Here is how the game happened at Hillsboro. Some game stats at the end. Congratulations to the Imbler Panthers on a fine season, and to the Mohawk Indians on the 2007 1A Football State Championship.

Snowing at Hillsboro Stadium at 10:15 AM. Teams are warming-up with a very light dusting of white stuff on the carpet. Its a bit slippery, which may impact the passing game for both teams. But for now, the snow has stopped and the field is slowly melting clear.

Imbler at Mohawk. Imbler in white shirts, black helmets, and black pants and orange stripes, and Mohawk in all black with orange highlights.

Imbler arrives following a 68-46 win over South Wasco County last week. Imbler's high-powered offense has been held to less than 52 points only once this season (by Powder Valley...held the Panthers to only 44 points).

The Imbler Panthers are lead by QB/DB sr. Nick Thompson who was involved in 6 TDs last week. Thompson ran for 277 yards on 15 carries and 3 TDs, and passed for 3 TDs. The Panthers also rely on sr. RB/DB Bryan Mills who had 185 yards rushing last week on 25 carries. Mohawk must find a way to slow these two down. Imbler's offense will also pass and run with sr. Sean Peterson, and sr. RB/LB Jake Noyes. If Mohawk finds a way to slow down Thompson and Mills, watch for an attack by Peterson and Noyes.

Mohawk arrives at the Championship game following a 37-34 win over Crane last week. A first for 1A, Mohawk won the game with a field goal!

The Mohawk Indians are lead by sr. QB/LB Brody Wilkins. Wilkins was last week's Quest Player of the Game with 450 yards of total offense. He had 139 yards rushing, and was 9 of 13 passing (3 TDs) for 314 yards. You can bet he will have the Panther's defensive attention. The Indians attack also depends upon sr. Tyson Ludwig who had 73 yards on 23 carries last week. If Imbler finds a way to slow down Wilkins and Ludwig, watch for the next level to push forward from seniors RB/LB Dean Krull and soph. SE/DB Cord Wilkins.

Game starting in just a few minutes.

As the game get started, the snow has mostly melted. The crowd is dressed-out in black and orange...supporting both teams.

Mohawk wins the toss and defers. They will kick to Imbler, with Imbler defending the north end of the field. Imbler's captains at mid-field were Nick Thompson and Jake Noyes. Mohawk's captains were Jorden Den Ouden, Brody Wilkins, Dean Krull and Robert Tyle.

Imbler starts the game's first drive from the 46 of Imbler following Nick West's run from the 10 to midfield. Thompson slips on 3 and 3 to set up fourth and 12. Punt.

Mohawk starts its first drive on their own 12. Krull runs for a first down on the 29. Wilkins runs for a first down on the 46. Wilkins runs for a first down on the 44 of Imbler. On second and 13, Wilkins runs 47 yards for a TD with 6:52 on the clock. Krull runs in the 2-point PAT. Imbler-0, Mohawk-8.

Imbler starts its second drive from their own 37. Tyle sacks Thompson for second and 16. West stopped in the backfield for third and 19. Mills runs to set up fourth and 7. Punt blocked.

Mohawk on the 41 of Imbler. Pass to Krull for a second and 3. Block in the back call sets up second and 13. Wilkins scrambles for first down on the 22. On third and one on the 13, Ludwig gets first down on the 7. Pitch to Ludwig to the 4. Delay of game makes it second and 9. Strong wind has kicked up from the south. Wilkins sweeps in for a TD with 0:26 left in the first. Delay sets up a long PAT attempt. Mohawk time-out. The 2-point PAT pass to Krull was good with a flag on Imbler (pass interference). Imbler-0, Mohawk-16.

Imbler starts their third drive on their own 20. End of first quarter.

Wilkins had 119 yards rushing in the first quarter. Imbler had minus 3 yards total for the first quarter.

Imbler starts the second with second and 9 on the 21. On 4th and 6, PUNT.

Imbler starts on their own 23. Wilkins sacked by Mills for second and 11. Sacked again by McIntosh for third and 16. Sacked again by McIntosh and Thompson for fourth and 25. Punt from the 8.

Mills fumbled the catch, and Krull recovers for Mohawk for first down on the 33. Ludwig gets 7. Ludwig caught in backfield to set up third and 7. Time-Out, Mohawk.

Wilkins scrambles for a first down on the 44. Pass to Whisenant for first down on the 44 of Imbler. Delay of game for first and 15. Pass to Whisenant for second and 7. Holding sets up second and 25. Pass again to Whisenant for third and 16. Pass to Ludwig for first down on the 33. Wilkins scrambles for a first down on the 21. Ludwig gets 6. Ludwig caught short to set up third and 6. Pass to Sheeler on the 1 for first and goal. Wilkins runs it in with 1:33 left in the half. The 2-point PAT pass was incomplete. Imbler-0, Mohawk-22.

Imbler starts their next drive on their own 32 with 1:22 left in the half. Thompson for 2. Incomplete pass for third and 8. Block in the back on a completed screen pass to set up third another 8. Time-out Imbler with 0:25 left. Thompson for 4 to set up fourth and 4. Time-out Mohawk with 0:07 left. Mills for a first down on the 44 with 0:01 left. Time-out Imbler. Thompson for 4 to end the half. Imbler-0, Mohawk-22.

