Junior lineman Christian Ostmo, not “Christian Morrison,” who was incorrectly credited with the play in the Tidings game story, blocked Eagle Point’s extra-point attempt with seven seconds left Friday night to help the Ashland High football team sneak into the 5A state playoffs. The Eagles led 28-20 as they lined up for the PAT. Usually, the extra-point in that situation is pretty much meaningless, but on Friday night EP need to beat Ashland by nine points in order to clinch the second tie-breaker in the Azzi tie-breaking system (employed by the Southern Sky Conference this season) and secure a berth to the playoffs. Ostmo’s block meant that the Eagles and Grizzlies finished the regular season tied in Azzi points. The next tiebreaker was points allowed among the teams in question (Klamath Union, Ashland and Eagle Point finished in a three-way tie for second in the final SSC league standings). Here, Ashland easily beat Eagle Point, 35 to 54.
Now, it’s on to state for the Grizzlies (4-6). They’ll host Wilsonville in a first-round game Friday. The Wildcats (3-6), losers of three straight, played one SSC team this season, but it was the one SSC team that Ashland didn’t face thanks to that flu outbreak a few weeks back. Crater trounced Wilsonville 45-16 on Sept. 4.
