In a game that had all the looks of heading toward a Kansas Plan Overtime, Tualatin had something else in mind. Back on their own 28 yard line with under a minute and facing a Second and 22, quarterback Matt Yarborough hooked up twice with his ace reciever Christian Pierson. The first for 34 yards and then with 26 seconds left, again for 38 yards and the winning touchdown to break a 20-20 tie and vault into second place in the Pacific Conference. They can claim the runner-up spot and #2 Pacific Conference Seed with a win over Tigard next week.

Newberg came into the game confident they could take down the Timberwolves after a convincing win over Tigard and a close loss at Canby. Instead, it turned into a frustrating night for Coach Eric Carlson and his Tigers who kept shooting themselves in the foot with costly penalites. After marching down for an touchdown by running back Joey Chandler on the opening drive, the Tigers had a shot to go up 14-0 when Jordan Howell went in from 76 yards on a pass from Matt Dufour only to have it called back for holding. Instead, Tualatin would orchestrate a beautiful 97 yard drive and Pierson would take it in from a yard out and it was 7-7 at the half.

The second half would open and it would be all Tualatin who bid farewell to 18 seniors to open the night. The T-Wolves marched 80 yards with a 21 yard scamper from Yarborough and then he'd hook with with Brian Balsinger on a 40 yard touchdown reception. Suddenly Newberg's prolific offense went cold. Tualatin's Pierson caught a pass for 35 yards and got an extra 15 yards for a horsecollar tackle, Balsinger caught one for 15 yards and then Pierson caught a 13 yard scoring strike from Yarborough and suddenly it was 20-7 Tualatin with 6:35 left in the third quarter. 

Newberg refused to roll over. Chandler would put the Tigers on his back and with 2:56 left in the quarter he would break lose from 34 yards out and they would close to 20-14. Tualatin wasn't done as Yarborough would start running quarteback keepers for 10 yards at a pop. Tualatin would cross midfield and into Newberg territory down to the 36 before disaster struck. After getting a delay of game, they then got whistled for an offensive pass interference. Marching all the way back to their own 38, they were forced to punt and the high snap was bobbled and the punt was blocked. Newberg recovered all the way down at the Tualatin 8 yard line where Chandler would take it in on the very next play. They missed their PAT and suddenly it was 20-20 with 11:31 left in the fourth quarter. The 'mo' had switched back to the Tigers. 

Both teams defense's would finally arrive. Newberg held Tualatin to a three and out and Tualatin returned the favor and did likewise. Newberg would look like they held only to get whistled for a personal foul after holding on third down. Tualatin would march deep into Newberg territory before Yarborough had the ball stripped. It was recovered by Newberg at their own 12 yard line. The Tigers would get one first down but a couple of costly five yard penalites shot down their chances of a scoring drive and they punted and Tualatin took over at their own 40 yard line with 1:17 left in the game. On the very first play, Yarborough would roll back and get hit and fumble. Luckily Tualatin recovered at their own 28. Enter Pierson who would finish with three touchdowns, eight catches for 163 yards and also 48 yards rushing on the evening. The touchdown pass that sealed the win wasn't without excitement as Newberg coaches went ballistic over an offensive pass interference that wasn't called when their defender was knocked down just prior to Pierson taking it in. Officials whistled Newberg's sideline for 15 more yards on a sideline personal foul and the Tigers where left wondering what might have been had they played a little more error free and made a few breaks. Certainly Tualatin, who score inside a minute before halftime as well as the the final gun was opportunistic while Newberg was not. 

Chandler would finish with 140 yards on 18 carries for the Tigers who would fall to into a third place tie with Tigard at 2-2.  They finish next week with a must win game in McMinnville. A Tigard win over Tualatin next week could make the waters somewhat muddy in the Pacific Conference as they'd all finish 3-2 with splits over the other two teams. Kansas Plan anyone?