Ken Roberts
Sports Writers
There was no first round jinx in the state playoffs for Sweet Home this year. In a physical game of run versus run, the Huskies came out on top 42-7.
This victory plus Marist’s win over Ontario on Saturday sets up the classic confrontation between the state’s number one and two ranked teams this Friday.
The Huskies laid to rest the ghosts of football past by scoring on their first two possessions.
Setting the tone early, all 55 yards of the 10 play first drive were via the ground game, 53 by
Seth Graves, who toted the ball 16 times for 217 yards and four touchdowns. His first score came from 15 yards out and was followed by the first extra point in the career of Heath Belknap, soccer player turned football player.
Coach Rob Younger said the quick start was part of the game plan.
“One of our goals was to come right out and establish control from the start,” said Younger. “It gave us confidence in ourselves and we didn’t want to give them any momentum early.”
Younger was also pleased with the consistency of the kicking game by Belknap, who was six of six on points after and with his kickoffs kept the Pirates deep in their territory to start their drives.
“Heath got my son-in-law (head soccer coach Louis Dix) back in my will,” said Younger. “As a soccer coach, I took him out of it, but he came up with the idea of using Heath.”
Heath has been warmly accepted by the team.
“I wanted a kid with good character that would fit in on this ball club,” stated Younger. “He takes five or six balls home on the weekend to practice.”
Belknap had five more opportunities to ply his trade, starting with the Huskies’ second touchdown in the first quarter, a five yard run by Travis Smith.
“If I can get over them coming at me and stay focused, then everything is alright,” said Belknap.
That was also a problem for Phoenix. The Huskies just kept coming at them. They did manage to put together a 15 play drive in the first quarter for their lone touchdown when Jimi Lockheed capped it off with a two yard run. But after that, the Huskies made big plays when they had to.
“We knew they were a good offensive ball control team,” said Younger. “We wanted to be playmakers and make our stands when we could.”
Tim Matuszak was a playmaker in the second quarter. He made the first of his two interceptions on Phoenix’s next drive, returning the ball 31 yards to the Pirates’ 21 yard line.
Then he took his playmaking ability to the offensive side of the ball and completed a 9 yard pass to Travis Smith, giving the Huskies a 21-7 lead at halftime. Before the half was over, Matuszak made a low, diving interception on a second pass just before going out of bounds.
In the second half, Sweet Home’s defense continued to keep the Pirate runners from making the big plays, even though Max Boots ran for 127 yards and Phoenix totaled 208 yards on 53 carries. The Huskies made two big stops in the red zone and detained Phoenix on 4th down plays on each of their drives.
The Husky linebacking crew was active, with Travis Smith leading the way with 11 tackles. But the other linebackers, Matt Zollman, Ryan Elliott, and Brandon Martin, were constantly around the ball as were defensive end Tomas Rosa and safety Tyler Emmert. According to Zollman and Rosa, it was coach Dustin Nichol’s plan and preparation during the week’s practice that made Sweet Home ready for Phoenix.
“We had our best week of practice and it showed on Friday,” said Zollman. “Coach Nichol moved us to a stacked position at inside linebacker. It seemed to work really well. We were already in the hole.”
“During the week of practice, we study formation tendencies,” said Rosa. “We just knew what play was coming.”
Part of that defensive intensity came from “the hunger to move on” said Zollman. That was the way Travis Smith felt as he played much more on defense due to Brandon Miner’s injury.
“I played all out,” said Smith. ” I owe it to the team.”
The Huskies only ran 12 plays in the second half, striking quickly once they did get the ball.
It only took them three plays and a 31 yard touchdown run by Graves on their first series. Then Graves exploded for a career high 93 yard run on the very first play of their second possession.
“Our linemen got a great surge and there was a big hole,” said Graves. “At that point in the game, I thought there was time to waste, maybe have a 10 play scoring drive. It didn’t end up that way.”
Graves racked up his final touchdown on a 1 yard plunge. For the night, Sweet Home scored its 42 points on just 39 plays.
Younger praised the play of linemen Chris Kelley and Phil DeLong and linebackers Elliott and freshman Kyle Pettit.
“Some kids came to the party that haven’t been playing a lot but they rose to the challenge,” said Younger. “We were a better team as far as power football.”
The Huskies had a number of bangs and bruises after the game, some of them that might limit practice time or game availability.
“We need everybody, but we will just work hard and prepare hard,” said Younger. “We know these kids will play with a lot of heart next week.”