Sean McLean
For The New Era
With just five yards to go Friday night at Estacada, Sweet Home’s football team was on the verge of blowing the game wide open. Instead, the momentum quickly turned on one play.
Estacada’s key fumble recovery in the second quarter stopped a potential score for the Huskies, and from there they took control of the game en route to a 21-14 overtime victory.
“I think we improved immensely over our first game,” coach Rob Younger said. “We made a lot of plays, especially in that second quarter, but down the stretch they made the plays. We stuck with though and played very tough.”
Estacada struck first in the first quarter when quarterback Jake Day found an open lane and took it to the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown run. Although they failed the two-point conversion, they had the lead after one quarter of action.
In the second quarter, however, Sweet Home’s offense shifted the momentum towards their side. A couple long drives set up short touchdown runs by running back Amos Parmenter, giving the Huskies a 14-6 lead. They would get the ball back again and take it down all the way to the Rangers’ five-yard line, which would set up a possible two touchdown lead heading into the half. A fumble, however, was recovered by Estacada and the Huskies went into the break clinging to an eight-point lead.
“Overall, the offense was inconsistent at times, but we had a really nice long touchdown drive there in the first half,” Younger said. “That turnover at the five-yard line was a turning point for sure, and that really hurt us because if we could have capitalized it could have been a different ball game.”
Estacada responded in the third quarter as running back Alex Pursel raced to the end zone on a massive 70-yard touchdown. The run would put him over 100 yards on the night, and his two-point conversion on the next play would tie the game.
From there, both teams played tight defense, and after a scoreless fourth quarter, they headed to overtime. Sweet Home’s offense, which found a lot of rhythm in the second quarter, could not get back in synch in the second half and was shut out the remainder of the contest.
With a possible 2-0 record hanging in the balance, Estacada ended the game with Day connecting with wide receiver Jake Hyde on a 25-yard pass play for the winning score. Hyde concluded the night with six catches for 66 yards and a touchdown.
Younger said his team played much better on both sides of the football in his team’s second game of the season.
“Down the road, I think this is going to make us a good football team,” he said. “I’ve seen progress and they are learning how to do things and how to win on the road.”
Parmenter was another difference maker on offense for the Huskies, leading the team with 83 yards rushing and two touchdowns. On the receiving end, junior Sam Macklin led Sweet Home with 42 yards on two catches. Quarterback Ryan Graville also had a much improved performance from last week, completing six of 13 passes for 75 yards and an interception.
Although the Huskies fell short against Estacada, Younger saw a lot of good things from his young team.
“Individually, I thought Ryan (Graville) played a great game from all aspects. He looked very comfortable out there throwing the football,” Younger said. “Defensively, Dustin Horn played tremendously, making plays out there.”
Rivalry week will be the theme next Friday as the Huskies will take on Stayton at home. In Younger’s 28 years at Sweet Home, it will be the 27th time these two schools will meet up. An old Capital Conference foe before the new classifications were enacted a year ago, the Eagles are 1-1 on the year and are coming off a 31-6 loss to Yamhill-Carlton. They started the season by beating Philomath, one of the Huskies’ Val-Co rivals.
“This game goes way back for me, and since it was an old rivalry game from our last conference, it certainly is a fun game to play and I know the guys are excited for it,” Younger said.
For this week’s game, Younger pointed out that his team needs to play a better first quarter, something that has plagued the team in its first two games with defending state runner-up Sisters and Estacada.
“We certainly need to get off to a better start this week,” he said. “We will put a big emphasis on that this week, to get off to a good start.”
Game Summary
1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT Final
E 6 0 8 0 7 21
SH 0 14 0 0 0 14
1st Quarter
Estacada: Jake Day 20 yd. run (run failed)
2nd Quarter
SHHS: Amos Parmenter 2 yd. run (Marc Callagan kick)
SHHS: Parmenter 1 yd. run (Callagan kick)
3rd Quarter
Estacada: Alex Pursel 70 yd. run (Pursel run)
Overtime
Estacada: Jake Hyde 25 yd. pass from Day (Stephen Jennings kick)
Team Stats
Rushing: SHHS 36-118; Estacada 50-298
Passing: SHHS 6-13-1, 75; Estacada 11-14, 93
Total Yards: SHHS 193; Estacada 384
First Downs: SHHS 12, Estacada 16
3rd/4th Down Conversion: SHHS 5-13; Estacada 9-17
Penalties: SHHS 0, Estacada 8-84
Sacks: SHHS 1-7; Estacada 0
Individual Stats
Rushing
SHHS: Parmenter 24-83; Delong 8-24; Graville 3-9
Macklin 1-2
Estacada: Pursel 21-148; Edwards 14-59; Day 8-45
Passing
SHHS: Graville 6-13-1, 75
Estacada: Day 11-14, 93
Receiving
SHHS: Macklin 2-42; Riggs 2-20; Delong 1-9;
McGuyre 1-4
Estacada: Hyde 6-66
Punting
SHHS: Delong 3-75, 25.0
Estacada: Day 3-63, 21.0
Kickoffs
SHHS: Callagan: Net 23.3; Estacada: Net 25.7
Kickoff Returns
SHHS: Parmenter 2-39: Estacada 3-53