Mid-Major Media

There are a thousand clichés that could describe the history of Sweet Home football. Roller coaster? In some ways yes. Consistently inconsistent? At times.

My personal favorite superlative is Forest Gumps ‘A box of chocolates’. You never quite know what you’re going to get.

Since 2010, the Huskies have had records of 3-7, 8-3, 7-3, 4-6, 7-3, 4-5, 3-6, 8-2, and 6-3. Sweet Home has some of the same qualities that Oregon State did during the Mike Riley era. For better or worse, Sweet Home is almost always in the “surprise team” category come the end of the season.

Coming off a 2018 season in which the Huskies won the Oregon West and had 5 all-state selections, the pattern would suggest some sort of regression. But Streaks and patterns alike, are meant to be broken eventually.

The major players that Sweet Home graduated on offense were Honorable Mention RB Hayden McDonald, WR Nate Virtue, TE Jake Swanson, and C Austin Olin. Despite the fact they graduated four all-state players, Junior QB Aiden Tyler is expected to lead the Huskies back to the playoffs. On defense, Nate Virtue was is a big loss. The first team all-state LB selection was the only first team all-state selection the Huskies had last season. The Huskies are also losing second team all-state Punter Jake Swanson. The lone all-state player returning to the Huskies roster this season is incoming senior DB Casey Tow, who will lead a defense that held teams under 20 points four times last season.

Sweet Home’s schedule is workable, but loaded with 2018 playoff teams, including the team that knocked them out, Marist Catholic. The Huskies only lost three games all last season, and two of those came by way of the Spartans. Last year the Spartan defense held the Huskies to offensive lows in both games, only allowing Sweet Home to score a combined 27 points. The revenge game for the Huskies is scheduled for Week 1 in Sweet Home. The following week, the Huskies will travel to face the defending state champions in Banks. We believe these two games will be the biggest of the season for a Husky team who’s fairly young after graduating 15 from the 2018 squad.

Our prediction for Sweet Home is that they will go somewhere between 6-2 and 4-4. Tough games against Marist Catholic, Banks, Cascade, and Stayton will be a big challenge for a Husky team looking to make it past the first round for the first time since they made the quarterfinals in 2009. The first round curse has seemed to have set on Sweet Home, as in the last 10 years they’ve lost in the first round of the playoffs five times, and lost in play-ins three times.

In a wide open Oregon West league, don’t be surprised if Sweet Home somehow finds themselves leave champions again.