Ken Roberts
For The New Era
It was a wild football game in the first quarter, as Sweet Home and Junction City tangled Friday night at Husky Field.
But from the second quarter on, Junction City took command of both sides of the line of scrimmage on the way to a 37-20 non-league victory over the 3-6 Huskies.
As has been the pattern this year for Sweet Home, the Tigers opened the game with a quick strike, taking only three plays to cover 67 yards. Zach Gerdes connected with Cody Garner on a 31-yard touchdown pass.
The Huskies’ first possession had the opposite result. They started with a holding penalty, a fumble for a five-yard loss, and an incompletion before the center snap on third down traveled 20 yards untouched until Kyle Pettit finally recovered it, costing Sweet Home a safety.
Still, the Huskies did not back down. After a quick four and out on defense, Sweet Home put together its best offensive performance of the night. With Skyler Bascom and Pettit doing the running out of a two-back set, the Huskies marched 63 yards in eight plays with Bascom scoring on a one-yard plunge.
The only pass play in the drive was a big one, a 25-yarder to tight end Josh Riggs. The second pass was a successful two-point conversion from Pettit to Adam Hummer, bringing the Huskies to within one point at 9-8.
Then the unbelievable took place. Junction City responded with a 75-yard kickoff return by tailback Kyle West. Not to be outdone, Pettit returned the favor, racing 92 yards with Sweet Home’s first touchdown by a kickoff return this season. A missed two-point attempt kept the Huskies trailing by two.
On the next series, Junction City looked like it was going to score again before Chaz Davis intercepted a pass near the end zone.
The Tigers’ defense held Sweet Home in check for the rest of the half but their offense nearly self-destructed a couple of times. Penalties erased one drive. A fumble on a punt return, recovered by Nathan Whitfield, gave new life to Sweet Home deep in Junction City territory, but the Huskies failed to capitalize.
Instead, the Tigers turned the tide with an interception and then went on another quick scoring drive, taking only four plays to go 70 yards. This time Gerdes found Andrew Martin on a 20-yard pass play, sending the Tigers to a 23-14 halftime lead.
In the second half, Sweet Home caused most of their own problems. That, combined with the Huskies’ proclivity to give up a big play sealed the deal for Junction City. The Tigers scored the only touchdown of the third quarter on another four-play explosive ground assault, culminating in a 16-yard scamper by Tanner Strasheim.
Still, the Huskies appeared to be ready to respond again. However, a big holding penalty, followed by a lost fumble two plays, later ended that ambition.
Junction City applied the final touches in the fourth quarter with its only long drive. West, Gerdes, and Simmons covered all 57 yards on the ground with West scoring from eight yards out. Sweet Home finished the night on a positive note with a drive of its own, traversing 79 yards in 11 plays. Pettit threw a fourth-down pass eight yards to Ridge McKinney for the late touchdown.
“I was so proud of how they finished that game,” said coach Rob Younger, who was pleased in general
with his team’s ability to respond to adversity. “It showed they hadn’t given up and they played 48 full minutes with tremendous effort.”
Sweet Home still has to find some answers as it faces Philomath for the league’s third berth in the state playoffs. Can the offensive line regain control and allow the Huskies’ offense to click? The Huskies had only 158 yards of total offense Friday.
Once again Pettit was continuously under pressure, suffering five sacks, the fifth time this year that has happened.
Younger is trying to highlight the skills of Pettit even more with the loss of tailback Tyler Horner to an automobile accident. With the new scheme, Pettit was in the shotgun often, but the Huskies had trouble protecting the rush on the corners. Pettit was only able to run for nine yards on seven carries before the Huskies returned to their standard formation using Cody Sells at tailback in the second half.
“Initially, we went to some new formations to get Pettit some opportunities to run either inside or outside,” Younger said. “But the bottom line is we haven’t been practicing those schemes other than just this last week.”
Can the Sweet Home defense halt its propensity for giving up the big play? Of the 31 touchdowns given up, 16 have been on plays of more than 20 yards with five more over 10 yards. It is a matter of team speed.
“Speed is a God-given talent and wins football games,” said Younger. “We are not the fastest team.”
Davis, an outside linebacker, thinks it will take a concerted team effort by the defense to execute well.
“The linebackers and cornerbacsk need to play downhill and just be more aggressive,” said Davis, who is confident about the team’s chances to make it to the playoffs.
Injuries and academic ineligibility put five key players on the sidelines for the Junction City game. How many will be available for the Friday night contest against Philomath is unknown. Not only have the Huskies had to adjust their schemes, they have had to use players differently, such as Adam Hummer, who played defense and punted very well for the first time this year.
Fortunately, Philomath is a struggling team as well with a 2-7 record. In their seven losses, they were shut out four times and scored only once in the other three games. The Warriors narrowly defeated Stayton in their very first game, 20-19. Stayton eked out an 8-6 victory over the Huskies, who were without Pettit in the first half. Since then, Philomath’s only success came at the hands of Taft, whom they trampled 32-14.
For seniors like Kris Schaefer, who led the Huskies with eight tackles, it is very important to make it into the playoffs, something that Sweet Home has done in each of his three previous years with the team.
“We just need to prepare this week like we do for every game,” said Schaefer. “To not make it to the playoffs would be pretty tough. But if we can make it into the playoffs, then anything can happen.”
The reward for the winner is a game at Marist, the Sky-Em’s second-place team with a number four ranking in the state.
Game Statistics
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Final
SHHS 14 0 0 6 20
JC 16 7 7 7 37
1st Quarter
JC—Gerdes to Garner 37 yd. pass (Martin kick)
JC—Safety: Pettit recovered snap in end zone
SHHS—Bascom 1 yd. run (Pettit pass to Hummer)
JC—West 75 yd. kickoff return (Martin kick)
SHHS—Pettit 92 yd. kickoff return (run failed)
2nd Quarter
JC—Gerdes to Martin 20 yd. pass (Martin kick)
3rd Quarter
JC—Strasheim 16 yd. run (Martin kick)
4th Quarter
JC—West 8 yd. run (Martin kick)
SHHS—Pettit to McKinney 8 yd. pass (kick failed)
Team Stats
Rushing: SHHS 28-99; JC 33-283
Passing: SHHS 90; JC 164
Sacks: SHHS 1-9; JC 5-31
Total: SHHS158, JC 438
1st Downs: SHHS 10;JC 18
Turnovers: SHHS 3; JC 2
Penalties: SHHS 5-55; JC 10-107
Individual Stats
Rushing: SHHS: Bascom 12-53; Sells 9-37;
Pettit 7-9
JC: West 22-169; Strasheim 2-42
Passing: SHHS: Pettit 10-17-1, 90;
JC: Gerdes 11-22-1, 158
Receiving: SHHS: McKinney 4-16; Hummer 3-16;
Riggs 2-55; Bascom 1-4
JC: Martin 5-54; Garner 4-58
Punts: SHHS: Hummer 6-197 (32.8, 30.5 Net)
JC: Fielder 2-40 (20 net)
Punt Returns: SHHS 0; JC 1-14
Kick Returns: SHHS: Pettit 2-110; McKinney 1-19
Fisher 1-1 JC: 3-87
Interceptions: SHHS1 (Davis); JC 1
Fumble Recoveries: SHHS 1 (Whitfield); JC 2
Tackles: SHHS— Schaefer 8; Perrine 7; Jones 6