The saga of quarterback Kimane Domena has been an interesting one. After his junior season, the 6’2”, 180 pound QB committed to Brigham Young University. However, before his senior season began, Domena unexpectedly de-committed from the university to re-open his options. Before the Roosevelt Roughriders took on the Wilson Trojans on Friday, I spoke with Roosevelt head coach Christian Swain. Swain said he and Domena talk frequently about his collegiate future but, once the season began, that became their focus.
This focus showed strongly on Friday.
Roosevelt entered the contest with a 2-2 record but an undefeated 2-0 record in the Portland Interscholastic League (PIL). Meanwhile, Wilson came into the game with a 1-3 record and a 1-1 league record. Roosevelt looked to match pace with rival Grant who cruised to a victory and a 3-0 league record earlier on Friday while Wilson battled to make their presence felt in the recently reunited 6A PIL.
The game showcased two varying styles. Roosevelt runs an up-tempo, spread offense with the dual-threat Domena at the helm, a style exceptionally popular in all levels of Oregon football. Wilson offers a significantly different offensive style, a power I, run-heavy attack that only needs to throw the ball a handful of times every game. Wilson challenges its opponents to stop their power running game to shut down the offense.
Coach Swain decided to stack the box against the Trojan offense and make Wilson air it out. Despite this focus, Wilson had great success running the ball against the Roughriders. Wilson heavily featured full back Jackson Davis to pound the ball right up the middle while speedster Sam Katter racked up over 100 yards (by my very unofficial stats), primarily by turning on the jets on the outside.
However, Wilson’s problem came down to mistakes hampering drives. A fumble lost nearly 10 yards on a play, backing up the offense too far to recover. A missed field goal took points off the board. All told, Roosevelt led at half by a score of 19-3.
In the 3rd quarter, Wilson eliminated their first half mistakes, quickly rolling their way to two touchdowns and bringing the game within 2 points at 19-17. When the game is on the line, this is when you expect top playmakers to make big plays and that was what Kimane Domena did for Roosevelt.
Suddenly, the up-tempo Roughrider offense began a more methodical approach that ate time right off the clock. Twice, on crucial third down plays to keep the drive alive, Domena kept the ball himself and churned his way to first down yardage. Roosevelt was able to respond the rapid Wilson touchdowns and cruise to a 31-17 lead in the 4th quarter. Wilson was able to nab one last score with seconds left on the clock to pull the final score to 31-24.
By my unofficial count, Domena accumulated over 250 all-purpose yards and flirted with 300, including an incredibly athletic long touchdown run where he broke two Trojan tackles in spectacular fashion in the open field. It was the play that helped seal the victory over Wilson and will certainly make it onto his recruiting highlight film.
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