Story Photos
 Clatskanie's Conrad Ritchie climbs the ladder for an interception late in the fourth quarter that clinched the Tigers' 30-22 win over Dayton on Saturday in the Oregon 3A state quarterfinals.
Greg Ebersole / The Daily News
|
Tigers ace history test for trip to state
Sunday, November 18, 2007 5:16 AM PST
By Rick S. Alvord
Printable version
E-mail this article
CLATSKANIE ---- Historical events in the sleepy community of Clatskanie?
Well, they built a Safeway supermarket here in 1967. And 15 years later came the town's first pizza parlor.
But when you're talking about civic history? Something that a large number of its 1,650 citizens can truly be proud of ---- besides convenient grocery shopping and hot pizza delivered to their doorsteps?
That kind of history doesn't come along very often.
Yet there it was on a gun-barrel gray Saturday afternoon, unfolding before the eyes of a legion of red-clad spectators, as Clatskanie clinched a berth in the Oregon 3A state football semifinals for the first time in school history.
Luke Meyer rushed for 163 yards and two touchdowns, caught another TD and made one of two key interceptions in the fourth quarter to help the Tigers to a thrilling 30-22 victory over Dayton in a quarterfinal matchup at Dick Manick Field.
Clatskanie (11-1) hosts Vale (9-2) in the semifinals next Saturday, with the exact starting time to be announced Monday. Vale, champions of the Greater Oregon League, knocked off Cascade Christian of Jacksonville, Ore., 20-6 in its quarterfinal game.
Meanwhile, 10 miles away Saturday, Rainier was busy handling Grant Union 23-14, meaning the Columbians and Tigers ---- Highway 30 rivals more than three-quarters of a century ---- are one win away from meeting for the state championship on Dec. 1 at Hillsboro Stadium.
Pardon the Tigers if they ignore any talk of Hillsboro ---- for now, anyway. Making history on Saturday was reason enough for a spirited postgame celebration.
"We all knew about the history, but now we're in the semifinals for the first time ever and it feels awesome," said 6-foot-5, 226-pound two-way lineman Justin Straw, whose pregame war paint was starting to streak on his face, thanks to a mixture of sweat, rain and maybe even a tear or two. "I'm so proud to be representing Clatskanie. A lot of people say there are better teams than us out there, but we're a team first and we trust each other."
First-year head coach Brad Thorud inherited a program that lost in the opening round of the state playoffs last season after winning the Lewis and Clark 3A League. This year, the Tigers lost to Rainier to finish second in the league, but appear to be picking up steam at the perfect time.
"It's a dream come true, really. I couldn't have asked for a better situation coming in as a new coach," said Thorud, who was doused with the contents of a Gatorade bucket by his players as the final seconds ticked away. "When I took the job, my main goal was to get this team to the semifinals, if not the finals, and they responded. Today wasn't perfect, but we got the job done when we had to."
The second half was when the Tigers "had to."
The Pirates (9-3) received the third-quarter kickoff and marched 80 yards in 16 plays ---- buoyed by a fake-punt pass from Michael Whitehead to tight end Jacob Gonzales for 24 yards ---- to take a 22-14 lead with 5:15 left in the third quarter.
As if on cue, Clatskanie took over at its own 30 and, after three runs netted 12 yards, got a 58-yard touchdown gallop from Meyer on a counter play to make it 22-20. It was the first time all day the Tigers ran the counter, in which blockers head to the left and Meyer squirts to the right.
The senior wingback found himself with plenty of real estate as he sprinted untouched into the end zone. K.C. Taylor hit Conrad Ritchie for the two-point conversion pass to tie it, with a diving Ritchie stretching out to make a fabulous fingertip grab.
"The blocking was great today," Meyer said. "All I did was find the holes and run through them. They did all the dirty work."
The Tigers forced Dayton to punt near midfield and took over at their own 29 with 59 seconds remaining in the third period. It was textbook Tiger football from there, with Meyer, Jesse Oblack, Marioni and Taylor teaming up to pound the ball down the gullet of the Pirates' defense.
The key play on the drive was Taylor's 11-yard pass to Oblack on third-and-8. Five plays later, Meyer darted in from 9 yards on a student-body-right sweep, and Taylor punched in the two-point conversion for a 30-22 advantage.
Dayton's next two possessions ended with Whitehead interceptions. Meyer picked off the first to kill a drive at the Clatskanie 40, and Ritchie made a brilliant leaping grab near the Tigers' 25-yard line to secure the victory with 1:10 remaining.
"Huge," Thorud said the two late interceptions. "They're not a passing team, but we did such a good job shutting them down inside (on the ground), they had to throw more than they like."
Defensive linemen Brad White, Eli Pesio, Taylor Sluder and Straw had strong games, while middle linebackers Marioni and Oblack played well. Outside linebacker Jacob Drabandt was in on a number of key plays down the stretch for Clatskanie, and defensive back Mitch Ryan had a tip-away on a pass to Gonzales that could have gone for a score.
The Tigers' first-half TDs came on a 22-yard run by Marioni and a 49-yard, thing-of-beauty pass play from Taylor to a Meyer that covered 49 yards.
Clatskanie rushed for 251 of its 311 total yards, with Marioni adding 52 yards on 11 carries. Dayton had 200 yards rushing, led by fullback James Benson with 105 on 21 attempts, and Whitehead finished 9-of-17 for 137 yards through the air.
Past Month's Most Commented Stories