‘There’s nothing like it, Tigard vs. Tualatin.’ Timberwolves gain upper hand in latest playing of one of Oregon’s great football rivalry games

“We played our hearts out, they played their hearts out. It was just three or four plays that changed the game entirely.”

Dan Brood | Oct 29, 2022

‘There’s nothing like it, Tigard vs. Tualatin.’ Timberwolves gain upper hand in latest playing of one of Oregon’s great football rivalry games /

By Dan Brood

The Tualatin football team really, really wanted it.

As for Tigard, well, the Tigers really, really wanted it, too.

It always seems to be that way in this spirited rivalry.

And it always seems to come down to just a few plays. It was that way once again — and those few plays were absolutely huge.

Tualatin, with three scoring plays covering at least 33 yards — including a 99-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Jack Wagner to junior receiver AJ Noland — fought off the rival Tigers to get a 31-21 win in a rain-soaked Three Rivers League finale Friday at Tualatin High School.

“It means a lot. We’ve battled them for years,” Noland said during the Timberwolves’ victory celebration. “I’ve watched my brother (Lucas Noland, now a Tualatin assistant coach) play against them. A couple years before, they were getting wins over us. These past couple years, we’ve been able to take it over them. We knew they’re a great team, and it was going to be a dogfight, and I’m glad we were able to pull it out.”

“It’s always big, Tigard vs. Tualatin. That’s the game we always have on the board,” said Tualatin senior tight end/defensive end Richie Anderson, who had four catches on offense and four sacks on defense. “Both teams really wanted it. We were focused.”

“This means a lot, especially in my senior year. It’s always a good rivalry,” Wagner said. “It’s good to finish up in a bang. It’s always a good feeling to beat them.”

Tualatin Tigard football Oregon October 28 2022 Dan Brood 48

With the victory, its third consecutive win over the rival Tigers, Tualatin, which was in the No. 7 spot in the latest SBLive Class 6A media poll, improved to 3-2 in TRL play (7-2 overall), putting the Timberwolves in a tie with Lake Oswego for second place in the final league standings.

“This was great. There’s nothing like it, Tigard vs. Tualatin,” Noland said. “The rivalry is a big thing between Tualatin and Tigard. The kids care a lot, but we’re just out here to have fun.”

The rivalry is new to Tualatin senior running back Luke Ash, who transferred from Clackamas before the 2022 season. But he was smiling just as big as his Timberwolves teammates following the victory.

“I had a great time. It was so fun. I was ready to play this game,” said Ash, who scored two touchdowns. “This was huge. For the boys, this was huge. It’s a big game, and they always want to win.”

For Tigard, which was tied for the No. 8 spot in the SBLive media poll, the loss gives the Tigers a 2-3 TRL mark (6-3 overall), putting them in fourth place in the final league standings.

“I think, personally, we played great as a team,” said Tigard senior receiver Nate Duenas, who scored two touchdowns, including one on a punt return. “There were a few things that didn’t go our way, and that’s just the way football is.”

“It’s crazy. We’ve played these guys growing up, and it’s really competitive,” Tigard senior tight end/linebacker Henry Masters said. “It just came down to a couple plays. We played our hearts out, they played their hearts out. It was just three or four plays that changed the game entirely.”

Tualatin, which never trailed, got off to a strong start to the rivalry clash. In the first possession of the game, the Timberwolves moved 70 yards in nine plays, including a 37-yard strike from Wagner to Anderson, capping the drive with Ash scoring on a 1-yard run, giving Tualatin a 7-0 lead with 8 minutes and 6 seconds left in the first quarter.

“I just had to get in,” Ash said. “I was getting in, no matter what.”

Tualatin Tigard football Oregon October 28 2022 Dan Brood 11

Tigard would answer, with Duenas scoring on an electrifying 55-yard punt return, knotting the score at 7-7 with 4:49 remaining in the opening period.

“It was so surreal. I wasn’t even thinking about what I was doing,” Duenas said. “My body was just doing it. It was very fun. The blocking was perfect. It couldn’t be better.”

Tualatin regained the lead, at 14-7, when Wagner and Noland teamed up on a 33-yard touchdown pass, with Noland going high in the end zone to grab the ball for the score with 4:13 left in the second quarter.

“Coach (Dominic Ferraro) called a route concept that was able to get me open, and Jack just trusted me, threw it up there, and I went up to go get it,” Noland said.

Tigard tried to answer before the half ended. Tigers senior quarterback Brady Jordan completed a 26-yard pass to Masters and he had an 18-yard completion to junior Nico Simonetti to help move the ball to the Tualatin 18-yard line as time was ticking away. A sack by Anderson resulted in an 8-yard loss and, two plays later, on the final play of the first half, a Tigard 42-yard field goal attempt drifted wide left, leaving the Timberwolves with their seven-point advantage at the intermission.

