Skyhawks fly high in opener

Southridge rips off 27 straight points to beat West Linn 41-21 to open the 2008 season

By Miles Vance

The Beaverton Valley Times, Sep 3, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Miles Vance / Beaverton Valley Times

HERE HE COMES — Southridge tailback Kirk Werhane turns upfield during his team's 41-21 non-league home win over West Linn on Friday night.

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BEAVERTON – Most students are avoiding back-to-school thoughts as best they can this weekend, but the Southridge football team was ready to get back to work.

The Skyhawks, Metro League co-champions a year ago and one of the favorites to win again in 2008, opened the new season in impressive fashion Friday, scoring 27 unanswered points to pull away from West Linn and win 41-21 at Southridge High School Friday night.

Southridge senior quarterback Kellen Mastrud threw for 226 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another to pace his team’s season-opening victory.

“Our offensive line really stepped it up tonight and our defense played hard,” said Mastrud, who also added 50 yards rushing. “Everything else just came easy.”

The Skyhawks (1-0) raced out to a 14-0 lead on Mastrud’s 37-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter and a 28-yard Mastrud-to-Matt Moshofsky touchdown pass two minutes into the second.

But West Linn didn’t go away immediately. The Lions (0-1) of the Three Rivers League answered with two straight touchdowns, getting a 26-yard Bryce Baker-to-Michael Fay TD pass and a 20-yard scoring strike from Baker to Cal Keizer with 45 seconds left in the first half to tie the game at 14-14.

“We believed in ourselves from the start. We knew we would execute,” said Baker, who threw for 193 yards and ran for 155 more and another score. “We had a couple malfunctions throughout the game, but that was a good practice game for us and we’ll be ready for the next game.”

But Southridge closed the half with a 60-yard scoring drive that took just 32 seconds and ended with a 7-yard lob to Taylor Goodling in the right corner of the end zone for a 21-14 edge at the half.

Goodling’s TD, and his interception on West Linn’s first possession of the third quarter, helped launch the Skyhawks on a 27-point scoring run that also included a Mastrud TD pass to Alex Hyde, field goals of 47 and 44 yards by Trevor Harman and a 95-yard interception return by Kyle Rose.

The Lions added a late TD by Baker — on a 78-yard draw play — for the final score.

Southridge plays at Tualatin at 7 p.m. Friday while West Linn hosts Lincoln at 7 p.m. Friday.