WILSONVILLE – After blowing a 22-point lead in an overtime win at Thurston in last year's season opener, Wilsonville wasn't in the mood for any unnecessary drama against the Colts on Friday night.
The No. 2 Wildcats scored the game's first 37 points and coasted to a running-clock 44-15 win over No. 3 Thurston in a nonleague showdown between perennial 5A football powers.
Senior quarterback Kallen Gutridge had a big night, completing 15 of 20 passes for 344 yards and three touchdowns and running for a score, and the defense overwhelmed the Colts at the line of scrimmage, recording six sacks.
“We said at halftime, 'We know what happened last year, so pedal to the metal,'” said Wilsonville senior defensive back Lucas Larson, who had an interception and a sack. “Not leaving any questions, just finish them.”
The Wildcats, 5A runners-up last year, came out on a mission. Gutridge hit junior receiver Mark Wiepert for an 80-yard touchdown pass on their first play and they didn't look back.
“We've got a lot of guys with the same common goal,” said Wiepert, who had five catches for 140 yards and two touchdowns and scored on a 12-yard run. “Everybody's been putting in the work since Thanksgiving last year. We came up short last year, but it's so fun to just see everybody rally. And to finally let it loose tonight was amazing.”
Wilsonville coach Adam Guenther liked what he saw from his team.
“It was a good night,” Guenther said. “We've got a lot of athletes. That's a good problem to have.”
Thurston, which graduated all but seven starters from last year's semifinal team, struggled to match up with the Wildcats.
“We're young. We didn't respond to adversity,” Colts coach Justin Starck said. “We got beat at the line of scrimmage. We had a bunch of young kids who weren't ready to compete at this level. We said we were going to find out a little bit, and that's what we found out. So now we go back to work.”
The 6-foot-4, 190-pound Gutridge, who threw 34 touchdown passes as a junior, was masterful throughout. The lefty passed for 263 yards in the first half, including scores of 80 and 8 yards to Wiepert and 47 yards to junior Nick Crowley. He also ran for a 10-yard touchdown.
“He's such a stud. He's so underrated,” Wiepert said of Gutridge, who had 31 rushing yards on three carries. “He can do whatever he wants with the ball. He's so athletic. He's such a dual threat. He can run, he can throw. His ball placement has been insane to start the season.”
Guenther raved about his quarterback.
“Kal had a heck of a night tonight,” Guenther said. “The kid's got a cannon, and he can run. … He can do it all. He proved it tonight. And he's got athletes to throw to.”
Wilsonville outgained Thurston 537-258. Crowley had five catches for 118 yards and one score and senior Kheller Larson had three catches for 48 yards. Sophomore Roman Kealoha rushed for a team-high 70 yards and one touchdown on eight carries.
The long touchdown pass to Wiepert on Wilsonville's first play set the tone. Wiepert made a lunging catch near midfield, kept his balance and outraced two defenders to the end zone.
“We thought it might be there,” Wiepert said. “But if you watch our offense, Kallen is sitting back there taking all the time in the world. Everybody had a route, and it happened to come to me. It was just a fun play. It's fun to get opportunities, come out swinging as a team. To do that in the first half was a ton of fun.”
The 6-1, 190-pound Wiepert, who has committed to Oregon State for baseball, is primed for a monster season.
“He's great. I'm just so excited to keep playing with him,” Gutridge said. “He's a D-I baseball commit, but he might even be better at football. It's just special, our connection.”
The way the Wildcats executed, they appeared to be in midseason form.
“The communication Week 1 was great,” Gutridge said. “Our O-line gave us so much time. The lanes were crazy for the running backs. It was an exceptional offensive scheme.”
Wilsonville's most impressive series came at the end of the first half. The Wildcats took possession at their own 18-yard line with 25 seconds left, but instead of taking a knee, they went to work.
Gutridge completed three passes to move the ball to the Thurston 47 with two seconds left, then rolled out and unleashed a perfectly placed bomb into Crowley's hands in the end zone. The play made it 34-0, but a missed extra-point attempt after a penalty kept the game from going to a running clock.
“This early in the year, the reason we didn't kneel it out at the end of the first half is I wanted to work on stuff,” Guenther said. “We've got to practice our two-minute game, because you never know when you're going to need it. And they ran it well.”
Considering what happened in last year's game, the Wildcats didn't want to waste any opportunities.
“We respect the crap out of these guys,” Gutridge said of the Colts. “Last year we were up 32-10, so we wanted to give ourselves a comfortable spot, at least try, and it worked out.”
Wilsonville queued the running clock midway through the third quarter when junior Emmitt Fee kicked a 21-yard field goal to make it 37-0.
Thurston junior quarterback Noah Blair, the returning starter, was under a heavy pass rush all game. The Wildcats got sacks from Lucas Larson, Fee, sophomore Riddick Molatore and seniors Mason Seal, Noah Lubisich and Ty Smith.
“We just came out and shut them down,” Lucas Larson said. “Everything they wanted to do, we had an answer for.”
Blair finished 19 of 27 for 287 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. He connected with senior Ethan Burkhead and junior David Macdonald for scores of 15 and 82 yards, respectively. Senior Lombel Doreen had eight catches for 93 yards.
jerryu@osaa.org
Subscribe
