Vikings thump McMinnville

FOOTBALL: Forest Grove uses a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to post its first conference win of the year

By Zack Palmer

The Forest Grove News-Times, Oct 10, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Zack Palmer / News-Times

Forest Grove tailback Jake Toll eludes the tackle of McMinnville's Mitchell Sitton during Friday's Pacific Conference game.

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Mike McCabe had a tough choice on his hands Friday night against McMinnville.

Run or pass?

Fourth down and 3 yards to go, tie game, 12 minutes left on the clock. Fail to convert and McMinnville takes over at its own 29-yard line with momentum on its side. Make the first down and the Vikings are that much closer to escaping Wortman Stadium with a win in their Pacific Conference opener.

With his running game sputtering, McCabe went to the air. Quarterback Aaron Huson fired a strike over the middle to wideout John Grissom, who pulled down the pass, spun away from McMinnville defensive back Connor White and streaked 29 yards for a touchdown. Ballgame.

Forest Grove added an insurance score later in the fourth quarter to post a 28-14 win, the program’s first victory in McMinnville since 1998.

“I knew Mac would be tough,” McCabe said afterward. “I had real fears about coming down here and playing Mac at their place. We’ve had some strange things happen here before. It’s a great win and a great way for us to start out in league.”

With its traditional ground game struggling against a swarming McMinnville defense, Forest Grove (4-1, 1-0) went to its “Avalanche” package in the second half, spreading the field with as many as four wide receivers. That opened passing lanes for Huson, who completed five passes for 113 yards after the break. It also opened running lanes for tailback Jake Toll, who gained 41 of his team-high 55 yards in the second half.

“We’ve always got our hidden tricks,” said tight end Kyle Swaja, who caught two touchdown passes in the game, including the clincher with 2:27 remaining.

“The one nice aspect of what we’re doing right now is that we’re getting the ball around to all our receivers,” McCabe said. “Honestly, we do want to be able to move the ball with our ground game a little bit more, but if we can throw it the way we’re throwing it right now, so be it.”

Huson finished 10-of-20 for 210 yards and four touchdowns, the last of which – a 36-yard, juggling catch-and-run to Swaja on third down with less than three minutes to play – put the game on ice.

The Vikings had several chances to put the Grizzlies away in the fourth quarter, but repeatedly shot themselves in the foot. Four minutes after tossing the go-ahead touchdown pass to Grissom, Huson had a 9-yard scoring run called back for having too many men on the field. Forest Grove settled instead for a field goal attempt, but Flanery missed a 31-yarder wide right.

A Flanery interception a few plays later set up the Vikings again, but Huson’s fourth-down pass to Grissom fell incomplete in the end zone with 3:22 remaining.

Forest Grove finally put the game away on its next possession. Facing third-and-7 from the McMinnville 36-yard line, Huson hit Swaja on a crossing route and the athletic tight end did the rest, shedding a tackle and sprinting down the sideline for a 28-14 lead.

McMinnville (0-5, 0-1) drove back down the field, but Chris Beck intercepted a tipped pass with four seconds left to end the game.

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