Tualatin's mistakes are Beaverton's gain

The Beavers rally to win 17-14 after Tualatin has three long touchdowns negated by penalties

By Bill Wilson

The Times, Sep 1, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

JAIME VALDEZ / The Beaverton Valley Times

Tualatin's Matt Losli leaps for a touchdown catch over Beaverton defender Friday night at Tualatin High School.

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TUALATIN – Producing the big scoring play wasn’t the problem for Tualatin in its opener to the 2007 football season.

Getting the points to stay on the scoreboard was a whole different matter altogether.

The Timberwolves had three long touchdowns called back by penalty – including one on the opening kickoff. Beaverton also had a long score negated, but made its final points stick as quarterback Michael Dehaan’s two-yard touchdown plunge midway through the fourth quarter lifted the Beavers to a 17-14 victory on Friday at Tualatin High School.

“Mistakes are not acceptable,” Timberwolves’ fullback/linebacker Dennis Ranck said. “We made some good plays then made some dumb mistakes to take it all back. If we don’t have those, we’re celebrating right now.”

Instead it was Beaverton enjoying a 1-0 start to a season it hopes turns some heads.

“We’re going to surprise some people,” Beaverton linebacker Douglas Gilmore said. “Everybody thought we were going to get rolled. That’s how it’s going to be all season. Nobody respects us but we expect to play against everybody.”

With penalties wiping out many of the scoring highlights – including a game-opening 92-yard return by Tualatin’s Phil Pauly – the Beavers jumped out to a 10-0 lead before the Wolves scored on consecutive possessions in the second quarter to move ahead 14-10.

Defense took over in the second half. Beaverton thwarted Tualatin’s lone long drive following halftime with consecutive sacks to force a punt after the Wolves drove inside the red zone late in the third quarter.

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