Steve Gress: Wooten runs wild Comments
For a running back, there’s nothing like that long touchdown run with the defenders chasing you to the end zone.
Corvallis High’s Dominic Wooten was about to score on what would be a 55-yard run on Friday night when out of nowhere a Silverton defender tripped him up two yards short of the goal line.
Instead of his third touchdown, Wooten had to settle for a 53-yard run.
“Honestly, I saw open field the whole time and I pretty much thought I was gone and then it looked like he fell from the sky and got my ankle,” Wooten said. “I got to give it up to him for not giving up. It’s all you can do.”
Wooten will give up that one score as Ross Orman hit Nolan Hansen two plays later for a score that put CHS up 21-0 late in the first half at Spartan Stadium.
But wait just a minute. There was a lengthy discussion just before the long run following a Silverton punt.
The ball was originally marked at the Silverton 48 after the punt. After offsetting penalties, the ball was marked back at the CHS 45.
Why? I’m not sure. The referee said that was where he thought the ball had been placed before, or something to that affect.
Had the ball been placed at the Silverton 48, Wooten would have had the TD.
“That changes my whole mind,” he said with a laugh. “Now I feel good. Now I feel like I’m not that slow.”
Wooten was a one-man wrecking crew on Friday as he rushed for 279 yards on 31 carries. He had three TDs as the Spartans held on for a 28-27 Mid-Willamette Conference victory that eliminated the Silver Foxes and keeps Corvallis in the running for the playoffs at 3-1.
Corvallis now hits the road for three straight tough games — West Albany, then Crescent Valley and finally South Albany.
While Wooten was running wild early, Silverton came back from a 21-0 deficit to make it 21-21 and shades of the Wilsonville collapse — where CHS led 21-3 at the half before falling 34-21 — began to surface.
Wooten and Spencer Shear, who had what amounted to the game-ending sack, said the coaches reminded the players of that game at the half.
Unlike that game, the second of the season, the Spartans were able to stay composed this time.
Even when Silverton tied it at 21, the Spartans answered. Wooten again was the catalyst as he rushed for 44 yards and caught a 10-yard pass in the 81-yard drive. His 16-yard TD gave the Spartans a 28-21 lead.
“In the beginning of this year we didn’t have as much leadership as we do now,” Shear said. “Someone had to step up and luckily our seniors stepped up and started telling us to get our jobs done and we did.”
The Spartans will need the strong running of Wooten and leadership of quarterback Ross Orman — he passed for 107 yards and rushed for 53 more — to lead the way.
In other MWC action Friday, West Albany went to 4-0 with a 34-20 win over Lebanon while South Albany bounced Dallas 47-7.
Crescent Valley stepped out of conference play and dropped a tough 21-19 decision to No. 6 Glencoe on the road.
CV coach Scott Sanders was obviously disappointed with the loss, but was more than happy with the way his players competed.
The Raiders got a taste of a playoff atmosphere and the came back to get within a two-point conversion of tying the game.
Oh, and they were on the road.
The loss will hurt, obviously, but it wasn’t a conference loss so no harm no foul in the quest to win the title.
Now the Raiders get a chance to close out the season with three games at home, beginning next Friday against South Albany.
CV and West lead the standings at 4-0, followed by Corvallis and South Albany at 3-1. Lebanon is 2-2 with Dallas, Silverton and Woodburn all eliminated from postseason play at 0-4.
Despite being 2-2, Lebanon is in a good position as the Warriors have lost to CV and West and have wins over CHS and SA, meaning should they tie either of those teams at the end of the year, Lebanon holds the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Oh, and Lebanon plays Woodburn, Dallas and Silverton. That’s 0-12 in conference play if you add up their records.
And big props to Michael Maccollin who did me the favor of running over to the other side of the field to find out who No. 11 was for Silverton since there wasn’t a No. 11 on the roster. Thanks Michael!
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