Here’s a look at this week’s Basin football scores.
NSCIF 8 Man: No. 3 Hayfork 36, No. 1 Tulelake 14
Playing for a section championship, Tulelake (9-3) struggled to contain Hayfork’s (13-0) powerful ground game. The Timberjacks had three players with (close to) 100 rushing yards: Devin Nanez had 109 yards on 19 carries, Levi Cavalli had 95 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries and Anthony Bonelli had 92 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries.
Cavalli also hit Evan Pickett for a 40-yard touchdown on one of the three passes Hayfork attempted (it was the Timberjacks’ only completion of the night) and Nanez returned a fumble 30 yards for a touchdown.
Defensively, Hayfork got two sacks each from Aidan Lorton and Aoden Colorado and one from Hayden Trossauer.
OSAA 4A: No. 1 Henley 42, No. 4 Scappoose 13 (Saturday)
The interceptions just kept coming.
Chris Janney. Bryson Montag. Mark Carpenter. Conner Shively. Kyle Nichols.
By the time the first half was over, all of the aforementioned Henley (12-0) players had picked off Scappoose (10-2) quarterback Max Nowlin–a potential Division I recruit who came into Saturday’s game having thrown seven interceptions the entire season–and the Hornets had built a 35-7 lead.
After receiving the second half kickoff, Henley put together a drive that took up nearly half the third quarter and ended with Chris Janney making a one-handed catch at the Indians 10-yard line and taking it in for a 12-yard touchdown on fourth-and-7. Having triggered a running clock, the Hornets coasted the rest of the way to a 42-13 win that clinched their first state championship appearance since 1982.
Scappoose moved the ball well to start the game; Nowlin completed passes of 19 and 12 yards on the first two plays to get the Indians into Henley territory. After that, though, the drive stalled, ending with a turnover on downs when Jason Kern foiled a Scappoose run with a tackle for loss at the Henley 38-yard line. The Hornets then launched a 13-play scoring drive that lasted 6:13 and ended with a 6-yard touchdown run by Logan Whitlock.
The Indians answered immediately. Ruben Gonzalez-Tapia returned the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown, sending the Henley offense right back onto the field. They would end up punting after five plays.
Three plays after Joe Janney’s punt was fair caught at the Scappoose 28-yard line, Whitlock tipped a Nowlin pass into the arms of Chris Janney, who returned it 27 yards to the Indians 17-yard line. On fourth-and-4, Joe Janney dropped back to pass but found nobody open, so he took off down the sideline and put a defender in the spin cycle en route to an 11-yard rushing touchdown.
The Indians started the second quarter at midfield trailing 14-7 and advanced the ball to the Henley 42-yard line before a disastrous sequence unfolded: Nolan Sieben tackled Cayden Baker for a loss, Whitlock sacked Nowlin and Bryson Montag picked off Nowlin at the Henley 38-yard line.
The Hornets only needed four plays to double their lead thanks in large part to a 54-yard run by Joe Janney that gave them a first-and-goal at the Scappoose 4-yard line. On the first play of the Indians’ ensuing drive after Whitlock’s 1-yard touchdown run made it 21-7, Mark Carpenter had a pick six called back–but the turnover stood, giving Henley the ball at the Scappoose 44-yard line.
On the seventh play of the drive, Joe Janney found Chris Janney at the Indians 15-yard line, where he took a big hit but stayed on his feet and ran in for a 33-yard touchdown that put the Hornets up 28-7 with 6:38 left in the first half.
Nowlin threw a 38-yard pass to a wide open Quinton Olson on the first play of the ensuing Scappoose possession, but the Henley defense buckled down again, forcing another turnover on downs at their own 28-yard line.
The Hornets’ next two drives ended with punts, and the Indians’ next two drives ended with interceptions to Conner Shively and Kyle Nichols. Nichols’ interception gave Henley the ball at midfield with 1:15 left in the first half. That proved to be just enough time for Joe Janney to lead another scoring drive, which he capped off himself with a 6-yard touchdown run that played out in similar fashion to his first: dropping back and finding every receiver covered, he scrambled toward the sideline and sidestepped a defender before crossing the goal line.
