Photo by Steve Wilkowske

If not for one poor quarter Friday night, the Canby High School football team finds itself in the Class 4A football playoffs right now.

Taking on Newberg in the regular-season finale, the Cougars watched as the Tigers scored 22 unanswered points in the span of 7:13 in the second quarter. It proved to be the impetus to a 28-8 Newberg victory that gave the Tigers the league's third seed for the playoffs while knocking Canby (5-4, 3-4) out of the postseason picture.

"We just played poorly for that one stretch of the second quarter, and it cost us," Canby head coach Mike Doty said. "Our failure to stay on them in man coverage in the secondary allowed them to make big plays. We had opportunities ourselves, driving to their 15-yard-line three times, but we couldn't take advantage."

The Cougars did threaten to open the game, driving as far as the Newberg 15 on their opening drive, but two unsuccessful runs and a pair of incomplete passes gave the ball back to the Tigers.

Newberg responded by putting together a long drive of its own, using an option pass to get to the Canby 11, but the Canby defense stiffened on fourth and short, stopping Newberg at the CHS 4.

Once again, Canby moved deep into Newberg territory, only to be stopped at the 30 when a screen pass on fourth down lost six yards.

Newberg wasted little time striking back, as quarterback Dallas Buck's screen pass to Brandon Hazenberg covered 64 yards to put the Tigers at the Canby 3. Three players later, Buck snuck in from the 1 and Hazenberg tacked on the conversion run to make it 8-0.

Newberg used trickery to get its second score, resorting to a 27-yard halfback pass from Hazenberg to Eric Hefferon to make it 14-0 with 2:38 to play in the first half.

Moments later, Buck found Shaun Negra alone in the end zone for a 15-yard scoring strike on the final play of the half. Hazenberg's second two-point conversion run of the game made it 22-0.

"That score at the buzzer really hurt us, because it put us behind by two scores rather than three," Doty said. "We dug ourselves a hole, and unfortunately we never quite dug ourselves out."

The Cougars did make things somewhat interesting in the third quarter, pulling within 22-8 on Ross Doman's 58-yard scoring run on the final play of the period. Marc Koch tacked on the two-point conversion, and Canby was back in it.

But Newberg, held to 12 yards rushing in the third quarter, took precious time off the clock with a long drive to start the fourth. It was stopped when Todd Ricksger intercepted a pass in the end zone, but now the Cougars only had eight minutes to work with.

The offense proceeded to march down the field until, facing a second down from the 12, Canby threw three straight incomplete passes.

The Cougars did get the ball back one last time, with 3:17 to go, but the drive ended with two incomplete passes at the Canby 41.

The Tigers tacked on the final touchdown of the game with Hazenberg's 48-yard run with 1:33 to play, then the Tigers inexplicably executed an onside kick that they recovered. Newberg ran out the clock, and Canby's season was over.

"All in all, this was a successful season for this group - 5-4 is a long way from 1-8," said Doty, comparing the last two seasons. "This was also perhaps the most enjoyable coaching experience I've had, with no discipline problems. The kids just came out to play and, starting way back in the summer, worked hard to get to this point."

Canby can also take comfort in the fact a good majority of its players will be back next season, with seven offensive and five defensive starters returning.

On the year, Canby wound up fifth in the final Pacific-9 Conference standings, behind Tualatin (7-0), Dallas (6-1), Newberg (4-3) and Tigard (4-3).

The Cougars will host a postseason awards banquet, however the date and time of that event have yet to be set.