Day After Report Part II: Notes for Union, Bay, Fort, and a Skyview correction
Admit it. You are a bit jealous.
I got to cover Camas vs. Chiawana on Friday in one of the greatest football atmospheres — pro, college, or high school — in the Northwest at Doc Harris Stadium. Then, on Saturday, I got to cover Union vs. Federal way.
There are several Class 4A state rankings out there, but in just about all of them, you’ll find that these four teams are somewhere in the top six going into the season.
Not only were the matchups fantastic on paper, they turned into dramatic, down-to-the-wire games.
To read more about Camas’ 16-14 win over Chiawana, read the game story and the first of my two Day After Reports for Week 1.
The rest of this edition will focus on Union, some more notes from the Hudson’s Bay-Fort Vancouver game, and a correction.
UNION 34, FEDERAL WAY 27
The Titans couldn’t get much going in the first half, and then they barely could be stopped in the second half. A tremendous adjustment at halftime led Union to the victory in Gary McGarvie’s first game as head coach.
Federal Way’s No. 5 is alive:
But before talking about Union, let’s give Camas a preview of a guy they might want to pay attention to in Week 2. Federal Way is coming to Camas on Friday night, and fans might want to get a good look at No. 5, Chico McClatcher.
He was a one-man fantasy football team, scoring on offense, special teams, and also getting an interception on defense.
He gave Federal Way a 14-7 lead on a 54-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter. Four minutes later, he was alone in the end zone to haul in a 25-yard touchdown pass from quarterback D’Jimon Jones. McClatcher set up that TD drive with an interception while playing defensive back.
In the third quarter, Federal Way blocked a field goal and McClatcher scooped the ball up at the 1-yard line, took advantage of one amazing block, and went 99 yards the other way in Usain Bolt-like style.
He had 94 yards rushing in the first half, but then he only touched the ball two times on offense in the second half. One was a rush for -4 yards and the other he threw an incomplete pass on a pass-run option play.
A few players suffered through leg cramps throughout the hot night in Federal Way. Not sure if that’s what happened to McClatcher. Or perhaps Federal Way coaches figured the Union defense was keying on him the rest of the night. There could be plenty of other reasons, too.
Regardless, his performance was fun to watch.
Who is that big guy running so fast?
Union wide receiver Tyler Dionne caught a pass from quarterback Nolan Henry and took off toward the end zone. He made it for a 61-yard score that tied the game at 7 late in the first quarter.
Dionne has a combination of size and speed. He looks like a tight end at 6-4, 241 pounds, but the wheels to take one to the house from 61 yards. He will likely be a great target on any third-and-5 play. Throw the ball high, and let Dionne “post-up” his man and go get the ball. Then, he is strong and fast enough to perhaps break the short gain for a long one.
(This has been updated: Was told Dionne is 241 pounds. He was 215 pounds last year. Better get that roster updated now Titans!)
He can run, too:
Everyone knows Union quarterback Nolan Henry can throw the ball. Now, it looks like he might be used as a run option, as well. He gained 31 yards. (By the way, this is a correction. My boxscore in the paper said 71 yards! Whoops. Jack Bauer did have 10 carries for 71 yards, and I must have just thrown in those numbers for Henry’s stats, too. I’m guessing Nolan didn’t mind!)
Wait? Jack who?
Jack Bauer had 71 yards rushing on 10 carries. You heard that right.
This is Jack Bauer of Union. Not to be confused with Jack Bauer, the guy who saves the world 24 hours at a time while never going to the bathroom.
It was hard to tell the difference, though. The Union Jack Bauer did come to the rescue a few times. He scored two rushing touchdowns and provided a change-of-pace running style. He also intercepted a pass to end Federal Way’s final drive of the game.
Oh, and don’t think we didn’t notice that Union’s Jack Bauer wears No. 24.
Halftime and final stats AND corrected stats:
The Federal Way guys in the trenches dominated the first half. Then the big guys from Union ruled the second half. Want proof? Check these numbers out:
Federal Way gained 276 yards on 33 plays in the first half. Federal Way gained 10 yards on just 15 second-half plays.
