Wilsonville takes out top seed Silverton, setting up 5A final rematch with Mountain View

Mark Wiepert accounts for 5 TDs for Wildcats, who will try to beat Cougars for state title for 2nd consecutive year

Mark Wiepert did it all for Wilsonville — passing, rushing, receiving — in Friday's semifinal win against No. 1 Silverton. / Photo by Rene Ferran

McMINNVILLE — Live by the big play, or die by the big play.

That’s the knife’s edge the Wilsonville football team rides every week.

And Friday night at Wortman Stadium on the McMinnville High School campus, the Wildcats fell on the right side of that fine margin, living to fight again for another OSAA Class 5A state championship by outlasting district rival Silverton 32-29 in the semifinals to keep their title defense alive.

“This means a lot to this team,” said senior quarterback Mark Wiepert, who threw for 266 yards and three touchdowns, ran for 158 yards and a score, and caught a 26-yard touchdown pass.

Wilsonville (10-2) will meet Mountain View (12-0), a 40-17 winner over West Albany in the other semifinal, next weekend in a rematch of last year’s final, which the Wildcats won 29-23.

“It’s exciting, but we’re more excited about just being in that game,” Wiepert said. “It’s tough to come back. We lost a ton of really talented players from last year. It’s a testament to just the hard work and the brotherhood that we’ve created.”

The Wildcats racked up 466 yards Friday, with all their scoring plays starting outside the red zone, and their defense came up with three fourth-down stops — the last coming in the final minute with the Foxes (10-2) driving for a potential tying field goal attempt.

“We’re aggressive, and sometimes that bites you in the butt,” said Wildcats coach Adam Guenther. “But sometimes, it works out for you. That’s the way it works. We’ll give up big plays every once in a while, but we’ll make more big plays. And tonight, the shiny lights were in our favor.”

In the teams’ regular-season matchup, the Foxes pulled away in the second half for a 45-27 victory. 

In the rematch, it was Wilsonville that found an extra gear in the third quarter, with Wiepert sandwiching 52- and 48-yard touchdown passes to Keona Tam around two fourth-down stops in the red zone to grab a 32-21 lead with 1:47 left in the third.

“That last time we played them, it was the second half that really killed us,” Wiepert said. “So, it was just important for us at halftime to really get the message through that we needed to come out and give it everything we had.”

Still, Silverton didn’t go away, getting a spark from senior lineman Eli Willis when he punched the ball from Wiepert’s grasp and fell on it at the Foxes 40-yard line with 8:26 left. They needed nine plays to draw within 32-29 on Lincoln Teeney’s 1-yard run with 5:32 to play.

They forced a punt to get the ball back with 2:50 left and quickly marched to Wildcats territory. But on fourth-and-1 from the Wilsonville 32 with 47 seconds left, Sawyer Teeney rolled left but had the ball knocked from his grasp when it hit Blake Dougherty’s helmet. 

Emmitt Fee recovered for the Wildcats to kick off the celebration.

Dougherty also forced a fumble on Silverton’s first drive of the second half, setting up Roman Kealoha’s halfback pass to Wiepert for a touchdown.

“Just give everything we had left in the tank,” Dougherty said of that final stand. “Those two fumbles really turned everything around for our team.”

Sawyer Teeney, who threw for 322 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for another score, shed a few tears as he hugged his teammates one final time.

“I expected this game to come down to the last play, and it did,” he said.

Sawyer Teeney passed for 322 yards and accounted for three touchdowns for Silverton in his final high school game. / Photo by Rene Ferran

He then shook his head at the memory of a fourth-down play at the goal line midway through the third quarter, when he went airborne but was met by Drake Devin inches short of a go-ahead score and driven back.

“It came down to that one yard,” he said. “And they came out with it. That’s just reality. But I’ve never been on a team with more heart or who just wants it like we did. This is one of the best football teams I ever played on. And it just sucks that it came down to this.”

Wilsonville 32, Silverton 29

Wilsonville - 6 – 6 – 20 – 0 - 0 — 32

Silverton - 0 - 14 - 7 - 8 — 29

First quarter

W — Nick Crowley 79 pass from Mark Wiepert (kick failed), 1:20

Second quarter

S — Hudson Waples 8 pass from Sawyer Teeney (Caden Druliner kick), 9:10

S — Teeney 1 run (Druliner kick), 4:50

W — Wiepert 75 run (run failed), 3:34

Third quarter

W — Wiepert 26 pass from Roman Kealoha (Wiepert run), 10:51

S — Waples 33 pass from Teeney (Druliner kick), 8:23

W — Keona Tam 52 pass from Wiepert (run failed), 7:56

W — Tam 48 pass from Wiepert (run failed), 1:47

Fourth quarter

S — Lincoln Teeney 1 run (L. Teeney pass from S. Teeney), 5:32

STATISTICS

Rushing—Wilsonville: Wiepert 19-158, Kealoha 6-20. Total 27-174. Silverton: S. Teeney 25-60, Daniel Kuenzi 7-10. Total 34-75.

Passing—Wilsonville: Wiepert 9-16-1-266, Kealoha 1-1-0-26. Silverton: S. Teeney 19-31-1-322.

Receiving—Wilsonville: Tam 3-109, Crowley 3-103. Silverton: Waples 9-170, L. Teeney 7-85.

Defense—Wilsonville: Riddick Molatore 13 tackles, 3 for loss, 2 sacks; Blake Dougherty 7 tackles, 2½ for loss, 2 sacks, 2 forced fumbles; Emmitt Fee 9 tackles, fumble recovery; Carter Christiansen 8 tackles, fumble recovery. Silverton: D. Kuenzi 7 tackles, fumble recovery; Bo Zurcher 5 tackles; Waples 2 tackles, interception.

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