Huskies qualify for state

Justesen completed 5 of 8 passes for 147 yards and three touchdowns, and he added 90 yards on the ground with a rushing score as the No. 10-ranked Sherman Huskies punched a state ticket following a 68-14 win over the No. 19 Perrydale Pirates Friday night in Perrydale.

With the lopsided road win, the Huskies travel to take on the No. 7 Adrian Antelopes for a playoff matchup at a time to be determined next Friday.

“It was super gratifying to see us perform the way we did, especially with the playoffs right around the corner,” Justesen said. “I think it is just showing that we are really starting to come together as a team and playing to our true potential.”

In the first half, the Husky offense rattled off 406 yards of offense, 259 rushing, and the defense held the Pirates to 77 yards to jump ahead by a 52-0 halftime score.

Sherman (5-3 overall, 2-1 league) took control in the opening period with three touchdowns in a span of four minutes and 33 seconds, on a 56-yard run by Reese Blake, a three-yard scramble from Justesen and a 33-yard pitch and catch from Justesen to Blake to make it 22-0 with 5:13 left in the opening quarter.

Luke Martin gave the Huskies a 30-0 lead through one quarter on a 33-yard reception, and at the 10:04 mark of the second, Justesen and Martin hooked up again, this time from 18 yards out.

Bradley Moe tacked on a two-yard rush and Blake scampered to the end zone from five yards away, swelling the Sherman advantage to 52-0 at the break.

With a running clock to start the second half, the Huskies managed a pair of scoring drives as backup quarterback Wade Fields scored a 20-yard third quarter run and added an 11-yard scramble to finish the scoring.

Overall, the Huskies ran 38 plays and racked up 534 yards, 372 on the ground, on 29 carries, with Blake hitting for a career-high 172 yards rushing on 10 carries and two scores.

Moe added 29 yards and a touchdown, and Fields tacked on 44 yards rushing and two scores.

Martin hauled in two passes for 54 yards and two touchdowns, Blake had his 33-yard touchdown and Chris Ballesteros had 47 yards on one grab.

Perrydale (4-5, 0-3) finished the second half with 116 yards for a total of 218 yards, 25 through the air, on 2 of 11 completions.

Since a 54-22 loss on Oct. 6 at Dufur, the Husky defense has given up 22 points, posted 12 sacks and tallied four takeaways in their last two games, both wins.

As one of the key defensive cogs, Makoa Whitaker said that it has taken a lot of moving around with positions, grinding hard and getting after it to get to where they are at right now.

“This team has gained a lot of confidence since the Dufur loss and we are bettering ourselves every day at practice, so that when we enter the playoffs we will be at full stride and no one can stop us,” Whitaker said.

In the lower bracket along with Dufur, Sherman must get past Adrian next week to set up a possible quarterfinal rematch.

Treve Martin is excited for the opportunity.

“We have worked our tails off all year and there’s nothing better than the playoffs,” said Martin, who had a 13-yard catch. “It’s a fresh start and everyone has a chance to go out there and make something happen.”