FISHERMEN SPRINT PAST Y-C TO STATE
Most people agreed that the Yamhill-Carlton Tigers would be able to do some things offensively and move the ball against Astoria. The question was, would they be able to stop Astoria defensively?
After their ninth straight win without a loss, one wonders if the Chicago Bears defense could keep Astoria's offense out of the end zone.
The 3rd-ranked Fishermen needed just four plays to build a 21-0 first quarter lead and cruised to a 48-27 victory over the Tigers Friday night at John Warren Field. With the victory, Astoria guaranteed itself the top seed from the Cowapa League to the state playoffs and earned a share of its first Cowapa League football title since 1994.
"Any time you can take something away from a team, it's a good thing," said Astoria head coach Howard Rub. "I was not thrilled with our run defense in that first quarter, but fortunately we did jump up on them with that big lead and did basically nullify that because they were playing catch-up from then on out.
Astoria can win its first-ever outright Cowapa football title with a win at Tillamook next Friday in their final regular season game. Yamhill-Carlton (4-1 Cowapa League, 7-2 overall) and Scappoose (also 4-1, 7-2) will play the same night for second and third place. The Indians got past Banks 49-13.
Most of the large crowd on hand was anticipating the offensive show featuring highly-touted 4-year starter Zach Anderson of Yamhill-Carlton, the state's most productive passer, and the rapidly rising sophomore Jordan Poyer of Astoria.
The fans were not disappointed.
Astoria and Yamhill-Carlton combined for over 1000 yards of offense with both teams showing off what they do best. While the total yardage was identical (513) for both teams, the stat that tells the story was yards per play from scrimmage. Astoria needed just 37 plays to roll up 513 yards of offense, an average of nearly 14 yards per play. And that includes two plays at the end of the game when Poyer kneeled down to run out the clock!
Yamhill-Carlton ran 73 plays for a quite respectable average of seven yards per play. In other words, Astoria was about twice as productive as Yamhill-Carlton. It seemed like the Fishermen were about twice as fast.
After Poyer forced a J.T. Sorenson fumble following a completed pass, Brent Culver recovered the ball at the Astoria 34-yard line. On the first play from scrimmage, Poyer, with all the time in the world to throw, ran through his progressions before spotting junior running back Tom Jawarski on a wheel route down the left sideline. Jaws caught the ball about 20 yards downfield and took care of the rest, eluding tacklers to sprint 66 yards to the end zone.
Down 7-0, a good kick return and a first down had the Tigers in Fishermen territory again before running back Willie Webb was stopped short by Craig Folgner on a 4th down and two carry, giving Astoria the ball at the forty. This time Andy Murray took a handoff and ran right, but cut back all the way across the field Marcus Allen style and picked up a pair of blocks downfield, running 60 yards untouched to the end zone.
"You can see that he still has the good speed and good burst," said Rub. "It was fun on the sidelines saying 'Welcome back!' It was a huge play. Any time you have two offensive plays and two scores, you are doing something well. Obviously, we just had too much speed for them tonight."
Murray sprained his right ankle against Seaside and did not play in the previous two games. Although the senior RB/S couldn't wait to return to action, the view from the sideline the last two weeks hasn't been too shabby.
"They did great without me," said Murray. "That just shows how much depth we have on our team."
Yamhill was held to a rare three-and-out drive and Jawarski returned the punt 21 yards to the 50-yard line to start Astoria's third drive of the quarter. This time, Fishermen fans would have to be patient, as it took the home team all of four plays to find the end zone. Poyer, again with loads of time to scan the field, found top receiver Adam Koehnke wide open down the middle. The senior with sneaky speed caught the ball a good six yards behind his defender and motored into the end zone for a 36-yard touchdown.
The Tigers responded with their first score, capping a 9-play 60-yard drive with a 9-yard Anderson pass to Cowapa League-leading receiver J.T. Sorenson. Sorenson held onto the ball despite a wicked shot from Brent Culver in the end zone and went on to catch a total of 12 balls for 100 yards on the night, giving him 67 catches this season. The 5-11, 190-pound senior had caught every completed pass thrown by Anderson to that point.
