Day After Report (4A, 3A teams): Week 1
It’s back.
It’s The Return of The Day After Report!!!!!
Here, you will find more notes from Friday’s games, more stories about the coverage, and just more, more, more of this great thing called high school football. Let’s get it started.
Do you remember the time …: Before getting to the games, I thought it would be fun to ask a few head coaches every week about their high school careers. So today, and in the next few weeks, I’m uncovering the secrets of their past.
Do you remember your first varsity start as a high school football player?
Charles Anthony, Evergreen coach: Played for Western High School in Las Vegas. His first start was as a junior at defensive end. Considering he went on to play defensive back at UNLV, yeah, you could say Anthony was playing out of position that night. Oh, and he went up against Nick Bell, a future Big Ten player of the year and future NFL running back who was about the biggest and strongest thing in Nevada at the time.
“We were short-handed so I played defensive end. I had to tackle him all game,” Anthony said of Bell.
Or, sometimes, he would get run over by Bell.
“He was a nice guy. He always helped you up. But you didn’t want to make him mad.”
Steve Kizer, Skyview coach: Played for Evergreen. (Nope, not that Evergreen, the one in Seattle.) It was the fall of 1975. He was a wide receiver and a safety.
After Kizer helped the Storm reach the Class 4A state title game last season, just about everyone around Skyview thinks he is a sports hero. It turns out, he was a sports hero a long time ago, too.
“I actually caught a curl in the end zone for a touchdown,” Kizer said.
Not just any touchdown. It was with four minutes left, and it broke a 7-all tie, he recalled.
Kizer played for coach Gary Gagnon at Evergreen. Today, Gagnon is a volunteer assistant for the Storm.
Eric Ollikainen, Fort Vancouver: Here’s a coach who understands life as a Trapper. He played for Fort Vancouver and got his first start as a junior in 1996 against Columbia River.
“I was ready to go and the butterflies were going,” Ollikainen said.
Unfortunately for the Trappers, they came up short against Columbia River. Just barely. The Trappers went for a 2-point conversion at the end of the game and missed. Final score: 19-18. Ouch.
OK, to the games. (These are the 4A and 3A games. I will get to the smaller schools later in the weekend) …
UNION 35, MOUNTAIN VIEW 7
This was the third meeting between the programs from the same school district, and the first one that was not close. Union crushed the Thunder, using a defense that did not relent until it did not matter.
DEEEEEE-FENCE: Union ended up scoring five touchdowns but did not need that many.
Here is Mountain View’s drive info in the first half:
Drive 1: Three plays, punt.
Drive 2: Three plays, one first down, lost fumble.
Drive 3: Three plays, punt.
Drive 4: Seven plays, two first downs, loss of downs after a fourth-down sack.
Drive 5: Three plays, punt.
Drive 6: One play, halftime.
At that time, Mountain View had 20 plays for 58 yards and trailed 28-0.
DON’T BACK DOWN: Last season, the Titans raced out to a 21-0 lead, only to see the Thunder rally to tie the game before Union pulled out a 12-point victory.
Union linebacker Paul Gladkov did not remember that, though. Because he was not here. He moved from Missouri over the offseason. So he had no idea that his sack on a fourth-down play with his team up 21-0 was actually big play. He said he just figured it was a sack in a 21-point game. But if he were here last year, he’d know that 21 points was not necessarily a safe lead in this rivalry.
Gladkov’s sack ended Mountain View’s only threat of the first half.
MAKE A PLAY ON DEFENSE, GET REWARDED ON OFFENSE: Bryce Evans recovered a Mountain View fumble in the first quarter with Union leading 7-0. One play later, Evans scored on a 42-yard reverse play to make it 14-0.
By the way, shout out to quarterback Nolan Henry who destroyed the final Thunder defender with a perfect block 15, 20 yards downfield.
NICE DEBUTS: Nolan Henry, a sophomore, got his first varsity start, completing 12 of 18 passes for 100 yards. Not spectacular numbers, but he looked good back there. Nothing seemed to bother him. All in all, a fine way to start a career.
“Varsity football is a whole other level. I love it,” Henry said. “Our team did really well, and our line did a great job blocking.”
Union coach Cale Piland said Henry is the real deal.
“I really didn’t expect anything less from him. He’s a very, very mature kid,” Piland said. “He doesn’t come off as a sophomore. He doesn’t look like a sophomore on the football field.”
Running back Leon Siofele also had a strong debut as a starting running back. He went for 118 yards and four touchdowns.
“My goal coming into the game was three. Four was a good accomplishment,” he said.
Yeah. Ya think so.
“I owe credit to my line,” Siofele said. “They did a great job. I was just doing my job, finding the holes.”
THUNDER REPORT: Mountain View Thunder fans do not need to be too discouraged over the first game. True fans of the program understand that this team always gets better as the season progresses. Always under coach Adam Mathieson.
