Brody Wilkins' game-winning field goal -- yes, we said FIELD GOAL -- lifts top-ranked Mohawk to a 37-34 semifinal victory over Crane.

The scene with 7.5 seconds remaining seemed so odd for an 8-man football game, even the players on the field looked a little confused by it.

Locked in a 34-34 tie with the Crane Mustangs and facing third-and-15 from the Mustangs' 17-yard line, Mohawk senior quarterback Brody Wilkins and his sophomore wide receiver brother Cord were lined up in the backfield. But it wasn't your typical one-back shotgun formation. Cord was on one knee at the 25-yard line, with Brody three yards further back. Yes, the Indians were looking to win the game with a field goal.

Never in the history of Oregon 8-man state playoff football had a team ever successfully attempted a field goal -- one playoff field goal in 6-man had been made 60 years earlier. Moments before getting into the formation, Cord threw something toward Mohawk's sideline. After a closer look, it was the two-inch hard rubber placekicking pad. Not only were the Indians relying on Brody Wilkins' leg to win the game, but he was going to pick it off the turf like a Tiger Woods pitching wedge.

After a Crane timeout, Cord Wilkins snagged a high snap, got the ball down, and Brody Wilkins' kick sailed just inside the left upright with three seconds to play, ultimately lifting the Indians to a 37-34 semifinal victory and a return trip to the OSAA/U.S. Bank Class 1A state championship game, which Mohawk won in 2005.

The Indians (12-0) will try to win their second state title in three years Saturday when they face third-ranked Imbler (12-0) -- a 68-46 winner over South Wasco County in the other 1A semifinal -- in the first game of a state championship tripleheader at Hillsboro Stadium. The 1A title game will kickoff at 11 a.m.

Brody Wilkins' kick helped cap a Mohawk rally from a 34-26 deficit in the final 3:31 of what from the onset was a back-and-forth game.

Crane took a 34-26 lead with 10:54 remaining in the game, cashing in on a Mohawk fumble which was recovered by the Mustangs' Baxter Davies at the Mohawk 36 late in the third quarter. Crane -- with the help of an 18-yard completion from Dallen Davies to Baxter Davies on fourth-and-3 -- capped the go-ahead drive on a 1-yard run by Dallen Davies, followed by the two-point conversion run by Ray Thompson.

After both teams stalled on their next possessions (Mohawk fumbled the ball away inside the Crane 5 to kill a potential game-tying drive) the Indians turned a huge fourth-and-10 on their own 24 into the tying scores when Brody Wilkins hit Dean Krull in stride down the left sideline on a 76-yard scoring pass. Krull finished off the score by stiff-arming Crane's Matt Stevens at the 25-yard line to finish off the play. The two Indians also connected on the two-point pass, tying the game at 34-34 with 1:54 remaining.

Crane, with a chance to kill most of the clock and drive for a potential game-tying score, coughed up the ball on just the second play from scrimmage. Mohawk sophomore defensive lineman James Beatty recovered at the Indians' 37 to set up the game-winning drive and the rest, literally, is history.

Mohawk jumped out to a 6-0 lead early in the game on a 4-yard touchdown run by Tyson Ludwig, but the Mustangs answered on their first possession of the game, driving 58 yards in 10 plays and tying the game at 6-6 on a 9-yard touchdown run by Thompson.

The Indians' second possession also resulted in a touchdown on an another 8-man oddity: a ball-control, clock-draining drive. Mohawk's 74-yard, 11-play drive (which took more than 5:30 off the game clock) was capped by a 22-yard touchdown pass from Brody Wilkins to Cord Wilkins, and Krull's two-point run on a reverse gave the Indians a 14-6 lead with just three seconds left in the first quarter.

The second quarter was fairly uneventful, until an offensive fireworks display erupted in the final three minutes of the half.

Crane, still trailing 14-6, saw Stevens pounce on a Mohawk fumble to give the Mustangs the ball at their own 16-yard line with 4:05 left in the half. On the first play from scrimmage, Thompson broke free for a 62-yard gallop which was ended by a touchdown-saving tackle by Brody Wilkins. Two plays later, though, Crane tied the game at 14-14 when Dallen Davies hit Cody Henricks on a screen pass which went for 35 yards and a touchdown, and Matt Holloway added the two-point run with 2:50 left in the half.

On Mohawk's next play from scrimmage, pinned on its own 14, Brody Wilkins found tight end Jeff Whisenant down the middle and the pair connected for an 86-yard touchdown to give the Indians at 20-14 lead with 2:26 to play. The Indians recovered a loose ball on the ensuing kickoff and quickly struck again, using a 30-yard run by Brody Wilkins to get inside the Crane 5 and scoring on a 1-yard run by Wilkins with 1:30 to play in the first half.

With momentum quickly leaving the Crane sideline, Dallen Davies stopped the bleeding in a big way, using runs of 23 and 32 yards to help set up a late 1-yard touchdown run by Thompson to pull Crane with 26-20 with 40 seconds left in the first half.

The Mustangs tied the game at 26-26 on their first possession of the second half, driving 65 yards in nine plays and scoring on a 36-yard ramble by Dallen Davies with 3:10 left in the third quarter. Mohawk fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Crane's Baxter Davies recovered at the Mohawk 36. Eight plays later, the Mustangs had a 34-26 lead.

Brody Wilkins was named the Qwest Player of the Game for the Indians after putting up more than 450 yards of total offense. Wilkins completed 9 of 13 passes for 314 yards (that's 34.9 yards per completion) and three touchdowns, and also ran for 139 yards and a score. Ludwig added 73 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries, while Krull finished with three catches for 134 yards (44.7 yards per catch).

Crane's QPOG, Dallen Davies, led the Mustangs' running attack with 149 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries, while Thompson finished with 106 yards and a pair of scores on 13 carries.

For a more complete statistical package from Saturday's game, click here.