FLYING FISH GLIDE PAST GLADS
The Astoria Fishermen are positive proof that stats often don't tell the whole story.
For the third consecutive game the Fishermen were outgained by their opponents and their offense hardly saw the field. How long does your offense need to be on the field when you score 50 points?
The Fishermen quick-strike spread-option offense was in full flower with sophomore Jordan Poyer at the controls in a 50-27 victory over Gladstone as Astoria picked up its third consecutive victory over Capital Conference competition.
The scoreboard numbers were changing almost as often as the price signs at local gas stations. The Fishermen scored 23 points in the first quarter and rolled to a 36-21 halftime lead with only 17 plays on offense. Six of Astoria's scores came after less than a minute of time elapsed on the clock, another drive took 1:22 and their longest drive lasted all of 2:18.
"It was like a pinball machine, the scoreboard was, in the first half," said Astoria head coach Howard Rub, whose Fishermen are 3-0 for the second straight season. "Unfortunately it keeps our defense on the field for a while."
Poyer, named Astoria's starting quarterback after alternating series the first two weeks with Nathan Stinnett, flourished in his first game as the full-time starter. "The Chef" was serving it up to go Friday night as the Fishermen implemented a deadly vertical passing game to what had been primarily a running attack. Poyer had three TD passes and gave future opponents a lot to ponder.
"A lot of big-play capability you can do with this stuff," said Rub, referring to Astoria's new offense, implemented primarily to take advantage of Poyer's athletic gifts. "That's really why we tried to go to it because we knew we had big play type of guys."
The speedy QB displayed a golden right arm nearly the equal of his legs as Poyer pulled up twice on option plays and fired perfect strikes deep downfield, the first connection coming late in the first quarter as he hit Adam Koehnke perfectly in stride for 52 yards down to the Gladstone 4-yard line. A late hit moved the ball to the two where Poyer ran it in for Astoria's third touchdown and fourth score of the period.
Andy Murray got the ball rolling early. A 27-yard kick return by the senior running back set up his 49-yard touchdown run on the third play of the game.
Gladstone's first series ended in a snap way over the head of punter Nick Cieloha, who tried to pick it up inside the 5-yard line but kicked it into the end zone where he was tackled by Joey Dursse for a safety. Murray returned the ensuing free kick 31 yards to the Glads' 34-yard line, but fumbled the ball on the next play as Cieloha recovered for Gladstone. It didn't take long for Murray to make up for the gaffe, as he received a Cieloha punt at the 16-yard line, eluded three tacklers, then made just about everybody in a white jersey miss on a spectacular 84-yard return for a touchdown, giving Astoria a 16-0 lead.
Not to be outdone, Gladstone's special teams ace Jordan Aldredge took a reverse from Darrell Fields on the ensuing kickoff and raced effortlessly 90-yards down the right sideline to put the Gladiators on the board. It was the 6-1, 215-pound track star's third kick return for a touchdown this season after he victimized the Yamhill-Carlton Tigers twice in an opening week loss.
After Astoria answered quickly, the Gladiators sustained a 10-play, 61-yard drive that ended with Aldredge running for a 14-yard touchdown. The teams traded three more scores before the half was up.
Poyer launched a perfect, arcing spiral to Justin Tikkala for a 32-yard touchdown. Gladstone's Mitch Foteff answered with a beautifully-thrown long ball, catching Fields in stride down the right sideline for a 44-yard touchdown. Then Astoria lopped off 67 yards in three big chunks: A perfectly timed option pitch left to Murray for 18 yards with Poyer unloading the ball three yards downfield as he was being brought down, a 20-yard pass to Koehnke followed by a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, then a 14-yard carry by Murray to the 1-yard line, where Poyer sneaked it in to give Astoria a 36-21 lead at the half.
It actually took three punts before somebody scored in the third quarter, with Poyer and Koehnke hooking up on an 18-yard shuffle pass on the third play of a 55 second, 34-yard drive set up by a shanked punt by Cieloha. Koehnke raced untouched straight up the middle. The senior wide receiver's fifth catch of the game came on a fourth down play later in the period. Poyer scrambled left then fired a 21-yard strike to Koehnke in the end zone. That made it 50-21 Astoria with 1:10 to go in the third quarter and the Fishermen cleared their bench for the final 13 minutes plus, allowing a Gladiators touchdown with four seconds left in the game.
Koehnke had a career night with five receptions for 123 yards and a pair of scores. Poyer only rushed for seven yards after flirting with the century mark the previous week in a win over La Salle, but the soph signalcaller completed 6 of 9 passes for 155 yards, an impressive 17 yards per pass attempt. Murray made the most of his handful of touches, rushing for 80 yards and a touchdown on seven carries, while racking up another 149 yards on returns. Astoria's defense sacked Gladstone quarterbacks Mitch Foteff and Taylor Taft seven times and held Aldredge, a Portland State football and track recruit, under 100 yards rushing for the first time this season.
