Wells powers past Roosevelt to clinch 6A playoff spot: ‘It’s time for Wells to get on the map’
Unfortunately for Jackson Poole, the Wells junior is too young to purchase lottery tickets.
If he were of age, though, he’d have been well-advised to press his luck after two fortunate bounces went his way last Friday night in North Portland to help the Guardians clinch the PIL’s No. 1 seed in the 6A state playoffs.
First, his juggling 30-yard touchdown catch that ricocheted off two pairs of Roosevelt defenders’ hands to end the first half gave Wells a 16-0 lead heading to the locker rooms.
Then, a fortuitous bounce off the turf after fumbling on a long interception return rebounded into his grasp, setting up Wyatt Andler’s third scoring run late in the third quarter that secured a 36-8 victory over the host Roughriders.
“Marselis (Griffiths) was there to catch the ball, but he got pancaked, and then it was just the tip drill at that point,” Poole said.
“Our team has wanted this so badly for the past couple of years. We fought so hard for this, and we put in so much work to get this. It feels so nice.”
The Guardians last won a PIL title in 2012 as a 5A team, but it’s been 20 years since they won a unified PIL championship. They can clinch the outright title by beating Franklin this week, but regardless, they earned the PIL’s automatic berth in the 16-team 6A championship bracket.
Whether they’ll play host to a first-round game is up in the air. If they remain in the top 16 in the OSAA rankings after next week’s finales (they were No. 11 following Friday’s action), they would earn a home game.
Their unique offense dominated Friday’s PIL title clash against the two-time defending champions. Their power-T attack is reminiscent of the 1920s, and it was brutally efficient, racking up 314 yards and controlling clock — Wells had the ball for 35½ minutes and ran 65 plays to Roosevelt’s 21.
“It’s awesome, because they just don’t know who has the ball,” said Andler, a bruising fullback who ran for 153 yards on 29 carries. “We have so many weapons, you just can’t stop it.”
Friday’s win was the Guardians’ first this season against a team in the top 16 of the OSAA rankings, but don’t tell anyone on the Wells sideline they can’t match up against some of the state’s powers in two weeks.
“It’s time for Wells to get on the map,” Andler said. “We’re here. We’re going to show up, and we’re going to tell them what’s up. I think we can go deep in the playoffs.”
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Wells 36, Roosevelt 8
Wells – 0 – 16 – 18 – 2 — 36
Roosevelt – 0 – 0 – 8 – 0 — 8
Second quarter
W — Wyatt Andler 8 run (Andler run), 11:40
W — Jackson Poole 30 pass from Spencer Reid (Andler run), 0:00
Third quarter
W — Safety, Dontrell Betts tackled in end zone, 10:50
W — Andler 9 run (Beckett Mersereau run), 3:12
W — Andler 6 run (Spencer Letwin run), 2:21
R — Yves Gelly 86 kickoff return (Ronald Woods run), 2:01
Fourth quarter
W — Safety, Caelan Riley sacked in end zone, 1:55
STATISTICS
RUSHING—Wells: Andler 29-153, Gus Rasmussen 15-79, Marselis Griffiths 6-35, Reid 3-38. Total 62-314. Roosevelt: Betts 9-30, Kadan Welch 3-6. Total 17-26.
PASSING—Wells: Reid 2-3-0-35. Roosevelt: Riley 2-4-1-(minus 2).
RECEIVING—Wells: Poole 1-30, Andler 1-5.
DEFENSE—Wells: Roman Tubay 3 tackles for loss, sack, safety; Exaucee Korosso 3 tackles, sack; Poole 3 tackles, interception. Roosevelt: Geovoney Burks 10 tackles; Tau Takau 8 tackles; Demir Johnson 6 tackles, 2 for loss; JaMarrion Causey 7 tackles.
FIRST DOWNS—Wells 15, Roosevelt 3. FUMBLES-LOST—Wells 1-0, Roosevelt 3-1. PENALTIES-YARDS—Wells 9-80, Roosevelt 6-19.
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