Back into a corner late in the fourth quarter Friday night, Sherwood refused to give up its grip on Pacific Conference football.
In a game that featured seven lead changes, the ninth-ranked Bowmen got the final one, driving 63 yards for the go-ahead touchdown and extra point with 21.9 seconds left to beat visiting Newberg 27-26 in the regular-season finale.
The win, Sherwood's 27th in a row in the conference, gives the Bowmen (7-2, 5-0) the outright Pacific title for the fifth consecutive season and the conference's top seed to the 6A playoffs. A loss would have meant a three-way tie at the top with Newberg (5-4, 3-2) and No. 10 Glencoe (8-1, 4-1).
“They wanted this so they didn't have to share it with anybody,” Sherwood coach Mark Gribble said. “In this case, our kids feel validated.”
The Tigers took their final lead Friday when senior quarterback Parker Sellner threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to junior Owen Kubin with 5:00 left in the game. Rather than go for a two-point conversion, Newberg opted to kick the extra point, which put the Tigers up 26-20.
Sherwood answered by driving 63 yards in 13 plays, scoring on a one-yard run by senior Jones Dickover on third-and-goal. Senior Brady Kunert added the extra point to make it 27-26.
Considering the Bowmen took their final timeout before Dickover's touchdown, if he had been stopped short, they would have had little time to line up for a fourth-down play.
“When I called that last timeout, I was like, 'All right, we're going for the win, and we're either putting it in the end zone or we're going home unhappy,'” Gribble said. “And they were all in.”
Gribble said he expected the Tigers to be keying on senior running back Jack Wilson, who rushed for a season-high 217 yards and three touchdowns on 22 carries. Instead of trying to break Wilson free on the edge, the Bowmen went up the middle with Dickover.
“Jack was having a phenomenal game, so the expectation is, 'Hey, they're going back to the guy that got them there,'” Gribble said.
The Tigers appeared to repel Sherwood when they stopped sophomore quarterback Kai Boatsman short of the first down on fourth-and-five from the 9-yard line, but they were called for defensive holding on the play, giving the Bowmen a first down at the 4-yard line. Three plays later, Dickover scored the touchdown.
For Dickover, who had his last two seasons cut short by knee injuries, the winning touchdown was a big payoff.
“Just to see him come off the field smiling like that, it was awesome,” Gribble said.
Newberg made a last-gasp drive, with Sellner completing three passes for 44 yards to reach Sherwood's 31-yard line with six seconds left. After an incomplete pass, junior kicker Ben Davis attempted a 48-yard field goal that fell a few yards short as time expired.
Conversions after touchdowns turned out to be the difference in the game. Newberg failed on runs after its first two touchdowns, then made two extra points. Kunert made three of his four extra-point attempts.
Wilson not only stood out for Sherwood on offense, but he also had an interception. In the 12-10 win over Glencoe that ultimately gave the Bowmen the conference title, Wilson had the game-sealing interception.
“Jack has been everything for us,” Gribble said. “We've had to move Jack around and really kind of make him the focal point in a lot of instances.”
Newberg finished with a 358-357 edge in total yards. Sellner completed 13 of 23 passes for 226 yards and three touchdowns, one each to Kubin and seniors Colton Seifert and Lucas Vaughn. Seifert had four catches for 77 yards.
jerryu@osaa.org
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