Late kick gives Tualatin dramatic win

The Wolves beat Grants Pass 17-14 on Nathan Suyematsu's field goal with 1 second to play

By Dan Brood

The Times, Oct 3, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

DAN BROOD / The Times

IT'S GOOD — Tualatin sophomore Nathan Suyematsu (16) celebrates with teammates Rowdy Pizer (15) and Tom Gilkey after he kicked a game-winning field goal with one second to play in the Wolves' 17-14 victory over Grants Pass.

TUALATIN – Friday’s football game at Tualatin High School featured, well, a little bit of everything.

There was strong start by the Timberwolves. There was an impressive rally by the visiting Grants Pass Cavemen.

There was a sudden power outage and ensuing 20-minute delay.

There was an stout defensive stand, and, finally, there was a clutch kick by a nervous sophomore.

But, most important to Tualatin, the evening included a victory.

The Timberwolves, in their final tune-up before starting Pacific Conference play, got a game-winning, 19-yard field goal by sophomore Nathan Suyematsu with one second left to play in their 17-14 win over Grants pass in a non-league contest.

“This is big,” said Tualatin junior quarterback Matt Yarbrough, who led the Wolves on the game-winning scoring drive late in the fourth quarter. “It’s great to get some momentum going heading into league. We came together as a team tonight.”

Grants Pass fell to 2-3 on the season with the loss. Tualatin evened its overall record at 2-2 with the dramatic victory.

“I think we saw it all tonight,” Tualatin coach Rob Hastin said. “We had some unbelievable plays, we found some things we need to improve on and we had the great finish.”

The Wolves also had a great start to the game. In their first possession of the contest, they quickly moved 72 yards in six plays, getting a 1-yard quarterback sneak for a touchdown by Yarbrough to claim a 7-0 lead just 1 minute and 31 seconds into the game.

Tualatin upped its lead to 14-0 when senior running back Sean Acosta scored on a 2-yard run with 9:50 left in the second quarter.

But Grants Pass came storming back before the half ended. Caveman senior quarterback Jordy Romick threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Ronnie Fields to cut the lead to 14-7 with 5:17 remaining in the half.

Romicik then tossed a 7-yard scoring pass to senior Brock Dean with 1:42 left in the second quarter to tie the game at 14-14.

Grants Pass then seemed poised to take the lead in the third quarter. The Cavemen, in a drive that started on their own 1-yard line, marched down to Tualatin 18-yard line, where they had a first down, going into the final minute of the third quarter.

On the next play, Grants Pass senior Todd Woodrum was running a sweep to the left side when, suddenly, there was darkness.

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