GLADS FRY FISH ON LAST SECOND FG
An exciting clash of playoff contenders ended on an 18-yard field goal as time expired as the Gladstone Gladiators defeated the Astoria Fishermen 17-14 Friday night at Pioneer Stadium in Oregon City.
The game shifted upriver on the Willamette when renovations of Gladstone's football field and track ran a little behind schedule. The Gladiators were playing their first "home" game on Oregon City's FieldTurf surface before inaugurating their own.
Austin Cote's game-winning kick came at the end of a 13-play, 79-yard drive over the final 5:30 of the contest. Gladstone junior quarterback Taylor Taft went 4-for-5 for 57 yards on the drive with each pass leading to a first down.
"They executed better than us when they had to," said Astoria head coach Howard Rub. "So they deserved it. Certainly, we feel like the last two weeks the end result is more our deal than anything the opponent has done. With that in mind, that's why things can still be in a good way for us. There's no reason that we cannot still do some of the things that we like to do, however, there's not much to talk about at this point. It's more a matter of rolling up the sleeves and going to work."
Astoria was victimized once again by poor tackling on the final march down the field, something that cost them in a 32-7 loss to La Salle the previous week. The Fishermen played much of the second half with two backup cornerbacks after starters Sam Johnson and Marcus Brown left with injuries. Brown, suffering from leg cramps, returned to the game, while Johnson was out of uniform down the stretch after suffering a knee injury.
"We're a little young in our secondary at the corner," said Rub. "Especially after Sam got hurt, we got real young at the edges. They took advantage of that a little bit."
With the game tied at 14-14, Astoria drove to the Gladstone 21-yard line, before a fumbled option pitch and a Brady Regier sack forced them to punt the ball on 4th and 20. The Gladiators effectively alternated run and pass as they drove the ball to the Astoria 1-yard line, never facing a third down.
With first and goal at the 1-yard line and 13 seconds remaining, Taft came up short on a quarterback sneak when his knee touched down before a forward surge. Cote, 5-for-7 on PAT's on the season to that point, nailed the kick from two yards ahead of the PAT spot to set off a jubilant celebration for the Glads, who were manhandled 50-27 in last year's meeting with the Fishermen.
"If anything would be frustrating for us, it would be missing out on our big play capability the last two weeks," said Rub. "We had a couple of opportunities again tonight and didn't take advantage of it."
"Anybody that's watching us, if they really realize how young we are, especially in terms of experience, there's no reason to hit a panic button right now. Hitting a panic button will get us into trouble. We just need to stay the course and get better."
Gladstone scored first when track star Darrell Fields took a short slant pass from Taft and blew past Astoria's secondary 65 yards to the end zone with 1:38 remaining in the first quarter.
Astoria had a chance to tie the game just before halftime, when Poyer punched the ball in on a 1-yard sneak with 0:00 showing on the clock. A 35-yard TD run by Poyer earlier in the drive was wiped out on an illegal block penalty, but Astoria recovered from that setback and caught a break when a second remained on the clock after Poyer tried a keeper sweep to the right pylon but was pushed out of bounds just short of the goal line on a second and goal carry.
The Fishermen tried to run a statue of liberty play for a 2-point conversion, but the Gladiators were not fooled and tackled Tom Jaworski short of the end zone.
Another Taft to Fields connection, this time for 12 yards, put the Gladiators back in front 14-6 after a short drive to open the second half.
Fields appeared well on his way to another long touchdown later in the quarter, when he came out of the backfield to take a pitch, got outside to the left sideline and was off to the races. One of the fastest men in 4A football, Fields still could not outrun Astoria's Poyer, who angled from the middle of the field and not only tackled the 5-8 sprinter, but punched the ball out of his hands down the sideline. Hans Lund covered the ball 54 yards from the Gladstone line of scrimmage at the Astoria 22-yard line.
"Jordan was amazing defensively tonight," said Rub, "similar to what you saw against Siuslaw. I don't know how you describe that play other than to say, 'Wow!' He made a great strip of a ball in the red zone that kept them out of the end zone earlier in the game. He just does a lot of amazing things as a football player."
