No. 1 Summit 35, No. 3 Bend 21: Storm fight off city rival Lava Bears in clash of 5A powers
By Mike Wilson | Photo by Soobum Im
More than 35 years after a gubernatorial candidate called Bend “the middle of nowhere,” it was the center of Oregon Class 5A football Friday night, and No. 1 Summit got the upper hand in the debate over the strongest team in the city by posting a 35-21 victory over the third-ranked Bend Lava Bears.
Sam Stephens rushed for 104 yards and three second-half touchdowns as the host Storm (5-1, 2-0 Intermountain Conference) recommitted to the running game and clawed back from a 14-7 halftime deficit.
The Storm scored on every second-half possession (except when the clock ran out), starting with a short run by Stephens and followed by a 70-plus-yard connection between quarterback Hogan Carmichael and Charlie Ozolin.
Ozolin’s touchdown came after Lava Bears quarterback Logan Malinowski had a short touchdown run and made the score 21-21. In the fourth quarter, a blocked punt set up Stephens’ second touchdown, which gave the Storm the lead for good.
The Storm defense, which had two three-and-outs and made an interception in the first half, held the Lava Bears (5-1, 1-1) — Class 5A's highest-scoring team entering the game — to seven points after intermission.
The two Bend schools, along with Mountain View of Northeast Bend, are in their first season back in Class 5A after the OSAA’s quadrennial reclassification and redistricting process. Through five weeks of the season, the Bend schools showed that their time in Class 6A did more than make them weary of traveling back and forth to the Salem area.
They had a combined 12-3 record entering Week 6, with Summit’s loss coming to last season’s Class 6A runner-up (Tualatin) and one of Mountain View’s to a Class 6A school that is playing down for competitive-balance purposes (Southridge).
Mountain View plays host to Summit in Week 8 and is at Bend in Week 9 in games that likely will decide not only the city championship but that of the IMC as well.
On Friday, after forcing a three-and-out and then slightly deflecting a punt on the Lava Bears’ first possession, the Storm drew first blood on their first series. A 15-yard penalty on the punt return moved them to the Lava Bears’ 23-yard line, and then they drew an offside penalty before their first snap.
Five plays later, Carmichael dropped a rainbow of a pass into the hands of Tadhg Brown at the right edge of the end zone, putting the Storm up 7-0 with 7:41 left in the first quarter.
After an exchange of punts, the Lava Bears’ offense found its stride on a possession starting at their 15. A 23-yard connection between Malinowski and Blake Groshong got the Lava Bears to Storm territory. Two pass interference calls — including one on fourth-and-goal from the 7 — sustained the drive, which ended with Malakai Nutter bulling to the end zone from the 3, making it 7-6.
The Lava Bears then forced the Storm to a three-and-out, and on Bend’s first snap, Austin Baker — who was lined up split wide right — took a handoff around the left side and down the sideline for a 32-yard touchdown run that, followed by a conversion catch by Jack Sorenson, put the Lava Bears ahead 14-7 with 5:22 left in the half.
The Storm’s final possession of the half reached the Lava Bears’ 20. A sack by Trenton Karpstein pushed the Storm back eight yards, and a fourth-down pass as time expired was knocked down by a Lava Bears defender.
The Storm received the second-half kickoff and soon enough got the upper hand.
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