By Jeremy McDonald

jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

Picture and updates provided by Kim Gieselman!

PORTLAND, Ore.–  The last time that the Gervais Football team won a football game, it was October 10, 2014; a 43-12 victory over Chemawa.

That was one year and 11 months ago, and during that span, the Cougars found themselves in the wrong side of the win-loss column 13 times…straight.  Two of those losses, Gervais were within a touchdown of winning.

One of those came last week against Sheridan, 31-28.

For seniors like Calen Bichsel, Peter McKinley, Derrick Jaramillo and Richie Luna, that October night as sophomores seem so far gone entering the night of September 9, 2016 as seniors preparing for their last second game of the season.

With Bichsel and Luna on the line, McKinley now in the backfield and Jaramillo playing all over the place offensively and defensively; they joined fellow senior in River Moss and their young team as they took to the field against Portland Christian.

Tied at 0 entering the second half, the strong defense that was there against the Spartans held tough versus the Royals, forcing two turnovers before Moss scored off a quarterback keeper.

Though the two-point conversion was no good, Portland Christian answered back to open the fourth quarter.

But, it wasn’t one of the seniors who broke the game open in the fourth.  It was a freshman:

Dyontae Navarrete.

The frosh would produce two of the biggest touchdowns of his young prep career that put the Cougars up 20-6.

The Royals tried to mount a comeback, scoring with 16.9 seconds left, but it wasn’t enough as 701 days that separate the two wins for Gervais finally put an end to the sour taste in their mouths.

Especially for those seniors who were on the team who were out there the last time the Cougs came out victorious.

“It feels great to get out there and get a win,” said McKinley.  “Been a long while.  We battle on defense all night, coaches made some great adjustments for me and the other linebackers and it led to great success.

“Me and Kona (Black) got to share the fullback spot, keeping us fresh and ready to run the ball and that led to us dominating the line of scrimmage up front and continue to grind.  We just came together as a team and a family to get the win and it feel great.  But now it’s time to get back to working hard and preparing for our league opener against Scio.”

Scio.

That’s a story all in itself.

But they’ll worry about here in a few days, for now, it’s time to enjoy a Win!