The 6-4 QB, a Oregon State and Boise State recruit, would eventually hook up with his tall tight end Tony Perry on a number of big plays, including a pair of second half touchdowns as the Tigers scrambled to stay in the game. But Astoria would not be caught on this night, showing off the speed that will have defensive coordinators statewide staying up nights.
Down 21-7, the Tigers finally got a defensive stop in the second quarter, but could not swing the momentum as a drive stalled after two straight incompletions. Ben Mattingly gave Anderson a pretty good lick on a 3rd and 11 pass intended for Perry. He seemed to feel that hit for awhile and also struggled with the center exchange, as three different players lined up over the ball. Starting center Mason Jahnke, hobbled by an ankle injury, gave way to Kyle Bansen and then right guard Jeff Baisch. Anderson was sacked twice after fumbled snaps.
After a short Sorenson punt was downed at the Astoria 23-yard line, it was Poyer's turn to show off his moves. With an empty backfield, Poyer ran a quarterback draw, bounced outside to the left sideline and was gone, 77 yards for a touchdown. Unlike the previous week, no cramps this time and nobody catching "The Chef" as baseball coach Dave Gasser calls him, or "Puppy" as he is refered to by his elder teammates.
With a 28-7 lead, Astoria recorded an important defensive stop just before halftime. In what could only be referred to as a desperation move, Yamhill coach Alan Boschma called for a fake punt, with the Tigers facing 4th and 15 from their own 20-yard line. Call it whatever you want, it worked to perfection. Sorenson lobbed a pass to a wide open Perry, who rambled 30 yards for a first down. Anderson hooked up with Perry three plays later for a 38-yard gain down the right sideline, with the lanky receiver creating separation from cornerback Justin Tikkala with a subtle shove-off, something "Tick" did not get away with last week at Scappoose when a touchdown was wiped off the board. On third and goal from the five, Anderson's pass in the end zone was intercepted by Culver, who jumped a slant route.
Instead of a manageable two touchdown deficit to start the third period, the Tigers kicked off to Astoria down 28-7. That became 35-7 in short order, when Poyer completed a 29-yard pass to Tony Robinson and two plays later connected with Koehnke for 11-yards to the Tiger 9-yard line. Poyer called his own number on an option keeper and broke an arm tackle on the way to the end zone.
From there it was a vain attempt at catching up for the Tigers, who scored on a long drive then recovered an onside kick to keep things interesting. But again, Astoria would not allow back-to-back scoring drives, with Koehnke intercepting an Anderson pass at the 4-yard line. That was the second of three Astoria interceptions inside the red zone. Poyer added a pick later in the quarter to go with his forced fumble and Nick Alfonse deflected an Anderson pass into the arms of Tom Jawarski on the final Yamhill play of the night, the sixth Tiger turnover of the evening.
Following Poyer's interception, the studly soph directed a six-play scoring drive, capped by a 38-yard touchdown pass by backup quarterback Nathan Stinnett, who tossed to Murray on a quick wide receiver screen while Poyer split out to the opposite side to act as a decoy.
After a 40-yard Sorenson kick return set up a quick Yamhill touchdown, Anderson finding Perry on a 5-yard fade route, Astoria tacked on its final score of the night, with Poyer hitting Jawarski on a 43-yard play, Jaws' second and Poyer's third TD pass on his final toss of the night. Poyer threw for 202 yards on six completions and a spectacular average of 22.4 yards per pass attempt! Anderson completed 24 of 41 passes for 334 yards, an average of eight yards per attempt.
"Our plan was to take away the run and make him throw," said Rub. "Let's get three interceptions because we have the personnel to make that happen. The fourth was a nice bonus at the end."
After a star-making performance at Scappoose the previous week, Poyer continued to dazzle, nearly topping the 200-yard mark in both rushing and passing. Poyer set a new school record with his 17th touchdown pass, eclipsing Astoria Hall-of-Famer Jerry Gustafson's 1951 record of 15 in a season, while adding his tenth and 11th rushing touchdowns of the year with 196 yards on 18 carries.
Astoria hopes to eclipse the mark of the 1951 team, which won 11 straight games before falling to Grant in the semifinals.
Anderson threw his 17th touchdown pass back in September and now has 37 TD's on the season.
