'Overwhelming joy.' Summit outlasts Wilsonville in epic Oregon 5A football championship game

“I have so much love for everyone out here on this field. I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy in my life.”

By Dan Brood 

The intensity level was as high as it could go. 

Emotions were at a fever pitch.

The drama was exhilarating, and big plays were abundant.

The Summit football team certainly made plenty of big plays, and, as it turned out, the Storm very well needed to have every single one of them.

Summit, coming back strong from an early deficit and then holding off a late, furious Wilsonville rally, came away with a 35-28 win over the Wildcats in an absolutely thrilling, hard-fought Class 5A state championship game Friday at Hillsboro Stadium.

“This is the most overwhelming joy I’ve ever felt in my life,” Summit senior receiver Charlie Ozolin said with a big smile during the Storm’s victory celebration. “Wilsonville is a phenomenal team. We knew that coming in. Being able to come out on top is just truly the greatest feeling ever.”

“This is great. It is everything we’ve ever wanted,” said Summit senior quarterback Hogan Carmichael, who passed for 259 yards and three touchdowns in the win. “It’s been our goal ever since we lost to Tualatin (42-13 in a Class 6A quarterfinal playoff game) last season. We wanted to win a state title, and we’re here. This means everything to us. It’s all we’ve thought about since last November. It’s finally here. It’s come true, and it’s one of the greatest feelings ever.”

“Gosh, we’re just all so excited right now,” said Summit senior receiver Ethan Carlson, who had a touchdown catch and a punt return for a score. “We’re just all so happy. This was our goal all season long, after a tough way to go out last year, against a really good Tualatin team. We used that as motivation, moving down to 5A. We feel like we can compete with a lot of the best teams at 6A. We just wanted to come out and play our ball.”

With the win, its 12th straight, Summit finished the season with a final record of 12-1.

“This means everything,” said Summit junior running back Sam Stephens, who rushed for a game-high 235 yards. “We lost in the quarterfinals last year, and we all remember that. That was huge motivation. We lost our first game of the season, again to Tualatin, so we were all motivated. It’s so special, so special.”

The victory also gives Summit its second state football championship and its first since 2015. And it’s a title the Storm is so willing to share.

“This means just about everything,” Ozolin said. “It’s the second state title in school history, and we’ve got the support of our entire town, our entire community. It’s so amazing, knowing we’ve got a ton of people back home supporting us; it’s just the most amazing feeling ever. We were playing for them, playing for our school, playing for our community. We’ve got a lot to represent, and I’m glad we represented it well.”

Wilsonville, hoping to win its first state championship since 2004, finished its season with a final record of 10-3.

“We had an amazing season,” said Wilsonville senior receiver Cooper Hiday, who had three touchdown catches in the title game. “I couldn’t ask for anything different. We grew together as a whole. We won a lot of games, and we beat some great teams. We fought hard. We all got better, and we built a family.”

“It was one hell of a season. Not too many people thought we’d make it here. It’s just a blessing to be in this situation,” said Wildcats junior quarterback Kallen Gutridge, who passed for 227 yards and two touchdowns. “We had a lot of first-year guys playing new roles. I feel like we kept getting better. Our friendships got closer.”

That close-knit Wilsonville team got off to a fast start Friday. Wildcats sophomore Mark Wiepert recovered a fumble by Ozolin on the first play from scrimmage. Four plays later, Gutridge connected with Hiday, who made a leaping catch, on a 4-yard touchdown pass play, giving Wilsonville a 7-0 lead with 10 minutes and 42 seconds left in the first quarter.

The next time Wilsonville had the ball, a 28-yard pass from Gutridge to Wiepert helped set up a 1-yard touchdown run by senior Jacob Ogden. The extra point was blocked by Summit senior Spencer Elliott, but the Wildcats were still holding a 13-0 advantage with 5:54 remaining in the opening period.

But that didn’t seem to bother Summit.

“We just all stayed calm,” Carlson said.

And the Storm calmly, and quickly, cut into the Wilsonville lead.

