Martin leads Outlaws to narrow victory

The Sisters Outlaws football team defeated Marist High School 41-35 on Saturday November, 28, to advance to the state semifinal game.

Running back David Martin led the Outlaws to victory, carrying the ball 30 times for 223 yards and three touchdowns.

The Outlaws jumped to a commanding lead early in the game before the Spartans' air attack and a critical bad snap let Marist back into the game.

With 6:51 left in the first quarter, Martin rushed 54 yards for the Outlaws' first score. On the next Outlaws possession, Martin scampered eight yards into the end zone. Thirteen seconds later, Shane Crowder intercepted a Marist pass and sprinted 25 yards for the touchdown.

With 3:43 left in the first quarter Sisters had a 21-0 lead.

But then Marist intercepted a Dusty Macauley pass on the Sisters 20-yard line. One play later, Marist quarterback Aaron Thomson completed a pass to Joe Copley who swerved his way into the end zone and put Marist back into the football game.

Two and a half minutes later Marist scored for the second time with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Thomson to J.P. Mischkot and the Outlaws felt Marsit nipping at their heels.

Sisters responded with a Bryce Gardenier interception. The Outlaws cashed in on the interception with another David Martin touchdown run. Sisters went into halftime with a 28-14 lead and high hopes.

Sisters rushed out of the locker room excited and pumped up but their energy was quickly crushed when the Spartans' John Murphy returned the opening kickoff 96 yards and put Marist within a touchdown.

Shane Crowder responded immediately, taking the Marist kickoff and rumbling 80 yards for another Outlaws score. The Outlaws were ahead 35-21.

Sisters tacked another six onto the lead with 8:07 left in the fourth quarter when Dusty Macauley fought his way into the end zone on a one-yard touchdown run.

The Outlaws had a 20-point lead with eight minutes left in the game.

But the Outlaws let down their guard.

"Certain players had discipline breakdowns," said defensive coach Rob Phelps. "Sometimes we didn't adjust properly to some of Marist's formations and that caused confusion which allowed them to break big plays. Marist is a big play team and they took the chances when they needed to."

Marist broke a big play with a 45-yard touchdown toss from Aaron Thomson to Mark Giustina. Then their defense stiffened.

The Outlaws needed to run out the clock but they were unable to get a first down. Sisters was forced to punt and disaster struck. After a bad snap, punter Matt Everson was forced to scramble and was caught on the six-yard line. Four seconds later Marist put another touchdown on the scoreboard. Sisters' commanding lead had collapsed and now they were ahead by a meager six points.

Marist attempted an onside kick. The ball bounced off a Sisters front lineman and Marist fell on the ball. Sisters was now relying on its defense to save the game.

Marist was on the 49-yard line with 1:38 left in the fourth quarter. Thomson threw three incomplete passes. Facing fourth down, Marist tried to go for a first down. Jered Coffield blasted through the line of scrimmage and sacked Thomson for a loss of 10 yards.

Marist lost the ball on downs and the game was sealed for the Outlaws.

The Outlaws' defense allowed 13 first downs and held Marist to 22 yards rushing. However, Marist penetrated the Outlaws' secondary, passing for 254 yards.

The defense intercepted the quarterback three times and forced six fumbles, recovering two. Cody Hill led the Outlaws with 11.5 tackles and Chris Olson backed him up with seven tackles.

The offense had its ups and downs; Dusty Macauley completed five of 12 passes for 42 yards. Yet while the passing game went nowhere the rushing attack carried the Outlaws 228 yards for four touchdowns.

"The line was excellent and blocked amazingly," Martin said. "We need to keep our heads up and play to our potential if we want to win the championship."

The Outlaws had eight penalties charged against them costing the Outlaws 80 yards.

"Marist is a great team and they capitalized on our mistakes," head coach Bob Macauley said. "Our penalties absolutely killed us."

Sisters will play Scappoose at 5 p.m. Saturday, December 5, at Civic Stadium in Portland.