Rainier runs over Boomers
Sunday, November 11, 2007 8:26 AM PST
By Rick S. Alvord
Printable version
E-mail this articleRAINIER ---- The Oregon Coast "Boomer" is a primitive rodent that also goes by the name "mountain beaver," although it has several other aliases ---- ground bear, giant mole, Sewellel and Aplodontia among them.
Such obscure rodent trivia might be interesting to some. But not the Rainier football team.
On a sun-drenched Saturday afternoon at Chris Corl Field, the Columbians welcomed the Toledo Boomers to town for an Oregon 3A first-round state matchup and promptly knocked them back to their primitive roots.
Rainier used four interceptions ---- including one returned 73 yards by Austin McGlone for a touchdown ---- as a springboard to a 30-point halftime lead, then sleepwalked through the second half en route to a 38-6 victory.
The third-ranked Columbians (10-1) host Grant Union (8-2) in the state quarterfinals next Friday or Saturday. The Prospectors ---- primitive codgers that also go by the name "gold diggers" ---- whipped Colton 30-14 on Saturday in their first-round game.
In the Columbians' other half of the bracket, top-ranked Gold Beach will face No. 2 Regis next week, with the winner meeting the Rainier-GU survivor in the semifinals.
"It's great to be moving on. Our guys played great, especially in the first half," Rainier coach Thor Ware said. "We anticipated getting a few interceptions because of the way he (Toledo senior quarterback Nick Flatt) throws the ball. And we went out and got four."
Junior fullback Andrew Allen led Rainier with 92 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries, while McGlone ---- who missed most of the season with a broken collarbone ---- also ran for a TD from his wingback spot.
Quarterback Jesse Renoude completed 7-of-11 tosses for 131 yards and a pair of touchdowns, both to speedster Hazze Walker (47 and 30 yards).
Rainier outgained the Boomers 306-163 in total yardage.
But this day belonged to the defense.
Dalton Earlywine, Jordan Smith, McGlone, Renoude, Allen and Curtis Kauffman each recorded sacks against Flatt, who was 3-of-10 for 33 yards with four picks in the first half and finished 8-of-16 for 74 yards.
In addition to McGlone's exhilarating TD return, Walker also intercepted two passes and Branden Staehely had one, bringing Rainier's state-leading season total to 27.
"We definitely wanted to get pressure on him (Flatt). Defensively, we had a great game plan," Ware said. "We practiced all week for what they were going to do and we broke them down."
Allen rumbled 27 yards to the Toledo 9 on the fifth play of the game, scored a touchdown on the sixth play, then added a two-point conversion on the seventh.
Boom, boom and boom. It was 8-0 barely two minutes in.
The Boomers' best scoring opportunity of the first half came minutes later when Walker muffed a punt as he was smacked by a Toledo player, who pounced on the ball. A 10-yard run by Michael Morkert gave the Boomers first-and-goal at the 5, but Morkert lost 2 yards on the next play and Flatt was dragged down by Kauffman for a 9-yard loss.
Walker then made up for his gaffe by intercepting Flatt in the end zone.
The Columbians marched 80 yards in 14 plays to make it 14-0 with 10:49 left in the second quarter on McGlone's 8-yard jaunt.
The rest of the half was a pick party for Rainier.
Nick Kowtko's 42-yard gallop gave Toledo a first down inside Columbians territory at the 20, but two plays later Flatt was intercepted by Staehely. Renoude connected with a wide-open Walker down the right sideline for a 47-yard TD on Rainier's next play, and Allen bulled in with the conversion for a 22-0 lead.
Toledo again entered Rainier territory at the 32 with 3:10 left in the half, but Flatt threw behind his receiver on a slant pattern and McGlone was there to pick it off. He raced untouched for the TD, and Allen again tacked on the two-pointer to make it 30-0.
"It's nice to be back. It was hard not being able to help my teammates, but they did just fine without me," said McGlone, who was out five weeks with his collarbone injury.
The Boomers avoided the shutout in a snoozer of a second half when Flatt passed 38 yards over the middle to Nevin Sjostrom, who made a twisting catch at the 3-yard line with 8:14 remaining in the game. Morkert scored on the next play.
Things were winding down to a calm conclusion when Rainier's first-team defense sacked Toledo's JV quarterback on back-to-back plays, and the Columbians took over on downs at the Boomers' 30 with 1:29 remaining.
Ware, however, with his first-team offense still on the field, called a pass play ---- and Renoude found Walker all alone for a touchdown to make it 38-6.
"I didn't see the clock," Ware said. "I didn't realize there was a minute or so to go."
Toledo co-head coach Steve Brattain said the last thing he expected the Columbians to do was pass.
"We put our JV kids in there to give them some playing time. I'd like to think they don't need to go up top right there, because they're going to win the game anyway," Brattain said. "But they must have seen we put a JV kid in there. That's just good coaching, I guess. I can't say I would have done it, though.
"I don't think they played great defense or anything, we just made poor passes. But give Rainier credit. They're a tough, physical football team," Brattain added. "They know they're representing the Lewis and Clark League, and they wanted to make sure that people like us down in the PacWest League know they play pretty darn good football up here, too."
Message delivered, loud and clear.
Columbians 38, Boomers 6
Rainier 8 22 0 8 -- 38
Toledo 0 0 0 6 -- 6
R --
R --
R --
R --
T --
R --
Walker 30 pass from Renoude (Branden Staehely pass from Renoude) Michael Morkert 3 run (pass failed) McGlone 73 interception return (Allen run) Hazze Walker 47 pass from Jesse Renoude (Allen run) Austin McGlone 8 run (run failed) Andrew Allen 9 run (Allen run)
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