"I think that as we progress and the team grows around him, all of those great plays he makes will be rewarded with improved play from the rest of us. Jordan will be the first to say he wasn't perfect tonight, he had some flaws tonight, too. But, he sure is a playmaker and is fun to watch and really helped keep us in the game."
Poyer led a rejuvenated Astoria rushing attack with 99 yards on 24 carries, while Jaworski picked up 67 yards on 15 totes.
"The offensive line was begging for that," said Rub. "As soon as our first offensive series, they felt like we could do some stuff inside. That bodes really well for us. Unfortunately, we just bogged down in the red zone, similar to last week."
However, Astoria's high-power passing game remains stuck in neutral. Despite a new fleet of receivers, Poyer was only able to complete 5-of-13 passes for 23 yards. The second-team All-state signalcaller was 0-for-3 in the second half.
"I'm glad that they're taking it personal and I'm glad that it hurts right now," said Rub. "I also need them to be ready on Monday to look at the positive things that happened and let's run with that and make it all better."
Taft went 11-for-19 through the air for 187 yards for the Gladiators, with Regier registering four grabs for 68 yards and Fields totalling 86 yards on three receptions.
Astoria, now 1-2 on the season, hosts 1-2 Philomath on Friday night. The game will be broadcast live on 1370 AM KAST starting at 6:45 p.m.
ASTORIA 0-6-8-0--14
GLADSTONE 7-0-7-3--17
1st Q-GLA: Fields 65 pass from Taft (Cote kick)
2ndQ-AST: Poyer 1 run (run failed)
3rdQ-GLA: Fields 12 pass from Taft (Cote kick)
3rdQ-AST: Jaworski 2 run (Poyer to Jaworski)
4thQ-GLA: Cote 18-FG
RUSHING-AST: 48-228 (Poyer 24-99-TD), GLA: 26-139 (Fields 3-64, Sander 3-48, Smith 11-30)
PASSING-AST: Poyer 5-13-1-23, GLA: Taft 11-19-187-2TD
RECEIVING-AST: Jaworski 2-8, H. Lund 1-9, GLA: Regier 4-68, Fields 3-86
FIRST DOWNS-AST: 14, GLA: 14
TURNOVERS-AST: 1, GLA: 3
PENALTIES-AST: 2-15, GLA: 1-5
The game shifted upriver on the Willamette when renovations of Gladstone's football field and track ran a little behind schedule. The Gladiators were playing their first "home" game on Oregon City's FieldTurf surface before inaugurating their own.
Austin Cote's game-winning kick came at the end of a 13-play, 79-yard drive over the final 5:30 of the contest. Gladstone junior quarterback Taylor Taft went 4-for-5 for 57 yards on the drive with each pass leading to a first down.
"They executed better than us when they had to," said Astoria head coach Howard Rub. "So they deserved it. Certainly, we feel like the last two weeks the end result is more our deal than anything the opponent has done. With that in mind, that's why things can still be in a good way for us. There's no reason that we cannot still do some of the things that we like to do, however, there's not much to talk about at this point. It's more a matter of rolling up the sleeves and going to work."
Astoria was victimized once again by poor tackling on the final march down the field, something that cost them in a 32-7 loss to La Salle the previous week. The Fishermen played much of the second half with two backup cornerbacks after starters Sam Johnson and Marcus Brown left with injuries. Brown, suffering from leg cramps, returned to the game, while Johnson was out of uniform down the stretch after suffering a knee injury.
"We're a little young in our secondary at the corner," said Rub. "Especially after Sam got hurt, we got real young at the edges. They took advantage of that a little bit."
With the game tied at 14-14, Astoria drove to the Gladstone 21-yard line, before a fumbled option pitch and a Brady Regier sack forced them to punt the ball on 4th and 20. The Gladiators effectively alternated run and pass as they drove the ball to the Astoria 1-yard line, never facing a third down.
With first and goal at the 1-yard line and 13 seconds remaining, Taft came up short on a quarterback sneak when his knee touched down before a forward surge. Cote, 5-for-7 on PAT's on the season to that point, nailed the kick from two yards ahead of the PAT spot to set off a jubilant celebration for the Glads, who were manhandled 50-27 in last year's meeting with the Fishermen.
