Jackson Baer
For The New Era
Sweet Home charged out to an early lead, then managed to hold on for a 26-20 victory over Philomath in a OSAA 4A play-in game Friday night.
The victory gives the Huskies a first-round berth in the 4A playoffs at defending 4A state champion Baker Saturday, Nov. 12 at 1 p.m.
In defeating the Warriors Friday, Sweet Home beat a team that had defeated Newport earlier this year and had plenty of talent – and knew what to do with it, clawing their way back from a 26-0 deficit early in the third quarter to make things uncomfortably close for the Huskies in the final minutes of the game.
“It felt great,” said junior Josh Holman. “We put the heat on ourselves but managed to pull it out.”
Sweet Home got on the board early, thanks to a 74-yard rushing touchdown from junior Wade Paulus on the second offensive play of the game for the home team. The Husky defense was stellar in the first half, shutting Philomath out along the way.
On Sweet Home’s second drive of the contest, sophomore quarterback Cole Horner connected with junior Colton Holly for a 43-yard completion down field. The next play resulted in a 24-yard touchdown run by Paulus at the 7:57 mark in the first quarter. The two-point try failed, but the Huskies had a 13-0 lead.
“The line was blocking really good tonight,” said Paulus. “They had a hell of a game and we were doing it for the seniors.”
Sweet Home stopped the Warriors at the 10-yard line but fumbled on the following drive at its own 24-yard line, giving the ball right back.
The Husky defense held strong and stopped Philomath at the 23-yard line. The offense responded with a nice drive capped by another rushing touchdown from Paulus. The 22-yard run gave the Huskies a commanding 20-0 lead with 6:12 to play in the first half.
Paulus picked up where he left off in the second half, running for his fourth rushing touchdown of the game and 11th in the past three weeks. The score came at 7:57 in the third quarter on a 38-yard run that left the Warriors trailing 26-0 after the PAT attempt failed.
Philomath wasn’t finished by any means and began to drive to ball, thanks in large part to an increasingly effective passing game. Junior quarterback Derek Nash found sophomore Ben Desaulnier for a 25-yard touchdown pass with 2:46 left in the third quarter. The fourth quarter score saw the Huskies leading 26-7 and seemingly on their way to the first round of the playoffs.
The game was far from over.
Sweet Home drove down the field but found itself at fourth and long on the 39-yard line after a holding call, and some missed blocks that resulted in a sack on Horner.
Cole Horner drags down a Philomath running back as Nate Melcher closes in to help.
“All those mistakes put us in that hole,” said Coach Dustin Nichol.
A field goal attempt by Kyle Winslow, playing in his third high school football game, just missed at 10:20.
The Warriors quickly found their way into the end zone thanks to a nine-yard touchdown pass from Nash to senior Josh Hanson, who was wide open. The two-point conversion failed, but the lead was a little less safe at 26-13 with 8:52 left in the game.
Philomath then went into overdrive, recovering the onside kick, which the officials ruled had gone the required 10 yards. The Warriors capitalized on the change in momentum and drove down the field, scoring on a six-yard rushing touchdown by senior Matt Trask with 6:26 left in the game. All of the sudden, the lead was only 26-20.
“Seven plays set up three scores in 10 minutes,” Nichol said.
Sweet Home recovered the Warriors’ squib kick at its own 33-yard line and proceeded to drive the ball down the field. A mishap on the handoff led to the second fumble of the game for the Huskies and gave Philomath the ball back at their own 13-yard line with 2:29 left to play.
That’s when the Husky defense stepped up and made big plays to force a fourth-and-15 situation from their own territory. Paulus picked off the pass and sealed the game for Sweet Home.
“I saw the QB’s eyes and just came up on it,” Paulus said.
Both teams played hard but the final score was a bit deceiving as to how the Huskies played for the first three quarters.
“It feels really good to get the win,” said Coach Dustin Nichol. “We played hard but made some mistakes and let them back into the game. That was too close for what I call comfort.”
“I wish we would have finished better,” said junior Trever Olson. “We need to work on our coverage and assignments.”
The victory improves Sweet Home’s record to 8-2 and dropped Philomath to a final season record of 5-4.
Sweet Home will make the six-hour trip to Baker to take on the Bulldogs who are 7-2. Baker is a bit of an unknown as all its victories were blowouts, as were both of their losses, which were to schools in Idaho. Their OSAA competition was less than stellar.
Baker beat Mac-Hi 54-7 Friday after a crowd of volunteers cleared 3 inches of snow off the field. It was the Bulldogs’ second victory over Mac-Hi, which also plays in the Greater Oregon League and finished the season 1-8.
Baker junior quarterback Braden Phillips, a left-hander, completed 16 of 18 passes for 261 yards and four touchdowns – one to freshman receiver Thomas Hamilton – as Baker rolled up 386 yards in total offense. The Bulldogs also blocked one punt and put pressure on the Mac-Hi punter on another punt.
Baker beat 3A-division Burns 53-6 earlier this season. Burns beat La Pine 16-12 and Sisters 18-7 in its first two games. Sweet Home beat La Pine 59-16 and Sisters 39-19.
“They’re defending state champs and that’s the scary deal,” said Nichol. “They run about 14 different formations. They’re going to be difficult to defend. You can’t have one generic package. We’re going to be challenged defensively that way.”
He recalled Baker’s last trip to Sweet Home, in 2002, when the Bulldogs ran over an undefeated Sweet Home team in the first round of the playoffs, 22-6. Baker Coach Dave Johnson had, two weeks previously, called in the fire department to douse the Bulldogs’ practice field and player to get them prepared to play on the west end of the state. Their win came in wind and rain at Sweet Home.
“They came over here with 19 guys and laid the lumber to us,” Nichol said. “They’re a different breed of people over there. They’re tough. They deal with the cold. They get up and work, then they go to school, then they go to football practice, then they work some more. They don’t have all the amenities like shopping malls. They’re just tough, hardworking people.
“They’re going to be a big challenge.”
The fact that the Huskies are 8-2 and in the playoffs is notable, considering the team went 3-7 last year and that only 11 of its 36 players are seniors.
“It feels good to be going to the playoffs,” said junior Nate Melcher. “The days of November are ones to remember.”
The Huskies have received significant contributions all season long from grades 10 and 11. They will need the sophomores and juniors to step up if they want to continue playing into the holidays.
“It feels awesome to play another week,” said Horner, a sophomore whose brother Austin, also a sophomore, is a stalwart on the line. “People underestimated us but we know we’re a good team and we want to prove it on the field.”
Scoring Summary
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total
Philomath 0 0 7 13 20
SH 13 7 6 0 26
Team Statistics
Rushing: SH 38-362; Philomath 27-92
Passing: SH 5-16-74; Philomath 17-40-251; 2 TD, 1 INT
First Downs: SH 15; Philomath 14
Penalties: SH 5-40; Philomath 4-27
Turnovers: SH 2; Philomath 1
SH Offensive Stats:
Total Yards: 436 yards Rushing: 362 yards
Passing: 74 yards
Individual Rushing:
Wade Paulus 29-294; 4 TD
Hunter Bidwell 5-54
Jacob Smith 4-14
Individual Passing:
Cole Horner 5-15-74
Colton Holly 0-1
Individual Receiving:
Colton Holly 2-46
Mitch Keenon 1-15
Bryce Vandenberg 1-14
Quinn Wise 1- (-1)
Interceptions:
Wade Paulus 1