T.J. Flowers, St. Mary's football

EUGENE — After four weeks of being on the wrong side of the scoreboard, Crater snapped the drought to get first-year head coach Seth Womack his first win with a 46-34 edge over North Eugene in Midwestern League football Friday night.

Running back Valentin Rodriguez came up big for the Comets (1-4, 1-2 MWL) with three rushing touchdowns on 28 carries for 174 yards to help outlast the Highlanders (1-4, 0-3). All three scores by the junior tailback came within the red zone, scoring from 3, 4 and 9 yards.

Crater junior quarterback Ben Higginson passed for two touchdowns and also ran in a 7-yard score in the first half to help give his team a 26-12 lead at the break. Eli Bryant hauled in a 4-yard pass from Higginson and Julien Grant had the other with a 30-yard reception.

Rodriguez and Higginson helped Crater build a 38-18 lead over North Eugene before Highlanders quarterback Kelin Knutson brought his team back with a 16-point surge to make it 38-34 late in the final period.

After rushing for three touchdowns, Knutson found Michael Boyce for a 7-yard TD pass before Grady Kik-Down ran in a 2-yard TD.

With the game still in the balance, Crater was able to respond and create the final margin of victory with a 5-yard TD run by Higginson, who ran 15 times for 189 yards and passed for 98 yards.

EAGLE POINT 46, WILLAMETTE 6: At Eugene, Eagle Point dominated from the outset, scoring 20 first-quarter points and then tacking on 19 more to build a 39-0 cushion by halftime in the Midwestern League victory.

Easton Raber hauled in touchdown passes of 22 and 67 yards from quarterback Bryton Livingston, who also ran for a 5-yard score for the Eagles (3-2, 3-0 MWL).

Livingston completed 4 of 7 passes for 132 yards, while Blaine Bruner gave the running game a boost with 17 carries for 130 yards and a 6-yard TD run. Peyton Smith ran for two short-yardage TDs and amassed 52 yards on nine attempts as EP totaled 250 yards rushing as a team.

Thomas Wippel also had an 18-yard fumble return for a score to highlight an Eagles defense that limited Willamette (0-5, 0-3) to 144 total yards of offense.

MAZAMA 57, ASHLAND 26: At Ashland, fourth-ranked Mazama built a 28-0 lead to put Ashland at a disadvantage that the No. 9 Grizzlies could not overcome in Big Sky Conference play at Walter A. Phillips Field.

Jojo Harrower’s 59-yard gain after pulling down the ball and breaking into the secondary set up Ashland’s first score on a 4-yard TD dash by Gavin White.

Harrower later connected with Crosby Lehnerz on a 39-yard fade to make it 36-12 with 36 seconds to go until halftime for the Grizzlies (3-2, 1-2 Big Sky).

White and Harrower connected for a 26-yard TD to make it 36-20 right away in the third quarter, but Mazama (4-1, 2-0) never flinched in answering with its diverse ground game.

White added his third TD when he took a screen pass 43 yards to pay dirt in the fourth quarter.

BROOKINGS-HARBOR 14, PHOENIX 6, OT: At Brookings, for a third straight week, Phoenix had a long-sought victory in its sights until the end but didn’t get its final reward for solid play in Far West League action.

Cody Martin scored on a 4-yard run to tie the contest at 6-all in the fourth quarter for Phoenix but the Pirates were unable to convert a go-ahead extra-point try to force overtime.

Martin finished with 18 carries for 62 yards and Tobias Akpan caught five passes for 98 yards to lead Phoenix (0-5 FWL).

Brookings-Harbor (1-4) got the ball first in OT and Michael Varitek capped a quick scoring drive with a 24-yard touchdown pass from Grady Maylin. Varitek’s two-point conversion made it 14-6, matching the total number of points scored by the Bruins over the first four weeks.

Needing to score and convert to extend the game, Phoenix was unable to make that happen to suffer the program’s 29th straight loss. The Pirates haven’t earned a conference victory in six years, spanning efforts in the Class 4A Skyline Conference and 3A Far West League.

Derek Corder made 10½ tackles, Aaden Reyna had seven and Wyatt Dean made 6½ to lead Phoenix’s defensive effort.

SOUTH UMPQUA 76, ST. MARY’S 7: At Myrtle Creek, T.J. Flowers returned a kickoff 82 yards to answer an opening 34-0 surge by South Umpqua but St. Mary’s couldn’t capitalize further after that big play in a Far West League loss.

South Umpqua (3-2 FWL) built a 62-7 lead by halftime over the Crusaders (3-2 FWL).