WILSONVILLE – The performance wasn't up to their usual high standards, but a promising quarterback debut by senior Mark Wiepert and some clutch defense was enough for the Wilsonville Wildcats to win their football season opener Friday night.
The reigning state champion Wildcats, ranked No. 1 in the OSAAtoday 5A preseason coaches poll, forced an incomplete pass on a two-point conversion try with 1:40 left and held on for a 27-26 win over visiting Nelson, ranked No. 10 in 6A. They recovered the ensuing onside kick and kneeled out the clock.
“The defensive stops, it just shows the heart of this team,” said Wiepert, the reigning 5A defensive player of the year at safety. “We were definitely a little tired at the start, but we found it. We were able to demonstrate it in the second half.”
Wilsonville trailed 20-13 at half but scored touchdowns on its first two possessions of the third quarter to lead 27-20.
“We just knew we were beating ourselves in the first half, shooting ourselves in the foot,” senior receiver Nick Crowley said. “So we knew if we just played our style of ball, we would come back. We knew we could beat them with whatever we wanted to do on offense.”
Wiepert was an all-state receiver last season, catching 20 touchdown passes from Kallen Gutridge, the 5A offensive player of the year. With Gutridge gone, he has moved to quarterback, a position he hasn't played since his freshman year.
He had some shaky moments but flashed immense potential with his athleticism and rocket arm. He completed 13 of 24 passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 51 yards and two scores on 16 carries.
“Iffy. It was real iffy,” said Wiepert, whose fumble on the game's first series led to a Nelson touchdown. “I was not in shape. You think you are, and then the first half, the whole offensive series to start was just me being so gassed, trying to get my feet under me.
“But I have a real talented team around me, and the O-line gave me time. I was able to calm myself down and make plays.”
The 6-foot-1, 210-pound Wiepert drove Wilsonville 87 yards to start the second half, finishing the march with a five-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-one. On the next series, he showed his arm strength, throwing off his back foot into the zone, where Crowley hauled in a 36-yard touchdown.
“He's a great quarterback. He can throw it as far as he wants to,” said Crowley, who had three catches for 100 yards. “It's an adjustment, because we had a lefty QB last year. So we're just getting that chemistry and timing back.”
Wildcats coach Adam Guenther raved over Wiepert. He said that Wiepert, an all-state catcher and Oregon State baseball commit, can throw the ball 80 yards.
“I honestly think he's the best quarterback in the state,” Guenther said. “His raw talent. There are some really, really good quarterbacks, and I don't think any of them have got his arm strength or his athletic ability. We're not going to keep him a secret for much longer. Everybody knew it was going to happen. He's going to get better with every snap.”
Wiepert made quite an impression on Nelson coach Aaron Hazel, who compared him with former Central Catholic quarterback Cru Newman.
“Wiepert is Cru but physical, and big, and strong,” Hazel said. “I mean, he's 210 pounds. And he's got a cannon. I thought we had him wrapped up and he escapes. He's as good as anybody we're going to see this year.”
Nelson senior quarterback Avirey Durdahl, a fourth-year starter, is no slouch, either. Durdahl completed 17 of 28 passes for 155 yards and two touchdowns and had 13 carries for 26 yards and one score.
Down 27-20, the Hawks had first-and-goal at the Wilsonville 1-yard line early in the fourth quarter. On third down, Durdahl appeared to score on a sneak, but Nelson was penalized five yards for pushing Durdahl into the end zone. Durdahl was sacked for a 10-yard loss by junior Riddick Molatore on third down and threw incomplete on fourth down, giving the ball back to the Wildcats.
Hazel said he had just watched a video Friday that clarified that pushing a runner forward – legal in the NFL – is illegal in high school.
“Our kids are smart and they watch a lot of football. They thought they could give him a push, like the Eagles do,” Hazel said. “That's on me because I didn't cover it.”
Durdahl drove the Hawks 58 yards for a touchdown on their next series, hitting senior Noah Boria with a 10-yard scoring pass on fourth-and-five with 1:40 remaining. The Hawks opted to go for a two-point conversion, and after Wilsonville was called for defensive holding on the first try, Durdahl's pass into the end zone was broken up on the second try.
“That was our chance to win,” Hazel said of going for two. “We had a kick blocked on the series before. We've got a lot of new guys on the kick team, and we've got a senior QB and some senior receivers.”
Durdahl was all for giving it a shot.
“I loved the aggressivness,” Durdahl said.
The Hawks came within an eyelash of one of the biggest wins in their short history.
“Heartbreaking loss,” Durdahl said. “We left it all out on the field. We're going to watch film, we're going to correct our mistakes and we're going to go on to Week 2 with our heads up. We played a hell of a game.”
In the first half, Durdahl ran for a 12-yard touchdown and threw scoring passes of seven yards to junior Ian Nix and two yards to senior Easton Ivelia. Wiepert had an eight-yard touchdown run and seven-yard scoring pass to senior Emmitt Fee before intermission.
The Wildcats finished with a 279-242 edge in total yards. They had five sacks, getting 1.5 each from Molatore and senior Blake Dougherty and one apiece from seniors Nick Summers and Carter Markovich-Walch.
