Recall those old Geico insurance commercials, the ones before the talking gecko, when the last line was “it’s so easy a caveman can do it”?
Saturday night at Grants Pass High School, the home of the Cavemen, the Henley High football team found out it’s anything but.
Without quarterback Joseph Janney because of a knee injury, the defending state champion Hornets trailed second-seeded Cascade by 14 points with just more than six minutes remaining in regulation in the Class 4A state semifinals.
It looked beyond bleak for the Hornets, who struggled to move the ball without Janney and with Mark Carpenter, their 1,000-yard receiver, forced to play quarterback. That effectively weakened Henley at two positions ... actually, make that three, but more on that later.
After getting his left ankle taped at halftime and being checked for a concussion in the third quarter after taking a helmet-to-helmet hit that was penalized, Carpenter returned and led two scoring drives and tallied on a 4-yard run in overtime as Henley pulled out an improbable 21-14 victory.
Carpenter finished with 100 yards rushing on 30 carries and completed six passes for 73 yards.
“It’s hard not to have doubts, but I knew our kids would at least make it a game,” first-year Henley coach Matt Green said. “They don’t give up, just playing for their brothers.”
The third-seeded Hornets (11-1) will get a rematch with No. 1 Marist Catholic — the team they beat in last year’s final and again in Week 2 this season — for the title at 1 p.m. next Saturday at Spiegelberg Stadium in Medford.
After getting hit in the head, Carpenter led a 99-yard scoring drive. He found Bryson Montag in the back of the end zone with a 10-yard TD pass with 6:01 left in the fourth quarter to give the Hornets some hope, cutting their deficit to 14-6.
“I think that woke our guys up. It upset them,” Green said. “They just decided it was time to hit back.”
The Cougars recovered the ensuing onside kick, but were unable to get a first down and Henley took over at its own 43-yard line with 4:11 left.
Carpenter’s 9-yard run gave the Hornets a first-and-goal from the 2 with a little more than a minute remaining.
On fourth-and-1 with 26.9 seconds remaining, Carpenter took the snap and headed to his right, where he was stopped short of the goal line. But the ball came loose while Carpenter was being tackled and rolled into the end zone, where Montag fell on it. Carpenter found Connor Shively on a crossing pattern at the back of the end zone for the two-point conversion to send the game to overtime.
On Henley’s overtime possession, Carpenter gained 3 yards on a keeper up the middle and found Shively for a 5-yard gain. On third-and-2 from the 17, Carpenter headed up the middle and then bounced outside, gaining 13 yards. Another Carpenter run netted a yard before he went around left end and into the end zone untouched from 3 yards out.
Much like former teammate Logan Whitlock, who was in for one play in last year’s championship game due to an injury, Janney trotted gingerly onto the field to hold for Max Tobiasson’s extra point that gave the Hornets a seven-point lead.
The Cougars gained just 1 yard on their four plays in overtime, with Carpenter tackling Matthew Hinkle after a 2-yard reception on fourth-and-9, to end the contest.
“It’s a game for the memories,” Green said. “These kids will have this forever.”
Remarkably, Janney’s absence was felt most acutely not with his arm or his running ability, but with his right leg. Without their normal punter, the Hornets had three of their four punts blocked. One of those rolled out of the end zone for a safety and the other two gave the Cougars the ball at the Henley 21- and 8-yard lines.
“Tell me about it,” Green said when asked about missing Janney the punter. “We got to figure that out.”
But Henley’s defense was magnificent. The Cougars reached the red zone — inside the Hornets’ 20-yard line — six times and scored just once. In the third quarter, Cascade’s average starting field position on its four possessions was Henley’s 20-yard line.
But the Hornets held strong.
“They just stepped up, played with a lot of heart,” Green said of his defense. “Nolan Sieben played out of his mind ... honestly, the whole defensive line (did). Jason Kern, Roanin Wright, can’t say enough about them guys.”
Green said Janney was a game-time decision for the semifinal game.
“We warmed him up and didn’t like the way it looked,” Green said. “I told him we were shutting it down for this week. He wanted to go in in the fourth quarter, but I told him without being warmed up and ready to go, I wasn’t comfortable. I told him, ‘We’ve got guys that have your back.’”
Green sounded doubtful when asked if there was any chance Janney might be able to play in the championship game.
“I want him to play, but I honestly don’t know,” Green said. “Game-time decisions.”
After such an emotional semifinal victory, Green was asked if he was worried about getting his players ready for next week.
“I think it’s going to be easy,” he said. “These kids know what they want. Marist isn’t the same team we played in Week 2 and they know that. They’re battled-tested and ready.”