Ken Roberts
For The New Era
The Sweet Home football team had every reason to simply cave in and let the Central Panthers roll over them.
The Huskies didn?t make that choice, though they lost 22-0 to go 0-3 for the season.
Sweet Home went into the game without its number-one quarterback, Kyle Pettit, who aggravated a knee injury that he suffered in the Wilsonville game after two days of practice. To compound the problem, backup quarterback Kyle Aubert had been practicing at the tight end slot to help add depth there because Adam Hummer had appendicitis.
In the last two weeks, Aubert had received very few reps as the quarterback in practice. On Wednesday, he had to shift gears and become the offensive leader. The story didn?t have a happy ending.
The Huskies never crossed the 50 yard line while amassing only 66 yards of total offense. They had seven turnovers: three fumbles rushing, three interceptions, and one snap over the punter?s head.
?Going into the game, I wasn?t sure what was going to happen because I only had two days of practice,? said Aubert. ?I tried to keep it positive in the huddle and tried to make sure I had a positive attitude.?
Coach Rob Younger praised Aubert?s effort, but Sweet Home had to minimize its offensive strategy
given the short preparation time. Plus, the Huskies had trouble making adjustments on their line because the starting line was also playing defense.
?We weren?t able to communicate some of the things we wanted to because the line was on the field playing defense,? explained Younger.
It could have been a night where Central rolled up the score. On all but two of their possessions, Central started in Husky territory. On their opening drive, from their own 43, the Panthers struck quickly when Joe Pratt threw a deep pass to Marcus Risteen for a 45-yard touchdown.
For the rest of the first half, the Husky defense had to stand up in their end of the field and fight off a Central team who had averaged 45 points a game and over 400 yards of offense per game. On the night, the Huskies stopped the Panthers from scoring more than a field goal all five times that Central moved inside the 20 yard line. In fact, despite the Huskies? inefficient offense, Sweet Home actually had more first downs than Central, 5-4, while limiting them to 218 yards of offense.
That was primarily because they were ready for Pratt, who is the Panthers? leading rusher as well as passer. Pratt ran for just 52 yards on 12 carries and was sacked three times.
?We had a good game plan going in, which the kids executed extremely well,? said Younger. ?They had their backs to the wall all night long. They showed great character.?
Shorty Weikel, in his first game of the year at defensive end, helped contain the Central offense, leading the Huskies with 10 tackles.
?Shorty brings energy,? said Younger. ?He?s just a little fireplug that never stops firing. A lot of that energy is contagious.?
Unfortunately, Central had one of the state?s best kickers in LoganYliniemi, who booted two field goals in the half and missed on attempts from 49 and 63 yards. The only other defensive error came late in the second quarter on a pass from a wide receiver, Andrew Waterman, once again to Risteen for another 45 yard touchdown.
In the second half, Sweet Home limited Central to just 43 yards of offense and one score, even though the Panthers kept starting inside Husky territory. The score came after the Huskies gave Central the ball at the six yard line following a bad snap that sailed over Skyler Bascom. Still, the Huskies stood their ground and yielded only another Yliniemi field goal.
Along with the stand out defensive play of Sweet Home, penalties kept Central from advancing into the end zone. All nine of their penalties for 94 yards were committed by their offensive unit, mostly on holding or illegal blocks.
The Huskies now enter a stretch of three road games, starting with the last pre-league game against Taft. The Tigers have been struggling also. They a?re 0-3, having lost to North Marion, Seaside, and most recently, Sherwood 62-0.
Senior outside linebacker Charlie Fitzsimons is confident that the Huskies will be able to post their first victory.
?We are going to stop their running game for sure,? said Fitzsimons.
Fitzsimons thinks the tough schedule as helped them.
?We have gotten a lot better,? he said. ?We just keep taking steps forward every week and we?re just going to keep going.?
Younger is not concerned with the quality of the opponent because he has taught his players that they are playing themselves each game. However, with the first league game on the horizon, Younger must now come to grips with their offensive plans with Pettit?s future this year unknown.
?We need to find our identity on offense,? stated Younger. ?What kind of team are we going to be. We need a lot of reps for the kids playing out of position.?
That includes Aubert, who is likely to start against the Tigers.
?I?ll be ready for this game,? Aubert declared.
GAME SUMMARY
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
SHHS 0 0 0 0 0
Central 10 9 0 3 22
1st Quarter
Cent?Risteen 45 yd. pass from Pratt (Yliniemi kick)
Cent?Yliniemi 27 yd. field goal
2nd Quarter
Cent?Yliniemi 28 yd. field goal
Cent?Risteen 45 yd. pass from Waterman (pass failed)
3rd Quarter
4th Quarter
Cent?Yliniemi 20 yd. field goal
Team Stats
Rushing: SHHS 34-84; Central 24-90
Passing: SHHS 29; Central 144
Sacks: SHHS 3-16 (Faulconer, Elliott);
Central 2-19
Total: SHHS 66, Central 218
1st Downs: SHHS 5; Central 4
Turnovers: SHHS 7; Central 1
Penalties: SHHS 5-45; Central 9-94
?Individual Stats
Rushing: SHHS: Tagle 15-59; Elliott 3-20
Bascom 5-17; Weikel 6-16; Aubert 5-(-28)
Central: Pratt 12-52
Passing: SHHS: Aubert 3-13-3, 29
Central: Pratt 7-14-1, 99; Waterman 1-2, 45
Receiving: SHHS: Faulconer 2-20; Bascom 1-9
Central: Risteen 3-98; Waterman 3-23
Punts: SHHS: Bascom 3-93 (31, 29.7 net)
Central: Conklin 3-85 (28.3, 28.3 net)
Punt Returns: SHHS: None Central: 1-4
Kick Returns: SHHS: Shipp 1-33
Central: 1-9
Kickoff Average Yard Line:
SHHS: 22.3; Central 30
Interceptions: SHHS 1 (Shipp); Central 3
Fumble Recoveries: SHHS 0; Central 4
Blocked Punt: SHHS: 1 (Fitzsimons)
Tackles: SHHS: Weikel 10, Bascom 9,
Tagle and Elliott, 6