Tigard seemed to get another big special teams play in the third quarter, as Simonetti had a 46-yard punt go out of bounds at the Tualatin 2-yard line. A personal foul penalty on the Timberwolves on the next play pushed them back to the 1-yard line.

But their fortunes changed — in an absolutely huge way — on the next play.

Wagner, dropping back into his end zone, found Noland open over the middle. The speedy junior, after making the catch, broke into the clear and sprinted the length of the field for a 99-yard touchdown, which upped the Tualatin lead to 21-7 with 3:58 remaining in the third quarter.

“A lot of teams like to run the ball down there. But Coach trusts us — he trusts everybody in this offense, and he made a call,” Noland said. “I told Jack, ‘If I do this, I think it’s going to be there.’ He trusts me, threw it up, and once I caught it, I just used my legs.”

“AJ told me what he was going to do. I said, ‘OK, I trust you,’” Wagner said. “I took my fake, three steps, saw him open and threw it over the top and watched him go all the way. I was thinking, ‘He’s gone!’”

Yes, he was, but it wasn’t entirely easy.

“It was tiring,” Noland said with a laugh. “It flew by in a second, but once I crossed that goal line, I knew how tired I was. I was like, ‘Dang, that was tough.’”

Tualatin struck again with another big play in its next possession. This time, it was Ash, after taking a direct snap on a fourth-and-2 play, breaking through the line and running 51 yards for a touchdown, which made it 28-7 with 55.8 seconds left in the third quarter.

“I was just trying to get a first down, but a hole opened up,” Ash said.

Tigard came fighting right back in its ensuing possession. Jordan connected with senior receiver Ethan Cate on a perfectly placed pass down the left sideline, resulting in a 40-yard touchdown for the Tigers, trimming the deficit to 28-14 with 5.7 seconds remaining in the period.

Tualatin increased its lead to 31-14 when sophomore Calvin Evans was good on a 35-yard field goal attempt with 5:48 left.

Tualatin Tigard football Oregon October 28 2022 Dan Brood 42

Tigard got a 39-yard touchdown pass from Jordan to Duenas, making the score 31-21 with 2:04 remaining.

“It was a good pass by our QB, good blocking and a good route,” Duenas said.

Tualatin junior Zach Zuckerman recovered the ensuing Tigard onside kick, and the Timberwolves ran the remaining time off the clock, igniting their victory celebration.

“This was super fun,” Wagner said. “I know a lot of those guys. It’s good, friendly competition out there.”

“This was a blast. I had a great time,” Ash said.

“This was pretty fun. Everyone loves the rain,” Anderson said. “When we were on defense, everyone was saying, ‘This is where we want to be.’”

Where Anderson was on defense, for a good part of the night, was in the Tigard backfield. His four sacks resulted in 33 lost yards for the Tigers.

“I was excited,” Anderson said. “I love the rain, and we really wanted to win.”

Ash ran for 143 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries. Wagner completed 13 of 25 passes for 257 yards.

Noland led all receivers in the contest with four catches for 155 yards. Anderson had 61 yards for his four receptions, and junior receiver Jayden Fortier had three catches for 28 yards.

For the Tualatin defense, senior Dylan Munley had an interception and a tackle for loss. Senior Kevin Interian had a tackle for loss. Senior Drew Corcoran and junior Tyson Hunt each had a sack. Fortier had two tackles for loss, and senior Naasei Lynn had one tackle for loss.

“When we play as a team, I think we’re unstoppable,” Anderson said.

“We knew that we had to have some enthusiasm coming into this game,” Noland said. “We knew we had to come into the game with a lot of energy.”

For Tigard, Jordan completed 16 of 34 passes for 290 yards. Senior tight end Austin Goetz had four catches for 102 yards. Masters had four receptions for 41 yards. Simonetti had three catches for 49 yards, and Duenas had three grabs for 44 yards.

Senior Konner Grant was Tigard’s leading rusher with 67 yards on 14 carries.

Tualatin Tigard football Oregon October 28 2022 Dan Brood 19

For the Tigers defense, junior Vita Iongi had a fumble recovery and Masters had two tackles for loss.

“We fought pretty hard,” Duenas said.

“I was pretty hyped,” Masters said. “It’s still a little upsetting, because they’re our rivals, but we just have to keep going on into next week. That’s all that matters. Everyone is 0-0.”

Both teams will open the Class 6A state playoffs next Friday when they play in first-round games in the championship bracket. Tigard, the No. 13 seed, will play at fourth-seeded Jesuit. Tualatin, the No. 3 seed, will play host to No. 14 seed Grants Pass.

“This win should help us a ton,” Wagner said. “This should give us some good momentum going into the playoffs.”

“That’s when stuff gets real,” Anderson said of the playoffs. “We are looking forward to it. Last year, we had a long season (when the Timberwolves reached the Class 6A state championship game), and we’re looking to go back.”

—