Jason Casey
Sweet Home got caught in a wave of purple Friday night in Coos Bay as Marshfield rolled over the Huskies 44-14 in a state play-in game.
The loss ends the season for Sweet Home, which finished 4-5 overall, 3-2 in league.
Marshfield’s offense made big play after big play, showing enough force to qualify the Pirates as a force to be reckoned with in the state playoffs.
“I saw a team that was highly motivated and a team that was a little lethargic,” said Head Coach Dustin Nichol. “Marshfield was in to win it.”
The Pirates’ offense was clicking on all cylinders in the first half, giving them a 31-0 halftime lead.
Running back Matt McAllister rushed for 159 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries and quarterback Gary Jantzer completed 11 passes for 117 yards and three scores. Sweet Home appeared out of sync on both sides of the ball for most of the first half as the game turned into a track meet for the Pirates.
“They came out and their No. 34 (McAllister) would get the ball, and he would be at full tilt on his third or fourth step,” said Nichol. “Their offensive line had a push all night long, and offensive and defensive line win you football games, and this is proof positive. Their offensive and defensive line was better tonight then ours.”
In the second half the Huskies’ offense scored two touchdowns when the game was already out of reach. Brandon Keenon got the ball in the end zone twice in his last game as a Husky, just as he has all season long.
Despite the lopsided score, the Huskies didn’t quit. Keenon finished the game with 31 carries for 156 yards.
“I don’t know, honestly. I thought we had a good chance,” said Keenon after the game. “It didn’t turn out that way. We got a good kick return and we just kept stabbing ourselves in the foot, stupid penalties, we were just self-destructing.”
Nichol said it came down to muscle on the line: “They were loading the box and we weren’t able to convert. I don’t know we tried everything we had right there, we moved the ball and then we would get a penalty and a lot of times more than one on one play and they didn’t get very many penalties.”
Justin Tow had a rough ending to his high school career, finishing the game 5 for 18 with 103 yards passing and three interceptions.
After Marshfield marched down the field to score following the opening kickoff, Keanu Aiona put some fire in the Huskies with a nearly 70-yard kickoff return to put Sweet Home on the 22 yard line.
“I thought we were going to get some momentum going and get our offense going, get our offensive line going good and move it, chug-a-lug down the field and get some scoring, but it just didn’t happen,” Aiona said.
Whenever the offense would start to get some momentum there would be a mistake by the Huskies.
“This, right here, just stinks for the seniors,” said Nichol. “To come down and have a score like this put up on them. It’s a pride thing and, and it’s not just the seniors, it’s a program deal. That’s unfortunate. It just seemed like anything we tried to do they had an answer for. We were half a step or a step behind on everything and they were making plays and we seemed like we weren’t able to make any good plays or get anything going on offense. “
After last week’s thrilling win over Sutherlin the Huskies had high hopes for their game against Marshfield.
“We were thinking we need to play a lot tougher than we did versus Sutherlin,” said Aiona. “We didn’t have the right things going for us, and we just needed to look at our matchup and toughen up and do something right.”
Nichol said he wasn’t sure “what Sweet Home team was going to show up.
“I had it in my mind that we were going to be really competitive and woke up and get after things or we could be in for a battle and I was hoping to light a fire underneath the guys this week.”
Jesus Patricio said the team picked things up after a faltering start to the season.
“I’m happy that we got on somewhat of a winning streak but it’s a bummer to lose tonight.”
Junior Devin Stafford said the team will miss Tow and Keenon.
“They are big guys on this team. They had a big impact on our team and we are going to miss them. The season went pretty well. We weren’t expected to do anything this year, and did a lot more than a lot of people we expected. We weren’t expected to get a play-in game. I’m just proud of some of the guys. The seniors led us all the way here. I’m proud of everybody.”
Aiona, also a junior, added, “Pretty much all the seniors started, so it’s a big deal, we are all really close on the team and just to see them go sucks, I don’t want to see them go, and I don’t want to move on as a senior as well. They are just going to miss it a lot.”
Depth and injuries were a problem for the Huskies all season long, Nichol said.
“The problem that people don’t see, and I don’t like making excuses, but if you look at our bench, there is a big separation. We’ve been robbing Peter to pay Paul in order to get guys on the field.
“We have got a lot of quality kids in the program but our depth is not there. I have never had so many three-way starters for the entire season, and this is my sixth season being the head coach and varsity experience under Coach (Rob) Younger. I have never seen this.”
Scoring Summary
SH 0 0 0 14 – 14
MF 14 17 13 0 – 44
First Quarter
MF – Matt McAllister 1 run (Kick failed) 9:19
MF – DJ Herrington 34 pass from Gary Jantzer (Jantzer run) 6:28
Second Quarter
MF – Gary Jantzer 23 run (Ian Emlet kick) 11:54
MF – DJ Herrington 52 pass from Gary Jantzer (Ian Emlet kick) 8:07
MF– Ian Emlet 30 field goal :00
Third Quarter
MF – Gary Jantzer 5 yard run (Kick failed) 6:03
MF – Chance Jacobs 62 yard run (Ian Emlet kick) 5:36
Fourth Quarter
SH – Brandon Keenon 1 yard run (2-pt conversion failed) 7:28
SH – Brandon Keenon 4 yard run (Brandon Keenon run) 1:25
Individual Statistics
Rushing – Brandon Keenon 31-156; Justin Tow 5-23; Keanu Aiona 5-19.
Passing – Justin Tow 5-18-3-104.
Receiving – Devin Stafford 2-53; Dan Virtue 1-32; Ty Plebuch 1-14; Keanu Aiona 1-5.