ALBANY — Silverton was hot when it mattered and as cool as October rain when it absolutely had to be Friday night, and between the two conditions stole the Mid-Willamette Conference football championship trophy from fourth-ranked West Albany with a 17-14 victory.
OK, it’s technically half a trophy. The two teams finished with identical 8-1 records, but the Foxes got this very important win and can ignore any asterisks that present themselves.
But it was close enough that a blink at the wrong time could have ruined it all. And the way the Bulldogs came at Silverton in the second half, there were plenty of opportunities.
Fifth-ranked Silverton played a near-perfect first half and scored all 17 of its points, but West Albany hit the Foxes with two huge lightning bolts in the second half and nearly stole it all back.
It all came down to Silverton’s decision to go for it on fourth down and about a half yard to go at the West Albany 35 with 1:02 left that sealed it.
With the Bulldogs putting every available man on the line, Foxes quarterback Levi Nielsen drove his long legs into a tiny gap and fell forward with room to spare. Then he kneeled out the clock and the game was over.
“We had to go for it,” the easy-going fourth-year starter said. “It was just a half yard. This was the last game on the schedule, and yes, we’ve been thinking about it.”
The defensive stand that preceded the decision was just as important. A Foxes punt gave the Bulldogs the ball on their own 26 with 2:58 to go which, considering that West had all the momentum on its side, was plenty of time.
West Albany rolled to a first down at its 36, but Silverton rose up to slam the door right then and there. The Foxes dropped elusive Hunter Crosswhite for no gain, then quarterback Carson Van Dyke missed Jared Johannesen with a sideline pass. He tried the other side to Connor Wolfe, but Foxes cornerback Riley Kramer batted it away.
And on fourth down, Van Dyke’s pass to Myles Westberg came up a measly yard short.
“All the guys on defense really gutted it out tonight,” Silverton coach Josh Craig said in the excited aftermath. “They’re a great team, but the defense responded when we needed it.
“Every time you play West Albany, you know they’re going to be good. But we matched them stride for stride.”
The Foxes did better than that in the first half. A lot better. They scored all their points on three efficient drives and absolutely zipped up West Albany’s fly offense. They held the Bulldogs without a first down.
When was the last time anybody did that to a West Albany team for 24 minutes?
Silverton drove 72 yards in 13 plays with its second drive and score near the end of the first quarter on Nathan Kuenzi’s three-yard blast into the line. A typical defensive stand on the next Bulldog series set up a tiny 25-yard drive that resulted in a 26-yard field goal by Foxes tackle Ben Willis.
And just before halftime, Kuenzi walked through a huge hold for a five-yard touchdown to cap a near-perfect half.
What could go wrong then? Plenty.
The Bulldogs finally got some forward momentum late in the third quarter when Van Dyke hit Wolfe with a 31-yard pass deep into Silverton turf that set up their first score of the game.
Silverton survived a successful onside kick, but the next time the Foxes got the ball — on the first play of the fourth quarter — the second lightning bolt hit.
Facing a 3rd and 2 on his own 24, Nielsen tried the sneak for the yardage. But linebacker Kyle Hutson ripped the ball out of his hands and the Bulldogs had a juicy first down on the Silverton 15.
“I thought I heard a whistle,” Nielsen said. “And the guy just took the ball away from me.”
The Bulldogs knew what to do with the opportunity. On the fifth play after the break, Van Dyke hustled in from the three with 9:42 left and the game was on.
Was there any panic in the Silverton huddle?
“None at all,” said Kramer, who frustrated West Albany on both sides of the ball all night. “We knew we were supposed to stay stead — no ups, no downs.”
It helped to have Nielsen in the center of the storm.
“It’s nice to have Levi back,” Craig said. “He gives us that confidence that everything’s going to be all right.
“With him, it’s all good.”
In Silverton, now it’s all great.