"We spent a lot of time defending the veer this week," said Rub, referring to Gladstone's triple option offense. "And honestly, other than the one legitimate drive, the long touchdown drive that they had, we did a pretty good job defending it."
"The thing that I really enjoyed seeing, too, is how hard they are playing whistle to whistle. When we watch the film I'm pretty confident that more often than not you're going to see our guys flying around to the end and that's critical. And defensively that's critical why we've been able to be a bend, but not necessarily break [defense] because we are getting to the ball.
Through three games, Astoria trails its opponents 34-56 in first downs, has run 125 plays to 202 for the opposition and trails its opponents by more than a half an hour in time of possession, while allowing more yards to its opponents in each game. Astoria is 3-and-0, winning the most important stat of all.
The Fishermen hope to continue their momentum on the road, visiting Philomath after a successful three week stint at John Warren Field. Hear the game live this Friday night on SportsRadio 1230 ESPN with pregame coverage beginning at 6:40 p.m.
GLADSTONE 14-7-0-6-27
ASTORIA 23-13-14-0-50
1stQ-AST: Murray 49 run (Tony Robinson kick)
1stQ-AST: Safety-Dursse tackled Cieloha in end zone
1stQ-AST: Murray 84 punt return (Robinson kick)
1stQ-GLA: Aldredge 90 kick return from Fields reverse (Joe Kociemba kick)
1stQ-AST: Poyer 2 run (Robinson kick)
2ndQ-GLA: Aldredge 14 run (Kociemba kick)
2ndQ-AST: Tikkala 32 pass from Poyer (Robinson kick)
2ndQ-GLA: Fields 44 pass from Foteff (Kociemba kick)
2ndQ-AST: Poyer 1 run (kick failed)
3rdQ-AST: Koehnke 18 pass from Poyer (Robinson kick)
3rdQ-AST: Koehnke 21 pass from Poyer (Robinson kick)
4thQ-GLA: Brady Regier 13 pass from Taft (kick failed)
RUSHING-GLA: 57-187 (Aldredge 19-91-td), AST: 23-104 (Murray 7-80-td)
PASSING-GLA: 8-12-1-100 (Foteff 4-6-1-71), AST: Poyer 6-9-155-3td
RECEIVING-GLA: Fields 3-75-td, AST: Koehnke 5-123-2td
TURNOVERS-GLA: 1, AST: 1
PENALTIES-GLA: 10-110, AST: 9-56
For the third consecutive game the Fishermen were outgained by their opponents and their offense hardly saw the field. How long does your offense need to be on the field when you score 50 points?
The Fishermen quick-strike spread-option offense was in full flower with sophomore Jordan Poyer at the controls in a 50-27 victory over Gladstone as Astoria picked up its third consecutive victory over Capital Conference competition.
The scoreboard numbers were changing almost as often as the price signs at local gas stations. The Fishermen scored 23 points in the first quarter and rolled to a 36-21 halftime lead with only 17 plays on offense. Six of Astoria's scores came after less than a minute of time elapsed on the clock, another drive took 1:22 and their longest drive lasted all of 2:18.
"It was like a pinball machine, the scoreboard was, in the first half," said Astoria head coach Howard Rub, whose Fishermen are 3-0 for the second straight season. "Unfortunately it keeps our defense on the field for a while."
Poyer, named Astoria's starting quarterback after alternating series the first two weeks with Nathan Stinnett, flourished in his first game as the full-time starter. "The Chef" was serving it up to go Friday night as the Fishermen implemented a deadly vertical passing game to what had been primarily a running attack. Poyer had three TD passes and gave future opponents a lot to ponder.
"A lot of big-play capability you can do with this stuff," said Rub, referring to Astoria's new offense, implemented primarily to take advantage of Poyer's athletic gifts. "That's really why we tried to go to it because we knew we had big play type of guys."
The speedy QB displayed a golden right arm nearly the equal of his legs as Poyer pulled up twice on option plays and fired perfect strikes deep downfield, the first connection coming late in the first quarter as he hit Adam Koehnke perfectly in stride for 52 yards down to the Gladstone 4-yard line. A late hit moved the ball to the two where Poyer ran it in for Astoria's third touchdown and fourth score of the period.
Andy Murray got the ball rolling early. A 27-yard kick return by the senior running back set up his 49-yard touchdown run on the third play of the game.
Gladstone's first series ended in a snap way over the head of punter Nick Cieloha, who tried to pick it up inside the 5-yard line but kicked it into the end zone where he was tackled by Joey Dursse for a safety. Murray returned the ensuing free kick 31 yards to the Glads' 34-yard line, but fumbled the ball on the next play as Cieloha recovered for Gladstone. It didn't take long for Murray to make up for the gaffe, as he received a Cieloha punt at the 16-yard line, eluded three tacklers, then made just about everybody in a white jersey miss on a spectacular 84-yard return for a touchdown, giving Astoria a 16-0 lead.
