Central Catholic erases late 2-TD deficit, outlasts Tualatin 28-21 in OT thriller

Central Catholic stared down a familiar barrel Friday night.

Only this time, the stakes were a bit higher. It wasn’t Week 1 of the season against West Linn, or Week 9 in the Mt. Hood Conference championship game against Clackamas.

In those games, when trailing in the fourth quarter, the Rams still knew there would be a tomorrow.

Not so on this night, though. The Rams were down 14 points to Tualatin with 8:16 to play in their OSAA Class 6A second-round playoff game at Hillsboro Stadium, yet the sideline remained optimistic.

“We just had to keep fighting,” said junior Elijah Elliott. “We had to keep each other positive.”

And with their season on the line, the Rams finally finished the deal. With Elliott leading the charge, they rallied to defeat the Timberwolves 28-21 in overtime to reach the quarterfinals for the third consecutive year and seventh time in the past eight seasons.

Elliott ran for 179 yards and a season-best four touchdowns, including a 77-yard romp to tie the score with 3:10 to play and a 1-yard blast on Central Catholic’s opening possession in overtime.

“I’m just so proud of my team. We were warriors out there,” Elliott said.

“My offensive line just dominated and opened up big holes. They did all the hard work; I did the easy work.”

After Elliott’s touchdown put Central Catholic ahead for the first time all game, Tualatin got to the 1-yard line with a chance to force a second overtime period. But on fourth down, the Timberwolves tried to catch the Rams off guard, with quarterback Kyle Dernedde dashing from his usual shotgun position under center for a sneak attempt.

Instead, the snap fell to the ground, and although Kyle Kamp scooped the ball off the turf, he lost his balance. His knee touched down a yard short of the goal line, setting off a crimson celebration on one side of the field as Tualatin players crumpled to the field.

“We had control, and we just let it slip away,” said Tualatin coach Dan Lever, whose team finished the season 7-4 after losing in the second round for the second year in a row.

“It’s never easy to say goodbye to a group of seniors that sweated and bled for our program and represented us with pride and class. I was proud to be their coach.”

The eighth-seeded Rams (7-4) earned a shot at top seed Lake Oswego (10-1) next weekend. As often as these two perennial powers make deep playoff runs, the only time they’ve met in the postseason was in the 2002 quarterfinals (Lake Oswego won 39-36).

“We know we can play with anybody,” said junior defensive end Joseph Nizich, who finished with six tackles. “This entire season, we’ve had a lot of adversity, but we know we can count on everybody. When the time comes, we never give up.”

Central Catholic entered the season No. 1 in the coaches poll but hadn’t quite lived up to expectations – in part because of two rallies that came up just short.

Against the Lions in Week 1, the Rams erased a 12-point, second-half deficit, only to fall in overtime. They also fell to the defending state champion Cavaliers in the conference title game when they were stopped on a tying two-point conversion try.

“Without those games, I don’t think we win this game today,” Elliott said. “Those games most definitely helped us. They made us fight for it more. We had to dig deep down and believe in ourselves.”

For 2½ quarters, it looked as if it would be the Timberwolves’ night to pull out a signature win that would propel them to their first quarterfinal appearance since their run to the 2010 title game.

Tualatin stopped Central Catholic twice in the red zone. Luke Marion blocked a 44-yard field goal attempt. The Timberwolves forced two first-half turnovers, and the offense marched 97 yards in 10 plays for the only score of the half – an 18-yard touchdown pass from Blake Jackson to Jett Searle.

The Timberwolves opened the second half with a 51-yard, eight-play drive that ended with Dominique Loggins’ 8-yard TD run, pushing the lead to 14-0.

“We were playing hard,” said Tualatin senior linebacker Garrett Boespflug, who had 10 tackles (four for loss), two sacks and an interception in his final game. “All game long, we gave it our all.”

The first opening for the Rams appeared when Logan Nomura recovered a dropped snap at the Timberwolves 15. Two plays later, Elliott cashed in the mistake with a 7-yard TD run with 5:19 left in the third quarter.

“We’ve turned the ball over at inopportune times all year,” said Lever, whose team fumbled six times, losing two. “Not just today, not just last week. The things that got us tonight were the same things that got us all year.”

Still, the Timberwolves appeared to right the ship. They forced punts on the Rams’ next two possessions, then regained their two-touchdown advantage when John Miller made a fingertip grab of Dernedde's pass down the left sideline, shrugged off one would-be tackler and bulled through another for a 47-yard touchdown.

At that point, Nizich rallied the defense around him.

“I said, we’re going to score, get a three-and-out, and score again,” he recalled.

The offense, meanwhile, rallied around Elliott.

“Everyone was pumping each other up,” he said. “We had to keep believing and keep fighting.”

The Rams took advantage of a pooch kick to get great starting field position on their next drive, needing seven plays to go 53 yards capped when Elliott swept around left end for a 2-yard touchdown with 5:46 to play.

Then, as Nizich predicted, they forced a three-and-out to get the ball back with 3:22 left. It was almost identical to the predicament they faced against Clackamas, when they trailed 24-16 with 3:17 to play.

On that night, they methodically drove the field before scoring in the final 20 seconds. This time, they needed only one lightning strike, with Elliott seeing a cutback lane on a first-down run and bursting untouched to the end zone.

After another three-and-out by the Timberwolves, Central Catholic nearly won the game in regulation but missed a 27-yard field goal wide left with 11 seconds left.

In overtime, the Rams faced third-and-10 from the 25, but quarterback Cade Knighton escaped the rush and scrambled 14 yards for a first down. Four plays later, Elliott put them ahead for the first time.

“Their offense just started doing their job,” Boespflug said. “They figured out our stunts, and we had a few hiccups. It was really frustrating.”

Loggins finished with 106 yards on 22 carries to lead the Timberwolves attack. Miller caught five passes for 100 yards, ran five times for 57 yards, and had seven tackles at linebacker, and Marion made a team-high 11 tackles at safety.

Knighton was 18 of 31 for 157 yards and two interceptions. Jaden Fulsher had five catches for 38 yards, and Silas Starr caught four passes for 45 yards. Linebacker Clyde Bell had seven tackles, and Braeden Veary forced two fumbles among his six tackles.