dangell@journalnet.com

ABERDEEN - Aberdeen quarterback Cody O'Brien didn't know what had happened after he released the ball. All he was hoping was that he hadn't just let Soda Springs back in the game with his pass to Josh Elliott.

"I was just hoping I wouldn't miss the pass and lose the game for us," O'Brien said. "I wasn't exactly sure (Elliott) he was going to catch it. I saw the fingertips, and I thought I had overthrown it and messed it up."

He didn't. Elliott hauled in the touchdown pass to seal both the game and the 2A Fifth District's final playoff spot for the Tigers, who advanced to the playoffs with a 31-14 win over the Cardinals.

Aberdeen (4-4, 2-2 2A Fifth District) senior Wade Wahlen had no such worries after O'Brien's pass.

"I was so happy I put my arms in the air and couldn't put them down," he said. "Right then, I knew this game was ours."

Wahlen, who had a 79-yard touchdown run, might have raised his arms as much in relief as in joy. After starting the season with losses to Declo, Sugar-Salem and West Side, there was no guarantee that the normally powerful Tigers would even be in the playoffs.

But Aberdeen managed to turn its season around from that point. After losing at West Side, the Tigers closed the season with three wins in four games, only failing to beat district champion Malad.

"We've landed on our feet," Aberdeen coach Cory Hollingsworth said. "I think a lot of teams with the struggles that we had would have folded or dropped their expectations. These guys never did. They fought back and got better every week. I'm really proud of them."

Soda Springs coach Rod Worthington wasn't as pleased with his team after a wave of penalties thwarted the Cardinals' (5-3, 1-3) comeback efforts in the final quarter.

The mistake that hurt the Cardinals the most came on Soda Springs' first possession of the game. After stopping the Tigers on their first series, the Cardinals had the momentum until a botched pitch resulted in a fumble. Before a Cardinal could make a move for the ball, Aberdeen linebacker Gerardo Gonzalez was on his way to a touchdown and a 6-0 lead.

"We had big plays, but we also had big mistakes," Soda Springs receiver Tyson Cooper said. "The fumble kind of spelled out the night for us. We were working hard, but it just didn't go our way. Those kind of plays change a game. It's hard to start out in a hole like that."

Conversely, Aberdeen got off to the start it wanted when Greg Bartholoma raced 65 yards down the field on its next possession, forcing Soda Springs into a 12-0 hole.

"We came out with a lot of intensity," O'Brien said. "We made them stumble back when we got off to a two-touchdown lead. When everyone gets excited and we get rolling, it's really hard to beat us."

The Tigers will meet the champion of the Sixth District in their first playoff game, which will likely be North Fremont. But at this point, the opponent really doesn't matter.

"We'll take anybody," Hollingsworth said. "I don't know if the people outside our program counted us off, but we never counted ourselves out of things. We feel pretty confident. We're playing awful tough, and there's no reason why we can't go further. That's a credit to the kids for sticking with it."

For Soda Springs, there will be no playoffs, but the Cardinals will end the season with a much better feeling than they did a season ago, when they failed to win a game.

"I was very proud of that (improvement)," Worthington said. "We were 0-fer last year. We grew into a team this year. They put five wins on the board, and that is something to say. At this point, it's a little disappointing not going to the dome, but I'm trying to look at the positive side. Now it's over, and we're looking forward to next year."

Aberdeen 31, Soda Springs 14

Soda Springs 0 6 0 8-14

Aberdeen 12 6 7 6-31

A- Gerardo Gonzalez 40 fumble return (kick failed), 9:08

A- Greg Bartholoma 65 run (run failed), 3:41

SS - Bradyn Bailey 26 pass from Kaedyn Duncan (kick failed), 2:03

A - Bartholoma 1 run (run failed), 0:09

A - Wade Wahlen 79 run (Alex Cardona kick), 9:32

SS - Bailey 9 pass from Duncan (Duncan pass to Tyson Cooper), 11:45

A - Josh Elliott 34 pass from Cody O'Brien (kick blocked), 6:26

Individual statistics

Rushing - Soda Springs: Tanner Passey 13-83, Bailey 8-22, Duncan 5-13, Payton Vorwaller 2-2, James McMurray 1-11, Easton Erickson 1-1, Cooper 1-18. Aberdeen: Wahlen 11-123, Bartholoma 15-114, O'Brien 1-3, Pete Bravo 4-17, Mike Wynn 1-0.

Passing - Soda Springs: Duncan 16-24-129-2-2, McMurray 1-2-10-0-0. Aberdeen: Cody O'Brien 2-6-42-1-0.

Receiving- Soda Springs: Cooper 4-38, Vorwaller 3-36, Bailey 3-45, Passey 2-6, McMurray 3-12, Erickson 2-3. Aberdeen: Elliott 1-34, Wahlen 1-8.