Newberg football earns first win of the season, topples Sunset 31-14

Newberg High School’s football head coach Jeremy Johnson likely wasn’t expecting to be doused in cold water following the Tigers’ bout against Sunset on Friday, Sept. 27.

The atmosphere was euphoric. The embraces were plentiful. Opening the season on a four-game losing streak, Newberg earned its first win of the year in convincing fashion, downing the Apollos 31-14.

“I am extremely proud. I love each one of these kids. As hard as it is to be 0-4, what we talked about as coaches last Sunday was the fact that you wouldn’t know we’re 0-4 with how we treat each other, how we compete, how we go to work every day,” Johnson said. “(It’s a) testament to our coaches, the support we have from our families and our parents. When you lose it’s easy to get negative, and our kids kept fighting.”

“All the (losses) just left a sour taste in our mouth,” senior Cole Thomas added. “We’ve been really down after the (losses), really frustrated because we’re so close. Just little things have (set us back).”

After the two sides traded punts to start the game, Newberg was once again set to punt after a quick three-and-out. But then things got interesting – although it was a clean punt, Sunset bobbled the catch, leaving Jazon Clement to fall on the loose ball for a fumble recovery on Sunset’s 46-yard line.

A personal foul against the Apollos on the same play jumped Newberg to Sunset’s 31-yard line. Despite a penalty call costing them five yards, the Tigers needed just two plays to find the end zone, quarterback Parker Sellner dancing his way through defenders en route to a 32-yard rushing score.

Sunset responded with a strong drive of its own, marching down to Newberg’s 2-yard line. And then Chace Macken happened. The junior linebacker recovered a fumble off a bad snap, churning his way upfield, making a defender miss for the score as the Newberg faithful erupted.

“Defense stepped up (tonight). We had a huge number of defensive plays,” Johnson said. “It’s a big thing to develop some confidence (heading into Pacific Conference play), and to turn out positive plays. We were able to have a number of positive plays that happened throughout the game, but we’ve also had a lot of positive plays in the last few weeks.”

Beginning to feel a sense of urgency, Sunset opted to go for it facing a 4th and 2 near midfield in the second quarter. It failed, setting the stage for a 10-play, 55-yard scoring drive from the Tigers, bolstered by a string of rushes by Deaken Santrizos and a pivotal 9-yard pass completion from Sellner to Colton Seifert facing a 3rd and 7 situation.

Sellner ultimately scored, punching it in on a 4th and goal.

“That first half, (Sellner) did some pretty impressive things. He made sure that our drives stayed alive. He decided, ‘You know what, I'm just gonna run, and run through guys, run over guys, run around guys,’” Johnson said. “That keeps guys like Chace Macken and Deaken Santrizos going. And then his trust in his receivers is at a high level.”

Leading 21-0 entering the third quarter, it seemed the universe was simply on the Tigers’ side. A high snap from the Apollos on their first play of the second half led to favorable field position for Newberg, taking over on Sunset’s 18-yard line.

The Tigers kept cooking, Sellner once again scoring, finding the pylon on the right sideline on a scramble. Though the Apollos were finally able to get on the scoreboard on their ensuing drive, the possession ate up more than six minutes of clock as Newberg’s defense didn’t allow a single play worth more than 10 yards.

The night overall was a solid defensive performance from the Tigers. Sunset’s 14 points were the fewest Newberg’s allowed all year after relinquishing at least 35 or more points in its previous four games.

“I think our defensive coaches go to work and they do a really good job preparing our kids,” Johnson said. “We’ve gone against some good teams. We’ve kind of moved some of our schemes around to make sure we fit our personnel best. Sometimes it’s like a dating process – it takes a little bit to figure out what you got and make sure you do it right for them.”

Both sides traded scores in the final quarter, a 69-yard rush from Macken leading to a field goal for Newberg.

Sellner led the Tigers with three rushing touchdowns, 80 passing yards and 42 rushing yards. Macken added 82 rushing yards, while Santrizos totaled 44 rushing yards.

With the Pacific Conference holding three automatic qualifying bids into the postseason, the win couldn’t have come at a better time for the Tigers, whose losses against Class 6A foes have been to No. 1 Lake Oswego (4-0), No. 10 Sprague (5-0) and No. 13 Nelson (3-1).

It’s been a gauntlet of a preseason, but the dominating victory might just muster enough momentum to carry Newberg through league play.

“That was our goal for this week, to get a win before league (begins),” Thomas said. “It will help us a lot because it gives us more confidence. We start with Century and I feel like that’s a winnable game for us.”

The Tigers travel to Century (2-2) next Friday, Oct. 4.