CRESWELL – If this were a 15-round boxing match – and at times Friday night it certainly felt like one – Creswell went toe-to-toe with defending Class 3A state champion Siuslaw, even winning the majority of the early rounds.
The host Bulldogs threw some real haymakers – Connor Hanson combined to pass and run for 378 of his team’s 391 total yards – but the visiting Vikings kept pounding away with their bruising running attack, gashing Creswell’s outmanned defense for one steady gain after another, and methodically pulled away for a 46-34 victory.
“The effort was there, our guys played hard, I think it came down to who made the most mistakes, and unfortunately, that was us Friday night,” Creswell coach Scott Worsham said. “I’ve had teams in the past who gave up after getting behind like that, but we kept battling. I told the kids if we play them 10 times, I think we beat them five times.”
Hanson echoed his coach’s sentiments.
“Hopefully we’ll get to play them again at state,” the senior quarterback said.
Hanson electrified the crowd in the first half with touchdown runs of 57 and 42 yards and a 76-yard TD pass to Jack Nguyen as Creswell took a 20-16 lead into halftime. Hanson added scoring runs of 2 and 60 yards in the second half.
Siuslaw opened the third quarter by recovering an onside kick, then recovered another onside kick following its next score, and Creswell had difficulty regaining the momentum.
This was a costly loss in Creswell’s bid for a playoff spot – and that chase already was more daunting as 4A schools Siuslaw, Sisters and Elmira moved down a class to join the 3A-4 Mountain Valley Conference. Santiam Christian exited the league.
Creswell visits Sisters this Friday. The following week is Senior Night and the Bulldogs close the season with road games against Pleasant Hill (Oct. 21) and La Pine (Oct. 27). La Pine (4-1) is in first place, having already defeated Siuslaw and Sisters.
