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Maybe it was the comfort of playing in familiar surroundings. Maybe it was the caliber of the competition. Maybe this Astoria team is beginning to realize its potential. Maybe its all of the above.
Whatever the reasons, it was good to see big play Astoria football again on Friday night as the Fishermen walloped the Philomath Warriors 45-13 at John Warren Field.
"I'm really pleased for the guys," said Astoria head coach Howard Rub, whose team had dropped out of the state rankings after back-to-back road losses. "They needed this. They needed to be full of smiles at the end of this thing."
After three straight games against rugged competition, the Fishermen wasted no time in putting away the Warriors, who have struggled in recent years. Astoria built a 28-0 first half lead in the manner that Fish Fans have become accustomed. Very quickly.
Astoria's first four scoring drives used up a combined total of less than 2:30 on the clock. While Astoria's starting offensive unit had just one play of 25 yards or more the last two weeks, they had three in their first six offensive plays against the Valco League visitors.
The Fishermen also went to the trick bag early on, much to the delight of the large crowd, starved for the highlight reel material they gobbled up during Astoria's unbeaten regular season a year ago.
Sophomore slot receiver Alex Eterno, making only his second varsity start, rambled 14 yards on a reverse on Astoria's first play of the game. With a quartet of receivers bunched to the right side, Eterno threw a key block to spring quarterback Jordan Poyer for a 16-yard run on the next play. Then Tom Jaworski ran around left end and down the sideline for a 28-yard touchdown, putting the Fishermen up 7-0.
Philomath's first two offensive series netted -1 yards, with Trevor Puckett blowing up a handoff in the backfield for a forced fumble on the first series and sacking Warriors' quarterback John Koeppe on third and 11 the next time the Warriors had the ball. Puckett had a big night defensively, laying out his signature loud licks throughout the game. The junior middle linebacker was helped by a tremendous effort in the middle of Astoria's 5-man defensive front by mountainous 6-5, 330-pound senior nose guard Chris Edwards, who occupied two blockers most of the night while making a handful of tackles including one tackle for loss.
"Chris was a real load for them," said Astoria head coach Howard Rub. "When those guys like him and Dante [Combs] and Will Bush at times when they can occupy a couple of offensive linemen, it makes life so much easier for your linebackers. Our defensive front overall and Chris in particular had a lot to do with Trevor's success."
After their second punt put Astoria on the Warriors' 41-yard line, the Fishermen treated the crowd with another trick play, a reverse flea-flicker, with Poyer launching the ball to a wide-open Marcus Brown at the three yard line. Another sophomore making his second start at wide receiver, Brown waltzed into the end zone with his first career catch and it was 14-0 Fishermen just a little over four minutes into the game.
"It's exactly what the doctor ordered," said Rub. "We wanted to regain some of our big play ability. And some of what they do defensively, it's not like that would be a gimme. I think what you saw was some real improvement on the edge by our wide outs being aggressive. Whether it was blocking or going after the ball."
The Warriors took advantage of the first of 11 Astoria penalties, a roughing the passer call, to gain their only first down of the quarter. The drive would stall shortly thereafter following a holding penalty on Philomath. Warriors punter Kory Stueve, who barely got his first two punts away after a heavy Astoria rush, never got the chance after a low snap forced him to scramble for his life. A desperation pass was broken up and the Fishermen had the ball on the Philomath 36-yard line. Cue highlight archive file.
For such a young player, Poyer has certainly built up a backlog of memorable plays. The electrifying junior added another one after reversing direction on an option run to the left side, avoiding tacklers to the right sideline then launching himself parallel to the ground from the 3-yard line to sneak the ball inside the pylon on a breathtaking 30-yard run.
The frustration showed early for Philomath. An Astoria offsides penalty in the second quarter still couldn't help the Warriors move the chains and they were forced to punt for the fifth time in the half. After Trevor Puckett took a short pass in the flat and ran 17 yards for a first down, Tom Jaworski carried the ball around left end for a six yard gain. Jaworski was run out of bounds by Philomath's All-Valco senior linebacker James Zook, who kept going well outside the boundary and finished the play by trying to plant Jaworski's facemask into the raised berm on the Warrior sideline with a full force body slam, drawing a personal foul penalty, but shockingly, not an ejection. While Zook was getting an earful from a furious coach on the sideline, Poyer zipped a pass to Sam Johnson on a skinny post for a 10-yard touchdown and the rout was on.