Union, meanwhile, had 126 yards on 23 plays in the first half. Union gained 325 yards on 43 second-half plays.
By the way, as any long-time readers know, I am a stickler for my stats. On deadline, errors happen, such as the one I already noted with Henry. Drives me nuts when I’m off, even by a yard. That is why I look at my play-by-play again the next day. Sure enough, I messed up on the game story regarding team yards. I will fix it online.
I take notes of every play, and then I chart each play. If I make a mistake on the chart, say, in the third quarter, then the running totals will be off for the rest of the night. When I feel I’ve made an error, though, I have my play-by-play to turn to. So on Sunday night, I re-charted the Union game.
The boxscore on this game report (and the numbers used in the story) have now been updated.
Adjustments:
As noted in my game story, there was a lot of finger-pointing going on with the Titans in the first half. Coaches made adjustments with the strategy, but just as important, the players had an attitude adjustment.
“We got rid of that in the second half, and it showed,” running back Alex Berfanger said, referring to the negativity in the first half. “Football is a team sport. If you don’t think like that, you’ll lose.”
HUDSON’S BAY 20, FORT VANCOUVER 19
Hudson’s Bay’s defense came through with several big plays Friday night as the Eagles won the Peace Pipe trophy for the 25th time in the series history.
Bay sacked Fort quarterback Jordan Suell four times, knocked away three passes, and forced a fumble with 4 1/2 minutes left that thwarted a potential scoring drive.
“Our philosophy was bend but don’t break,” said Andy Meyer, who credited fellow first-year co-head coach Rick Skinner with developing the defensive game plan that held the Trappers to 255 yards and 12 first downs. “We came out tonight and did what we needed to do.”
Still, the game came down to one final play after a roughing-the-passer penalty gave Fort a first down at its 43-yard line with 2.9 seconds left.
“Anything was possible at that minute,” Meyer said after Tristan Maxwell had knocked away the last-gasp pass. “But I was at peace with that. Either way, the kids had played hard, and they never gave up the whole game.”
Fort shows promise:
Fort coach Cal Szueber’s second stint as head coach, returning after three seasons at Portland Christian, may have ended in defeat, but there were some bright spots to build upon.
Suell showed good chemistry with his big outside receivers, hitting 6-foot-5 senior David Bishop on several jump-ball passes — including a touchdown on the first play of the second quarter — and finding 6-foot Jorge Regalado on a 70-yard pass that set up the first of Mitchell Cooper’s two touchdown runs.
“Jordan just needs to develop confidence,” Szueber said. “He’s been throwing under pressure for a while. He’s just going to get better this season.”
Cooper also showed he’ll be a force on both sides of the ball, running for a game-high 51 yards on 10 carries while also making nine tackles, 4 1/2 for loss, including a pair of sacks.
“Mitchell played pretty hard tonight,” Szueber said. “He gave everything he’s got out there. He just needs to play with less emotion at times, and he’ll be a great ballplayer for us.”
This and that:
The Trappers played without 6-7, 235-pound senior Will Doty, who was injured in last week’s jamboree. Szueber said Doty should be back for next week’s road game at The Dalles. … Jeremiah Davis added eight tackles for Fort at linebacker, while junior tackle Duncan Crawford had 2 1/2 tackles for loss. … Bay senior Anthony Sanchez not only caught seven passes for 136 yards and two TDs, but he also shared team-high honors with six tackles, along with Caleb Grahnert and Stone Sabourin. … The Eagles last won a season opener in 2007. They haven’t won two games in a season since 2010, and they’ll go for their first winning streak since Sept. 22-29, 2006, next Friday when they play Heritage.
Skyview correction: I’ve been told that Skyview’s Blake Ingram had one of the team’s two interceptions Friday night in Walla Walla. If our freelance reporter did miss this one, it was an honest mistake.
I promise we journalists never want to be wrong. Sometimes the jersey numbers are hard to read from the press box. Sometimes we see the wrong name on the roster. These things happen, especially on a tough deadline.
Appreciate the help from the Storm to give credit where credit is due.
That’s it for Week 1. Thanks to Rene Ferran for the Bay-Fort notes.
