A few missed opportunities, a couple of ill-timed turnovers and seven points scored in the final seconds separated Philomath from reaching the Class 4A state semifinals for another shot at No. 1 Cascade.
But Warriors coach Alex Firth told his team after their 21-14 road loss to Henley Friday night to hold their heads high for the heights that had been reached this season.
Gallery: PHS football vs. Henley (Nov. 15, 2024)
A collection of photos from Philomath High’s 21-14 loss to Henley in Klamath Falls in the 4A playoffs on Friday, Nov. 15.
Firth said he told the team afterward, “Don’t let this loss diminish what you guys accomplished this year … you did some great things. You laid the foundation for this program and you should be proud of what you did.”
Of course, it still hurts to come so close to moving forward in the bracket.
“We were seven points away from Cascade but it is what it is,” Firth said. “I hate the last game of the year. I hate that for the seniors and that’s always the toughest one. Like I said, they accomplished a lot.”
On a cold but dry evening on Mazama High’s field in Klamath Falls, the defending state champion Hornets scored the winning touchdown with 13 seconds remaining on a 10-yard run by quarterback Joseph Janney.
“We had a lot of opportunities … it was just one of those games,” Firth said. “It was cold and I don’t know if that made a difference or not but we just didn’t make the plays when we needed to make them.”
Philomath (8-3) moved the ball effectively on its first drive, which included a 36-yard pass from senior Caleb Russell to senior Warwick Bushnell to get down to the 15-yard line. But the Warriors lost the ball on a fumble on the next play to end the threat.
Early in the second quarter, Philomath took a 7-0 lead on a third-and-13 pass from Russell to junior CD Nuno in the back of the end zone. The drive had started at the Warriors’ own 4-yard line and covered 96 yards on 10 plays in 3:12.
Henley tied the score with 5:14 left on a 26-yard strike from Janney to senior Mark Carpenter.
The Warriors put together a long drive on their first drive of the second half but failed to come away with any points. On the 12th play of the possession on fourth-and-goal at the 10, the Warriors missed on a pass to the end zone to turn the ball over on downs.
The game remained 14-7 in favor of Henley going into the fourth quarter. Philomath tied the score with 7:15 remaining on a De La Rosa TD run from the 4 out of the wildcat formation. A few plays earlier, De La Rosa caught a 21-yard pass from Russell on fourth down to keep the drive alive and then on first down, junior Lake Mulberry got the Warriors down to the 5 on a 15-yard run. De La Rosa’s TD run came on fourth down on a wildcat sweep.
Philomath lost the ball on a Carpenter interception with a little more than 2 minutes remaining. The Hornets then put together the winning drive. On the TD, Janney faked a handoff on a second-and-10 play and ran off tackle up the middle to the end zone.
Philomath started its last possession at the 20 and had two plays left to try to do something. The Warriors picked up 14 yards on a hitch-and-pitch that involved Nuno and De La Rosa. The final play picked up 19 yards on a De La Rosa reception but time ran out on the game and the season.
Overall, Philomath’s defense had an effective performance against the Hornets.
“We kind of changed things up a little bit this week – we went to an odd front, which is something we haven’t done a lot of this year,” Firth said. “I thought our outside linebacker did a really good job and they primarily contained the quarterback … he didn’t really beat us that much in the run game. If you look at the week before against Seaside, he was pretty dominant … but he had his plays, he had his moments.”
Philomath had 331 yards of total offense in the loss. Russell completed 20 of 34 passes for 274 yards and one touchdown. On the receiving end, Nuno caught six balls for 82 yards and score, De La Rosa had four catches for 66 yards, senior Hudson Raab caught five for 38 yards and Bushnell finished with three receptions for 57 yards.
Out of the backfield, De La Rosa ran 12 times for 56 yards and a touchdown.
For the Hornets, Janney passed for 115 yards and two touchdowns with Carpenter on the receiving end of both scores. Janney finished with 97 yards rushing and the winning TD.
Firth said the PHS defense did a good job of containing Janney.
“I don’t think he was quite as effective as he was against Seaside the week before,” he said. “He had a couple of scrambles that hurt us and I think we had him in a couple of third-and-longs and he ended up scrambling for a first down. So those kind of hurt a little bit but for the most part, I thought we did a pretty good job keeping him bottled up.”
Henley moves on to the semifinals to face Cascade at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Grants Pass. The Cougars beat Pendleton, 44-26.
— — —
Henley 21, Philomath 14
Friday, Nov. 15, at Mazama HS, Klamath Falls
PHILOMATH 0-7-0-7 – 14
HENLEY 0-14-0-7 – 21
SECOND QUARTER
PHS – Nuno 23 pass from C. Russell (Raab kick), 11:49
HHS – Carpenter 26 pass from Janney (Goff kick), 5:14
HHS – Carpenter 24 pass from Janney (Goff kick), 0:01
FOURTH QUARTER
PHS – De La Rosa 4 run (Raab kick), 7:15
HHS – Janney 10 run (Goff kick), 0:13
— — —
PHS STATISTICS
RUSHING – De La Rosa 12-56, Mulberry 2-15, Bushnell 2-(-4), C. Russell 4-(-10).
PASSING – C. Russell 20-34-1-1-274.
RECEIVING – Nuno 6-82, Raab 5-38, De La Rosa 4-66, Bushnell 3-57, Howard 1-29, Mulberry 1-2.