Max Johnson tacked on a 22-yard field goal on the final play of the half, capping Astoria's only extended drive of the night, a 64-yard march covering the final 3:12 that featured a 23-yard pass to Jaworski on 4th and five. Johnson had earlier missed a 37-yard attempt from the right hash mark, leaving Astoria with just one of six first half drives that did not result in points. It was about the only kick that didn't go Max's way as the left-legged soph boomed three kickoffs for touchbacks and was a perfect 6-for-6 on PAT's.
"He has to be a weapon for us," said Rub. "Offensively, it's a pretty good deal. You can almost feel like a college offense. If you get that ball to the 18-yard line, you feel like you can get some points."
Leading 31-0 at the half, Astoria wasted no time in adding to its cushion as Hans Lund returned the opening kickoff of the second half 90 yards to the house, capping his long journey with a Poyeresque swan dive that drew a taunting penalty. Lund had to retreat to the 10-yard line after the kick bounced through his legs, then got a lane down the left sideline and a crunching block from younger brother Dane to get sprung.
Philomath finally got on the board with 8:40 to go in the third quarter as a Koeppe pass somehow ricocheted off Sam Johnson's hands right to Derek Davis who rambled the final 15 yards to paydirt for a 39-yard touchdown. Zook, who was removed from the game after his cheap shot hit on Jaworski, returned to handle the long snap, only to send it sailing over the head of the holder for a failed conversion. Lyden Nyman made a nice play in the end zone to break up a desperation heave on the play.
Astoria only snappd the ball two times on its final scoring drive. A holding penalty sent the Fishermen back to the 21-yard line before Poyer got the crowd roaring one last time, showing off his speed on a 79-yard run down the right side line. Eluding tacklers to the corner, Poyer turned on the jets but had three defensive pursuers closing in from the middle of the field with an angle. The speedy QB neatly slipped between two of them and blew past the third on the way to the second-longest TD run of his magnificent career, trumped only by an 82-yard gallop at Philomath in last year's 28-0 win.
Poyer finished with 191 yards rushing on 12 carries and threw for 132 yards on 7-of-13 passing with one interception. Jaworski finished with 98 yards rushing and receiving and added a nifty punt return, picking up the ball after it was touched by a Warrior cover man and racing the right sideline for about a 30-yard return, helped by a shuddering block by sophomore Jake Hatcher.
"I thought Jaws had a really big night, stepped up big," said Rub. "I thought Hans showed what he's capable of when he gets his hands on the ball. And that was good to see, because in all honesty, I think at times even those two veterans were tentative in the last two weeks."
The Fishermen, hopefully with lost mojo in tow, will head to Monmouth Friday night to take on another tough customer. The Central Panthers are considered strong playoff material, although they have dropped back-to-back games to Junction City and Scappoose after winning their first two. The game will be played at Western Oregon University's McArthur Field and will be broadcast live on 1370-AM KAST starting at 6:45 p.m.
PHILOMATH 0-0-6-7--13
ASTORIA 21-17-7-0--45
1stQ-AST: Jaworski 28 run (M. Johnson kick)
1stQ-AST: Brown 41 pass from Poyer (M. Johnson kick)
1stQ-AST: Poyer 30 run (M. Johnson kick)
2ndQ-AST: S. Johnson 10 pass from Poyer (M. Johnson kick)
2ndQ-AST: M. Johnson 22 FG
3rdQ-AST: H. Lund 90 kickoff return (M. Johnson kick)
3rdQ-PHI: Davis 39 pass from Koeppe (pass failed)
3rdQ-AST: Poyer 79 run (Johnson kick)
4thQ-PHI: Fisher 5 run (Stephenson kick)
RUSHING-PHI: 41-177, AST: 30-274 (Poyer 12-191-2TD)
PASSING-PHI: Koeppe 4-15-1-69-TD, AST: 7-14-1-127 (Poyer 7-13-1-127-2TD)
RECEIVING-PHI: Davis 2-62-TD, AST: Jaworski 3-53
FIRST DOWNS-PHI: 12, AST: 14
TURNOVERS- PHI: 2, AST: 1
PENALTIES-PHI: 2-20, AST: 11-85
Whatever the reasons, it was good to see big play Astoria football again on Friday night as the Fishermen walloped the Philomath Warriors 45-13 at John Warren Field.