Astoria (4-0 Cowapa League, 9-0 overall) will host a 2nd round state playoff game against a familiar opponent. The La Salle Falcons finished in second place in the Capital League and will visit Astoria for the second time this season. The Fishermen beat the Falcons 20-12 in week two, when the Fishermen were still experimenting offensively, alternating quarterbacks series to series.
"We're happy to be the number one seed," said Rub of his first Cowapa title at Astoria. "We know we've locked that up, but we want to get that trophy all to ourselves, so we know we have to finish the deal next week."
The Fishermen close out the regular season at Tillamook Friday night. The game will be broadcast live on SportsRadio 1230 ESPN, with gametime coverage starting after the SportsCenter update at 6:40 p.m.
YAMHILL-CARLTON 0 7 7--13
ASTORIA 21 7 7 13--48
1stQ-AST: Jawarski 66 pass from Poyer (Robinson kick)
1stQ-AST: Murray 60 run (Robinson kick)
1stQ-AST: Koehnke 36 pass from Poyer (Robinson kick)
2ndQ-Y-C: Sorenson 9 pass from Anderson (Nauman kick)
2ndQ-AST: Poyer 77 run (Robinson kick)
3rdQ-AST: Poyer 9 run (Robinson kick)
3rdQ-Y-C: Anderson 1 run (Nauman kick)
4thQ-AST: Murray 38 pass (Robinson kick)
4thQ-Y-C: Perry 5 pass from Anderson (kick failed)
4thQ-AST: Jawarski 43 pass from Poyer (kick failed)
4thQ-Y-C; Perry 15 pass from Anderson (McKinney kick)
RUSHING-Y-C: 28-149 (Webb 13-96), AST: 27-272 (Poyer 18-196-2td)
PASSING-Y-C: 25-43-4-361-3td (Anderson 24-41-4-334-3td), AST: 7-10-240-4td (Poyer 6-9-202-3td)
RECEIVING-Y-C: Sorenson 12-100-td, Perry 8-184-2td, Sorenson 12-100-td, AST: Jawarski 3-127-2td
TURNOVERS-Y-C: 6, AST: 0
PENALTIES-Y-C: 6-45, AST: 6-50
After their ninth straight win without a loss, one wonders if the Chicago Bears defense could keep Astoria's offense out of the end zone.
The 3rd-ranked Fishermen needed just four plays to build a 21-0 first quarter lead and cruised to a 48-27 victory over the Tigers Friday night at John Warren Field. With the victory, Astoria guaranteed itself the top seed from the Cowapa League to the state playoffs and earned a share of its first Cowapa League football title since 1994.
"Any time you can take something away from a team, it's a good thing," said Astoria head coach Howard Rub. "I was not thrilled with our run defense in that first quarter, but fortunately we did jump up on them with that big lead and did basically nullify that because they were playing catch-up from then on out.
Astoria can win its first-ever outright Cowapa football title with a win at Tillamook next Friday in their final regular season game. Yamhill-Carlton (4-1 Cowapa League, 7-2 overall) and Scappoose (also 4-1, 7-2) will play the same night for second and third place. The Indians got past Banks 49-13.
Most of the large crowd on hand was anticipating the offensive show featuring highly-touted 4-year starter Zach Anderson of Yamhill-Carlton, the state's most productive passer, and the rapidly rising sophomore Jordan Poyer of Astoria.
The fans were not disappointed.
Astoria and Yamhill-Carlton combined for over 1000 yards of offense with both teams showing off what they do best. While the total yardage was identical (513) for both teams, the stat that tells the story was yards per play from scrimmage. Astoria needed just 37 plays to roll up 513 yards of offense, an average of nearly 14 yards per play. And that includes two plays at the end of the game when Poyer kneeled down to run out the clock!
Yamhill-Carlton ran 73 plays for a quite respectable average of seven yards per play. In other words, Astoria was about twice as productive as Yamhill-Carlton. It seemed like the Fishermen were about twice as fast.
After Poyer forced a J.T. Sorenson fumble following a completed pass, Brent Culver recovered the ball at the Astoria 34-yard line. On the first play from scrimmage, Poyer, with all the time in the world to throw, ran through his progressions before spotting junior running back Tom Jawarski on a wheel route down the left sideline. Jaws caught the ball about 20 yards downfield and took care of the rest, eluding tacklers to sprint 66 yards to the end zone.
