving. He was all over the field, but was kept in check all night.
“Coming off those losses it feels good to win, get something to click in our offense and defense at the same time, it’s a good win,” said junior defensive back Connor Russell, who intercepted the Bulldog’s Zach Yarbrough at quarterback to effectively end the game for the Huskies at the end of the fourth quarter.
“We were in Cover Four defense and when I got that pick I just hoped I could take that to the house,” said Russel.
Hayden McDonald, back from an injury, scored with a plunge into the middle of the offensive line, which has steadily improved during the last two weeks, with 4:00 to go in the third quarter from a yard out. The Huskies re-took the lead 13-7.
“Better than anything on this planet [scoring that touchdown],” McDonald said afterwards.
“We are working real hard to improve our line. They’re doing a great job,” said Eric Blanchard.
On the ensuing drive by Sutherlin, the Huskies blocked a Bulldog punt and Smith picked up the ball and ran into the end zone for the second special team’s touchdown in as many weeks, bringing the to score 19-7.
“Yeah, our specials teams stood up with the scoop and score. Our special teams is doing a great job coming to the party,” Nichol said. “Also, our special teams were loaded with a bunch of younger guys. The JV guys that we are plugging in and getting them acclimated for next year and finding their spot and trying to get them some game speed there and get some of our starters off the special teams.”
Virtue capped the scoring off for Sweet Home with 10:00 to go in the fourth quarter. He dropped back on fourth-and-seven, was pressured from the pocket, and raced down the sideline for 16 yards to extend Sweet Home’s lead to 25-7, the eventual final score.
“I thought they [offensive line] played well, especially in crucial situations where we needed to get a first down or a touchdown, they got it done,” said Virtue. “The outside linebacker was bailing to help with the pass but he was also the one who had the pitch on the option, so he couldn’t get there in time without us getting a lot of yards.”
In the final 10 minutes of the game, Sweet Home turned stopped the Bulldogs on downs, recovered a fumble on a punt, and intercepted Yarbrough two times.
Sweet Home, now 2-4 overall and 1-2 in league, which ties the Huskies for fourth with Junction City, will need more of the same on defense next week against Elmira (5-1, 2-1) which has outscored its opponents 181-91. The Falcons are coming off a 27-3 loss at home to Sisters – their first of the season, which left both teams tied for second behind Cottage Grove.
We have got to take one game at a time,” Nichol said. “All I can say is Junction City lost to Elmira by five or six points. We blanked Junction City in the second half. To me, if we don’t spot (Junction City) 28 points in the first half, we win that game, and I think we have got a good chance against Elmira.
“I saw our guys step up tonight. There is going to be a lot on the line next week with Homecoming and Senior Night. The last few years our seniors have kind of felt the pressure of Senior Night and Homecoming, and they have not had their best games. That is what we are trying to overcome, just put things in perspective.
“I was just happy with the way our guys came out tonight. The rest of the season, if we show up and put forward all three aspects of the game together I don’t see why we can’t run with the two remaining teams we’ve got.”
Scoring Summary
SH 0 7 12 6 – 25
SU 0 0 7 0 – 7
Second Quarter
SH—Daniel Virtue 15-yard pass Colton Smith :29
Third Quarter
SU—Conner Grauf 73-yard kickoff return 11:47
SH—Hayden McDonald 1-yard run 4:00
SH—Punt Block return Smith 2:48
Fourth Quarter
SH—Virtue 16-yard run 10:00
Individual Statistics
Rushing – Dan Virtue 9-47; Hayden Nichol 9-36; Keanu Aiona 1-14; Eric Blanchard 7-(-9).
Passing – Dan Virtue 13-22-0 – 105.
Receiving – Colton Smith 2-39; Jake Swanson 1-18; Keegan Holly 3-17; Austin James 1-7; Hayden Nichol 1- (-2).