Canby holds off Tualatin rally

The Cougars claim first place in the Pacific Conference with their 41-26 victory

By Dan Brood

The Times, Oct 24, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

DAN BROOD / The Times

END-ZONE BOUND – Tualatin junior quarterback Matt Yarbrough finds room to run on his way to scoring on a 20-yard touchdown scamper in the second quarter of Friday's game at Canby.

CANBY — The Tualatin High School football team finally its game kicked into high gear.

But, unfortunately for the Timberwolves, they got things going a little too late, and when they were a little too far behind.

Tualatin, which trailed No. 5-ranked Canby 34-13 at halftime, put together a strong second-half rally, cutting the lead to 34-26 before it ended up falling 41-26 to the Cougars in a Pacific Conference showdown played Friday at Canby High School.

“We had a tough first half, but we didn’t give up,” said Tualatin senior Christian Pierson, who rushed for a game-high 59 yards on eight carries. “At halftime we talked about heart. We came out ready to play in the second half, but we got our intensity up a little too late.”

The Timberwolves dropped to 2-1 in league play (4-3 overall) with the loss, putting them in a tie with both Newberg and Tigard for second place in the league standings.

With the win, Canby claimed sole possession of first place in the Pacific Conference standings with a 3-0 league mark. The Cougars also improved to 6-1 on the season.

“Canby is fast. They play the game the right way,” said Tualatin junior quarterback Matt Yarbrough, who scored three rushing touchdowns in the contest while also passing for 204 yards. “Josh Yoder played a great game.”

Yoder, the Cougars’ senior quarterback, completed 18 of 21 pass attempts for 275 yards and three touchdowns.

Neither team’s offense could be stopped in the early going of Friday’s contest. Canby, in the game’s first possession, moved 79 yards in seven plays, getting a 13-yard touchdown run by junior running back Adam Bell to take a 7-0 lead with 9 minutes and 18 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

The Wolves answered back with a seven-play, 82-yard scoring drive that was capped off by Yarbrough’s 1-yard quarterback sneak for a touchdown, tying the game with 6:27 left in the opening period.

Canby stormed right back. The Cougars got a 42-yard run by junior Dustin Hagaman to set up a 3-yard touchdown run by Bell.

Tualatin again answered back. Yarbrough completed passes of 20 and 19 yards to senior running back Sean Acosta to set up his own 20-yard TD scamper. The extra-point kick was no good, leaving Canby with a 14-13 lead with 11:39 left in the second quarter.

The Cougars pulled away from there. Bell returned the ensuing kickoff 49 yards to the Tualatin 32-yard line. On the very next play, Yoder threw a 32-yard touchdown strike to senior Cody Smith.

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