Plus, even if the game was already over, the Thunder did put together a drive that they hope will carry some momentum into the coming weeks. Mountain View went 80 yards on 15 plays and picked up six first downs on its TD drive. Eddie Richardson converted on a fourth-down run, then scored his team’s touchdown.
CAMAS 63, OREGON CITY 20
Reilly Hennessey’s arm might be tired today. Don’t think he will mind, though, not after throwing for 415 yards.
NUMBERS: Oh look at that boxscore. It’s amazing. Zach Eagle caught 11 passes for 176 yards and two touchdowns. And he might be the THIRD best offensive player from this game. Hennessey completed 22 of 33 passes for 415 yards and four touchdowns. Nate Beasley ended up scoring five touchdowns. He rushed for 92 yards and three scores and caught four passes for 99 yards and two more TDs.
FIX THIS: It was not all perfect for the Papermakers. They did have 13 penalties. That could be first-game stuff. Hopefully for them, it’s nothing more than that. But hard to complain after beating a good program by 43 points.
COLUMBIA RIVER 40, HERITAGE 34
The Chieftains never trailed as both teams proved their offenses are better than their defenses in the early going of the season. The teams combined for 11 touchdowns.
SO YOU LIKE OFFENSE, HUH? A wild second quarter in which the Chieftains outscored the Timberwolves 20-13 included four touchdowns in the span of 3:18. The rundown:
5:10 to play — Heritage got on the board with an 18-yard pass from Loren Standiford to Jacob Gardiner, pulling within 13-7.
4:18 — Columbia River scored when Remick Kawawaki turned a screen pass from Clayton Frank into a 77-yard TD. The score came on a third-and-7 play, capping a three-play drive that covered 80 yards. Columbia River 19, Heritage 7.
2:42 — Heritage scored on a fourth-and-3 play when Standiford found Tim Hergert and Hergert turned the 10-yard throw into a 48-yard TD. Timberwolves pull within 19-13.
1:52 — On third-and-10, Frank passed 20 yards downfield to Clark Bryant, who caught the ball over the middle and outraced the defense for an 80-yard score. Columbia River 27-13.
THESE T’WOLVES LOOK GOOD: The Timberwolves’ receivers are going to keep defensive coordinators up nights. Senior Tim Hergert and junior E’Lon Mack are tall, fast, and scary. Mack, in fact, is the reigning district champion in the 100 meters and the 200 meters in track.
Against Columbia River, Hergert had 10 receptions for 145 yards and two touchdowns, and Mack had six catches for 97 yards with one score.
However, the Timberwolves struggled on the ground, finishing with 58 yards on 25 carries.
FRANK SHARES THE WEALTH: Frank rushed 17 times for 130 yards and three touchdowns. He also completed 13 of 26 passes for 277 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. But the most amazing stat from his night might be this: Frank’s 13 completions were spread among eight receivers, with none of them catching more than two passes.
ANOTHER STRONG PERFORMANCE: Kawawaki had a big night, rushing for 24 times for 126 yards and a touchdown, and catching two passes for 104 yards with a score. He also recovered a fumble on defense, one of three turnovers forced by the Chieftains.
And still, Heritage did a solid job of bottling him up.
After having a big first quarter and running for 44 yards on his first seven carries, the 6-foot-2, 220-pound senior rarely found room to run. He totaled 13 yards on his next nine carries.
Kawawaki broke free late in the game, and his 23-yard run with 1:55 to play gave River a 40-26 lead that finally was too much for a valiant Heritage team.
“I wouldn’t say, ‘nervous,'” Kawawaki said. “I would say there were periods of frustration on our defense.”
UP FRONT: With all of Columbia River’s gaudy offensive statistics, coach John O’Rourke knew where to direct his praise.
“Except for one player, we have an all new offensive line, and I thought they played well,” O’Rourke said. “Anytime you score a lot of points, the line is playing well.”
THAT WAS FAST: Trailing 33-20 with 8:21 to play, Heritage took over possession on its own 13-yard line with the outlook appearing bleak. It wasn’t bleak for long.
Standiford threw a 12-yard completion to Victor Duran. Hergert had a 15-yard catch accompanied by a 15-yard penalty. And Mack caught a 43-yard pass that put the Timberwolves on the 2-yard line.
After an incompletion, a pass to Hergert completed a TD drive that covered 87 yards in five plays and 74 seconds.
THERE WAS A LITTLE DEFENSE: Both offenses had their way for much of the night, with Columbia River amassing 519 yards and Heritage accounting for 363. But one defensive performance worth mentioning were the two sacks recorded by Columbia River’s Dillon Willis, a 5-foot-11, 240-pound senior.
BATTLE GROUND 41, R.A. LONG 27
Kevin Haynes had the game of his life, rushing for 315 yards and five touchdowns to lead the Tigers.
