Jackson Baer
For The New Era
Sweet Home started league play Friday with a frustrating loss to new Sky-Em opponent Elmira.
Playing in front of the home crowd wasn’t enough to overcome miscues and a big first quarter by the visiting team. Despite this being Homecoming week, the Huskies fell 26-14, although they had several opportunities to earn the victory.
“We drove the ball right down the field and at the end failed to score and put the ball in,” said Coach Dustin Nichol. “We just didn’t get it taken care of. It’s frustrating.”
“Frustrating” accurately described most of the game on the field and in the stands.
The Falcons scored on the second play of the game with a 75-yard touchdown pass, 25 seconds into the game. Sweet Home was unable to respond and on the very next drive Elmira punched in another touchdown on a 1-yard run at the 6:44 mark.
The Huskies bounced back and drove the ball down the field, showing major signs of improvement in the running game.
Senior running back Kyle Sorenson pushed through for a 1-yard touchdown run, closing the score to 14-7.
Sweet Home tried an onside kick after the score and seemed to catch Elmira and the fans off guard. The ball went in and out of a Husky player’s hands but was recovered by Elmira.
The Falcons drove the ball 69 yards down the field, finishing with an 11-yard rushing touchdown just before the end of the first quarter. Senior Zach Miller blocked the extra point giving the Falcons a 20-7 lead just before the start of the second quarter.
Sweet Home’s offense was really moving the ball well at this point and senior Keenan Martin was successful on a fake punt to keep the drive alive. The Huskies methodically drove the ball and finished with another 1-yard rushing touchdown by Kyle Sorenson, half way through the second quarter.
Two minutes later, down by only six points, senior Kris Newport recovered a fumble and the momentum shifted in the Huskies’ direction. Keenan Martin completed a 17-yard pass to sophomore Wade Paulus to cross mid-field and the next play was what appeared to be a 36-yard touchdown pass from Martin to Alex Coakley, but it was negated by a questionable offensive holding call.
Sweet Home followed with a 7-yard run and then a dropped catch in the red zone. That was the theme for the Husky passing game all night as receivers had a hard time catching the ball.
Elmira would miss a 37-yard field goal as time expired and there was a confident feeling heading into halftime down only 20-14, after the quick start by Elmira.
The Huskies came out in the third quarter and put together arguably their best drive of the year. They consumed almost nine minutes off the clock and found themselves 3rd and goal from the 1-yard line.
The running game was working well all night but the Huskies were stopped at the half-yard line setting up a 4th and goal.
Needing less than two feet to tie the game and take the lead with a successful extra point, the QB sneak came up just short,
resulting in a turnover on downs.
That was a devastating blow to the Husky offense.
Elmira took over at the half-yard line and drove the ball the entire length of the field. They capped off a six-minute drive with a 4-yard rushing touchdown run followed by a failed 2-pt. conversion.
Just over a minute later Keenan Martin threw his second interception of the game, giving Elmira the ball back. Thirty seconds later Wade Paulus recovered a fumble at the 10-yard line, stopping what was looking like another Elmira score.
The Huskies were unable to score with the passing game, failing to gain any consistency. Sweet Home would recover one more fumble, their fourth recovery of the game, at the 1:51 mark.
“I thought the defense did not perform to the best of their ability,” said defensive leader Zach Jackson, who recovered the final fumble.
“Our players just weren’t taking care of their responsibilities, including myself. And we just didn’t have the flare and hard hits we had last week against Taft,
“Two things I think we need to work on the most is our tackling and our receiving, although we have gotten better at both of those since the first game. But the biggest thing is our consistency and maintaining our own responsibilities on the football field.”
One thing that was evident was the progress made in the running game.
“The backs are running much harder and lower.” Martin said. “One thing I can say is we have a crew of backs that are a group of tough son-of-a-guns and will pop you in the mouth hard. The line is doing a great job in blocking the run plays and that’s obvious with backs getting 3 or 4 yards every play. That comes from great running back play and the line getting a good push.
“I’m proud of these guys. We may have lost, but our heads are up and looking past this game to La Pine and I have full trust and confidence that these guys will respond well and look forward to a great week of practice.”
Sweet Home moved to 1-4 on the year and 0-1 in league play while Elmira improved to 1-4 and 1-0 in league play. The Huskies host LaPine this Thursday at 7 p.m. The Hawks are 0-5 after falling 52-12 to Cottage Grove last week.
Nichol said he thinks what’s missing for his team is the fun of playing football.
“What I see on the sideline is they’re not having any fun,” he said. “After a touchdown there were high fives but the emotion just wasn’t there. After the big play at the beginning, it took the wind out of our sails.
“In our losses we’ve given up 18 to 21 points in a single quarter each game and the rest of the game we haven’t given up very many points. It seems like before we get going we have to spot them two or three touchdowns before we play ball.
“This week we’re going to find the fun in playing again.”
Scoring Summary
1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total
E 20 0 0 6 26
SH 7 7 0 0 14
1st Quarter:
E €“ 11:35 €“ Anders Westlund 75-yd pass to Travis Boggs. (Westlund kick)
E €“ 6:44 €“ Westlund 1-yd run (Westlund kick)
SH €“ 2:28 €“ Kyle Sorenson 1-yd run (Alex Santana kick)
E €“ 0:26 €“ Matt Harper 10-yd run (kick blocked)
2nd Quarter:
SH €“ 5:19 €“ Sorenson 1-yd run (Santana kick)
4th Quarter:
E €“ 9:53 €“ Travis Boggs 4-yd run (2-point attempt failed)
Team Statistics
Rushing: SH 45-195; Elmira 39-284
Passing: SH 9-24-2, 93; Elmira 5-8-0, 145
First Downs: SH 16; Elmira 18
Penalties: SH 6-56; Elmira 3-15
Turnovers: SH 3; Elmira-4
Individual Statistics
Rushing: Kyle Sorenson 21-117; Keenan Martin 8-32; Wade Paulus 4-17; Hunter Bidwell 5-12; Patrick Long 4-9; Zach Jackson 2-8.
Passing: Keenan Martin 9-25-72-2
Receiving: Alex Santana 5-54; Wade Paulus 2-25; Hunter Bidwell 2-10.
Kick Returns: Wade Paulus 1-25; Hunter Bidwell 2-24; Kris Newport 1-14; Zach Miller 1-9.
Punting: Alex Coakley 3-105.