Janney and the other starters sat out the rest of the game after reaching the running clock threshold, but the Hornets weren’t quite done making plays; Jeremiah Brunick intercepted a pass from Scappoose backup quarterback Brayden Miller on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Miller scored on an 8-yard run with 1:39 remaining to give the Indians their only offensive points.
Henley outgained Scappoose 348-157 and gave up just 10 first downs (the Indians were 0-for-6 on third down and 0-for-2 on fourth down). Joe Janney completed 9-of-19 passes for 111 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 134 yards and two touchdowns on 14 attempts. Whitlock finished with 97 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries while leading the defense with five tackles.
The Hornets will face No. 2 seed Marist Catholic (11-1) in the state championship game at 5 p.m. next Saturday. The game will be played at Caldera High School.
OSAA 1A[8]: No. 1 Lost River 54, No. 5 St. Paul 28 (Saturday)
For about three quarters, Lost River (10-0) and St. Paul (10-2) were locked in a duel much like their Week 1 meeting.
Then the Raiders scored 32 unanswered points to run away with a 54-28 win and advance to their second straight state championship game.
Lost River ended the first quarter with a 6-0 lead thanks to a 13-yard touchdown run by quarterback Chase McAuliffe with 5:54 to go. In the second quarter, the Raiders had a chance to go up two touchdowns but lost a fumble inside the Buckaroos 1-yard line. St. Paul then embarked on a 99-yard scoring drive that lasted 4:18 and ended with George Pohlschneider throwing a 12-yard touchdown pass to Ralph Pohlschneider to tie the game 6-6.
Lost River retook the lead 1:25 later on a 3-yard run by McAuliffe. Kayden Hartman then ran in the 2-point conversion to make it 14-6 with 1:41 remaining in the half.
St. Paul responded even quicker, as George Pohlschneider hit Diego Medina for a 25-yard touchdown pass with 23 seconds left in the half. The 2-point conversion was unsuccessful, so Lost River went into halftime with a 14-12 lead.
The third quarter featured a hectic sequence that saw the Raiders and Buckaroos trade touchdowns twice in a span of 2:40. It began with St. Paul taking the lead on an 11-yard run by Clay Smith, who also ran in the 2-point conversion. With Lost River down 20-14, Connor Dunlea returned the ensuing kickoff 83 yards for a touchdown and Hartman ran in the 2-point conversion to give the Raiders the lead again. On the second play of St. Paul’s next possession, George Pohlschneider found Sullivan Grott for a 34-yard touchdown with Medina running in the 2-point conversion to put the Buckaroos back on top at 28-22.
Those would be St. Paul’s last points of the game.
Three plays later, Lost River regained the lead on a 15-yard run by McAuliffe, who also ran in the 2-point conversion to put the Raiders ahead 30-28. With seven seconds left in the third quarter, Hartman scored on a 2-yard run followed by a McAuliffe 2-point conversion run to take a 38-28 lead.
If Lost River began to seize control of the game at the end of the third quarter, it fully did so early in the fourth quarter. With 7:36 to go, the Raiders got a 1-yard touchdown run from McAuliffe followed by a 2-point run from Dunlea. 1:18 later, Dunlea returned an interception 73 yards for a touchdown before Hartman ran in the 2-point conversion for the game’s final points.
Perhaps surprisingly given the final score, St. Paul outgained Lost River 427-397. Less surprising might be the fact that the Buckaroos had five turnovers to the Raiders’ one.
McAuliffe completed 3-of-4 passes for 52 yards while rushing for 184 yards and four touchdowns on 19 attempts and recording an interception on defense. Dunlea finished with 84 yards on 12 carries and three interceptions on defense, while Hartman added 77 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries.
Lost River will face No. 2 seed Crane (10-0) in the state championship game at 1 p.m. next Saturday. The game will be played at Caldera High School.