FISHERMEN RUN AGROUND VS. FALCONS
From the exhilaration of an opening week win over defending state champion Siuslaw, the Astoria Fishermen suffered a precipitous drop in their fortunes Friday night in Portland.
With a chance to avenge last year's only loss, Astoria fell completely flat in a 32-7 loss to the LaSalle Falcons in which they were dominated in just about every respect.
Yet, with just over five minutes remaining in the final period, Astoria was in position to snatch victory from the curved beak of defeat.
With an offense that couldn't shift out of first gear and a defense that had been pushed all over the field from the opening kickoff, Astoria had La Salle in a third down and two situation at the 41 yard line, clinging to a surprisingly precarious 12-7 lead. A stop would have forced Falcons' second-year head coach Mike Fanger into a difficult decision: go for it and continue to push toward a game-deciding score while running down the clock or punt and force Astoria's sputtering offense to take the long way from deep in their own end to try and salvage a win.
Fanger never had to make that fourth down choice. The decision on third down was easy. Give the ball to the defending Capital Conference Offensive Player of the Year and let him go to work one more time.
Chris Nagel took the handoff and hit the left side of his line, broke through two tackles at the line of scrimmage, slipped free of another at the line to gain, then took off for the end zone, scoring his third touchdown of the game and finally breaking Astoria's spirit.
The Falcons tacked on two more scores in the final five minutes to run away with the win in their season opener, while Astoria dropped to 1-1 with their first regular season loss since the final game of the 2005 season.
"I hate to use that saying, but nothing's ever as good as it seems or as bad as it seems," said Astoria head coach Howard Rub. "That really sums up the last two weeks, I think."
Nagel, who was not a major factor in La Salle's 20-16 playoff win over Astoria last November, was a lethal combination of kryptonite and teflon. The 2nd-team All-State senior running back caught two touchdown passes to go with his gamebreaking run, rushed for 229 yards on 29 carries, caught six passes for another 104 yards and racked up another 60 yards or so on kick and punt returns in what had to be one of the greatest individual performances in the history of LaSalle football.
Meanwhile, the Falcons defense pretty much pitched a shutout, but for some special teams misfortune. On LaSalle's second drive of the game, sophomore Dane Lund blocked Cam Keeney's punt and Trevor Puckett advanced the loose ball to the Falcon 26 yard line. Facing third down and five, Astoria QB Jordan Poyer connected with sophomore receiver Max Johnson for an 18-yard gain to the Falcons' 3-yard line. Poyer bulled into the end zone on the next play putting Astoria in front 7-0.
The LaSalle Nag...er, Falcons answered with a six-play scoring drive that featured four runs by Nagel and two pass receptions, the final one covering 14-yards after a time out to put La Salle on the board. A missed PAT left Astoria in front 7-6 with 0:38 seconds remaining in the first quarter and the score would remarkably hold up for two more full quarters.
Two LaSalle drives deep into Fishermen territory in the second quarter netted no points, both scuppered by penalties. Meanwhile, Astoria struggled to get any momentum going offensively, outgained 196-58 in the first two quarters, while accumulating just three first downs to nine for the hosts.
A pedestrian first half for the highly-touted Poyer took a downturn in the final two quarters as the much-hyped junior signalcaller went 1-for-11 for three yards and a somewhat questionable interception, a long launch downfield midway through the third quarter that seemed to migrate from the hands of Johnson to the ground then into the excited mitts of cornerback Luis Alvarado, who sold the pick to the officials. Little harm done as Poyer made a graceful leaping snatch of a long Vince Hicks toss on the very next play to return the ball to the Fish three yards downfield from where they'd been.
But, yet another drive would stall as Poyer was sandwiched by Falcons defensive ends Eric Whalen and Mike Oborn for a 10-yard sack on third and seven forcing a punt. On the ensuing possession, the Falcons marched 52-yards to the go-ahead score, a pass from Hicks to, you guessed it, Nagel on the left sideline. The muscular running back took care of the rest, eluding futile Astoria tackles while hugging the boundary to the end zone giving LaSalle a 12-7 lead after a failed conversion pass. The key play on the drive came near midfield on third and eight when Hicks, pressured from both sides of the pocket, stepped forward and raced 13 yards for a Falcons' first down. LaSalle had been 1-for-7 on third down conversions up until that critical play.
While Poyer suffered through a nightmarish offensive performance, he carried out his defensive assignment completely. Matched up against honorable mention All-State wide receiver Cam Keeney, who almost singlehandedly led LaSalle's comeback in their playoff win at Astoria, Poyer held the talented wideout to no receptions, breaking up a fourth down pass on the sideline inside the Astoria red zone to halt the Falcons' first drive of the game and pulling in his first interception of the season in the second half. Unfortunately, Astoria could have used another Poyer to help reign in Nagel, who torched the Astoria defense from opening whistle to final horn.
