GERVAIS – There’s possibly no one who’s played better than Gervais football’s Johnny Mariano in the first two rounds of the state football playoffs.
Following a six-touchdown performance in a round one upset win over No. 5 Siuslaw 48-28, the Cougars senior did it again with six more scores on the ground to power No. 12 Gervais to a 44-29 win over No. 13 Douglas in the 3A quarterfinals Friday.
The Cougars got to host the quarterfinals matchup thanks to the Trojans pulling off their own round-one upset, taking down previously unbeaten No. 4 Dayton 21-18.
But the Trojans couldn’t slow down Mariano and the Cougars offensive line Friday night.
“It’s been really special, we put a lot of work into the line,” Mariano said. “At first, we were struggling with the run game and now we have it down already. We can run the ball pretty well.”
For the Cougars, it’s their first time making an 11-man state semifinal since 1951 when they went to the Class B state title game. Gervais made the 2A semifinals last year, the classification that plays nine-man football.
The year before that in 2023 at 2A, the Cougars won their first playoff game since that 1951 season.
To see back-to-back seasons of semifinals appearances for a program that was long dormant is a beautiful sight for head coach JJ Navarette. And to do it now at the 3A level is a testament to what has been built in the program.
“Believe it or not, these kids voted to play up this year,” Navarette said. “We got together at the end of the season and I asked them, ‘This is your guys’ choice, do we play up or do we stay in 2A?’ Every single one of them raised their hand and said we want to play up.
“I don’t know what we would have been in 2A, but we’re doing it now in 3A.”
Mariano got started early, carrying the ball on all five plays of Gervais’ first possession after forcing a three-and-out from Douglas. The senior ended the drive with a 23-yard score, and scored on the two-point conversion to make it 8-0 Cougars.
Gervais’ defense came up with another three-and-out to get the ball right back. Cougars senior Nikita Burkoff took a couple carries on the ensuing drive, but it was Mariano punching it in from a yard out to make it 14-0 Cougars.
“We lean on our defense quite a bit to be honest, but the offense compliments it,” Navarette said. “Our line is just bulldozing. And our defense has just been our heart, it’s what they do.”
Douglas responded by opening up the passing game, getting a big gain thanks to QB Ryder Sawyer hitting Reese Willis for a 31-yard gain. Then on a fourth down, Sawyer went deep down the middle to Nalo Driscoll who had space from his defender and ran in a 41-yard TD catch, cutting the Gervais lead to 14-7.
The Cougars tried to open up their offense as well with the Trojans selling out to stop Mariano, but the windy night in Gervais wasn’t doing QB Frank Ojeda any favors. He threw a pick to Caiden Maresh on the next drive, but the Cougars defense got the stop and took over on the Trojans 27-yard line after a bad snap on the punt attempt.
However, the wind blowing in Ojeda’s face stopped a pass dead in its tracks and it fell right into the hands of Maresh for a second pick.
Douglas got across midfield with the half coming to an end, but it was Mariano on defense stopping any shot at a score with his second sack of the half on Sawyer.
“I told (Mariano) at the beginning of the playoffs, ‘I know you didn’t have the season that you did in 2A, but son, it starts all over again right now,’” Navarette said. “He’s come out and just proven it to everybody, even to himself. He’s our heart and soul, we love that kid.”
Two plays into the second half, it was Mariano breaking free up the middle for his longest score of the night, reaching paydirt from 48 yards out to help Gervais go up 22-7.
Gervais’ next possession was hurt by penalties and ended with a bad snap on the punt going out the back of the end zone for a Douglas safety, making it 22-9.
But again, the defense came up with a big stop on defense, turning the Trojans over on downs and getting the ball back to the offense who finished the next drive on a 1-yard Mariano TD run to go up 28-9.
“We were mostly focused on defense and pressuring their QB,” Gervais senior Ben Cam said. “I feel like we were hitting on all cylinders.”
Sawyer hit Willis for an 18-yard TD in response to keep things interesting, now down 28-15 heading into the fourth quarter.
But the Gervais run game was not only hard to stop, but it ate clock. And the Cougars drive ended with a 2-yard Mariano TD run to go up 36-15 with only 6:29 left in the game.
On the ensuing Douglas possession, Burkoff came up with an interception, leading to Mariano’s sixth TD of the night a few plays later.
Douglas added on in the final five minutes, scoring on a 16-yard TD pass from Sawyer to Driscoll. The Trojans recovered an onside kick and scored again, this one 25 yards from Sawyer to tight end Landon Hinshaw to make it 44-29.
But the Cougars recovered the next onside kick and ran it out from there. Mariano finished the night with 201 yards rushing, six touchdowns and two sacks on defense.
“Watching him is amazing,” Cam said of Mariano. “It just opens up, he finds the holes and he takes it. And if you don’t go low on him, you’re not taking him down. I tried at practice many times, it did not end well.”
Sawyer finished the night 15-for-31 passing for 278 yards and four TDs to lead the Trojans. Driscoll had 112 receiving yards with two TDs while Willis went for 105 receiving yards and a score.
Burkoff finished with 38 rushing yards and an INT to help Gervais, and Cam had 1.5 sacks on defense along with 27 rushing yards.
For the Gervais senior class to be back in the semifinals, it means everything to the community that has rallied behind them for the past four years.
“When I first started coaching here eight years ago, we couldn’t get 10 people in the stands,” Navarette said. “We have our stands packed, they've never seen that before. I live and I breathe family, so I treat these kids like they were mine.”
Earlier in the season, Gervais fell on the road to Banks 40-21 in a game that was much closer than the final score indicates.
The loss broke the Cougars for a bit, as seen by a loss at Warrenton the next week 19-12 and then a loss at home to Kennedy 17-14.
But the Cougars found themselves again in the final two weeks of the regular season, taking out North Marion and Myrtle Point to get a shot in the postseason.
“The seniors weren’t going to let our senior season come to an end,” Cam said. “It was really hard to get up from down in the gutters. But if you keep working at it and play for one another, you will get there, you will get out of there.”
Up next is the No. 1 seed and unbeaten Cascade Christian, who took out No. 9 North Valley 48-0 in the quarterfinals Friday and has outscored opponents 611-47 this season.
It’s a daunting task, but if the Cougars have learned anything, it’s trust in Mariano and go to work on defense.
“Cascade Christian hasn’t played a good team like us,” Cam said. “It’s going to be a dogfight, we’re going to see who wants it more out there.”
austinw@osaa.org
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