It didn’t take long for Nolan Keeney to settle in during his first game back from injury.
Tualatin’s junior quarterback unloaded on the game’s first play from scrimmage, placing a ball perfectly in the hands of a streaking AJ Noland for an 80-plus-yard touchdown. The Timberwolves (9-1) led less than 15 seconds into the game and never looked back en route to a 49-3 win against Roosevelt High School at home on Friday to open the Oregon School Activities Association playoffs.
“We had an idea that we were going to try to unleash one on the very first play,” Noland said. “We saw something in the coverage in film we liked, and we wanted to start it off right and get him back at quarterback and me back at receiver.”
Keeney was under center for the Timberwolves for the first time after fracturing his left collarbone on Sept. 22 in a win against Jesuit High School. The junior was off to a hot start in his first year at Tualatin after moving to the district from Westview before the season when he got hurt in Week 4. He said he thought he could finish the game against Jesuit, but felt something pop on a rollout and knew it was serious.
“Tonight, it felt really good,” he said. “I didn’t feel any pain. It healed up really well.”
Keeney and the Timberwolves offense picked up where they left off in September. After forcing a three-and-out on Roosevelt’s (7-3) first drive, Tualatin marched down field and Keeney connected on his second touchdown pass. Down near the goal line, Keeney rolled to his left and hit Jayden Fortier for the score.
In all, Keeney accounted for four total touchdowns. He added in a rushing touchdown on a quarterback keeper, followed that up by running for a two-point conversion, and linked up with Nolan for another passing touchdown all before halftime.
“Anything we did, they couldn’t stop,” Fortier said. “Just the dynamic he brings to our team with throwing and running. He scored a rushing touchdown. He’s airing it out to me. He’s airing it out to AJ. He’s throwing good balls to Kenen [Elder] and Tyson [Hunt].”
Perhaps no one was more excited for Keeney’s return than Noland, who took over quarterbacking duties while Keeney was hurt. Noland more than held his own under center, winning five of his six starts and earning an honorable mention for Three Rivers League All-League team this season. But the senior is also one of Tualatin’s top playmakers with the ball from the receiver position, giving them even more firepower when they have Keeney back in the lineup.
“We are a much more dangerous team with him back at QB,” Noland said.
Carson Mullins rushed for two scores in the third quarter, one of which was set up by a long pass from Keeney to Elder that put Tualatin on the 1-yard line. Tualatin pulled their starters for the fourth quarter, but still managed to score on a touchdown run by sophomore Trent McMillian. Freshman running back Cole Hachmeister had a few impressive runs weaving in and out of traffic, which drew huge cheers from the Tualatin sideline.
It was a rainy night Friday, and Roosevelt nearly put the ball on the field a few times. Early in the third quarter, Roosevelt did fumble, and it was recovered by Calvin Evans, which is no shock. The junior led League 6A with six fumble recoveries during the regular season.
Sophomore Robert Nelson and junior Kelan Crow both came up with fumble recoveries in the fourth quarter.
Noland said the defense allowed a few long drives by Roosevelt, but managed to toughen up once the ball crossed midfield to keep Roosevelt mostly off the scoreboard.
“We were coming in hitting hard,” Fortier said. “We were playing hard, maybe a little too hard at times. We got a lot of penalties, but it’s stuff we can clean up in practice.”
It was certainly a chippy game on both sides. Multiple players from each team scored unsportsmanlike conduct penalties for talking. The refs huddled both head coaches at midfield during halftime for a lengthy chat.
“We just need to be quiet and not say anything,” Tualatin Head Coach Dom Ferraro said. “That’s the bottom line. That’s what hurt us the most. I don’t think we got any personal fouls for late hits or things like that, but we were talking.”
As the No. 2 seed in the playoffs, Tualatin will be home again for its next playoff game on Friday when the Timberwolves play host to Nelson High School (8-2). The No. 10 seed in the playoffs went on the road in the first round and knocked off Ida B. Wells, 48-8.