With almost no offensive production through three quarters, Astoria was given another golden opportunity to regain the lead early in the fourth quarter. On second and 14 from the LaSalle 44-yard line, 2nd-team All-Capital Conference quarterback Vince Hicks dropped back to pass and was blindsided by Astoria free safety Tom Jaworski coming on a blitz off the edge. Jaws stripped the ball and sophomore defensive end Jake Hatcher plopped on it at the Falcons 22 yard line.
Given another short field, Astoria quickly faced a fourth down and two, but Jaws picked up five yards to the Falcons nine to set up first and goal. Poyer fumbled the football on a keeper on the next play and LaSalle linebacker Travis Cisneros had the ball seemingly wrapped up, but it squirted away and Astoria was able to cover back at the 15. They failed to take advantage of this huge break as Poyer was hauled down for a sack and a disastrous 15-yard loss when he could not locate an open receiver. Taken out of field goal range, two passes in Johnson's direction were knocked way and Falcons' impressive defense made its biggest stand of the night.
On the very next drive, Nagel broke loose on his 41-yard gallop and Astoria's hopes were all but dashed.
Astoria, held to -1 yards rushing in the second half, was outgained 427-87 in a game that logically should have been over much earlier than it was.
"The reality of it is, the things that you use as motivation are not as important as actually executing," said Rub, whose team was definitely out for revenge for what they perceived as a premature end to last season. "We did not execute well enough offensively or defensively tonight to earn a victory and certainly LaSalle did."
LaSalle seems to have Poyer's number, which should have coaches statewide scrambling for tapes and DVD's, while Fanger shouldn't have to buy lunch for a very long time. The 2nd-team All-State QB's only subpar start came in last year's playoff, when he was held to 12-for-25 through the air, the only time he completed less than 50-percent of his passes in a full game last season. A 12-for-25 performance Friday night might have been enough to put Astoria over the hump, given the window of opportunity LaSalle left open with their third down and red zone futility. Instead, Poyer completed just 4-of-19 passes for 37 yards, while rushing for only 11 yards on 15 carries.
"They did a real good job of taking certain things away from us," said Rub. "Unfortunately, early we dropped some balls underneath in the quick game and in some intermediate areas. And then you saw us just trying to force some things deep, which shouldn't have happened if we'd just executed better earlier on."
The LaSalle defense, which has now played eight straight very good quarters against Astoria, never allowed the Fishermen to pull off a patented big play. Astoria's longest play from scrimmage came in the final minute with their reserves on the field, when Ian Erickson threaded the needle to Alex Eterno on a 25-yard pass, incidentally against the first-team LaSalle defense.
The win gives LaSalle, which has never won a league title in football much less a state title, big-time validation as a major player on the state 4A scene this year, while Astoria is left wondering where it stands in the grand scheme of things heading into next Friday's game at Gladstone. The game has been moved to Oregon City High School's football stadium and will be broadcast live on 1370 KAST-AM starting at 6:45 next Friday night.
ASTORIA 7-0-0-0-- 7
LASALLE 6-0-6-20-- 32
1st Qtr- AST: Poyer 3 run (M. Johnson kick)
1st Qtr- LAS: Nagel 14 pass from Hicks (kick failed)
3rd Qtr-LAS: Nagel 32 pass from Hicks (pass failed)
4th Qtr-LAS: Nagel 41 run (run failed)
4th Qtr-LAS: B. Swain 8 run (Thul kick)
4th Qtr-LAS: Maughan 35 interception return (Thul kick)
RUSHING-AST: 27-25 (Jaworski 7-18), LAS: 41-284 (Nagel 29-229-TD)
PASSING-AST: 5-22-2-62 (Poyer 4-19-1-37), LAS: Hicks 9-19-1-143-2TD
RECEIVING-AST: M. Johnson 2-29, LAS: Nagel 6-104-2TD
FIRST DOWNS-AST: 7, LAS: 16
TURNOVERS-AST: 3, LAS: 2
PENALTIES-AST: 6-30, LAS: 8-45
With a chance to avenge last year's only loss, Astoria fell completely flat in a 32-7 loss to the LaSalle Falcons in which they were dominated in just about every respect.
Yet, with just over five minutes remaining in the final period, Astoria was in position to snatch victory from the curved beak of defeat.
