Vale up to the challenge, defeats Cascade Christian
Vikings hold high scoring Cascade to 6 points in 20-6 win
By Ray Rodriguez
Argus Observer
Sunday, November 18, 2007 1:30 AM PST
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| Vale running back Jeff Williams (left) looks for some daylight while teammate Luke Skerjanec lays out a would-be Cascade Christian defender during the second half of their 3A quarterfinal football game Saturday at Frank Hawley Stadium in Vale. |
Vale - Entering Saturday’s football game, the Cascade Christian Challengers were winners of four straight games and outscored its opponents 247-0, last defeating Vernonia 63-0 a week ago.
They were the big bullies on the block.
The only problem was, the Vale defense hits harder.
The Viking defense held Cascade Christian to 58 yards rushing in the second half, forced six punts and kept the Challengers from converting on two fourth down plays in their 20-6 win in quarterfinal round action of the OSAA 3A state football playoffs.
“I’m happy man. The Challengers are a good team and our defense stepped up, our offense, the whole team did well,” Vale’s Luke Skerjanec said. “The guys in the trenches down on defense did an outstanding job. Our defense, we’re not too big, so we just read our keys and just play tough.”
On its opening possession of the game, Cascade Christian started a drive on their own 14-yard line.
Several plays later, the Challengers were faced with a fourth and goal, at Vale’s 3-yard line. On the next snap, Cascade Christian quarterback Colton Cochran fumbled the ball and Vale retained possession.
The Challengers had the ball inside the red zone one other time, all thanks to a Vale fumble.
They turned that turnover into six points on an 11-yard touchdown run by Daniel Kinney with 6:49 left in the contest.
Cascade Christian had two more cracks at a late comeback, but gained only 12 yards and came up empty.
“We played hard. We played hard every play,” Vale’s Austin Hood, who had two sacks in the game said. “Our game plan was to bear crawl and make a big pile in the line. We knew they had about six good run plays and we had to stop it. We just play hard, play fast, play physical and play with heart.”
While heart was leading the Viking defense, Tyler Pirrie did most of the heavy lifting for the offense.
The senior quarterback went 5-of-11 for 79 yards and a touchdown and rushed the ball 12 times for 84 yards and a pair of scores.
Pirrie kicked off the scoring in the game, capping a 7-play, 80-yard drive with a 20-yard scamper to paydirt with seven ticks left in the opening quarter.
On Vale’s next drive, Pirrie connected with Russell Seals on a 25-yard touchdown pass and after a Darin Johnson kick, the Vikings were up 14-0 with 10:33 left in the half.
On the play, Pirrie lofted a pass to Seals, who was blanketed by Challenger defensive back Taylor Ost. Both players jumped simultaneously, and Seals snatched the ball away for the reception.
The lead was 14-0 at the break and the Vikings thrust the dagger in the hearts of the Cascade Christian faithful with a 10-play, 62-yard drive on their initial second half possession. On third down and goal from the 4-yard line, Pirrie scurried towards the left side of the field untouched, making the score 20-0.
The Vikings piled up 241 yards of offense, with 162 coming by way of the ground attack. Luke Skerjanec rushed nine times for 37 yards and Jeff Williams added 33 yards on eight carries.
It was a gritty team win for the Vikings and that is something head coach Jeff Jacobs welcomes with open arms.
“It’s a situation where you have 33 kids on our playoff roster. That’s what it is,” Jacobs said. “It’s not just the seniors that are having a great year, or the quarterback who is playing phenomenal. It’s all the little pieces that are working very well together. That is something that you don’t often find in athletics in general, not even just high school football. We’re very pleased with how these guys are coming together as a group. They have a goal in mind and they’re going for it.”
Vale (9-2 overall) next takes on Clatskanie (11-1 overall) in semifinal round action either Friday or Saturday.
Clatskanie defeated Dayton 30-22 earlier Saturday.
