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 SPHS football
Big fourth quarter propels Bucks: St. Paul scores 42 points in the fourth
quarter to beat Powder Valley in the semifinals, 72-34
HILLSBORO -- A close game was broken open in the fourth quarter when the St. Paul High
School football team scored six touchdowns and scored 42 points in the quarter to beat
Powder Valley High School 74-32 in the semifinals of the Class 1A U.S. Bank State
Championships at Hare Field Saturday.
"We didn't care who we played," St. Paul coach Jay Phillips said. "I don't
think our kids ever quit when we got down. (The Badgers) were up and it wasn't because we
were out of shape, we just talked (at halftime) about selling our self out and if at the
end of the game the score is not in our favor, we've got to live with that. I don't think
that we're better, player for player, but when you put eight guys out on the field, we're
a pretty good football team."
With the win, St. Paul advances to play Dufur on Dec. 1, also at Hare Field. Two years
ago, St. Paul played at Hare Field in the state championship game against Dufur,
eventually losing. But getting to the final game is something the Bucks have wanted for a
long time, junior Manuel Ramos said.
"We've dreamed of getting here and we've been here once, some of us, so we wanted to
see what it feels like again," he said.
Ramos finished with 343 yards on 29 carries to go along with his six touchdowns. St.
Paul's win was due in large part to the offensive line and quarterback Damian Wylie, Ramos
said.
"The line was incredible," he said. "They had their best game of the season
and that allowed me to have a good game, too. Plus, our quarterback was amazing."
Powder Valley, ranked No. 4 in Oregon, scored on its first two possessions and went up
14-0 over the Bucks but St. Paul, ranked No. 2 in the state, didn't fade. Ramos scored a
5-yard touchdown with 1:27 left in the first quarter and after senior Joe Wilson's
two-point conversion, the Bucks trailed 14-8.
But the Badgers marched right back at the Bucks and scored early in the second quarter to
extend the lead again, this time to 20-8. But Ramos wouldn't be denied as he broke several
would-be tackles and raced 42-yards to the end-zone for the touchdown with 9:57 to go in
the quarter.
Eventually, the Badgers held a 28-22 halftime lead. Powder Valley had figured out how to
stop the Bucks by overloading the wide side of the field. For the first half, it worked.
"The first quarter, we didn't make any adjustments," St. Paul coach Jay Phillips
said. "They were overloading the wide side of the field because they knew we like to
go to the wide side of the field. But I've got to give a lot of credit to the coaching
staff. Mark Harris and the rest of the guys decided to make some adjustments. I mean (the
Badgers) are five-time state track champions, so they've got some speed."
The Bucks allowed the Badgers a single touchdown in the second half but it wasn't due to a
speech by Phillips at halftime.
"They only scored six points in the second half but it wasn't the halftime
speech," he said. "It was just the fact that we felt if we could stop them and
control them, they couldn't stop us."
In the third, the Bucks managed to take the lead on the Badgers. On third-and-four from
Powder Valley's 27, Ramos broke away from tacklers and scored with 1:19 left. The
touchdown and two-point conversion by junior Damian Wylie put the Bucks up 30-28, their
first lead of the game.
But the lead didn't last long. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Powder Valley's
Brody Turner caught a short pass and managed to slip away from the St. Paul defense for an
86-yard score. The touchdown put the Badgers up after just 16 seconds of play in the
quarter.
But that's where it ended for the Badgers. St. Paul took over. On the kickoff after
Turner's score, Wilson took the kick and ran it back for a 67-yard touchdown return. The
score gave the Bucks a 36-34 lead. A lead they would never give back.
After St. Paul's defense held the Badgers on a fourth-and-3, the Bucks took over from
Powder Valley's 48 with 10:07 left. The defensive stopper led to a 4-yard score by Ramos
with 7:32 to go. After the two-point conversion by Ramos, St. Paul opened its lead to
44-34.
After a Powder Valley punt, St. Paul started on its own 41 but two plays later, Ramos ran
to the outside and then stopped and cut back to the inside and raced 50 yards for another
St. Paul touchdown to put the game out of reach. Wilson's two-point conversion gave St.
Paul a 52-34 lead with 5:39 left.
St. Paul's offense didn't stop, though. Wylie scored on a quarterback keeper when he ran
straight up the middle for a 74-yard touchdown, followed by 17-yard score by Ramos with
1:31 to go. The game was capped off by freshman lineman Pat Charron's fumble recovery in
the end-zone for a touchdown.
"We didn't attempt too many passes because we felt that it was too high-risk and they
had a lot of pressures from their ends," Phillips said. "Our offensive line was
great but I'm not going to say that one guy above another one played better than anyone
but we got beat by 44 points by a very good Alsea team (earlier this season) and I think
it relates back to a couple years ago when we got beat. We thought we were a pretty good
football team and we are and we thought they were but it came down to a point where
there's always somebody better. We made a commitment that every game is a playoff game for
us and we want to make the playoffs. We kind of call it our second and third
seasons."
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This week
Preview:
NM girls basketball
WHS grad Kelly Hyde follows her dream, earning a starting
spot on the Humboldt State women's soccer squad
Preview: NM boys basketball
Big fourth quarter propels Bucks: St. Paul scores 42 points
in the fourth quarter to beat Powder Valley in the semifinals, 72-34
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