Ozolin, making up for his earlier miscue, scored on a 42-yard pass from Carmichael. Senior Cade Schurman added the first of his five extra-point kicks, making the score 13-7 with 2:21 remaining in the first quarter.

“I live on the memory of a goldfish,” Ozolin said with a laugh. “I flushed that last play. I don’t care about it. I’m glad that I scored, but even after I scored, I knew there was a lot to still be done.”

There certainly was. After all, the Storm still trailed in the contest.

But Summit was able to change that late in the second quarter.

One play after Storm junior tight end Charlie Crowell was whistled for an offensive interference foul, nullifying an apparent touchdown, Carmichael went right back to him. This time, Crowell made a leaping catch in the right corner of the end zone for a 20-yard touchdown, giving Summit its first lead of the game, 14-13, with 21 seconds before halftime.

The second half would provide many more big plays — and dramatics.

Carlson had the first big play — a huge play — in the second half. Fielding a Wilsonville punt on the bounce, Carlson got to the left side of the field and sprinted down the sideline for a 48-yard special teams touchdown, upping the Storm’s lead to 21-13 with 2:10 left in the third quarter.

“I thought it was going to bounce a lot farther in front than it did,” Carlson said of the play. “But I got a good bounce, and I was on our sideline. How we do punt return is that we block to our sideline. I picked it up, I got the sideline, and the blockers did the rest. I didn’t even have to make a move on anyone. I just had to run up the sideline. It was a really good feeling. When you get those moments like that, it just really pumps you up.”

Now, it was Wilsonville’s turn to come back — and that’s just what the Wildcats did, thanks to a little trickery.

Wiepert, after taking a backward swing pass from Gutridge on the right side of the field, threw a deep cross-field pass to Hiday, on the left side of the field. Hiday pulled in the pass and sprinted to the end zone for a 43-yard touchdown. Gutridge threw a 2-point conversion pass to Wiepert, tying the score at 21-21 with 22 seconds to play in the third quarter.

Summit was able to regain the lead, but it certainly wasn’t a run-of-the-mill touchdown that put the Storm back in front. With the ball on the Wilsonville 18-yard line, Stephens, after taking a handoff, was hit hard in the backfield and appeared to go down to the turf. But, maybe with Stephens being the only one aware, he wasn’t down, rolled off the back of a defender and kept running — all alone — to the end zone.

“I got hit in the backfield, and I was like, ‘Darn, a loss,’” Stephens said. “But I kind of spun over on his back, and I kept myself up on my hand, and I saw the refs looking like they were still tuned into the play, so I was like, ‘Heck, I just as well go run it out.’”

Good thing for Summit that he did. After the officials had a conference, it was determined that Stephens wasn’t whistled down on the play, giving the Storm a go-ahead touchdown.

“It was a little bit weird. I didn’t know if it was going to count or not,” Stephens said. “It turned out to be a touchdown. I knew it should have been, 100 percent.”

Photo by Dan Brood

That score gave Summit a 28-21 lead with 7:55 left.

The Storm, following a leaping interception by Ozolin, soon struck again. Facing fourth-and-9 on the Wilsonville 35-yard line, Carmichael connected with Carlson, who was sprinting down the right sideline, for a touchdown, pushing the score to 35-21 with 3:09 remaining.

“It was fourth-and-9, and we were talking it over with our coaches, and we were like, ‘It’s fourth down, and we’re up one score. We can either punt it and hope we get a stop, or just go for it.’ And we went for it,” Carlson said. “Our coaches trusted us, and we went out there and got it done. I was very happy.”

“Ethan is a stud. He’s been a stud all season,” Carmichael said. “They told me to pick my best matchup. Ethan ran a great route, and I knew we had it the whole way.”

But persistent Wilsonville wasn’t about to concede anything. Just two plays later, Gutridge threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Hiday, trimming the deficit to 35-28 with 2:53 to play.

“We did everything we could. It says, ‘Mind over matter,’ on our helmets,” Hiday said. “We fought until the very end, because that’s what we do.”

