About the only suspense in Amity on Friday was found in the frequent updates from the game taking place up in Sheridan. That’s because, thanks to what may well be the defensive effort of the season in the West Valley League, the Warriors rolled to a 48-0 win over visiting Horizon Christian.

In all, the Warriors allowed Horizon to amass a mere 95 yards of offense — 29 of those yards coming on a one-handed grab on the sidelines in the final minutes. Horizon, too, was hit with 30 yards in penalties, making its net gains on the evening 65 yards. Horizon finished the game with a per-play average of just two yards per play. Amity’s Bobby Hatch picked off quarterback Jordan Pearson once as well, and he finished the night completing just two of 10 attempts. That pick ended one second half drive, while eight other Hawk possessions ended with a punt.

“The defense makes it easy for me to call plays,” coach Joel Magill said, smiling. “I know I can take some chances and I can get away with calling some crazy plays. But the big thing is we’ve gotta fix that PAT. We lost six points tonight, and that’s all on me. I guess we don’t practice that a lot and I kind of take those for granted. So that’s my fault, and we’ll get those fixed.”

That was the one glaring problem for Amity in the win. The Warriors didn’t score a single point after, with two attempts blocked and one wide left. A pair of two-point conversion attempts also fell incomplete and on another chance, the snap was fumbled. (On the final two touchdowns of the game Amity took a knee.)

The Warrior offense racked up 575 yards, led by Cristian Cabrera’s 205-yard, three-touchdown performance. He scored from 11, 20 and 64 yards out, carrying the ball 16 times. Cody Porter had 166 yards and three scores on 14 carries. Also scoring in the win were Spencer Andrews and Kevin Ketchum.

Up next for Amity is Dayton, and after Friday’s loss the Pirates will need to hand the Warriors their first loss of the season in order to stay in the playoff picture. Which means a game that’s always intense will be turned up just a few more notches.

“I think if we were both 1-8, it would still be a battle,” Magill said. “And the thing is, our league is so solid that whoever finishes last place in our league would, I would bet, could win a playoff game. We’ll definitely have to be ready.”

Astoria 30, Y-C 7
Taking on Astoria, one of the top 4A teams in the state Friday, Yamhill-Carlton fell 30-7.

Riley Martin had a tough night behind center, going 2 for 16 with four interceptions. Nate Duyn managed to pound out some yardage on the ground, picking up 77 yards on 15 carries, but that was about it for the Tigers. Y-C avoided the shutout with a fourth-quarter touchdown run by Sean Kirby from 18 yards out.

Kirby, who also kicked the extra point, also had one catch for 35 yards and intercepted a ball that started the scoring drive.

“They’re No. 3 in the state and after the first quarter we were only down 6-0,” coach Ric Stahl said. “Against Seaside last week it was 21-0 before we knew anything. So I think it’s apparent that there were some changes that took place during the week that were for the better.

“I’m pretty pleased with our performance tonight. We had four starters out with injury, and to come back the way they did after a tough loss last week and play as tough as they did.”

Stahl credited punter Adam Findley for getting the Tigers out of multiple jams on the night, and also said center Tyler Bodine has shown tremendous growth this season.

Willamina 38, Creswell 7
After seeing its first possession ended on a 90-yard interception return for a touchdown Friday, Willamina bounced back to take a 38-7 road win over Creswell.

Kenna Cumberland finished with strong yards on the ground for the Bulldogs, while Brady Bruckner had another 100-plus yard night receiving.

“Defensively, too, our kids did an awesome job,” coach Tim France said. “Creswell runs the double wing, so a lot of credit has to go to our line for holding them.

“We moved the ball pretty well, but we did have four interceptions and that was the only thing that really stopped us. And then two of them were basically on the goal line, so that’s frustrating, of course.”

The win sets up a huge game next week with rival Sheridan.

“The winner of that game will be for sure in the playoffs, so this next week’s game is a very important one for both Sheridan and Willamina,” France said.