"I'm really pleased for the guys," said Astoria head coach Howard Rub, whose team had dropped out of the state rankings after back-to-back road losses. "They needed this. They needed to be full of smiles at the end of this thing."
After three straight games against rugged competition, the Fishermen wasted no time in putting away the Warriors, who have struggled in recent years. Astoria built a 28-0 first half lead in the manner that Fish Fans have become accustomed. Very quickly.
Astoria's first four scoring drives used up a combined total of less than 2:30 on the clock. While Astoria's starting offensive unit had just one play of 25 yards or more the last two weeks, they had three in their first six offensive plays against the Valco League visitors.
The Fishermen also went to the trick bag early on, much to the delight of the large crowd, starved for the highlight reel material they gobbled up during Astoria's unbeaten regular season a year ago.
Sophomore slot receiver Alex Eterno, making only his second varsity start, rambled 14 yards on a reverse on Astoria's first play of the game. With a quartet of receivers bunched to the right side, Eterno threw a key block to spring quarterback Jordan Poyer for a 16-yard run on the next play. Then Tom Jaworski ran around left end and down the sideline for a 28-yard touchdown, putting the Fishermen up 7-0.
Philomath's first two offensive series netted -1 yards, with Trevor Puckett blowing up a handoff in the backfield for a forced fumble on the first series and sacking Warriors' quarterback John Koeppe on third and 11 the next time the Warriors had the ball. Puckett had a big night defensively, laying out his signature loud licks throughout the game. The junior middle linebacker was helped by a tremendous effort in the middle of Astoria's 5-man defensive front by mountainous 6-5, 330-pound senior nose guard Chris Edwards, who occupied two blockers most of the night while making a handful of tackles including one tackle for loss.
"Chris was a real load for them," said Astoria head coach Howard Rub. "When those guys like him and Dante [Combs] and Will Bush at times when they can occupy a couple of offensive linemen, it makes life so much easier for your linebackers. Our defensive front overall and Chris in particular had a lot to do with Trevor's success."
After their second punt put Astoria on the Warriors' 41-yard line, the Fishermen treated the crowd with another trick play, a reverse flea-flicker, with Poyer launching the ball to a wide-open Marcus Brown at the three yard line. Another sophomore making his second start at wide receiver, Brown waltzed into the end zone with his first career catch and it was 14-0 Fishermen just a little over four minutes into the game.
"It's exactly what the doctor ordered," said Rub. "We wanted to regain some of our big play ability. And some of what they do defensively, it's not like that would be a gimme. I think what you saw was some real improvement on the edge by our wide outs being aggressive. Whether it was blocking or going after the ball."
The Warriors took advantage of the first of 11 Astoria penalties, a roughing the passer call, to gain their only first down of the quarter. The drive would stall shortly thereafter following a holding penalty on Philomath. Warriors punter Kory Stueve, who barely got his first two punts away after a heavy Astoria rush, never got the chance after a low snap forced him to scramble for his life. A desperation pass was broken up and the Fishermen had the ball on the Philomath 36-yard line. Cue highlight archive file.
For such a young player, Poyer has certainly built up a backlog of memorable plays. The electrifying junior added another one after reversing direction on an option run to the left side, avoiding tacklers to the right sideline then launching himself parallel to the ground from the 3-yard line to sneak the ball inside the pylon on a breathtaking 30-yard run.
The frustration showed early for Philomath. An Astoria offsides penalty in the second quarter still couldn't help the Warriors move the chains and they were forced to punt for the fifth time in the half. After Trevor Puckett took a short pass in the flat and ran 17 yards for a first down, Tom Jaworski carried the ball around left end for a six yard gain. Jaworski was run out of bounds by Philomath's All-Valco senior linebacker James Zook, who kept going well outside the boundary and finished the play by trying to plant Jaworski's facemask into the raised berm on the Warrior sideline with a full force body slam, drawing a personal foul penalty, but shockingly, not an ejection. While Zook was getting an earful from a furious coach on the sideline, Poyer zipped a pass to Sam Johnson on a skinny post for a 10-yard touchdown and the rout was on.
