Prep Football: Glide trounces La Pine 57-8 in playoff opener
GLIDE — It took No. 2-seed Glide all of four plays and 63 seconds to build a two-score lead on No. 15 La Pine as the Wildcats pounced on the Hawks for a 57-8 victory in the first round of the Class 2A football state playoffs.
Glide (10-0) moves on to face No. 7-seed Knappa in the quarterfinals. La Pine (5-4) ends its first season at Class 2A after reaching the playoffs for the first time in four seasons.
“I feel amazing,” Glide junior Collin Groth said. “First Glide team to ever go 10-0, so that’s a big accomplishment.”
“(We) played very well last night,” coach Zack Mandera said. “Came out, started fast and executed our game plan. (We) defeated our goal for the week, be 1-0 and have practice on Monday.”
The Wildcats received the opening kick and went 58-yards in three plays, capped off by a 12-yard touchdown run by Groth. The two-point try was good on the legs of Colt Skinner and Glide was ahead 8-0 in just 56 seconds.
Louis Rinnert dribbled a squib kick into the front line of the La Pine return team on the ensuing kickoff and the Wildcats recovered for a second consecutive possession. The drive was over in an instant as Tommy Viaene connected with Groth for a 45-yard touchdown pass.
The following two-point try was good on a pass from Viaene to Josh Scott and the route was on for the Wildcats.
Glide forced La Pine into two punts in the first quarter and the Wildcats intercepted Hawks quarterback Hunter Brown on a pass over the middle that was snatched by Skinner. The home team accumulated five total possessions in the first quarter and scored each time for a 37-0 lead going to the second period.
Groth tacked on a 63-yard punt return for a touchdown as a part of three special teams scores in the second quarter. Rinnert nailed two field goals before halftime, one from 27 yards and the other from 38 to send the game to the break with Glide ahead 50-0.
“Our offense just has so many playmakers. So many people who can be deadly with the ball,” Skinner said. “It’s just so fun to be out there.”
A running clock made for a quick second half, but the Wildcats stretched the lead to 57-0 on a 1-yard run by senior Blake Wise in the third quarter. La Pine avoided the shutout with a 10-yard touchdown run by Elijah Martinez in the fourth.
La Pine had only two first downs through three quarters and finished with 121 yards of offense, led by senior running back Shaye Johnson with 52 rushing yards.
Viaene was 4-for-4 through the air for 116 yards with three touchdowns. Spencer Sahr was his top receiver with one catch for 49 yards and a score.
The Wildcats had 250 yards on the ground, led by Skinner and Zachariah Jones with 85 yards each. Groth added 40 yards on two carries and Aiden Murphy got four second-half carries for 28 yards.
The win was Glide’s first playoff victory since 2018. When the Wildcats host Knappa, they’ll be attempting to win a second playoff game in the same season for just the second time in school history.
The Loggers beat Santiam 41-13 in their first round playoff matchup.
La Pine;0;0;0;8;—8
Glide;37;13;7;0;—;57
First Quarter
G — Groth 12 run (Skinner run)
G — Groth 45 pass from Viaene (Scott pass from Viaene)
G — Sahr 49 pass from Viaene (run fail)
G — Scott 14 pass from Viaene (Rinnert kick)
G — Skinner 12 run (Skinner run)
Second Quarter
G — Rinnert 27 field goal
G — Groth 63 punt return (Rinnert kick)
G — Rinnert 38 field goal
Third Quarter
G — Wise 1 run (Rinnert kick)
Fourth Quarter
L.P. — Martinez 10 run (Johnson run)
