Sweet Home rallied from a stagnant first half Friday, but not in time to reclaim their Capital Conference opener against the Sisters Outlaws.
The Huskies erased a 21-0 half-time deficit and pulled to within eight, 24-16 by game’s end.
Sweet Home went into the contest knowing Sisters would be potent, but thinking their weakness might be the offensive and defensive lines. They were wrong as both stood the test.
Quarterback Brian Seward the Huskies were most effective off-tackle but also hit six of nine passing attempts.
“I think Ricky Stock ran well and had a couple big runs late in the game,” Seward said. “I should have stayed in the pocket a little better. Coach said I had happy feet.”
Seward said the Outlaws were quick, which posed a challenge.
Sisters scored 7 in the first, 14 in the second and three in the third.
Sweet Home scored eight and eight in the third and fourth quarters.
Stats wise, the two league foes matched up well. The Outlaws hit 10 of 19 aerials for 133 yards and ground out 36 runs for 150 yards and a 283 yard night.
“They only picked up 70 yards in the second half, so you can see we picked up the pace a lot,” Coach Younger said.
Sweet Home ran 46 times for 202 ground yards and Seward hit 6 of 9 passes for 75 yards and a 277 yard total.
The leading ground gainer was Levi McCubbins who handled the ball 13 times for 68 yards. Adam Knight had 12 carries for 43 yards and Stock had 6 carries for 41 yards.
Richard Erevia was on the receiving end of four passes for 61 yards.
Sisters points came on a six yard pass from Burke to Teague, a 19 yard run by Green and a 16 yard run by Burke.
“Sisters played a very good game, they had no turnovers,” Coach Younger said. “They played consistent ball. We just didn’t take advantage of opportunities in the first half. We had a time-consuming drive early that took us to the 12 and we didn’t capitalize on it. We had another drive to the seven and didn’t score.”
Coach Younger said the Husky defense was off the first half but rallied back in the third and fourth quarters.
“We had a completely different second half of play,” Coach Younger said. “We forced them into several three and out series. Our defense gave our offense good field position and we capitalized on threat. We had a golden opportunity late in the game to score but put the ball into the ground.”
Defensively, Erevia, Simpkins and Vassar had good games, Coach Younger said.
“Brandon Miner came in the second half and played well at linebacker,” Coach Younger added.
Players of the week were: Specialty Teams: Bobby Cartwright; Offense: Brian Seward; Defense: Daniel Brewer; Practice: Neal Workman.
This week’s game: The Huskies host the Junction City Tigers in a non-league rivalry. Junction City has been potent this season, racking up 153 points in the first three games. Friday they hammered La Pine, 53-14 in a league contest.
Junction City likes to throw the football.