Some stats so far.

Mohawk has 229 yards at the half, compared to only 27 for Imbler. The story of the game so far must be Mohawk's DEFENSE. Indian's Wilkins has 124 yards rushing, and is 6 for 6 passing for 67 yards. Four different receivers. Imbler's Mills has 12 yards rushing on 4 carries, and Thompson is 1 of 2 passing for 10 yards. Mohawks has been flagged 8 times for 56 yards, and Imbler twice for 25 yards.

For the second half, Imbler's defense must find a way to slow Wilkins down, and then find a way to generate offense. Adding something to the Wilkins attack could provide a way for Mohawk to put the game away.

3rd Quarter

Field is not mostly dry. Wind is steady from the south, blowing from the south goal to the north goal. Imbler kicks to Mohawk with the wind at their backs.

After squibbed kick, Mohawks starts on the 49 of Imbler. Wilkins sacked by Coughlin for second and 21. Delay for second and 26. Wilkins scrambles and then a flag for holding to set up second and 22. Pass intercepted by Mills.

Imbler ball on their own 41. Mills and Noyes run for nothing for third and 10. Pass INC for fourth and 10. Punt. Faked, pass Mills to Phillips for a first down on the 43 of Mohawk. On third and 5, pass to McIntosh for first and goal on the 4. Noyes to the 3. West takes a pitch right to score. Thompson scores the 2-point PAT. Imbler-8, Mohawk-22.

Mohawk starts the next drive on their own 20 with 7:55 on the clock in the third.

Ludwig for 2. Ludwig for 5, flags everywhere...facemask. First down on the 42. Ludwig for 4. Ludwig fumbles and recovers to set up third and 9. Delay sets up third and 14. Wilkins runs to set up fourth and 5. Wilkins runs for a first down on the 41 of Imbler. Wilkins for 5. Krull runs to the stick for a measurement. First down on the 31. Wilkins bobbles the ball during a run, but get 9. Ludwig for a first down on the 20. Nice drive so far to eat time off the clock. Ludwig for 3. Ludwig sets up third and 1. Flags. Procedure sets up third and 6. Krull to the 8 for first and goal. Ludwig for 0, second and goal. End zone pass INC. Wilkins sacked by Coughlin to set up fourth and goal from the 18 as the third quarter ends. Imbler-8, Mohawk-22.

4th Quarter

Krull runs to the 7, and Imbler gets the ball on downs. A good red-zone stop by the Imbler defense.

West runs for 1. Thompson for 2. Pass to West for fourth and 5. Punt. No one back to return.

Mohawks starts the next drive on their own 46. Krull for 5. Krull sweep left for 3 and a measurement. Short by 4 inches. Wilkins get the first down on the 46 of Imbler with 9:22 to go in the game. Delay sets up first and 15. Wilkins to the stick, and flag for late hit out of bounds. First down on the 24 of Imbler with 8:52 to go. Ludwig loses 1. Krull for 1. Pass into end zone is overthrown to set up fourth and 10. Wilkins scramble comes up short.

*Imbler first down on their own 15 with 7:07 left. Mills for 3. Pass INC. Pass to West to set up fourth and 3 on the 23. Time-out Imbler. Pitch to Wells for first down on the 27. Pass to West for first down on the 48 with 5:32 to go in the game. Pass to West for second and 2. Mills for first down on the 41 of Mohawk. Thompson scrambles for 8 with 4:00 left on the clock. Mills for a first down on the 27. Pass knocked away by Krull at the 5 yard line to set up second and 10 with 3:16 left in the game. Pass to West complete at the 5 plus a flag. Pass interference declined. First and goal on the 5. Thompson to the 4. Thompson to the 2. Mills stopped by Wilkins. Time-Out Imbler with fourth and goal on the 3. Only 2:00 left on the clock. Thompson runs it in. The 2-Point PAT was run in by Thompson. Imbler-16, Mohawk-22.

And here comes Imbler's on-side kick with 1:55. Mohawk's Wilkins makes a fair-catchat the 42. Should be the end of the game.

Wilkins for 9 with 1:38 to go. Wilkins for a first down on the 45 of Imbler. Wilkins takes a knee. Time out, Imbler. Wilkins takes a knee with 0:40 to go. Wilkins takes a knee and the clock runs out. Imbler-16, Mohawk-22.

Post-Game

Qwest Players of the Game were Joe Coughlin for the Imbler Panthers, and Brody Wilkins for the State Champion Mohawk Indians.

Until this game, Imbler had scored at least 44 points in every game they played this season. But Mohawk's defense held them to only 16! As the saying goes, DEFENSE wins championships.

Imbler had a total of 176 yards of offense for the game. Thompson was 9 of 13 passing for 188 yards, and he had 15 yards rushing on 12 carries. Nick West was Imbler's big receiver with 6 catches for 59 yards. Bryan Mills ran for 44 yards on 12 carries.

Mohawk had a total of 339 yards of offense. Brody Wilkins was 6 of 9 passing for 67 yards, and ran for 187 yards on 24 carries. Ludwig had 43 yards on 17 carries, and Krull had 50 yards on 9 carries. Whisenant had 2 key catches for 21 yards.

The key to the game was clearly Mohawk's defense's ability stop the Imbler offense. Congratulations to the Mohawk Indians!