Photos by MIKE WEBER

Carter Nichols rushed for three touchdowns against Gilchrist.

by Mike Weber
for Burns Times-Herald

The Crane Union High Mustangs had a terrific start to their OSAA Class 1A eight-man football season as they overwhelmed the shorthanded Gilchrist High Grizzlies in what was a relatively easy 62-0 nonleague victory in the Eight-Man Classic Sept. 2 at Dufur High School.

The Mustangs (1-0), guided by first-year Coach Matt Hawley, had everything going their way as they proved to be unstoppable in the one-sided matchup versus the Grizzlies of the Class 1A six-man Special District 2 South Division. The Grizzlies had only 11 of the 16 players on their roster available to compete in the contest.

“I had the opportunity to coach the team and I’ve really missed being with the kids, so I threw my hat in the ring and here I am,” said Hawley, in his 27th year as a high school football coach. “We just wanted to make sure that we got all the kids into the game and have some playing time today. We were really happy with how well the six freshmen played today. It was one of those games where we’ll just look at the game film and make some adjustments and corrections and get ready for next week’s game.”

Crane freshman placekicker Bear Doman booted the game’s opening kickoff to Gilchrist at the outset of the contest. The Grizzlies were simply unable to get anything going against the Mustangs’ rock-solid defense and were forced to punt on their opening offensive possession.

“After 27 years of coaching football and winning four or five state championship, I know that we’ll need to work hard, but if we’re not having fun, then we’re missing something,” said Hawley. “It’s early in the season, but if we stay healthy, we’ll be very competitive. There’s some really good teams out there, but if we just continue to play more physical, then we’ll be OK. The goal is to get to the championship game.”

Mustang senior Carter Nichols then scored a touchdown after returning the punt 35-yards to the end zone. Nichols scrambled in for the two-point conversion and Crane led 8-0 with 10:00 left in the first quarter.

“I’ve scored a few touchdowns on punt returns during my career and I like doing punt returns, because my teammates always do a good job of blocking,” said Nichols, one of just two Mustang seniors along with offensive lineman Michael Willsey. “The coaches made a good call with the return and all we have to do is just execute the play out there on the field. We’ll just take our season one game at a time and one win at a time and move on every week and just have fun. We have to take the next step and get past the quarterfinals of the playoffs and get to the semi’s. It seems like we have trouble every year and we just can’t seem to get any farther than that.”

Crane has reached the state quarterfinals five of the last six years and the last time the Mustangs made it to the semi’s was in 2019.

The next possessions were nearly the same for both squads and after the Mustang’s kickoff to the Grizzlies, the same exact sequence happened.

Gilchrist punted after three downs and out and Nichols again scored on a 31-yard punt return to put Crane up 14-0 with 7:42 left on the clock.

On their ensuing possession the Grizzlies attempted a punt, but they fumbled on the play and the Mustangs recovered the ball in excellent field position at the Gilchrist 16-yard line. Crane’s four-play drive was capped by sophomore Trenton Potter’s two-yard touchdown run. Junior quarterback Josh Zander tossed a two-point conversion to junior Cody Ziegner and Crane led 22-0 with 6:11 left in the opening quarter.

The mistake-prone Grizzlies fumbled again on their ensuing possession, and sophomore defensive lineman Raymond Hawley recovered the ball at the Gilchrist 33. A three-play drive was capped by a three-yard touchdown run by freshman running back Alex Camacho. Nichols tossed a two-point conversion to Zander and Crane led 30-0 with 4:11 left in the quarter.

After another Gilchrist punt after an unproductive offensive series, the Mustangs just continued to gain more momentum in their domination performance. Freshman Milen Bowen capped a three-play drive with a one-yard touchdown run, putting Crane up 36-0 with 1:30 left on the clock. Crane led 36-0 at the end of the first quarter and it was obvious that they would have an easy win at that point.

“This was probably one of the easiest games we’ve ever had, but it was still fun no matter what,” said Willsey. “This first game of the year was amazing and we had lots of fun. Hopefully, we’ll go all the way to the championship game this year, but even if we don’t we’ll still celebrate each win and support the new guys.”

Crane extended it’s advantage in the second quarter. Potter recovered a Grizzlies fumble in the end zone and then Zander kicked a point after touchdown, putting Crane up 43-0 with 7:35 left in the first half. The PAT was one of the highlights for sure as the players celebrated since it marked the first time ever that Zander successfully kicked an extra point. Crane led at halftime 43-0.

“This was the first time I’ve ever tried kicking the PAT in a game,” said Zander. “We’ve done them in practice, but this was the first time we’ve ever tried it in a game. The first one was kind of rough, because they [the Grizzlies] blocked it. The second one worked out a little better. It’s nice to start the season with a win and we’ll see how everything goes and just take it one game at a time.”

The Mustangs added two scores in the third quarter. Nichols scored on a 16-yard touchdown run and junior Ross Clark scored on a 62-yard run, lifting Crane in front 56-0 after three quarters. Doman scored on a one-yard touchdown run in the fourth for the final margin.

The Mustangs will more than likely have a more competitive matchup when they meet the Bonanza High Antlers (1-0) in their home opener Thursday at 5 p.m. at Crane High School. Bonanza won it’s Aug. 31 opener 72-6 over the Chiloquin High Panthers (0-1).

“I haven’t seen any film of Bonanza, but I saw the score of their game, so it sounds like they’re a good football team,” said Hawley. “Hopefully, we’ll get some film and put some work in to prepare for Bonanza. It will be a short week of preparation though, because we play on Thursday. Our kids have won back-to-back state basketball titles, so they know what it’s like to play together and win. Five of our kids were on those championship teams. They’ve been in good situations and they know how to lead. Even with just two seniors, we’re just really blessed with the leadership we have on our team, especially with our junior class [seven juniors] and they really know how to win.”

The Mustangs reached the 1A state quarterfinals last year, and they’re hoping to continue their long streak of qualifying for the playoffs and make it for a 10th consecutive season in 2023.