Outlaws football squad edges out Burns in season opener

The Outlaws opened their season with an exciting 25-22 win over Burns at home on Friday, September 2.

Sisters got on the scoreboard first when Johnny Gurney connected with Christopher Luz on a 12-yard pass for the touchdown. Burns answered back and scored on their next two possessions. At the close of the first quarter the Highlanders held a 16-6 lead.

In the second quarter, Tanner Head threw a nice pass over the middle to twin brother Tyler for the score, but the two-point conversion attempt failed. Burns added a TD in the period and at the half the Outlaws trailed the Highlanders 22-12.

The Outlaws were hurt offensively in the first half by some bad snaps and penalties, which stalled a few of their drives.

"Nerves were very evident in the first half, particularly the first quarter," said Coach Gary Thorson. "We are a young team up front on the line in some areas, and we have little varsity experience, and that for sure showed at times. When we put everything together, we showed flashes of what I think we are capable of becoming."

The third quarter was a scoring stalemate. Sisters' defense started to take over and began to win the field-position battle. The Outlaws threatened several times in the period, but were unable to score.

The Outlaws kept battling, and by the fourth quarter had started to wear Burns down. They got in a groove with their ground game, that led to their next two scores and a strong comeback.

Jacob Stevens scored on a 31-yard run, and Johnny Gurney scored on an eight-yard run. The first PAT kick failed and Ben Saba was good on the final kick.

Stevens was the leading ground-gainer with 77 yards on six carries. Sisters' defense played well in the second half, after giving up some long passes in the first half. Burns was held to 21 yards rushing and 196 yards in the air for the game.

Jacob Gurney was the leading tackler, with four solo tackles and four assists. Brother Johnny added three tackles and four assists, and also recovered a fumble for the Outlaws.

Zach Morgan punted well and pinned Burns down several times deep in their own territory, and Saba did a good job of handling the kickoff duties.

Casey Warburton showed up big-time at center for the Outlaws in his varsity debut.

"Casey hadn't even been on a football field the last few years, which made his performance tonight even more impressive," said Thorson.

Two other players, Austin Lake and Ethan Morgan, also played in their first varsity game, after not playing the last few years, and both made some good plays. Lake started at defensive end and was a part of the front that helped limit Burns on the ground. Morgan played running back and defensive back, and was a big part of the special teams.

"I think this was a great character win for this team that has worked extremely hard the last three weeks," said Thorson. "We had several kids mature a great deal from last year that needed to step up, and they did in a big way. We used three different quarterbacks by design (Johnny Gurney, Tanner Head, and Christopher Luz) and they each did some good things for us. We are running a completely new offense, and I think we will only get better production-wise each

week."

The Outlaws will play at Cascade on Friday, September 8. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.