It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but the Wilsonville Wildcats had no problem doing just that on Friday. They took their game at home with ease, bagging a 49-21 victory over Thurston. Considering Wilsonville has won nine games by more than 26 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Kallen Gutridge was his usual excellent self, throwing for 473 yards and seven touchdowns while completing 88.9% of his passes. Gutridge is on a roll when it comes to passing touchdowns, as he's now passed for three or more in the last seven games he's played. Another player making a difference was Mark Wiepert, who picked up 268 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
Despite the loss, Thurston still got an impressive performance from Ethan Burkhead, who rushed for 100 yards and a touchdown on only eight carries. Burkhead's longest rush was for an incredible 70 yards.
Wilsonville's win was their 16th straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 10-1. It's not like the team was facing easy opposition over that stretch either, as it included 13-3 Bend and 13-3 Bend (their opponents had an average overall winning percentage of 57.8% over those games). As for Thurston, their loss ended a four-game streak of away wins and brought them to 8-3.
Wilsonville will play host again and welcome Summit, where kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on Friday. Summit will be looking to extend their current three-game winning streak. Thurston does not have any more games scheduled as of now.
