Photos by BRIAN GRAHAM

Dalhton Proffitt defends against the pass.

by Randy Parks
Burns Times-Herald

The Burns Hilanders scored with just over four minutes left in the game to take a 14-13 lead over Clatskanie, then the Burns defense kept the Tigers out of the end zone in the closing seconds in one of the wackiest finishes ever to a high school football game.

Burns and Clatskanie squared off in the OSAA Class 3A quarterfinal match-up on Saturday, Nov. 16, at Corbett Memorial Field.

Trailing 13-7 in the fourth quarter, the Hilanders took over at the Clatskanie 45 following a Tiger punt. On the fifth play of the drive, Harlen Gunderson caught a short pass from Jaden Tiller, fought his way toward the end zone, and dove in for the tying touchdown. William Johnson’s point-after kick cleared the crossbar by a few inches, putting Burns up 14-13 with 4:13 left in the contest.

The Tigers started their final drive at their own 37, and moved inside the Burns 20 before stalling. With just over a minute to play, the Tigers lined up for a 33-yard field goal attempt to take the lead. The Hilander defense blocked the kick, but failed to cover the live ball. An alert Clatskanie lineman picked the ball and rumbled toward the end zone before he was brought down by Gunderson at the 4-yard line.

The Tigers, with no timeouts left, picked up two yards on a run, then spiked the ball to stop the clock with time running out. Another running play lost three yards, and with the final seconds counting down, Clatskanie quarterback James Helman spiked the ball on fourth down, ending the game.

“The atmosphere of the game, it being the second round of the playoffs, the opponent, the intensity of the players and coaches, then going down to the last seconds to determine the outcome, it was emotionally draining,” Burns coach Terry Graham said. “It’s in my top five games of all time because of the circumstances, and so many times our defense shut them down.”

Burns took advantage of a Clatskanie fumble on the game’s opening kick off, recovering the ball at the Tigers’ 17. Mick Winn scored from nine yards out and Johnson added the PAT, giving Burns a 7-0 lead with just 51 seconds gone off the clock.

The Tigers bounced back on their next possession, tying the score on a 28-yard pass from Helman to Cedrix Moses and the extra-point kick by Keegan Holsey.

With 35 seconds left in the first quarter, Helman hit Andre Combs on a 72-yard scoring pass. The Tigers missed the extra point, but led 13-7.

The two defenses then took over the game, not allowing another score until Gunderson’s game-winning TD.

“We just kept fighting,” Graham said. “The looks on the players’ faces after the game was great. They put out so much. They were hurting, but happy.

“I’m happy for our team, the coaches, and happy for the fans. So many people showed up, that’s what memories are about — Hilander football and the community. It was fun. Our defense wasn’t perfect, but when it came time to draw a line in the sand at the end, they did it.”

Tiller completed nine of 21 passes for 86 yards and one touchdown.

Winn was the leading rusher for Burns, picking up 23 yards on six carries with one TD, and Tiller added another 22 yards on nine rushes.

Helman completed 14 of 33 passes for 246 yards and two touchdowns for Clatskanie, and Moses ran for 99 yards on 25 attempts to lead the Tigers in rushing.

With the victory, Burns moved into the OSAA 3A semifinals and will play Santiam Christian at 11 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 23, at Hermiston High School.