The Bulletin, Bend / Central Oregon News
FEBRUARY 09, 2010 06:31 PM
bendbulletin.com/High School Sports
Bulletin E-Edition:
more photosAustin Alley dives ahead of Lakeview’s defense for a Bulldog first down Saturday. Alley rushed for 111 yards and one touchdown in Culver’s 24-14 victory.
Rob Kerr / The Bulletin
Culver’s return
The Bulldogs get back to the Class 2A final on Nevin Lewis’ late kickoff return for a touchdown
By Beau Eastes / The Bulletin
Published: November 23. 2008 4:00AM PSTIn Culver, fans will remember the play as “The Return.”
In Lakeview, it might be remembered as “The Bounce.”
With the scored tied 14-14 late in Saturday’s Class 2A state semifinal football game at Summit High School, Culver’s Nevin Lewis returned a kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown for what turned out to be the game-winning score in the Bulldogs’ 24-14 victory over Lakeview.
The Honkers (9-3 overall) had scored the tying touchdown midway through the fourth quarter and on the ensuing kickoff tried to kick the ball away from the Culver all-stater. But a bizarre bounce on the artificial turf sent the ball Lewis’ way. He broke down the right sideline for an electrifying return that sent Culver, the reigning 2A champion, back to the state title game.
The Bulldogs (11-1 overall) will play Knappa in the 2A state championship final next Saturday at Hillsboro Stadium.
“We’re trying to kick it away from (Lewis), and the other kid almost falls down,” said Lakeview coach Lane Stratton, who still sounded stunned 20 minutes after the game. “The ball bounces in the air and for a moment we’re thinking we’re going to fall on it. And then Nevin picks it up and goes 90-some yards.”
The big kickoff return was not the only Lewis play that tormented the Honkers. The Bulldog senior ended the game with 105 yards rushing on 14 carries, including a 10-yard touchdown run in the third period. The reigning 2A offensive player of the year, Lewis also had an interception on defense that set up Culver’s first touchdown.
To top it all off, Lewis kicked a 20-yard field goal with less than a minute left in the game that sealed the Bulldog victory.
“They’ve got a couple good kids in the backfield, but we felt like we did pretty good job stopping their running game,” said Stratton, whose team limited a Bulldog squad that had averaged 320 yards a game on the ground this season to 216 yards rushing on Saturday. “But Nevin was always there to pick up the pieces on third down.”
The victory for the Bulldogs avenged two regular-season losses to Lakeview over the past two seasons. In the two teams’ most recent matchup, the Honkers defeated Culver 21-19 in Culver on Sept. 19. Last year, the Bulldogs lost 13-7 at Lakeview.
“It’s great to know you’ve gotten better over the season,” said Bulldog running back Austin Alley, who ran for a game-high 111 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries on Saturday. “It’s great to beat a team you lost to at the beginning of the year.”
Culver took a 6-0 lead late in the second quarter when Alley rumbled into the end zone from five yards out. Alley’s touchdown culminated a six-play, 30-yard drive that came after Lewis intercepted Lakeview quarterback Kasey Clemens.
The Bulldogs scored 10 points off four Honker turnovers.
“This is a tough, physical football team,” Culver coach Kurt Davis said about his players. “They came to work today.”
After giving up 220 yards passing to Clemens in their first meeting this season, the Bulldogs held the all-Southern Cascade League quarterback to just 64 yards through the air on Saturday. Averaging 127 yards passing per game heading into the state semifinals, Clemens completed only six of his 15 pass attempts and threw two interceptions.
Often forced to scramble out of the pocket, Clemens led Lakeview with 96 yards rushing.
“We mixed some things up coverage-wise where we were playing more man-to-man (defense),” said Davis, who credited defensive coordinator Brian Silbernagel with Culver’s success in stopping the Lakeview passing game.
“That freed Nevin up a little more (at free safety),” Davis added. We took away their big plays.”
Starting the third quarter with a 6-0 lead — the Bulldogs tackled Honker receiver Shylo St. Clair at the Culver 3-yard line to end the first half and preserve their lead — Culver began the second half on its own 16 after Alley mistakenly grabbed a kickoff that was going out of bounds. The Bulldogs’ senior tailback proceeded to make up for the gaffe, carrying the ball 11 times for 60 yards on an amazing 19-play, 86-yard Culver scoring drive that ate 10:02 off the clock.
The march consumed almost all of the third quarter, and Lewis capped it with a 10-yard touchdown run. He followed the TD with a two-point conversion run that made the score 14-0.
Lakeview, though, was far from done.
The Honkers scored in eight plays on their next possession to make the score 14-7, then forced Culver to punt after three plays on the next series. Looking more like the team that had passed for 1,406 yards on the season, Lakeview scored again after the Bulldogs’ punt, tying the game 14-14 with 5:49 left in the fourth quarter when running back Kyle Eversole ran up the middle nine yards for his second touchdown of the game.
Clemens completed four of five pass attempts for 49 yards on the Honkers’ two scoring drives, and he appeared to have Lakeview primed to make a run at its first-ever appearance in a state title football game.
And then came Lewis’ return.
“People that turned out for this game got to see a pretty special football player,” Davis said about Lewis and the announced crowd of 1,200 spectators. “Before that return we’d lost the momentum a little bit. That play turned it back around for us.”
Lakeview came out throwing in the final five minutes of the game, but Culver ended the Honkers’ final two offensive series by recovering a fumble and intercepting a Clemens pass.
“Those four turnovers killed us,” Stratton said. “We knew this wasn’t going to be a blowout. Either team could have won either of the two previous games.”
Beau Eastes can be reached at 541-383-0305 or at beastes@bendbulletin.com.
ARTICLE ACCESS: This article is among those available to all readers. Many more articles are available only to E-Edition members. Sign up today!
blog comments powered by Disqus