CORRECTION: In the print edition of The Columbian, we noted the blocking of Blake Billingsley and called him an offensive lineman. Whoops. He’s a fullback. There was some confusion from the information we received on deadline last night. Sorry, Blake. We corrected it online.
HAPPY COACH: The Tigers gained a big early lead, but R.A. Long kept battling. That was probably a good thing for the Tigers.
“Our overall effort was very good. The biggest bright spot was when we did face some adversity, we did not panic. The kids stuck to the game plan,” Battle Ground coach Larry Peck said. “We are not big up front, but we are pretty mobile. On defense. we allowed some big plays, but we defended their speed pretty well. The kids were in the right position. It saved them.”
EVERGREEN 40, FORT VANCOUVER 0
The Plainsmen won in the Somebody’s Gotta Win Bowl.
FIRST ONES IN THE STADIUM GET TO SEE A VICTORY: John and Stacy Thomas, along with Sue Nittler, had been waiting a long time for this. So they did not mind waiting a little longer in the stadium Friday afternoon.
They were there to watch the Evergreen Plainsmen and senior Anthony Thomas. Stacy and John are Mom and Dad. Sue is Grandma.
They found their seats at McKenzie Stadium at 3:30 p.m. for the 5 p.m. kickoff. Why so early?
“Because after going 1-8 and then 0-9, we’re going to win a game right off the bat,” John said.
STREAKING: Evergreen had lost 13 in a row dating back to the 2010 season. Fort Vancouver, meanwhile, has now dropped 16 in a row.
PLAINSMEN STRONG AGAINST THE RUN: Fort Vancouver had nine carries in the first half. Only one went for positive yardage, and that was for a gain of one.
“It’s a new era,” Evergreen defensive lineman Hayden Deever said. “We plan on doing big things this year.”
SOME HOPE FOR FORT: Sophomore quarterback Jordan Suell had some really good moments, including some early in the game when the contest was still close. Suell went 4 for 4 for 57 yards on Fort’s second drive of the game. The Trappers got to Evergreen’s 2-yard line before a fumbled snap gave the ball to the Plainsmen. Still, this was a decent drive for Fort against a first-string defense.
CENTRAL CATHOLIC 27, SKYVIEW 9 (Thursday night)
The Rams scored the first 27 points of this game, and the Storm continued their tradition of losing early.
I KNOW THOSE DUDES: I kind of wish a Clark County school could actually beat Central Catholic. At least once. In 2007, Central Catholic beat Evergreen on a Hail Mary pass 43-40. (Yes, I just wrote Hail Mary and Central Catholic, and yes, it was a football miracle.) And then this week, Skyview fell to Central.
If our local players don’t want to win for themselves, do it for me, please. You see, the head coach of Central Catholic, Steve Pyne, is an old friend of mine. We go way back to high school. Same with assistant coach Jay Wallace. He coached me in high school. That doesn’t mean I want them to win every time they face a Washington school and I’m there covering it. In fact, Pyne could use a little humble pie from time to time. Now all I’ll hear is how Oregon rules over Washington. Not true, of course, but for now, he has at least a small claim.
Still, I do remind him that in Washington, teams must earn their way to the playoffs. Maybe too many make the playoffs in Washington, but at least not every team makes the playoffs in Washington. In Oregon, every team makes the playoffs. It’s the everybody-gets-a-trophy Oregon education, I guess. Anybody who coaches over there must not like a challenge, I tell him.
At the very least, I can assure Skyview fans that their team lost to a coach who is a great guy and was born to be a coach.
Oh, and if you want to beat Pyne in something some day, play poker with him. He’s lost without a play chart and a headset. When it’s just poker with Pyne, it’s free money! Unfortunately for Clark County teams, he can use a play chart and headset in football.
FUN WITH NUMBERS: As noted in my game story, Skyview fans have nothing to worry about. The Storm don’t need to win in early September. The Storm have lost their last six season openers. In all other games in that time frame, the Storm are 42-12. Yep, they are pretty good and learning from their miscues.
PRAIRIE 23, RAINIER, Ore. 20
The closest game of the night involving a Clark County team, this was was over when Taylor Martin intercepted a pass in the final minute to preserve the Prairie victory.
NICE STARTS: A lot of new faces in the “skill” positions at Prairie. Quarterback Jacob Austin made his completions count, connecting on 11 passes for 159 yards and two touchdowns. Jason Bracken scored his first varsity touchdown, a goal of his from preseason. He got that out of the way quick.
I’ll have a smaller notes package on the smaller schools later in the weekend.
Thanks to all who helped contribute to this report:
Greg Jayne with the Columbia River-Heritage notes
Rene Ferran with the Camas notes
Bryan Levesque with the Battle Ground notes
