BEAVERTON — The Mountainside Mustangs had the right players in the right places at the right times Friday night against the Tualatin Timberwolves at Mountainside High School.
Actually, Sam Vyhlidal did most of the heavy lifting, with some help from his friends.
Vyhlidal had three rushing touchdowns and then caught a 40-yard TD pass from Cade Mitchell for the go-ahead score with 8:15 to play, lifting the Mavericks to a 44-39 come-from-behind playoff win in the opening round of the 6A Open football bracket.
Mitchell added a 23-yard touchdown pass to Kellen Hicks, lineman Julian Villastrigo recovered a Mitchell fumble in the end zone for another score, and kicker Max Ryusaki connected on a 41-yard field goal to help send the Metro League-champion Mavericks (8-2) into next week’s quarterfinals against top-ranked Lake Oswego (9-0).
“That was amazing,” Mountainside coach Keanon Lowe said. “We didn’t waver from our game plan, but we didn’t expect the craziness we saw tonight.
“We knew we were playing a Tualatin team with a super, high-powered offense, so we knew we’d have to score some points and we scored 44 points tonight. We didn’t know if that would be enough to beat these guys, but it ended up being enough. So, we were really fortunate to get the win.”
Tualatin finished the season with a 6-4 record.
“We knew it was going to be tough,” Timberwolves coach Dominic Ferraro said. “Yeah, that was pretty disappointing. I think there were some calls that didn’t go our way, but you know, you can’t count on that.
“This team was capable of finishing and we just didn’t get it done. So, credit to Mountainside.”
Not to oversimplify what happened in a see-saw battle that generated a combined 939 yards offense, 83 points, and six lead changes, but the game turned on two key plays in the second half — a Tualatin fumble on a kickoff return and a Mountainside touchdown pass on a fourth-and-one play.
Mountainside trailed 33-23 when Mitchell led the Mavericks on a four-play, 60-yard touchdown drive that ended with Vyhlidal scoring on a four-yard run with two seconds remaining in the third quarter.
On the ensuing kickoff, Tualatin tried to run a reverse, but the returners fumbled the exchange and Mountainside’s Jacob Piementel recovered the loose ball at Tualatin's 10-yard line.
What were the Timberwolves thinking on that play?
“That was something we’ve been doing all year,” Ferraro said. “We’d done it three or four times during the season and it’s just something that we do. We were just trying to get a little trick play in there and you’ve got to take those shots in these games, so … that’s on me.”
On the next play, Vyhlidal, the 6-foot-4, 215-pound tight end, went behind center, took a direct snap, and scored to give the Mavericks a 37-33 lead and some momentum that wasn’t there before the fumble.
“We felt like were playing from behind this whole game. So our kids, again, it started with the belief that something good was going to happen. We were waiting for Tualatin to make that one crucial mistake and then they fumbled that kickoff return
“I think they overthought it a little bit there. They didn’t execute it well and we took the ball and took advantage of it.”
Tualatin’s Cole Hachmeister answered with an 81-yard touchdown run that put the Timberwolves back in front 39-37 with 11:06 to play.
On Mountainside’s next drive, the Mavericks faced fourth-and-one at the Tualatin 40-yard line. Instead of running the ball with Mitchell on a quarterback sneak, or snapping the ball directly to Vyhlidal, the Mavericks called “Y Pop” — a play-action pass to Vyhlidal.
Risky? Perhaps, but it was the perfect call, because Vyhlidal was 20 yards down the field without a single Tualatin defender near him when he caught the pass from Mitchell and lumbered into the end zone to make it 44-39 with 8:15 remaining.
“That’s a tough play to cover,” Lowe said. “We faked that handoff, then we faked the reverse, and then we threw the ball to somebody. It has to be against the right look and we knew what look they’d be in on fourth-and-one. And when there’s that action back there by the quarterback and by a reverse guy, naturally, the defense is going to drop a guy. We knew that, and we hit on it.”
The play has been in the Mountainside playbook all season, but this was the first time the Mavericks had used it in a game.
“We’d practiced that all week,” Mitchell said. “When we get the defense to blitz up like that, I wasn’t surprised to see Sam running wide open, but I was like, ‘I can’t overthrow it.’ That was my biggest fear. ‘Just don’t overthrow it. Let him get it.’ And Sam … he’s just an athlete and he got the ball and he got the job done.”
Vyhlidal said he wasn't surprised when Tualatin bit on the run fake.
“Nah, I knew I was going to be open,” he said. “I knew that play was going to work. We just executed it perfectly.”
Tualatin’s next drive got off track after two penalties — one for a false start, another for intentional grounding — and the Timberwolves punted the ball back to Mountainside with 6:23 left.
The Mavericks not only ran 14 plays on their next drive, but they also got a crucial defensive pass interference call along the way and ate all but seven seconds off the clock before turning the ball over on downs to Tualatin at the Timberwolves' 48.
With time for only one play, Tualatin quarterback Nolan Keeney ran with the ball and got as far as the Mountainside 31 before flipping the ball to Trenton Hertzog, who ran the rest of the way to the end zone. Unfortunately, Keeney was flagged for an illegal forward pass on the flip to Hertzog, so the game ended there.
Keeney, the Wolves’ senior quarterback, completed 5 of 16 passes for 81 yards, including a 50-yard touchdown pass to Calen Simonelic. Keeney also had a game-high 134 rushing yards on 10 carries, including a 25-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.
Calvin Evans added a 12-yard touchdown run and field goals of 48 and 43 yards, and Zhaiel Smith scored on a 27-yard run for the Timberwolves, who finished with 428 yards offense.
“I think we had high expectations for our team,” said Ferraro, whose team led 30-23 at halftime. “We kind of got bit by the injury bug a little bit here and there, especially tonight. By the time the third quarter was over, we had two starting offensive linemen out — senior Aiden Keister and junior Connor LaGrow.
“We were still able to run the football. Aiden starts on the defensive line, too, but we have a next-man-up philosophy. You gotta step up and you gotta fill in your role, and our guys did a good job. So, I’m really proud of the group.”
Mountainside racked up 511 yards offense. Mitchell completed 14 of 20 passes for 274 yards, while Jordan Hicks led the ground game with 97 yards on 20 carries. Vyhlidal caught five passes for 104 yards and added another 74 yards rushing on 10 carries. Reece Ballew chipped in another 59 yards on 11 carries.
“It starts with the belief that you’re always in the game and that something good is on the other side of adversity,” Lowe said of his team’s second-half comeback. “There’s a lot of adversity in this game and we talked about it in the locker room at halftime.
“This one means everything for our football team and our community. This one shows that Mountainside football is here to stay and we belong in the race every year.”
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