Down 7-0, a good kick return and a first down had the Tigers in Fishermen territory again before running back Willie Webb was stopped short by Craig Folgner on a 4th down and two carry, giving Astoria the ball at the forty. This time Andy Murray took a handoff and ran right, but cut back all the way across the field Marcus Allen style and picked up a pair of blocks downfield, running 60 yards untouched to the end zone.
"You can see that he still has the good speed and good burst," said Rub. "It was fun on the sidelines saying 'Welcome back!' It was a huge play. Any time you have two offensive plays and two scores, you are doing something well. Obviously, we just had too much speed for them tonight."
Murray sprained his right ankle against Seaside and did not play in the previous two games. Although the senior RB/S couldn't wait to return to action, the view from the sideline the last two weeks hasn't been too shabby.
"They did great without me," said Murray. "That just shows how much depth we have on our team."
Yamhill was held to a rare three-and-out drive and Jawarski returned the punt 21 yards to the 50-yard line to start Astoria's third drive of the quarter. This time, Fishermen fans would have to be patient, as it took the home team all of four plays to find the end zone. Poyer, again with loads of time to scan the field, found top receiver Adam Koehnke wide open down the middle. The senior with sneaky speed caught the ball a good six yards behind his defender and motored into the end zone for a 36-yard touchdown.
The Tigers responded with their first score, capping a 9-play 60-yard drive with a 9-yard Anderson pass to Cowapa League-leading receiver J.T. Sorenson. Sorenson held onto the ball despite a wicked shot from Brent Culver in the end zone and went on to catch a total of 12 balls for 100 yards on the night, giving him 67 catches this season. The 5-11, 190-pound senior had caught every completed pass thrown by Anderson to that point.
The 6-4 QB, a Oregon State and Boise State recruit, would eventually hook up with his tall tight end Tony Perry on a number of big plays, including a pair of second half touchdowns as the Tigers scrambled to stay in the game. But Astoria would not be caught on this night, showing off the speed that will have defensive coordinators statewide staying up nights.
Down 21-7, the Tigers finally got a defensive stop in the second quarter, but could not swing the momentum as a drive stalled after two straight incompletions. Ben Mattingly gave Anderson a pretty good lick on a 3rd and 11 pass intended for Perry. He seemed to feel that hit for awhile and also struggled with the center exchange, as three different players lined up over the ball. Starting center Mason Jahnke, hobbled by an ankle injury, gave way to Kyle Bansen and then right guard Jeff Baisch. Anderson was sacked twice after fumbled snaps.
After a short Sorenson punt was downed at the Astoria 23-yard line, it was Poyer's turn to show off his moves. With an empty backfield, Poyer ran a quarterback draw, bounced outside to the left sideline and was gone, 77 yards for a touchdown. Unlike the previous week, no cramps this time and nobody catching "The Chef" as baseball coach Dave Gasser calls him, or "Puppy" as he is refered to by his elder teammates.
With a 28-7 lead, Astoria recorded an important defensive stop just before halftime. In what could only be referred to as a desperation move, Yamhill coach Alan Boschma called for a fake punt, with the Tigers facing 4th and 15 from their own 20-yard line. Call it whatever you want, it worked to perfection. Sorenson lobbed a pass to a wide open Perry, who rambled 30 yards for a first down. Anderson hooked up with Perry three plays later for a 38-yard gain down the right sideline, with the lanky receiver creating separation from cornerback Justin Tikkala with a subtle shove-off, something "Tick" did not get away with last week at Scappoose when a touchdown was wiped off the board. On third and goal from the five, Anderson's pass in the end zone was intercepted by Culver, who jumped a slant route.
Instead of a manageable two touchdown deficit to start the third period, the Tigers kicked off to Astoria down 28-7. That became 35-7 in short order, when Poyer completed a 29-yard pass to Tony Robinson and two plays later connected with Koehnke for 11-yards to the Tiger 9-yard line. Poyer called his own number on an option keeper and broke an arm tackle on the way to the end zone.