Max Johnson tacked on a 22-yard field goal on the final play of the half, capping Astoria's only extended drive of the night, a 64-yard march covering the final 3:12 that featured a 23-yard pass to Jaworski on 4th and five. Johnson had earlier missed a 37-yard attempt from the right hash mark, leaving Astoria with just one of six first half drives that did not result in points. It was about the only kick that didn't go Max's way as the left-legged soph boomed three kickoffs for touchbacks and was a perfect 6-for-6 on PAT's.
"He has to be a weapon for us," said Rub. "Offensively, it's a pretty good deal. You can almost feel like a college offense. If you get that ball to the 18-yard line, you feel like you can get some points."
Leading 31-0 at the half, Astoria wasted no time in adding to its cushion as Hans Lund returned the opening kickoff of the second half 90 yards to the house, capping his long journey with a Poyeresque swan dive that drew a taunting penalty. Lund had to retreat to the 10-yard line after the kick bounced through his legs, then got a lane down the left sideline and a crunching block from younger brother Dane to get sprung.
Philomath finally got on the board with 8:40 to go in the third quarter as a Koeppe pass somehow ricocheted off Sam Johnson's hands right to Derek Davis who rambled the final 15 yards to paydirt for a 39-yard touchdown. Zook, who was removed from the game after his cheap shot hit on Jaworski, returned to handle the long snap, only to send it sailing over the head of the holder for a failed conversion. Lyden Nyman made a nice play in the end zone to break up a desperation heave on the play.
Astoria only snappd the ball two times on its final scoring drive. A holding penalty sent the Fishermen back to the 21-yard line before Poyer got the crowd roaring one last time, showing off his speed on a 79-yard run down the right side line. Eluding tacklers to the corner, Poyer turned on the jets but had three defensive pursuers closing in from the middle of the field with an angle. The speedy QB neatly slipped between two of them and blew past the third on the way to the second-longest TD run of his magnificent career, trumped only by an 82-yard gallop at Philomath in last year's 28-0 win.
Poyer finished with 191 yards rushing on 12 carries and threw for 132 yards on 7-of-13 passing with one interception. Jaworski finished with 98 yards rushing and receiving and added a nifty punt return, picking up the ball after it was touched by a Warrior cover man and racing the right sideline for about a 30-yard return, helped by a shuddering block by sophomore Jake Hatcher.
"I thought Jaws had a really big night, stepped up big," said Rub. "I thought Hans showed what he's capable of when he gets his hands on the ball. And that was good to see, because in all honesty, I think at times even those two veterans were tentative in the last two weeks."
The Fishermen, hopefully with lost mojo in tow, will head to Monmouth Friday night to take on another tough customer. The Central Panthers are considered strong playoff material, although they have dropped back-to-back games to Junction City and Scappoose after winning their first two. The game will be played at Western Oregon University's McArthur Field and will be broadcast live on 1370-AM KAST starting at 6:45 p.m.
PHILOMATH 0-0-6-7--13
ASTORIA 21-17-7-0--45
1stQ-AST: Jaworski 28 run (M. Johnson kick)
1stQ-AST: Brown 41 pass from Poyer (M. Johnson kick)
1stQ-AST: Poyer 30 run (M. Johnson kick)
2ndQ-AST: S. Johnson 10 pass from Poyer (M. Johnson kick)
2ndQ-AST: M. Johnson 22 FG
3rdQ-AST: H. Lund 90 kickoff return (M. Johnson kick)
3rdQ-PHI: Davis 39 pass from Koeppe (pass failed)
3rdQ-AST: Poyer 79 run (Johnson kick)
4thQ-PHI: Fisher 5 run (Stephenson kick)
RUSHING-PHI: 41-177, AST: 30-274 (Poyer 12-191-2TD)
PASSING-PHI: Koeppe 4-15-1-69-TD, AST: 7-14-1-127 (Poyer 7-13-1-127-2TD)
RECEIVING-PHI: Davis 2-62-TD, AST: Jaworski 3-53
FIRST DOWNS-PHI: 12, AST: 14
TURNOVERS- PHI: 2, AST: 1
PENALTIES-PHI: 2-20, AST: 11-85
posted by Matt Richert at 10:21 PM
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