Outlaws football dominates league

The No. 1-ranked Outlaws took down the No. 4-ranked Spartans in the game of the week for high school football in the state of Oregon on Friday, October 12.

Sisters earned the 53-36 victory on the Marist home field. Sisters' speed and quickness had the advantage over Marist's great size.

Sisters fans crowded the bleachers and cheered for the Outlaws like it was a playoff game. The noise, according to Coach Bob Macauley, negated Marist's home field advantage.

"Marist runs their plays from the line of scrimmage, and due to the noise of our crowd, Marist had three delay of game penalties called against them," said Macauley. "Their players were just unable to hear the plays that were being called because of all the noise."

In the first series Marist intercepted an Outlaws pass - the first pick allowed by the Outlaws this year. The Spartans went down the field to score in four plays and take a 7-0 lead. That marked the first time the Outlaws have been behind in a game all season. The touchdown (TD) brought the Marist crowd into the game and gave the Spartans early momentum.

Sisters came right back on a 72-yard drive. The key plays were a 19-yard run by Cory McCaffrey and a brilliant 33-yard catch and run by Nate Jackson, who broke two tackles to score. The extra point attempt was no good, and Sisters found themselves down 6-7.

Marist scored on a 55-yard drive with two minutes left in the quarter. The Spartans held a 14-6 lead over the Outlaws at the end of the first quarter.

Sisters' first drive of the second quarter stalled, and they were forced to punt. Marcus Gaboni came up with a key fumble recovery on Marist's 26-yard line with 11:41 left on the clock. Four plays later McCaffrey ran it in behind the blocking of Tyson Edmunson and Evan Eady. Tanner Hodge's kick for the extra point was good, and Sisters narrowed the Marist lead to 14-13.

The Spartans took possession and had a good drive down to the Outlaws' 20-yard line. Nate Emberton stepped in front of a Spartan pass for an interception. With six minutes left in the quarter Sisters took over the ball. On third and 10 Jarred Hasskamp connected with Hodges on one of the game's biggest plays.

"Tanner wrestled the ball away from the Marist player on the ground. Both the defender and Tanner had equal opportunity, but Tanner just wrestled it away," said Macauley. "It was a spectacular play and gave us a 40-yard gain."

The Outlaws drive continued, and nine plays later Sisters found themselves on the two-foot line with 25 seconds left on the clock. On fourth and one McCaffrey dove over the top with the blocking help of Thomas Arends and Edmunson to score the go ahead TD.

At the half Sisters held their first lead of the game at 20-14.

It was a wild first minute of the third quarter as both teams scored on a touchdown.

At the start of the third quarter, McCaffrey returned the kickoff 77 yards down to the 23-yard line. Taylor Davenport plowed in for the TD, thanks to blocking by Emery Myer and Eady. The PAT was no good, but Sisters pushed to a 26-14 lead.

Marist returned the kickoff for a touchdown and narrowed the Outlaw lead to 26-21.

Sisters got the ball back on their own 20-yard line, and on third and five McCaffrey busted up the middle behind Davenport for a 39-yard gain. Two plays later McCaffrey ran behind Andrew Enger and Tyler Miller for a 26-yard run. Davenport broke tackles for a 12-yard gain up the middle, and then from the six-yard line McCaffrey followed Enger and Miller in for the TD. The extra point was no good. Sisters extended their lead to 32-21.

Marist took possession but their drive stalled. Due to a bad punt Sisters took over on Marist's 37-yard line. On third and eight on a broken play, Hasskamp created extra time by scrambling. Hasskamp found Myer for a 16-yard TD pass. The PAT was good and Sisters pushed to a 39-21 lead with 5:50 left in the third quarter.

The Spartans mounted an 11-play drive to the Outlaw 10-yard line on their next possession. Carroll Gryder applied a tremendous hit to the Spartan receiver causing a fumble. Jackson picked it up and ran 93 yards for a touchdown. The PAT was good, and Sisters went up 46-21 with no time left on the clock.

Outlaw fans erupted, and their cheers became louder and louder.

Marist opened the fourth quarter with a good drive that lasted four and a half minutes and ended with a touchdown and a two point conversion. Sisters still held a good lead at 46-29.

The Outlaws took over on their own 42 with 7:46 left in the game. Eight plays later Sisters found themselves at fourth and fifteen on Marist's 25-yard line. Hasskamp went to a spread formation, and the offensive line kept all pressure off. Hasskamp threw a 25-yard strike to a racing McCaffrey for the Outlaws' final TD of the night. The PAT was good, and with 4:21 left on the clock Sisters pushed to a 53-29 advantage.

Marist mounted one last drive that ended in a touchdown and an extra point to bring the game to a close.

"It was an exciting game," said Macauley. "I'm most pleased with our incredible defensive effort. There's a great size difference between the two teams. Marist averages 268 pounds, and our defensive line averages 170 pounds. The entire staff and team are extremely proud our front three defensive linemen: Thad Anderson; Chad Kernutt; and Ian Stark. Though they didn't record many tackles they were pivotal in allowing our linebackers to get to Marist's ball carriers."

Macauley told The Nugget that Shawn Maurer had his best game of the year and played a very intelligent and physical corner. Maurer had five tackles on the night.

Macauley was also very pleased with the offensive line.

"The offensive line did outstanding and never allowed a sack on our quarterback, nor did we have a play that lost yardage from the line of scrimmage," said Macauley.

The Outlaws are currently 3-0 in league and 7-0 on the year. Sisters will host Elmira on Friday, October 19.