Jackson Baer
For The New Era
Led by a powerful running game from junior Wade Paulus and a strong offensive line, Sweet Home finished the regular season with a convincing 39-19 win at home against Sisters Friday.
The Huskies took control early on a rainy night.
“It’s completely different on a sloppy and muddy field,” said Paulus. “You just have to put your head down and run hard.”
After running for over 260 yards four touchdowns the previous week, Paulus added 182 yards and three touchdowns in just three quarters to his season total.
Sweet Home struck first after an interception by junior Colton Schilling set the Huskies up at the Sisters 25-yard line.
Paulus finished off the drive with a five-yard rushing touchdown at the 7:36 mark in the first quarter. The two-point conversion attempt was no good and the Huskies’ early lead was 6-0.
Sisters responded with a nice drive of its own, capped by a three-yard touchdown run by junior Ethan Luloff. The kick briefly gave the Outlaws a 7-6 lead.
Senior Hunter Bidwell answered immediately with an 87-yard kick-off return for a touchdown. The PAT attempt failed, but the Huskies had the lead again at 12-7.
“I just cut across, followed my blocks, took off and scored,” said Bidwell.
Sweet Home scored again on a 21-yard rushing touchdown from Paulus with 8:08 left in the second quarter. The Huskies stretched their lead to 19-7, but they weren’t done.
A few possessions later, senior Ty Harvey’s first career interception gave the Huskies the ball back at their own 28-yard line.
Paulus broke free for a 41-yard touchdown run with 3:12 remaining in the half. The two-point conversion was no good and Sweet Home carried the 25-7 lead into halftime.
Two minutes into the third quarter, Bidwell continued his career night on special teams with a 58-yard punt return for a touchdown to stretch the Huskies’ commanding lead to 32-7.
Down but not out, Sisters responded with a 19-yard pass from senior Shane Groth to junior Andrew Snyder to cut the lead to 32-13.
Sweet Home answered with an eight-yard touchdown pass from sophomore Cole Horner to senior Scottie Stockman, giving the Huskies a 39-13 lead and putting them in complete control as the third quarter wound down.
Sisters added one more score on a 24-yard touchdown pass from Groth to fellow senior Connor Morgan. The teams traded possessions in the fourth quarter, but neither found the end zone again.
“It feels really good and we like the position we’re in,” said Coach Dustin Nichol. “The basics took care of things for us tonight.”
Sweet Home finishes the regular season at 7-2, one year after winning only three games.
“It was crazy,” said Harvey. “This feels way better than last year.”
The Huskies are second in the Sky-Em conference at 4-1 and will host a play-in game for the state playoffs at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 4, against Philomath, which finished the year 5-3 after losing 35-13 last week at Stayton, a team Sweet Home beat 22-0 in the season opener.
“We’ve been working hard this year,” said Stockman. “The sophomores and juniors have helped a ton.”
Sweet Home has seen regular contributions from key sophomores and juniors, as well as a small but tough senior class. They will be a small favorite as they host Philomath but won’t be taking anything for granted.
If the Huskies can learn anything from this years Major League Baseball playoffs, anything can happen.
“Our goal is to take things one game at a time,” said Nichol. “You can’t look more than one week ahead, that’s when you get yourself in trouble.”
Game Summary
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total
Sisters 7 0 12 0 19
SH 12 13 14 0 39
Team Statistics
Rushing: SH 40-269; Sisters 33-192
Passing: SH 2-13-23-1 TD, 1 INT; Sisters 9-18-132; 2 TD, 3 INT
First Downs: SH 14; Sisters 12
Penalties: SH 3-25; Sisters 7-75
Turnovers: SH 3; Sisters 3
Total Yards: SH 292; Sisters 324 Sweet Home Individual Statistics
Rushing: Wade Paulus 19-182; 3 TD; Hunter Bidwell 12-56; Ty Harvey- 3-20; Jacob Smith 2-15; Cole Horner 4-9;.
Passing: Cole Horner 2-13-23; 1 TD; 1 INT
Receiving: Scottie Stockman 1-8; TD; Colton Holly 1-15.
Interceptions: Ty Harvey 1; Scottie Stockman 1; Colton Schilling 1.