For one half, the Tualatin football team went toe-to-toe with reigning state champs Lake Oswego, which is currently undefeated and ranked as the top team in the state once again.
The Timberwolves led 23-21 at the half, putting up a strong showing against Lake Oswego, which had not given up more than 20 points in any single game up to that point this year.
However, the champs showed why they’re the favorites to repeat this year in the second half, shutting Tualatin out en route to a 42-23 win.
“Lake Oswego did a good job covering our offense, so you’ve got to give them credit,” Tualatin Head Coach Dom Ferraro said. “We had to work hard for our yards, but I’m proud of this group. I’m proud of the way they played. I’m not sure anybody expected us to hang with them like that and have a lead at halftime.”
It didn’t take long for Tualatin to take a lead. On the game’s opening kickoff, junior Easton Grubb danced around, avoiding multiple would-be tacklers, and returned the kick for a touchdown, putting Tualatin ahead just 12 seconds into the game.
Lake Oswego answered back fairly quickly, scoring a touchdown just 26 seconds later on the Laker’s third play of the game.
The Timberwolves connected on a field goal a few drives later for a 9-7 lead, which lasted a few minutes until Lake Oswego scored on another long touchdown pass to go up 14-9.
One of Tualatin’s best drives of the game came next, with junior quarterback Lincoln Keeney connecting with his big targets, junior tight end Brady Knips and junior receiver Brock Estes.
On a third down around midfield, Keeney escaped the pocket to avoid a sack and on the broken play he managed to float one to Knips, who contorted his body to make the catch, broke a tackle and then carried a defender an extra few yards to ensure Tualatin secured the first down.
On that same drive, Keeney floated a beautiful deep ball to Estes, who beat his receiver to haul in the touchdown grab in the endzone.
Lake Oswego answered back on the next drive to go up 21-16 midway through the second quarter.
Tualatin used up the rest of the first half on its next drive, getting deep into Lake Oswego territory on a pass from Keeney to Estes. The drive stalled out a bit inside the 15-yard-line, but on a fourth-and-four, Knips drew a defensive pass interference call in the endzone to get a new set of downs.
A few plays later, junior running back Iden Rule punched it in to give the Timberwolves a 23-21 lead at the half.
Lake Oswego got the ball to start off the second half, and Tualatin forced a turnover on downs around midfield, but Tualatin couldn’t extend its lead.
Every time Tualatin appeared to have something going in the second half, Lake Oswego stepped up. The Timberwolves couldn’t really do much with the ball after the break, while Lake Oswego continued to connect on big plays.
“We couldn’t run the ball as effectively as we did in the first half,” Ferrao said. “We weren’t getting those huge runs we normally do. Early, we were staying ahead of the sticks. We were staying in spots where it was second-and-four, second-and-five. In the second half, we couldn’t get into those spots.”
While the final score didn’t show it, this game was much closer than Tualatin’s loss a few weeks ago to West Linn, another powerhouse in the running for the state title. In that one, Tualatin lost 42-14, and couldn’t hold onto the ball.
“Against West Linn, it was really about turnovers,” Ferrao said. “We had five turnovers in that one, plus turnovers on downs. It just put us in a bad position all game.”
In the Lake Oswego game, Tualatin lost a fumble once in the third quarter and that was its only turnover.
Next up for Tualatin is the regular season finale, a home game against rival Tigard. After that is the playoffs, and if Tualatin wants to make a run at that state title, Ferrao knows his team will likely have to see Lake Oswego and/or West Linn again.
“We know who the good teams are,” he said. “We’re blessed and cursed to be in a league that is really strong. We know how good we have to play to get past these guys. Hopefully we’ll get a chance to see them again.”