From there it was a vain attempt at catching up for the Tigers, who scored on a long drive then recovered an onside kick to keep things interesting. But again, Astoria would not allow back-to-back scoring drives, with Koehnke intercepting an Anderson pass at the 4-yard line. That was the second of three Astoria interceptions inside the red zone. Poyer added a pick later in the quarter to go with his forced fumble and Nick Alfonse deflected an Anderson pass into the arms of Tom Jawarski on the final Yamhill play of the night, the sixth Tiger turnover of the evening.
Following Poyer's interception, the studly soph directed a six-play scoring drive, capped by a 38-yard touchdown pass by backup quarterback Nathan Stinnett, who tossed to Murray on a quick wide receiver screen while Poyer split out to the opposite side to act as a decoy.
After a 40-yard Sorenson kick return set up a quick Yamhill touchdown, Anderson finding Perry on a 5-yard fade route, Astoria tacked on its final score of the night, with Poyer hitting Jawarski on a 43-yard play, Jaws' second and Poyer's third TD pass on his final toss of the night. Poyer threw for 202 yards on six completions and a spectacular average of 22.4 yards per pass attempt! Anderson completed 24 of 41 passes for 334 yards, an average of eight yards per attempt.
"Our plan was to take away the run and make him throw," said Rub. "Let's get three interceptions because we have the personnel to make that happen. The fourth was a nice bonus at the end."
After a star-making performance at Scappoose the previous week, Poyer continued to dazzle, nearly topping the 200-yard mark in both rushing and passing. Poyer set a new school record with his 17th touchdown pass, eclipsing Astoria Hall-of-Famer Jerry Gustafson's 1951 record of 15 in a season, while adding his tenth and 11th rushing touchdowns of the year with 196 yards on 18 carries.
Astoria hopes to eclipse the mark of the 1951 team, which won 11 straight games before falling to Grant in the semifinals.
Anderson threw his 17th touchdown pass back in September and now has 37 TD's on the season.
Astoria (4-0 Cowapa League, 9-0 overall) will host a 2nd round state playoff game against a familiar opponent. The La Salle Falcons finished in second place in the Capital League and will visit Astoria for the second time this season. The Fishermen beat the Falcons 20-12 in week two, when the Fishermen were still experimenting offensively, alternating quarterbacks series to series.
"We're happy to be the number one seed," said Rub of his first Cowapa title at Astoria. "We know we've locked that up, but we want to get that trophy all to ourselves, so we know we have to finish the deal next week."
The Fishermen close out the regular season at Tillamook Friday night. The game will be broadcast live on SportsRadio 1230 ESPN, with gametime coverage starting after the SportsCenter update at 6:40 p.m.
YAMHILL-CARLTON 0 7 7--13
ASTORIA 21 7 7 13--48
1stQ-AST: Jawarski 66 pass from Poyer (Robinson kick)
1stQ-AST: Murray 60 run (Robinson kick)
1stQ-AST: Koehnke 36 pass from Poyer (Robinson kick)
2ndQ-Y-C: Sorenson 9 pass from Anderson (Nauman kick)
2ndQ-AST: Poyer 77 run (Robinson kick)
3rdQ-AST: Poyer 9 run (Robinson kick)
3rdQ-Y-C: Anderson 1 run (Nauman kick)
4thQ-AST: Murray 38 pass (Robinson kick)
4thQ-Y-C: Perry 5 pass from Anderson (kick failed)
4thQ-AST: Jawarski 43 pass from Poyer (kick failed)
4thQ-Y-C; Perry 15 pass from Anderson (McKinney kick)
RUSHING-Y-C: 28-149 (Webb 13-96), AST: 27-272 (Poyer 18-196-2td)
PASSING-Y-C: 25-43-4-361-3td (Anderson 24-41-4-334-3td), AST: 7-10-240-4td (Poyer 6-9-202-3td)
RECEIVING-Y-C: Sorenson 12-100-td, Perry 8-184-2td, Sorenson 12-100-td, AST: Jawarski 3-127-2td
TURNOVERS-Y-C: 6, AST: 0
PENALTIES-Y-C: 6-45, AST: 6-50
posted by Matt Richert at 9:11 PM
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