"If anything would be frustrating for us, it would be missing out on our big play capability the last two weeks," said Rub. "We had a couple of opportunities again tonight and didn't take advantage of it."
"Anybody that's watching us, if they really realize how young we are, especially in terms of experience, there's no reason to hit a panic button right now. Hitting a panic button will get us into trouble. We just need to stay the course and get better."
Gladstone scored first when track star Darrell Fields took a short slant pass from Taft and blew past Astoria's secondary 65 yards to the end zone with 1:38 remaining in the first quarter.
Astoria had a chance to tie the game just before halftime, when Poyer punched the ball in on a 1-yard sneak with 0:00 showing on the clock. A 35-yard TD run by Poyer earlier in the drive was wiped out on an illegal block penalty, but Astoria recovered from that setback and caught a break when a second remained on the clock after Poyer tried a keeper sweep to the right pylon but was pushed out of bounds just short of the goal line on a second and goal carry.
The Fishermen tried to run a statue of liberty play for a 2-point conversion, but the Gladiators were not fooled and tackled Tom Jaworski short of the end zone.
Another Taft to Fields connection, this time for 12 yards, put the Gladiators back in front 14-6 after a short drive to open the second half.
Fields appeared well on his way to another long touchdown later in the quarter, when he came out of the backfield to take a pitch, got outside to the left sideline and was off to the races. One of the fastest men in 4A football, Fields still could not outrun Astoria's Poyer, who angled from the middle of the field and not only tackled the 5-8 sprinter, but punched the ball out of his hands down the sideline. Hans Lund covered the ball 54 yards from the Gladstone line of scrimmage at the Astoria 22-yard line.
"Jordan was amazing defensively tonight," said Rub, "similar to what you saw against Siuslaw. I don't know how you describe that play other than to say, 'Wow!' He made a great strip of a ball in the red zone that kept them out of the end zone earlier in the game. He just does a lot of amazing things as a football player."
"I think that as we progress and the team grows around him, all of those great plays he makes will be rewarded with improved play from the rest of us. Jordan will be the first to say he wasn't perfect tonight, he had some flaws tonight, too. But, he sure is a playmaker and is fun to watch and really helped keep us in the game."
Poyer led a rejuvenated Astoria rushing attack with 99 yards on 24 carries, while Jaworski picked up 67 yards on 15 totes.
"The offensive line was begging for that," said Rub. "As soon as our first offensive series, they felt like we could do some stuff inside. That bodes really well for us. Unfortunately, we just bogged down in the red zone, similar to last week."
However, Astoria's high-power passing game remains stuck in neutral. Despite a new fleet of receivers, Poyer was only able to complete 5-of-13 passes for 23 yards. The second-team All-state signalcaller was 0-for-3 in the second half.
"I'm glad that they're taking it personal and I'm glad that it hurts right now," said Rub. "I also need them to be ready on Monday to look at the positive things that happened and let's run with that and make it all better."
Taft went 11-for-19 through the air for 187 yards for the Gladiators, with Regier registering four grabs for 68 yards and Fields totalling 86 yards on three receptions.
Astoria, now 1-2 on the season, hosts 1-2 Philomath on Friday night. The game will be broadcast live on 1370 AM KAST starting at 6:45 p.m.
ASTORIA 0-6-8-0--14
GLADSTONE 7-0-7-3--17
1st Q-GLA: Fields 65 pass from Taft (Cote kick)
2ndQ-AST: Poyer 1 run (run failed)
3rdQ-GLA: Fields 12 pass from Taft (Cote kick)
3rdQ-AST: Jaworski 2 run (Poyer to Jaworski)
4thQ-GLA: Cote 18-FG
RUSHING-AST: 48-228 (Poyer 24-99-TD), GLA: 26-139 (Fields 3-64, Sander 3-48, Smith 11-30)
PASSING-AST: Poyer 5-13-1-23, GLA: Taft 11-19-187-2TD
RECEIVING-AST: Jaworski 2-8, H. Lund 1-9, GLA: Regier 4-68, Fields 3-86
FIRST DOWNS-AST: 14, GLA: 14
TURNOVERS-AST: 1, GLA: 3
PENALTIES-AST: 2-15, GLA: 1-5
posted by Matt Richert at 12:21 PM
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