Sherwood scores in every quarter; Lions can't find end zone

The St. Helens Lions had no answer for the explosiveness of top-rated Sherwood on Friday, falling 42-0.

“Some things went well, some not so well,” St. Helens Coach John England said. “We had the ball for 11:10 in the third period. That’s what we wanted to do, keep it out of their hands. The problem was they scored two (touchdowns) and we scored none.”

Sherwood is ranked first in the 5A classification in every poll and in the OSAA power rankings. Their only loss in the last three years came to Mountain View in the championship last season.

St. Helens drove the ball in the third all the way to the Bowmen 10, but then fumbled it away. That came after Sherwood took the kickoff and scored on a 45-yard run on the second play. After the fumble, Christian Morris went 87 yards for another score. St. Helens had the ball all the rest of the quarter and into the fourth.

England said Sherwood also had a pretty good defense.

“We had some long drives and opened some holes. We were getting 3-4 yards, but against another team we might have gotten 15. Their defense tackled well and we had to fight for every inch we got. They are a good ball club.”

Sherwood scored twice in the first quarter, once on a 34-yard pass and again on a 36-yard run. They added another touchdown in the second frame and led 22-0 at the half. It was almost the same thing in the third, two quick scores. They added their final touchdown in the fourth quarter.

England noted that St. Helens racked up 141 yards rushing and 85 yards passing in the contest. Quarterback Gage Bumgardner ran for 57 yards. Brennan Norton had 47 yards on 12 carries, and Tanner Long had 31 yards on 13 carries. Bumgardner also hit 12 of 18 passes. Long was his favorite target with four receptions for 31 yards. Justin Helgerson added three catches for 22 yards.

England added, “The good thing for us is that the tough part of our (league) schedule is over. Wilsonville and Sherwood are head and shoulders above the rest. Now we’ll have some games where we’re more evenly matched.”

St. Helens needs to finish ranked in the top 24 among 5A teams to make the state playoffs. They are currently 25th.

“We’re learning and we have to get better,” he said. “We play Hood River Valley this week in an away game. They’re a team with a winning record, and if we can get a win we'll boost our power rankings.”

The Eagles run a pistol type shotgun with a back behind the quarterback. The Lions will have to be prepared for a team that passes about 60 percent of the time, something they haven't seen yet this season. The coach said they have a big line with two linemen over 300 pounds and their best lineman is 5-feet, 6-inches and 260 pounds. They have a good linebacker and some good backs.

Hood River is currently ranked 15th in the power rankings. They opened their season with wins over Sandy (35-28) and Forest Grove (34-21). They lost to Redmond, 40-28, in the third week, and last week whipped North Salem, 42-12.

“We have to be prepared for them to pass. It’s a bit different than we have faced before. Liberty passed quite a bit, but Sherwood pounded the ball and Wilsonville did, too,” he said.

The coach said the Lions need to execute better to win the game, both offensively and defensively.

“The kids have experience now—we’re a veteran team. We definitely have to execute offensively and work on our defensive team concept,” he emphasized.

The game will be the fifth of the season for St. Helens. They follow Friday’s match-up with home games against Sandy and Putnam.

Scoring

Sherwood 15 7 13 7—42

St. Helens 0 0 0 0—0

Sh—Cyrus Mooney 34-yard pass from Joseph Balfour (Martin Layna kick)

Sh—Mickey Schaefer 36-yard run (Ryan Pino pass from Balfour)

Sh—Logan Ballarche 4-yard run (Layna kick)

Sh—Christian Morris 47-yard run (Layna kick)

Sh—Morris 87-yard run (kick failed)

Sh—Jack Matney 5-yard run (Tyler Booth kick)