The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

The Sisters football team took its first loss of the season on the road against league rival Sweet Home on Friday, October 18.

The final score was 28-21 in favor of the Huskies.

"It's what it looks like when two good teams play," Coach Bob Macauley said. "They just did a few things better than us, but it was a great game."

The Huskies are a, well, husky team and that was a factor.

"Their size really hurt us," Macauley said. "Across their offensive line, they weigh 300, 240, 235, 220 and 225. Our biggest guy weighs 215, and our defensive line is between 175-195. They were able to take advantage and convert five of six fourth down situations."

The Huskies began the scoring in explosive fashion on a 50-yard touchdown run to take a quick 7-0 lead. The Outlaws answered with a 26-yard touchdown pass from Pat Burke to Seth Teague to tie things up.

Sweet Home took a 14-7 advantage on another big run, this one a 59-yard cutback.

"We didn't close the back door," said Macauley. "We were too eager going after the ball, and we over-pursued."

The Huskies made it 21-7 by recovering a Sisters fumble and then driving 63 yards for the score. But the Outlaws came right back with a 52-yard drive of their own in nine plays. The key play was a 15-yard pass to Juwan Davis on third-and-15 to keep the drive going. Pat Burke scored on a one-yard quarterback sneak to draw within 21-14.

The defense held and forced Sweet Home to punt. With 1:10 left in the first half, the Sweet Home center snapped the ball over the punter's head, and the Outlaws were in business at the three-yard line. Chris Wimer punched it in, and the teams went to the locker room tied 21-all at the half.

The third quarter was a standstill, with neither team scoring. But the Huskies' size began to dominate in the deciding fourth quarter.

"They kept the ball away from us," said Coach Macauley. "They ran the ball 19 times for 126 yards in the fourth quarter alone. By comparison, we ran six plays for 37 yards in the final period."

Sweet Home kept pounding the ball and drove for the go-ahead score to account for the final 28-21 victory. The Huskies made three successful fourth down conversions on their final drive to run out the clock and seal the win.

The Outlaws had 287 yards of total offense. Pat Burke was 18 for 27 passing for 252 yards and one touchdown, with two interceptions. Seth Teague caught eight passes for 142 yards, and Juwan Davis added three receptions for 70 yards. Sweet Home put together 387 yards of offense, with 300 yards coming from the ground assault.

Andy Macauley led the defense with 16 tackles.

"Matt Harp played an excellent game on the defensive line, as did Josh Kelleher," said the coach. "Our cornerbacks Nathan Powell and Ian McAlister played man-to-man coverage all night, and they played really well. We had good individual performances on defense -- we just need to work on being more disciplined and staying at home."

Coming up on Friday, October 25, the Outlaws host North Marion, which defeated Molalla last week.

"They're on a roll, and we need to regroup," said the coach.