Oregon falls to Lutheran on rainy evening

OREGON – On a rainy night at Landers-Loomis Field, the mistake-ridden Oregon Hawks were taken down by Rockford Lutheran 22-14 in a battle of two teams fighting for a playoff berth and/or seeding.

Trailing 22-8 late in the fourth quarter, the Hawks nearly made a miraculous comeback, but Lutheran recovered a fumble at the 5-yard line with one minute left to preserve the close win.

Up until the final few minutes, the Hawk offense was stagnant, as Lutheran stacked the box and stymied the rushing game and passing was virtually non-existent.

But things began to get crazy with Logan Weems breaking free for a 58-yard run after Lutheran field goal made it 22-8. However, a 1st-and-goal situation resulted in no gains and Lutheran took the ball over on downs.

On the very next play, Lutheran fumbled the ball back and Oregon had it at the Lutheran 17-yard line with another chance to score. That chance went by the wayside, as Jack Washburn threw an interception.

The turnovers continued with Jackson Glendenning forcing and recovering a Lutheran fumble. This time, the Hawks took advantage with Weems scoring a touchdown with 2:20 left in the game.

Lutheran recovered an onside kick, but could not gain a first down. Taking over at its own 37-yard line with 1:51 left and the rain still coming down hard, Oregon’s passing game finally came alive.

Griffin Marlatt kick-started it with an 18-yard reception. On fourth down, Washburn and Austin Egyed connected on a 15-yard pass, which took the ball to the Lutheran 26-yard line with 1:13 left.

Egyed then made another 15-yard catch, but lost the ball fighting for extra yards and Lutheran recovered the loose ball, drowning out what appeared to be a scoring drive.

After only gaining 22 yards of offense in the first half, in which they clung to an 8-7 lead, Weems (25-133) led Oregon to nearly 200 yards of total offense for the game. Washburn finished with 5-of-17 passing for 62 yards.

What hurt Oregon were nine penalties for 85 yards, three lost fumbled and one INT. Lutheran only had 123 yards of total offense, all on rushes.

It was a pass interference penalty that set up Lutheran’s first score, a 5-yard run by David Ballard in the first quarter. Ballard was a part of a large group of juniors and sophomores that made up the bulk of Lutheran’s playmakers.

The Hawks took advantage of a Crusader miscue in the second quarter to take the lead. A punt snap was fumbled and Oregon got the ball at the 17-yard line. Weems cracked over the goal line five plays later and Washburn added the PAT on a fumbled broken play.

Early in the second half, Dalton McCammon and Avery Lewis threw Gavin Sanders for a loss to force a punt. However, a fumbled snap, one of many that night for Oregon, gave the ball right back to Lutheran at the 26-yard line of the Hawks.

Using linebacker Hunter Evans to carry the ball up the middle, Lutheran advanced to the 2-yard line and scored a touchdown on fourth down to make it 13-8.

The Crusaders upped the lead to 19-8 on a 28-yard touchdown by Sanders, in which he ran a sweep untouched. That score was set up by another Hawk fumble.

The Hawks finally completed their first pass, a 12-yard to Egyed and Lutheran began to loosen up their defense. Three incompletions and a penalty gave the ball back to Lutheran and Dixon Santana responded with a field goal for the 22-8 lead before Oregon started their frantic comeback.

It was the 10th win by Lutheran over Oregon in last 11 games and kept alive their playoff chances with a key game against Genoa-Kington to close out the year. Both teams are 4-4 and the winner will move on.

Oregon, also 4-4, closes out with cellar dweller Rockford Christian on Friday in Rockford.