Sherwood is beginning to enjoy portraying the role of Roadrunner. For the second straight week, they've line up against a bigger opponent. Friday they took the field, uttered their trademark two words, "meep meep,' and then raced off with a 23-6 win on a warm Southern Oregon evening that left Crater feeling like a flustered and bewildered Wile E. Coyote.

You can pick your poison against Sherwood. Last week against Corvallis it was Kevin Hausner's night to run wild. This week it was the seniors turn as Sam Karpeles, Travis Lutes and Ian Donovan all found the end zone. Karpeles joined Hausner in the CYC (100 Yard Club) with an even 100 yards on 12 carries. "Tonight the lanes were wide open for me, said Karpeles, "It was amazing running through those open holes." That might have been the tale of the tape as Sherwoods quicker offensive and defensive lines were the dominant force on this night. Sherwood ran 72 plays and moved the chain 17 times while Crater managed just 39 plays and eight first downs.

Early on it seemed the game would be a defensive struggle for field position. With 3:44 left in the first quarter, things started to unravel for the Comets when they muffed a snapped punt deep in their end zone and gave the Bowmen an early 2-0 lead. It took just two plays before Karpeles broke right off tackle and cut back against the grain and raced 57 yards to paydirt. Crater tried to regroup and after a 14 yard pickup from DJ Pree, who had an impressive 87 yards on 12 carries for the night, disaster struck again when Pree fumbled and Hausner scooped up the ball and rumbled 30 yards to the Comet 6 yard line. Two plays later, Lutes punched it in from three yards out and just like that it was 16-0.

Crater had scoring chances in the first half but never could capitalize, Early in the second quarter, Crater quarterback Nick Brothers broke off a 28 yard scamper deep into Bowmen territory. Sherwood held and Crater came away empty after a missed 29 yard field goal attempt. As the half ended, it looked like Brothers hit fullback Nate Oxford with a diving catch deep in the left corner of the end zone only to watch the ball slip out of Oxfords fingers. Another missed opportunity.

The third quarter was made up of long and fruitless Sherwood drives thwarted by penalties and fumbles while the Comets continued to try and get untracked. At one point early in the fourth quarter, Crater held Sherwood on downs but on this play that was emblamatic of the Comet evening, they forgot to cover Krieger. Punt holder Donovan spotted him and hooked up with him for a 27 yard gain and another Sherwood first down. Crater finally got the big hit when Brothers hit a streaking Bryce Pella over the middle who then outran the defenders for a 63 yard touchdown into the north end zone. The two point conversion failed and with 5:52 left, Crater had a glimmer of hope and an onside kick. I only need to say "Oklahoma-Oregon" for you to get the picture. The officials ruled Crater had recovered before calling a meeting at midfield. Crater fans clearly saw it as a clean and legal recovery. Sherwood fans thought it more resembled the Comet Curling Team as they whisked and ushered the ball the required ten yards. The refs agreed with Sherwood who promptly ran out the clock and ended the game.

If there was a hero that deserves mention, it is Ian Donovan who should be called Doctor Donovan after performing an effective surgical dissection of the Comet secondary. "Doc" Donovan continually found Krieger and junior Ben Butterfield to convert long third downs all night long. Donovan finished the night 13 for 17 with 134 yards passing. The two wide receivers both had five grabs and accounted for 109 receiving yards with some tough acrobatic catches.

Craters offense was stymied for much the evening as Brothers was often flushed from the pocket and running quick draws as Bowman linebacker Travis Setere and strong safety Lutes made life miserable for him much of the night. Brothers would finish the night a paltry 3 of 13 with 87 yards passing and rushing for 52 yards. Bryce Pella continues to impress as a versatile and dangerous wideout. In a game marked with plenty of hard hitting from both teams, it was clearly a 'Close but no Cigar" night for the Comets.

As the Bowmen players, coaches and their fans huddled in the south end zone of Dutch Meyer Field for the traditional post game talk, Defensive Coodinator Wes Montgomery summed it up best. "They had the 300 pounders but YOU owned the line of scrimmage," he told the players.

Don't look now but here comes what should be the best matchup in the entire state next Friday when top ranked West Albany visits the second ranked Bowmen who will be looking to extract a little revenge. Still there are some kinks that need to be worked out as Coach Greg Lawrence knows. "We really need to cut down on our amount of turnovers and penalties" (Sherwood had three fumbles in the second half and also had three Holding and three Motion penalites) said Lawrence, "West Albany will throw a totally different defensive package at us and we've got to get ready and prepare or that."

Sherwood has shown some different looks themselves. On one hand they've outscored their opponents a combined score of 53-7 in the first half. The second half is another story as they've managed just six points in two games while the defense has been solid giving up only six points. They'll want to display a little "meep meep' for the second half next Friday or Wile E. Coyote disguised as a Bulldog will waltz out of the Sherwood Forest with a win.