McMINNVILLE — Wilsonville quarterback Mark Wiepert and the Wildcats’ defense were more than the Silverton Foxes could handle Friday night.
Wiepert threw three touchdown passes, caught a TD pass from tailback Roman Keahloa, and scored on a 75-yard run to help pace the No. 5 Wildcats to a 32-29 victory over the top-ranked Foxes in Friday’s 5A football semifinal at McMinnville High School’s Wortman Field.
Wilsonville’s Keona Tam was on the receiving end of two Wiepert scoring strikes and Nick Crowley grabbed the other, helping send the defending-champion Wildcats (10-2) into next week’s final against No. 2 Mountain View, a 40-17 winner over West Albany in Friday’s other semifinal.
“You just saw a battle between two incredible teams,” Wilsonville coach Adam Guenther said. “That’s all there is to it. It was absolutely amazing. I’m so happy to be a part of it.
“We still haven’t played our best game. Hopefully, that’s still to come. But, you know what? Silverton was a force. It was a fun game to watch, I’m sure. It was a fun game to coach. And I know the kids had a ball playing in it. We’re going to have some sore kids tomorrow, I can tell you that.”
Trailing 14-12 at halftime, Wilsonville scored touchdowns on three its first four possessions of the second half and opened a 32-21 lead before the end of the third quarter.
Silverton stayed within striking distance when sophomore tailback Lincoln Teeney scored on a one-yard run and caught a two-point conversion pass from senior quarterback Sawyer Teeney to make it 32-29 with 5:32 to play in the fourth quarter.
Silverton’s defense then forced Wilsonville to punt, giving the ball back to the Foxes at their 14-yard line with 2:50 remaining — enough time to drive for a potential game-winning touchdown or at least set up placekicker Caden Druliner for a possible game-tying field goal.
The Foxes used two pass plays and a roughing the passer penalty on Wilsonville to move the ball into Wildcats’ territory. Four plays later, the drive ended when Wilsonville linebacker Blake Dougherty sacked Sawyer Teeney on fourth-and-1 at the Wildcats’ 32 with 47 seconds left.
“I was more confident than anything I’ve been confident about to start that drive, but sometimes the dominoes just don’t fall your way,” Sawyer Teeney said. “The ball was in my hands and I didn’t get the yards that we needed. That’s what it comes down to.
“They came to play, we came to play, and the way it came out, that’s how it should have ended — just a battle to the end.”
The game had a little bit of everything — a combined 863 yards of offense, four lead changes, six turnovers (two fumbles and one interception for each team), 20 combined penalties totaling 148 yards, and one dramatic goal-line stand by Wilsonville’s defense.
For most of the game, the spotlight was on Wiepert, the 6-foot-1, 210-pound senior quarterback who finished with 450 yards offense — 266 yards passing, 158 yards rushing, and 26 yards receiving.
He also had a knack for the big play, starting with a 79-yard bomb to Crowley, followed by a 75-yard touchdown run and touchdown passes of 52 and 48 yards to Tam. That’s 254 yards in four plays.
“What do you want to stop?” Guenther said. “You want to stop his legs or you want to stop his arm? He can do both. There are a lot of good quarterbacks in the state this year, but in my opinion, he’s the best, bar none, I don’t care what level you are.
“He’s got the heart of a lion, he’s not going to quit, he just rallies around everybody, and everybody rallies around him. If he’s not the best athlete we’ve had here in Wilsonville, he’s near the top. I mean, I can name a few really special athletes and he’s right there. But he’s got a great crew around him, too.”
A big part of that crew is the Wildcats' starting offensive line — center Chandler Brock, guards Carter Markovich-Walch and Nick Summers, and tackles Lincoln Mason and Caleb Schmitgall — which helped make sure Wiepert had the time and the space to take shots at a Silverton defense that before Friday night had held all but two opponents to fewer than 30 points this season.
“That was really unbelievable,” Wiepert said of Friday’s performance. “That was a lot of hard work playing out.
“We needed to have time from our offensive line. We needed to establish a run game. And then we needed to connect over the top once or twice. We got all three of those.”
Wilsonville’s defense also stepped up at key moments in the second half, including a crucial goal-line stand in the third quarter with the Wildcats leading 26-21.
On first-and-goal from the Wilsonville 5, Silverton running back Daniel Kuenzi rushed up the middle for four yards to the 1.
On second down, Kuenzi again tried the middle, but got nothing.
On third down, Sawyer Teeney plowed into the middle, but also was denied.
And then on fourth down, Sawyer Teeney tried to soar over the top, but was stopped just short of the line by Wilsonville defensive back Drake Devin, Schmitgall, Wiepert, and some other guys wearing silver helmets with navy trim.
“We have fearless guys out there,” Drake said. “They’re dogs. I don’t know how they do that every game, but we’ve actually had a couple of other goal-line stops this season. That’s just one of the few I’ve gotten in on.
“I was definitely looking for the pass, but I cheated up because the last time he dived over the top, so I was ready for it. That stop was huge. A total momentum changer.”
Said Guenther: “That’s the game right there. It’s a heart issue. That’s all it is. It’s like, ‘Who wants it more right now?’ You’ve got two choices. You either fight or you flee. You either give ‘em the touchdown and move on or you frickin’ get down and dirty. The kids never gave up.”
“The last three or four games, we’ve made goal-line stands. He had one last week against Churchill and another the week before against Bend. Our guys aren’t going to quit. I don’t care if it’s on the one-inch line. The other team might score, but they’re going to have to punch it in.”
After Silverton was denied at the doorstep, the Foxes got the ball back two plays later on a Hudson Waples interception at the Wilsonville 30. Unfortunately for the Foxes, they failed to capitalize on the short field and turned the ball over on downs when Sawyer Teeney got sacked by Riddick Molatore on a fourth-and-3 play from the Wildcats’ 13.
Silverton (10-2) had the ball 12 times and ran 65 plays for 397 yards. Sawyer Teeney completed 19 of 31 passes for 322 yards with touchdown passes of 8 and 33 yards to Waples. Sawyer Teeney also had a team-high 60 yards rushing on 25 carries with a 1-yard touchdown run.
“This is probably one of the best football teams I’ve ever been on — every position, how we came together, and how we finished and how we battled,” Sawyer Teeney said. “We did it all season.”
Wilsonville ran 44 plays for 466 yards — an average of 10.6 yards per play. Wiepert completed 9 for 16 passes for 266 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. He also was the team's leading rushing with 158 yards on 19 carries. Tam finished with three catches for 109 yards and Crowley had three receptions for 103 yards.
Wilsonville is back in the final for the third season in a row and the seventh time in school history. The Wildcats also have a chance to become the third 5A team to win consecutive state championships and the first since Thurston won back-to-back in 2018 and 2019.
“Right now, we’re going to enjoy the next 24 hours,” Guenther said. “We’ll look ahead to next week’s game in about a day. Right now, these guys need to enjoy this. We’re going to have some banged-up, sore kids tomorrow and they need to enjoy this win, because it’s a big one.
“Some people take for granted where we’re at sometimes. It’s a special thing. You don’t get here very often and these guys need to enjoy that ride. So, as far as getting back to the final and having a chance to defend our title, this year it’s about these guys. I mean, we play for the guys that have been there and have set the stage and created the culture. And we play for the young kids coming up in the program. But this week is going to be about our guys.”
