PORTLAND – One week after lighting up the scoreboard in a season-opening win, the fourth-ranked Tualatin Timberwolves leaned on their defense Friday night in a 6A nonleague football game at No. 6 Jesuit.
The Timberwolves made two first-half touchdown passes by senior Owen Hagerman stand up for a 13-7 win, thanks to a goal-line stand in the second quarter and three red-zone stops in the second half.
“I kind of chalk that up to effort. Guys were just playing their guts out,” Tualatin coach Dom Ferraro said.
It marked the third year in a row that Tualatin has defeated Jesuit in a regular-season game.
“It means a lot to us,” Hagerman said. “They had a packed crowd. It's tough to play here.”
Hagerman threw touchdown passes of 38 yards to senior Trent Dearborn and 16 yards to senior Cole Newton, but finished a modest 7 of 11 for 101 yards. Tualatin finished with 192 total yards, with only 31 coming in the second half as the Crusaders tightened their grip.
“Jesuit's got a great defense,” Hagerman said. “It's tough to move the ball when they've got guys playing their heart out. Their secondary, they played a hell of a game. They were over the top. We had to take what we could get.”
In its season debut, Jesuit got a big game from junior running back Luke Ortner. The 5-foot-9, 183-pound Ortner rushed for 206 yards and one touchdown on 36 carries and had one catch for 40 yards. But the Crusaders, who had 245 total yards, were unable to convert on key opportunities.
“We've just got to execute,” Ortner said. “Small mistakes hurt us. Clean up those things, we're going to be a really, really good team this year. I have no doubt in my mind we'll make it to state.”
Ortner said the Crusaders are “way better” than they showed Friday.
“We can blow out teams 100 percent this year,” he said. “If we just come together as a team, we'll be there.”
Ferraro was impressed with Ortner and Jesuit's running game.
“He's tough to bring down,” Ferraro said. “At the high school level, so many teams now are spread and open and throw the ball, and when you face an offense like that -- that just wants to line up and run you ragged -- it was a challenge to stop the run.”
Tualatin's defense did just enough to foil Jesuit's drives by collecting six sacks and seven other tackles for loss. Senior defensive back Trenton Hertzog had two sacks and senior linebacker Cody Hartley had two tackles for loss.
“Their run game was just pounding up the middle,” Hertzog said. “Hard to stop their running back. We felt like we stayed physical throughout the whole game, and that helped us.”
Ortner ran for an 18-yard touchdown to put Jesuit up 7-6 in the second quarter. On the Crusaders' next series, though, Ortner fumbled a pitch and Tualatin sophomore Iden Rule recovered at the Jesuit 16-yard line. The Timberwolves made it pay on the next play when Hagerman hit Newton for a scoring strike and a 13-7 lead.
Tualatin's defense did the rest. Jesuit had fourth-and-goal at the Tualatin 1 late in the first half, but the Timberwolves stuffed junior quarterback Jack Wilson on a sneak. In the second half, Jesuit drove to the Tualatin 19, 16 and 10 on its three possessions but came up empty each time.
“The red-zone defense, they stepped it up,” Hagerman said.
On its final series, Jesuit marched from its own 31 and to the Tualatin 10 behind the running of Ortner. On third-and-3 from the 10, a false start pushed the Crusaders back, and Tualatin forced two incomplete passes to end the threat with 1:33 remaining. The Timberwolves ran out the clock.
On fourth-and-8 from the 15, Wilson passed into the right corner of the end zone toward senior Jack Tengue, but Tualatin junior cornerback Pat Vialva Jr. broke up the pass.
“I definitely knew they were going to come at me,” Vialva said. “All game, I was struggling a bit. My footwork was a little off. I was a little jumpy, and my hands were everywhere. So I just calmed down, took some deep breaths. I got the job done. I did it for the team.”
Ferraro said of Vialva, a basketball standout: “What an athlete that guy is.”
Tualatin played without its starting running back in junior Cole Hachmeister, who is nursing a hip flexor injury from last week's 49-14 win over Clackamas. The Timberwolves absorbed another blow in practice this week when the backup running back, senior Ty Flowers, suffered a torn ACL.
“We've had a rough week,” Ferraro said. “There's been a lot of adversity. Super proud of the team. They gutted out a big win.”
Rule became the primary ball carrier against Jesuit, rushing for 68 yards on 18 carries.
Jesuit also was without a key player in senior receiver and defensive back Joe Stimpson, a Nevada commit. Stimpson had minor knee surgery a month ago to relieve discomfort and is slowly working his way back. The Crusaders are hopeful he will return soon.
jerryu@osaa.org
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