Jesuit rushes for 421 yards and racks up a big lead to win 35-7

BEAVERTON - The Tigard football team was right there.

After a difficult first half that saw the Tigers fall behind 21-0 at Jesuit in Friday's Class 6A state quarterfinal, Tigard scored once at the end of the first half and was ready to score again after a 78-yard drive to the Crusaders' 1-yard line on its first possession of the third quarter.

But Jesuit stopped Tigard's fourth-and-goal try from there, then drove 99 yards in the next 3 minutes, 57 seconds and got a 3-yard touchdown run from senior tailback Morgan Sellers that basically capped the Crusaders' 35-7 home win.

Jesuit, the Metro League co-champ, improved to 9-3 with the win and advanced to meet Lake Oswego in the Class 6A state semifinals at Jeld-Wen Field next Saturday night. The Lakers (12-0), the Three Rivers League champs, beat the Crusaders 49-21 in the final week of the 2011 pre-season.

"They're a balanced attack everywhere," said Jesuit senior Robert Strys, who had a 14-yard touchdown run Friday night and also picked off a Tigard pass. If you stop the run, you've got to watch the pass."

"They're a really good team," added senior tailback Morgan Sellers, who came off the bench to rush for 206 yards and three touchdowns on13 carries. "It will be a nice chance for us to see how we've improved and see if we can get them this time."

Jesuit made sure it got previously unbeaten Tigard (11-1) on Friday night, scoring on the first play scrimmage when quarterback Nicholas Rothstein connected with senior wide receiver Adam Winterling on a 73-yard TD throw.

Jesuit scored again on its next series, getting a 56-yard run from junior tailback AJ Glass to set the table for Strys' 14-yard run around left end.

Next, Jesuit stopped a Tigard drive at the 8-yard line, and two plays later, Sellers went over right tackle and broke away for an 88-yard TD run to make it 21-0.

Tigard got on the scoreboard thanks to a 10-yard run by Conner Olson with 1:04 to go in the opening half, then drove to the Jesuit 1-yard line at the start of the third quarter.

There, with Tigard poised to move within a touchdown, Jesuit got a stop on fourth-and-one, then took off on a 99-yard TD drive that ended when Sellers scored on a 3-yard run that extended his team's lead to 28-7.

Finally, following a Tigard fumble recovered by Christian Martinek at the Tualatin 21-yard line at the end of the third quarter, Jesuit got a 7-ayrd Sellers TD run for the final 35-7 margin.

To see a complete game story and more photos, please see Thursday's edition of the Beaverton Valley Times.

To see a complete photo gallery from this game, please go to www.milesvance.exposuremanager.com.