Ozolin recovered Wilsonville’s ensuing onside kick, and that would turn out to be huge.

“I saw that they had some of their better receivers on our side,” Ozolin said. “I kinda knew that the ball was going to come toward them. So, I psyched myself up. I knew I was ready. I knew I just had to get that ball, get down on it, and that’s what I was able to do.”

Thanks to another clutch fourth-down play, Summit was able to keep possession the rest of the game. Facing fourth-and-5 at the Wilsonville 32-yard line with 1:18 remaining, Carmichael, rolling to his right on a play-action play, threw an 8-yard pass to Lucas Steffen for a first down.

“We were running the ball, trying to run out clock. It was fourth-and-5, and they were jamming the box,” Carmichael said. “I knew if we ran a little play-action, it would be wide open, and that’s what happened. That felt great.”

“When we were running the play on fourth down, the pass, and I looked back and saw Lucas Steffen with the ball, and saw him pass the first-down marker, in my mind I was like, ‘Oh my God, we just did it,’” Carlson said. “I was so excited.”

Two kneel-downs later, Summit was celebrating a dramatic state-championship victory.

“It was overwhelming joy. There is just no other way to put it,” Ozolin said of his emotions as the final horn sounded. “I have so much love for everyone out here on this field. I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy in my life.”

“It was surreal,” Stephens said. “We were just stoked. It was what we’ve worked for, for the last 10 to 12 months. We’ve been working so hard for this.”

“It was like the best feeling ever,” Carmichael said. “I can’t even explain it.”

Stephens ran for his 235 yards on 40 carries, with 27 of those carries coming in the second half.

“My O-line was providing me with big holes — big, big holes,” Stephens said of the group that includes junior Zach High, Elliott, sophomore Cameron Gadsby, senior Hank Brundage and senior Carter Nelson, among others. “I’ve got the best O-line in the state. Them boys were feasting up there. I wanted the ball. I knew I was getting eight, 10 yards a carry, so I was like, ‘Give it to me more.’”

“It was a great game by Sam, and you have to respect the O-line up front, too,” Ozolin said. “Those guys were paving the way for him. And Sammy just knows how to get in there and get shifty. I love it.”

Carmichael completed 17 of 26 passes for 259 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception.

“It was resilience,” Carmichael said of the key to victory. “We were down 13-0. They made a lot of big plays. But we never gave up. We just kept going the whole game. We knew we just had to keep making plays. We just had to focus on us.”

Ozolin had eight catches for 131 yards and a touchdown. Carlson had five receptions for 84 yards and a score.

For the Summit defense, Steffen and Nelson each had five tackles, with one tackle for loss. Crowell and Elliott each had a sack. Brundage had two tackles for loss.

“We knew it was going to be a grind of a game, which it was. We knew we just had to keep on playing our hardest,” Carlson said. “Being in that victory formation, one last time, with my boys, the seniors, it felt great.”

“This was so fun,” Carmichael said. “Hats off to them. They’re a great team. It was a great game.”

“It was an awesome game to play in,” Stephens said. “Give a lot of credit to Wilsonville. They came ready to play.”

For the Wildcats, Hiday had five catches for 125 yards and three touchdowns.

“That’s cool,” Hiday said of the three scores. “But I’d trade it for the ring.”

Gutridge completed 13 of 28 passes for 227 yards and two touchdowns. He ran for a team-high 43 yards.

“It’s always quite an experience. You have to love state championship games,” Gutridge said. “They’re great. I’m proud of our guys.”

Wiepert had nine catches for 145 yards in addition to completing two passes for 61 yards and a score.

For the Wilsonville defense, senior Jonatan Lazaro-Hampton had a game-high nine total tackles. Senior linebacker Brennan Martin had two tackles for loss, and junior defensive back Kheller Larson had an interception.

“That was pretty intense, definitely the most intense game I’ve ever played in,” Hiday said. “Unfortunately, it didn’t come out on our side. But, man, we fought hard, and I’m proud of this team.”

“We gave it our all,” Gutridge said. “It’s fun, and I hope we’re back next year.”