With an offense that couldn't shift out of first gear and a defense that had been pushed all over the field from the opening kickoff, Astoria had La Salle in a third down and two situation at the 41 yard line, clinging to a surprisingly precarious 12-7 lead. A stop would have forced Falcons' second-year head coach Mike Fanger into a difficult decision: go for it and continue to push toward a game-deciding score while running down the clock or punt and force Astoria's sputtering offense to take the long way from deep in their own end to try and salvage a win.
Fanger never had to make that fourth down choice. The decision on third down was easy. Give the ball to the defending Capital Conference Offensive Player of the Year and let him go to work one more time.
Chris Nagel took the handoff and hit the left side of his line, broke through two tackles at the line of scrimmage, slipped free of another at the line to gain, then took off for the end zone, scoring his third touchdown of the game and finally breaking Astoria's spirit.
The Falcons tacked on two more scores in the final five minutes to run away with the win in their season opener, while Astoria dropped to 1-1 with their first regular season loss since the final game of the 2005 season.
"I hate to use that saying, but nothing's ever as good as it seems or as bad as it seems," said Astoria head coach Howard Rub. "That really sums up the last two weeks, I think."
Nagel, who was not a major factor in La Salle's 20-16 playoff win over Astoria last November, was a lethal combination of kryptonite and teflon. The 2nd-team All-State senior running back caught two touchdown passes to go with his gamebreaking run, rushed for 229 yards on 29 carries, caught six passes for another 104 yards and racked up another 60 yards or so on kick and punt returns in what had to be one of the greatest individual performances in the history of LaSalle football.
Meanwhile, the Falcons defense pretty much pitched a shutout, but for some special teams misfortune. On LaSalle's second drive of the game, sophomore Dane Lund blocked Cam Keeney's punt and Trevor Puckett advanced the loose ball to the Falcon 26 yard line. Facing third down and five, Astoria QB Jordan Poyer connected with sophomore receiver Max Johnson for an 18-yard gain to the Falcons' 3-yard line. Poyer bulled into the end zone on the next play putting Astoria in front 7-0.
The LaSalle Nag...er, Falcons answered with a six-play scoring drive that featured four runs by Nagel and two pass receptions, the final one covering 14-yards after a time out to put La Salle on the board. A missed PAT left Astoria in front 7-6 with 0:38 seconds remaining in the first quarter and the score would remarkably hold up for two more full quarters.
Two LaSalle drives deep into Fishermen territory in the second quarter netted no points, both scuppered by penalties. Meanwhile, Astoria struggled to get any momentum going offensively, outgained 196-58 in the first two quarters, while accumulating just three first downs to nine for the hosts.
A pedestrian first half for the highly-touted Poyer took a downturn in the final two quarters as the much-hyped junior signalcaller went 1-for-11 for three yards and a somewhat questionable interception, a long launch downfield midway through the third quarter that seemed to migrate from the hands of Johnson to the ground then into the excited mitts of cornerback Luis Alvarado, who sold the pick to the officials. Little harm done as Poyer made a graceful leaping snatch of a long Vince Hicks toss on the very next play to return the ball to the Fish three yards downfield from where they'd been.
But, yet another drive would stall as Poyer was sandwiched by Falcons defensive ends Eric Whalen and Mike Oborn for a 10-yard sack on third and seven forcing a punt. On the ensuing possession, the Falcons marched 52-yards to the go-ahead score, a pass from Hicks to, you guessed it, Nagel on the left sideline. The muscular running back took care of the rest, eluding futile Astoria tackles while hugging the boundary to the end zone giving LaSalle a 12-7 lead after a failed conversion pass. The key play on the drive came near midfield on third and eight when Hicks, pressured from both sides of the pocket, stepped forward and raced 13 yards for a Falcons' first down. LaSalle had been 1-for-7 on third down conversions up until that critical play.
While Poyer suffered through a nightmarish offensive performance, he carried out his defensive assignment completely. Matched up against honorable mention All-State wide receiver Cam Keeney, who almost singlehandedly led LaSalle's comeback in their playoff win at Astoria, Poyer held the talented wideout to no receptions, breaking up a fourth down pass on the sideline inside the Astoria red zone to halt the Falcons' first drive of the game and pulling in his first interception of the season in the second half. Unfortunately, Astoria could have used another Poyer to help reign in Nagel, who torched the Astoria defense from opening whistle to final horn.
With almost no offensive production through three quarters, Astoria was given another golden opportunity to regain the lead early in the fourth quarter. On second and 14 from the LaSalle 44-yard line, 2nd-team All-Capital Conference quarterback Vince Hicks dropped back to pass and was blindsided by Astoria free safety Tom Jaworski coming on a blitz off the edge. Jaws stripped the ball and sophomore defensive end Jake Hatcher plopped on it at the Falcons 22 yard line.
