Varsity 541

Grants Pass survives Gophers

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GRANTS PASS — Gresham stymied the explosive Grants Pass ground attack in the first round of the Class 6A football state playoffs Friday at Mel Ingram Stadium.

But for the fifth-ranked Cavemen, one big pass play proved enough to advance to the second round with a 7-3 victory over the Gophers.

"We really underestimated their defense," Grants Pass first-year coach John Musser said. "They were physical, fast and swarmed to the football. We couldn't get into an offensive rhythm."

The Cavemen (9-1), the Southwest Conference No. 2 seed, move on to play third-ranked Jesuit (8-1) in the next round.

The Grants Pass touchdown came early in the second quarter on a 79-yard pass play from junior quarterback Jordy Romick to Brock Dean. Romick rolled to his right and Dean slipped open on the sideline to take the completion to the end zone.

"It was a long yardage play," said Musser. "We ran an out route and their kid tried to jump it. Brock outran their whole defense."

The Gophers (7-4) limited Grants Pass to just 95 yards on the ground and a total of 196. Senior running back Criss Bowen was held to just 8 yards on nine carries.

Gresham amassed 258 yards in offense and picked up 15 first downs to four for the Cavemen.

"They controlled the time of possession and kept our offense off the field," said Musser. "Our defense was a bend not break, which is uncharacteristic. We had come up with big plays all year."

Junior inside linebacker John Tardieu, the SWC co-defensive player of the year, was a main cog in the Caveman defense.

"(Tardieu) played an unbelievable game," said Musser. "He did everything you want your inside backer to do. He's as tough as they come."

Gresham 0 3 0 0 —3

Grants Pass 0 7 0 0 —7

GP — Dean 79 pass from Romick (Keefe kick)

G — FG Ingram 31

SHELDON 29, TIGARD 14 — At Tigard, Southwest Conference offensive player of the year Jordan Johnson ran for two touchdowns and passed for another in Sheldon's first-round playoff game.

The 10th-ranked Irish (6-4) found themselves in a 14-7 hole after Tigard barrelled in for two touchdowns following Johnson's initial TD toss to John Campbell.

Johnson answered with a 50-yard run to pay dirt in the second quarter and a 19-yarder in the third.

Johnson was 17-for-23 for 185 yards through the air and tacked on 108 more yards on the ground on 18 carries.

Campbell hauled in seven passes for 87 yards and Curtis White had seven receptions for 55 yards.

Sheldon 7 9 7 6 — 29

Tigard 7 7 0 0 — 14

S — Campbell 8 pass from Johnson (Campbell kick)

T — Hansen 1 run (Kostol kick)

T — Beckman 14 run (Kostol kick)

S — Johnson 50 run (kick failed)

S — FG Campbell 22

S — Johnson 19 run (Campbell kick)

S — Brathovde 52 interception return

MCNARY 27, ROSEBURG 20 — At Salem, after trailing by 11 at halftime, McNary held Roseburg to just three points and scored 21 of its own in the second half to advance to the second round of the state playoffs.

McNary closed the game with 14 unanswered points in the last five minutes to steal the victory from Roseburg, the No. 4 seed out of the Southwest Conference.

Roseburg took a 17-0 lead on a field goal by Lucas Walker and a pair of touchdown passes from Thaddeus Davis to Matt Thomson.

Roseburg 3 14 0 3 —20

McNary 0 6 7 14 —27

R — FG Walker 35

R — Thomson 15 pass from Davis (Walker kick)

R — Thomson 28 pass from Davis (Walker kick)

M — Kessel 5 run

M — Anderson 1 run (Rosales kick)

R — FG Walker 21

M — Kauffman 2 run (Rosales kick)

M — Austria 51 pass from Kessel (Rosales kick)

Class 4A

SIUSLAW 16, HENLEY 13 — At Florence, Henley dug deep in the playbook in a state playoff comeback attempt against Siuslaw.

With 2:54 remaining, the Hornets' Jordan Brewster caught a pass from John Cullen and tossed a lateral back to Casey Evans, who took it the distance on a hook-and-lateral to trim the deficit to 16-13.

Henley tried to replicate the success of the play a couple of times thereafter, but to no avail.

Cullen also threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Brewster earlier, but Jacob Mitchell punched in two short touchdowns to give Siuslaw the edge.

Henley 0 6 0 7 — 13

Siuslaw 7 0 0 9 — 16

S — Mitchell 6 run (Bradley kick)

H — Brewster 23 pass from Cullen (kick failed)

S — Mitchell 1 run (kick blocked)

S — FG Bradley 28

H — Evans 29 pass from Cullen (Zamora kick)