Not to be outdone, Gladstone's special teams ace Jordan Aldredge took a reverse from Darrell Fields on the ensuing kickoff and raced effortlessly 90-yards down the right sideline to put the Gladiators on the board. It was the 6-1, 215-pound track star's third kick return for a touchdown this season after he victimized the Yamhill-Carlton Tigers twice in an opening week loss.
After Astoria answered quickly, the Gladiators sustained a 10-play, 61-yard drive that ended with Aldredge running for a 14-yard touchdown. The teams traded three more scores before the half was up.
Poyer launched a perfect, arcing spiral to Justin Tikkala for a 32-yard touchdown. Gladstone's Mitch Foteff answered with a beautifully-thrown long ball, catching Fields in stride down the right sideline for a 44-yard touchdown. Then Astoria lopped off 67 yards in three big chunks: A perfectly timed option pitch left to Murray for 18 yards with Poyer unloading the ball three yards downfield as he was being brought down, a 20-yard pass to Koehnke followed by a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, then a 14-yard carry by Murray to the 1-yard line, where Poyer sneaked it in to give Astoria a 36-21 lead at the half.
It actually took three punts before somebody scored in the third quarter, with Poyer and Koehnke hooking up on an 18-yard shuffle pass on the third play of a 55 second, 34-yard drive set up by a shanked punt by Cieloha. Koehnke raced untouched straight up the middle. The senior wide receiver's fifth catch of the game came on a fourth down play later in the period. Poyer scrambled left then fired a 21-yard strike to Koehnke in the end zone. That made it 50-21 Astoria with 1:10 to go in the third quarter and the Fishermen cleared their bench for the final 13 minutes plus, allowing a Gladiators touchdown with four seconds left in the game.
Koehnke had a career night with five receptions for 123 yards and a pair of scores. Poyer only rushed for seven yards after flirting with the century mark the previous week in a win over La Salle, but the soph signalcaller completed 6 of 9 passes for 155 yards, an impressive 17 yards per pass attempt. Murray made the most of his handful of touches, rushing for 80 yards and a touchdown on seven carries, while racking up another 149 yards on returns. Astoria's defense sacked Gladstone quarterbacks Mitch Foteff and Taylor Taft seven times and held Aldredge, a Portland State football and track recruit, under 100 yards rushing for the first time this season.
"We spent a lot of time defending the veer this week," said Rub, referring to Gladstone's triple option offense. "And honestly, other than the one legitimate drive, the long touchdown drive that they had, we did a pretty good job defending it."
"The thing that I really enjoyed seeing, too, is how hard they are playing whistle to whistle. When we watch the film I'm pretty confident that more often than not you're going to see our guys flying around to the end and that's critical. And defensively that's critical why we've been able to be a bend, but not necessarily break [defense] because we are getting to the ball.
Through three games, Astoria trails its opponents 34-56 in first downs, has run 125 plays to 202 for the opposition and trails its opponents by more than a half an hour in time of possession, while allowing more yards to its opponents in each game. Astoria is 3-and-0, winning the most important stat of all.
The Fishermen hope to continue their momentum on the road, visiting Philomath after a successful three week stint at John Warren Field. Hear the game live this Friday night on SportsRadio 1230 ESPN with pregame coverage beginning at 6:40 p.m.
GLADSTONE 14-7-0-6-27
ASTORIA 23-13-14-0-50
1stQ-AST: Murray 49 run (Tony Robinson kick)
1stQ-AST: Safety-Dursse tackled Cieloha in end zone
1stQ-AST: Murray 84 punt return (Robinson kick)
1stQ-GLA: Aldredge 90 kick return from Fields reverse (Joe Kociemba kick)
1stQ-AST: Poyer 2 run (Robinson kick)
2ndQ-GLA: Aldredge 14 run (Kociemba kick)
2ndQ-AST: Tikkala 32 pass from Poyer (Robinson kick)
2ndQ-GLA: Fields 44 pass from Foteff (Kociemba kick)
2ndQ-AST: Poyer 1 run (kick failed)
3rdQ-AST: Koehnke 18 pass from Poyer (Robinson kick)
3rdQ-AST: Koehnke 21 pass from Poyer (Robinson kick)
4thQ-GLA: Brady Regier 13 pass from Taft (kick failed)
RUSHING-GLA: 57-187 (Aldredge 19-91-td), AST: 23-104 (Murray 7-80-td)
PASSING-GLA: 8-12-1-100 (Foteff 4-6-1-71), AST: Poyer 6-9-155-3td
RECEIVING-GLA: Fields 3-75-td, AST: Koehnke 5-123-2td
TURNOVERS-GLA: 1, AST: 1
PENALTIES-GLA: 10-110, AST: 9-56
posted by Matt Richert at 8:15 AM
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