Given another short field, Astoria quickly faced a fourth down and two, but Jaws picked up five yards to the Falcons nine to set up first and goal. Poyer fumbled the football on a keeper on the next play and LaSalle linebacker Travis Cisneros had the ball seemingly wrapped up, but it squirted away and Astoria was able to cover back at the 15. They failed to take advantage of this huge break as Poyer was hauled down for a sack and a disastrous 15-yard loss when he could not locate an open receiver. Taken out of field goal range, two passes in Johnson's direction were knocked way and Falcons' impressive defense made its biggest stand of the night.
On the very next drive, Nagel broke loose on his 41-yard gallop and Astoria's hopes were all but dashed.
Astoria, held to -1 yards rushing in the second half, was outgained 427-87 in a game that logically should have been over much earlier than it was.
"The reality of it is, the things that you use as motivation are not as important as actually executing," said Rub, whose team was definitely out for revenge for what they perceived as a premature end to last season. "We did not execute well enough offensively or defensively tonight to earn a victory and certainly LaSalle did."
LaSalle seems to have Poyer's number, which should have coaches statewide scrambling for tapes and DVD's, while Fanger shouldn't have to buy lunch for a very long time. The 2nd-team All-State QB's only subpar start came in last year's playoff, when he was held to 12-for-25 through the air, the only time he completed less than 50-percent of his passes in a full game last season. A 12-for-25 performance Friday night might have been enough to put Astoria over the hump, given the window of opportunity LaSalle left open with their third down and red zone futility. Instead, Poyer completed just 4-of-19 passes for 37 yards, while rushing for only 11 yards on 15 carries.
"They did a real good job of taking certain things away from us," said Rub. "Unfortunately, early we dropped some balls underneath in the quick game and in some intermediate areas. And then you saw us just trying to force some things deep, which shouldn't have happened if we'd just executed better earlier on."
The LaSalle defense, which has now played eight straight very good quarters against Astoria, never allowed the Fishermen to pull off a patented big play. Astoria's longest play from scrimmage came in the final minute with their reserves on the field, when Ian Erickson threaded the needle to Alex Eterno on a 25-yard pass, incidentally against the first-team LaSalle defense.
The win gives LaSalle, which has never won a league title in football much less a state title, big-time validation as a major player on the state 4A scene this year, while Astoria is left wondering where it stands in the grand scheme of things heading into next Friday's game at Gladstone. The game has been moved to Oregon City High School's football stadium and will be broadcast live on 1370 KAST-AM starting at 6:45 next Friday night.
ASTORIA 7-0-0-0-- 7
LASALLE 6-0-6-20-- 32
1st Qtr- AST: Poyer 3 run (M. Johnson kick)
1st Qtr- LAS: Nagel 14 pass from Hicks (kick failed)
3rd Qtr-LAS: Nagel 32 pass from Hicks (pass failed)
4th Qtr-LAS: Nagel 41 run (run failed)
4th Qtr-LAS: B. Swain 8 run (Thul kick)
4th Qtr-LAS: Maughan 35 interception return (Thul kick)
RUSHING-AST: 27-25 (Jaworski 7-18), LAS: 41-284 (Nagel 29-229-TD)
PASSING-AST: 5-22-2-62 (Poyer 4-19-1-37), LAS: Hicks 9-19-1-143-2TD
RECEIVING-AST: M. Johnson 2-29, LAS: Nagel 6-104-2TD
FIRST DOWNS-AST: 7, LAS: 16
TURNOVERS-AST: 3, LAS: 2
PENALTIES-AST: 6-30, LAS: 8-45
posted by Matt Richert at 9:21 PM
7 Comments:
La Salle won a league title in 1995.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Don't think so, unless private schools weren't allowed first round byes in the playoffs. What league was it and who finished second and third?
La Salle won the Tri-Valley title in 1995 going 9-0. I believe 2nd place was Gladstone and Estacada was #3. It flip-floped in 1996 when La Salle went 8-1.
Last year of the 16-team playoff format. Yep, I was looking at '96 when I made that last comment. Sorry, I was going off info from coaches that I got last year. Someone should show them the banner if they don't know. Who were the stars on that team?
As snobish as it might sound, I'm pretty sure La Salle doesn't print league title banners, only state title banners. The "stars" were WR James Whalen (former Dallas Cowboys TE) and QB Chris George, now a coach on La Salle's team.
Eric Whalen (OL/DL) is related to James, I presume? And if I'm not mistaken, Coach Fanger developed a relationship with the George family while trying to recruit Chris to Lewis & Clark. Chris' dad, the current principal, later recruited Fanger to head the football program. Good stuff, thanks!
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