LAKE OSWEGO -- Tualatin coach Dan Lever said he wasn’t preaching a do-or-die mentality to his players heading into Friday night’s Three Rivers League football showdown at Lake Oswego.
But there was no doubting the Timberwolves’ sense of urgency as they jumped all over the reigning 6A champion Lakers and cruised to a 34-8 win.
One week after falling flat in a two-touchdown loss to No. 3 West Linn, fifth-ranked Tualatin throttled No. 2 Lake Oswego to get an elusive signature win. It means that the Timberwolves (7-1, 4-1) will play for their first league title since 2010 next week when they visit top-ranked Tigard (8-0, 5-0) in the regular-season finale.
“It shows everyone in the state that we can play with everyone,” Tualatin senior linebacker and tight end John Miller said. “We’re a team that really can battle for a state title. We just showed everyone in the state that right now.”
The Timberwolves weren’t happy with the way they practiced leading up to the West Linn game, but said their preparation for the Lakers (6-2, 3-2) was much improved.
“After last week, we just had to bounce back, and that’s what we did,” senior running back and linebacker Kainoa Sayre said. “Last week was a big week for us, and we just didn’t come out and execute like we did tonight.”
It was Tualatin’s first win over Lake Oswego since 2015. The Timberwolves lost to the Lakers by a touchdown in each of the last two seasons.
“You can’t not have a smile on your face, beating the state champions from last year, coming out and making a statement like this,” senior receiver and defensive back Luke Marion said.
Lake Oswego coach Steve Coury raved about the Timberwolves following the game.
“I have a lot of respect for them,” Coury said. “I said at one point that I thought they were good enough to win it. I really believe that, too, not just because they beat us. They’ve got all the stuff it takes, really. There’s probably five or six teams like that, and they’re one of them.”
Tualatin had a 409-218 edge in total yards. The Timberwolves, burned by big plays against West Linn, were able to keep the Lakers under wraps.
Lake Oswego senior tailback Casey Filkins rushed for 143 yards and one touchdown on 20 carries, but aside from runs of 36 and 38 yards, he could not escape from a fast-closing Timberwolves defense that features the Oregon State-bound Miller.
“He’s an incredible athlete,” Sayre said of Filkins. “Every team in the state has to respect what he does on the field, and that’s what we did. We came out and we stopped Casey.”
The 6-foot, 200-pound Sayre, a first-team all-league running back as a sophomore who missed his junior season with an injury, pounded for 131 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries. For the season, he has rushed for 829 yards and 21 touchdowns.
“It feels great, especially after missing all of last year,” said Sayre, who has committed to Air Force. “I can’t take anything for granted. Every play, every rep in practice, it just feels good to be back on the field.”
The win also was gratifying for senior quarterback Blake Jackson. As a sophomore against Lake Oswego, he filled in for injured starter Kyle Dernedde and threw four interceptions in what he called “probably the worst game of my career.” Last year against the Lakers, he fumbled twice deep in Lake Oswego territory, including one at the three-yard line in the fourth quarter.
It’s understandable, then, why Jackson said that Friday was “probably the best win I’ve ever felt. It feels good to come back and be able to lead my team.”
Jackson completed 9 of 13 passes for 127 yards and one touchdown with one interception, but it was what he did with his legs that sunk the Lakers. He ran for 97 yards on 11 carries, many of them quarterback draws to pick up momentum-changing first downs.
“Coach was letting me know, he said, ‘Hey man, be ready to run the ball this week,’” Jackson said. “I said, ‘Coach, I got you. I’ll run it all day if you need me.’ That’s kind of what happened.”
Tualatin drove for touchdowns on its first two possessions. The Timberwolves opened the game with a 14-play, 79-yard drive that was capped by Sayre’s seven-yard touchdown run.
“It was kind of a statement, telling them, ‘We’re not messing around anymore. We’re coming to play,’” Marion said.
The Lakers took an 8-7 lead when Filkins scored on an eight-yard run and added a two-point run, but Tualatin answered with a 73-yard touchdown drive. Sophomore Malik Ross found the end zone on a 14-yard sweep to put the Timberwolves up 14-8.
Late in the second quarter, Lake Oswego took over at the Tualatin 34-yard line after an interception by junior Malcolm Williams. On the next play, senior Joe Hutson appeared to make a diving catch in the end zone, but officials ruled it incomplete, setting off a protest by the Lakers.
“I thought Joe’s TD was a TD,” Coury said.
Lake Oswego drove to the Tualatin 27-yard line to open the second half, but the Timberwolves held, then took a 20-8 lead on a five-yard run by Sayre.
“That was a huge drive for us, and we kind of let it get away from us,” Filkins said. “That shifted the momentum, and they drove down the field and scored.”
Tualatin added two exclamation points in the fourth quarter, a 37-yard touchdown run by Sayre and a 31-yard touchdown pass from Jackson to Marion.
“We wanted to put them to sleep, and we did that,” Marion said.
Now Tigard, and a possible Three Rivers title, awaits the Timberwolves.
“We’re going to be ready for them,” Sayre said.
jerryu@osaa.org
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