Sheridan quarterback Brock Ingram struggled all night to get passes downfield, as he was constantly under pressure from a charging Santiam Christian defensive unit.
Marcus Larson/News-Register

Sheridan senior running back Patrick Mitchell takes the ball downfield on a kickoff return Friday night, running past a flying Santiam Christian defender
Marcus Larson/News-Register

Sheridan’s Tre Hale-Edmerson tries to get away from two Santiam Christian defenders Friday, but is tackled for a two-yard loss. Hale-Edmerson caught the Spartans’ only touchdown of the night in a 40-6 loss.
Marcus Larson/News-Register

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Until Friday night, Sheridan hadn’t been to the football playoffs in 15 years. And, while the Spartans’ meeting with Santiam Christian didn’t quite go as planned — Sheridan left Corvallis on the losing end of a 40-6 blowout — coach Brice Ingram couldn’t help but be proud of his team and what it managed to accomplish this season. And much of the credit, he said, should go to the team’s senior class.

“Most of the seniors that are with us have been with me for four years. And some of them I even had all the way back in Little Guy football,” he said. “It’s sad to see them go and they had a lot of firsts this year with us. I have had more talented teams than this, but this team would always listen and they’re very coachable. And that’s the difference. The senior class got that. They understood that.”

That understanding wasn’t enough Friday night, however, as Santiam Christian jumped out to an early 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Sheridan did score once in the second quarter, with Brock Ingram hitting Tre Hale-Edmerson in the end zone, but Santiam added another two touchdowns in the frame to take a 28-6 lead into the half. Santiam (10-1) added another 12 in the third, and Sheridan never threatened the rest of the way, though neither team was able to score in the fourth quarter.

With the win, Santiam Christian advances to face Rainier, a big winner Friday over Glide.

The typically potent Spartan offense was limited to 251 yards Friday, with Ingram throwing for 127. Hale-Edmerson was the team’s leading receiver with 44 yards while Patrick Mitchell led the ground attack with 78.

“Their offensive and defensive line, especially the defensive line, they owned the line of scrimmage,” Ingram said. “Brock couldn’t get a pass off. They brought the farm and we couldn’t pick it up. They did a very good job of alternating defenses on us and we couldn’t adapt. I probably should have gone to our two-minute offense quicker because they took away our flats, and that hurt us.

“But defensively they just came out and attacked and owned the line of scrimmage. There’s no way around it. My hat’s off to them, because they did a damn good job.”

The Spartans, who finish the year at 6-4 overall, lose 10 seniors from this team including Mitchell, but will return the bulk of their skill-position players. Many of those are part of a talented junior class, and Ingram believes this season offered just a taste of what’s to come for Sheridan High School football.

“One of the kids tonight said, ‘Guess what, Coach, we’re back in June.’ They’re already talking about it,” he said. “That junior class is very competitive and they’re very close together. I mean, today when I came home to get ready for the game, there were 12 of them in my house.

“All of the guys know where we came from. It was a great accomplishment this year to make the playoffs and to get a taste of what they’re like. And next year I expect us to not only be here but go further. Because I know some people are saying that we were just lucky this year, but I don’t think the scores indicated that this was some sort of fluke. We’re learning to win. Now we’ve just got to learn to carry it out night after night. And we will.”