PHOENIX — The fifth-ranked Phoenix football team didn’t receive any favors for winning its first Skyline Conference crown in 12 years.

The Pirates’ reward for earning a No. 1 seed in the Class 3A state playoffs? A date with third-ranked and defending state champion Wilsonville.

But the novelty of playing the reigning champ wore off in the opening minutes when Marty Joseph stepped in front of an attempted screen pass and galloped 38 yards for a touchdown just three minutes in.

From there, Phoenix manhandled the Wildcats at every turn en route to a convincing, 28-7 victory in a second-round state-playoff game at a chilly Jack Woodward Stadium Friday night.

Wilsonville never recovered from the early shot to the gut as Phoenix (9-1) forced five turnovers and limited the Wildcats’ big-play offense to 272 yards.

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Phoenix, meanwhile, compiled a steady 304 yards of offense, with 94 of the 220 rushing yards coming from tailback Tyler Hammon.

"I think our offensive and defensive lines did an incredible job," said Phoenix coach Gordy Crowston, whose team had a bye last week. "And the linebackers did what they’ve been doing all year — filling the gaps and stopping the run."

The Pirates will host a quarterfinal game next weekend against the winner of today’s second-round game pitting 10th-ranked La Grande against Yamhill-Carlton.

Getting to the quarterfinal round required an upset win that Phoenix has been readying for for two weeks.

"We talked all week in practice about how we wanted to shock the state," said Pirate receiver Joey Shepherd, who hauled in four Matt Hagert passes for 74 yards. "I don’t know if anybody really gave us a chance, but we knew better."

Joseph gave Phoenix the lift on the game’s opening drive.

Wilsonville (8-3), the Tri-Valley League’s No. 2 seed, used a no-huddle offense to quickly moved from its own 12-yard line to the 48 in just four snaps.

The drive stalled briefly when quarterback Spencer Crace was sacked by Riley Gibson to set up a third and long. Joseph read the next play, stepped in front of the screen pass and raced untouched 38 yards to stun the Wilsonville sideline.

"We were in man, and I saw the screen (pass) coming," Joseph said. "I just stepped in front and took it to the house."

When the Phoenix offense finally got its hands on the ball, the Wildcats’ defense couldn’t get a stop to halt the bleeding.

The Pirates drove 75 yards in nine plays, capped off by a 6-yard TD burst from Ben Foster, to snag a 14-0 lead with two minutes left in the opening quarter.

"That interception really hurt us," said Wilsonville coach George Crace. "But, hey, that’s how the game goes.

"(Phoenix) moved the ball well on their own, too."

The Wildcats’ offense started clicking in the second quarter.

Starting from its own 35 after the kickoff sailed out of bounds, Wilsonville — aided by a 15-yard personal foul penalty — marched to the Phoenix 25-yard line in six plays. Spencer Crace then found tailback Cameron Smith open in the end zone to cut the Pirate lead in half.

But the turnover bug struck again midway through the quarter.

Crace, on a third-and-14 play, overthrew his intended receiver, allowing safety Daniel Ritchie to move in for the interception and return it to the Wilsonville 13-yard line.

Hammon punched in a fourth-down run from 5 yards out to push the Phoenix lead to 21-7 at the half.

"We knew we wanted to spread the ball around," Shepherd said. "We have so many weapons, I think it was tough for them to figure that out."

Hammon added the final blow to Wilsonville on Phoenix’s opening drive of the second half with a 2-yard TD run to finish off a workmanlike 63-yard drive that milked 4½ minutes off the clock.

The Wildcats went back to the no-huddle to get back in the game but Crace could only lead his offense into Phoenix territory twice the rest of the way against the hawkish Pirate defense.

"That’s a heck of a quarterback," Crowston said of Crace, who finish 12 of 31 for 151 yards with four interceptions. "We gave up a few plays early to them but backed ‘em up when we had to.

"I thought our secondary did a great job tonight."

Wilsonville was hampered by injuries to four starters, including returning first-team all-state linebacker Nick Grassi, who broke his arm in last Friday’s 21-7 victory over Elmira.

Smith, last season’s offensive state player of the year, has been hampered by a knee injury and muscle strain for most of the season. He rushed for only 29 yards on six carries Friday.

"That’s part of the game," said coach Crace. "We were lucky we didn’t have any significant injuries last year.

"But my hats off to Phoenix. They made all the plays and definitely deserved to win tonight."

The Pirates, on the other hand, have a date in the quarterfinals, a place they haven’t been since Crowston took over five years ago.

"This win means a lot," said Joseph, "but we still have a lot more work left to do."

Phoenix 28, Wilsonville 7

At Jack Woodward Stadium

Wilsonville 0 7 0 0 —7

Phoenix 14 7 7 0 —28

PH — Joseph 38 interception return (Wilson kick)

PH — Foster 6 run (Wilson kick)

W — Smith 25 pass from Crace (Patey kick)

PH — Hammon 5 run (Wilson kick)

PH — Hammon 2 run (Wilson kick)

TEAM STATISTICS

Wilson Pho

First Downs 16 20

Rushes-yards 29-121 48-220

Passing yards 151 84

Comp-Att-Int 12-31-4 5-13-1

Total yards 272 304

Punts 3-42 2-25.5

Fumbles-lost 1-1 1-1

Penalties-yards 1-5 7-75

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

Wilsonville — Whittaker 12-63. Crace 9-30. Smith 6-29.

Phoenix — Hammon 16-94. Foster 16-70. Giron 6-42. Shepherd 9-12. Hagert 1-2.

PASSING

Wilsonville — Crace 12-31-4 151.

Phoenix — Hagert 4-12-1 50. Ritchie 1-1-0 34.

RECEIVING

Wilsonville — Johnson 4-53. Smith 2-29. Staub 2-20. Nelson 1-23. Reeves 1-13. Whittaker 1-7. Galbraith 1-6.

Phoenix — Shepherd 4-74. Ritchie 1-10.

Reach reporter Kevin Goff at 776-4483 or e-mail kgoff@mailtribune.com.