It was not the best first half for the Cats last Friday but they cam out with Passion and a purpose in the second half and came back to win the Game. The Cats traveled to Tualatin to take on the Timber Wolves in the First Round of the OSAA 6A 2009 Football Playoffs. This was a great night overall.
The defense was once again stifling. Despite some vicious cut blocking by Tualatin the Cats hung tough. Inspired play by Colin Forman, Timote Pongi, Corey Smith, Mike and Doug Saeks and Mike Leunen fired up the team.
Daniel Keel made several big hits on Defense and caught several passes in offense including a long bomb form Phil Belding on 4th and 11 to help the Cats keep a late drive alive.
Chase Byers, Alex Hansen, and Austin Grant also played very very well. The second half saw them all getting the job done down after down.
Lastly we have to Credit Matt Tyner with a field goal in cold and damp conditions that made the difference in this one. On 4th and long Tyner stepped up and put the ball through from about 30 yards out. It barely made it but it made it. He had missed an extra point earlier and a short field goal as well. The game ended on a Tualatin interception which was picked off Colin Forman who had 159 yards rushing as well. Great job by him all night!
The cats now move on to round two to play the West Linn Lions at Home Next Friday! See you all at the game. Go Cats!
Thanks to the hard work of our very own Dirk Knudsen, Alumni Dad and youth coach, who is a reporter for OregonPreps.com for these great picture albums of our games so far. Fans and Players are welcome to some and download the albums or any pictures you want for FREE!! There are some great ones in here:
Football is a game of inches. You don't have to tell the Cats that. In one of the most thrilling games of all time for the team the Cat's went into #2 Jesuits home turf and took the game to its final down.
Trailing most of the game the Cats rallied back late with tremendous defense and some nifty running by Hayes Garrity. Junior Quarterback Phillip Belding moved the ball with precision finding several targets along the way. The final drive had the Cats scoring on fourth-and-goal from the Jesuit 8-yard line when Belding zipped a touchdown pass to junior Arseniy Goldberg who made the catch in the back line of the end zone. This cut the lead to 24-23 with 27 seconds to play.
Not wanting to go into Overtime Coach Fisher and crew took their shot at a 2 point conversion and went for the win. Colin Forman took the ball behind his line and ran off the left side to the goal line. In a pile of bodies that pushed and pulled Forman the ball appeared to cross the goal line. In fact Forman ended up on his back with his waist and the ball over the line. The officials hesitated for about 30 seconds and seemed very uncertain before making the call that the attempt was no good.
Upon further review video shows the ball crossed the line and does not show Forman hitting the ground. This game belonged to the Cats but you can not expect a close play to go the way of a visiting team...especially not at Jesuit.
It was a great game and the Cats can move ahead with the knowledge that they can win the whole thing this year and that they are good enough to beat anyone. Hard nosed football all the way. One can not say enough about the effort of the Westview Line led by the two way play of Timote Pongi, Mike Saeks, and Michael Leunen.
The teams were also close in total yardage in the game as Westview gained 351 yards on 60 offensive plays while Jesuit had 344 yards on 54 plays.
Hayes Garrity rushed for 99 yards on 18 carries. Phillip Belding completed 16 of 30 passes for 171 yards while also rushing for 52 yards on eight carries. Alex Carey had six receptions for 61 yards.
This next week Westview will be home to face Beaverton in 7:30 p.m. Metro League games.
The 2009 Wildcats started off strong this season after a great Summer of hard work. Weight room and speed and agility work all Summer led to a successful Camp at Canby for the Cats.
The Pre-season games included an Opener on the road at Barlow and Grant and home games against David Douglas and Canby. The Cats showed they could score and defend as well. With a record of 3-1 after these games the team was playing well but still working towards the season opener against Jesuit is week 6 after a Bye in week 4.
The results of the preseason games were:
1: Westview @ Barlow: Westview wins 42-6
2: Westview @ Grant: Westview lost 27-32
3: David Douglas @ Westview: Westview wins 40-12
4: Canby @ Westview: Westview wins 21-14 in Overtime
Most memorable moment so far has been the rally and overtime win to beat #3 Canby in the Kansas Plan as the Cats powerhouse line and the running of Hayes Garrity pushed the ball in on three downs to win this thriller in front of a crowd of thousands at Wildcat Stadium.
The Cat's look ahead now to the Metro League Opener Against Jesuit on the road at Jesuit. The Crusader's are ranked #2 in the State loosing only to Skyline of Washington who are ranked #9 in the Nation.
Last season was the beginning of a New era in Wildcat Football. We said goodbye to many familiar faces and players. We found a new Head Coach in Greg Fisher. After loosing 30 plus Cats who moved on after 2007 it was hard to say what would happen. The boys honed their skills and worked very hard in strength and conditioning and preseason. The Canby summer camped proved that the team still had weapons and that 3 year starter Josh Hill was going to continue to be a threat as the Cats competed well in several scrimmages.
Doubles and Triples came and went in the sweltering August heat. The coaches and staff watched and sometimes wondered at what the team would become. Everyone knew there was and talent there. After all this is Westview! But the Cats had doubters to prove wrong. Pre-season finally came and so 2008 began.
The boys scrambled, hit, ran, and scored their way to an incredible 4-1 start beating the likes of Barlow, Grant, and David Douglas along the way. It seemed that all was going great for the Cats. But there was no rest for the wicked. The Metro league opened against Power House Jesuit! That game was one sided and the Cats tasted what defeat was like in the worst way.
The following weeks saw wins against Aloha and Sunset and losses to Beaverton and South Ridge. It was a tough second half of the year.
Many good athletes were lost along the way. Colin Forman, Anthony Munyan, Micah Larimer, and Mitchell Fowles were all lost with difficult injuries. The team had to reload and find a way through murky waters and tough times. Nobody knew for sure what would become of 2008. The season ended and at the last tick of the regular season the Cats found themselves in the 4th slot of the Metro League and were matched in the playoffs against the #1 seed from the Mt Hood Conference Central Catholic.
At PGE Park in that First Round Game we saw a revitalized Wildcat team come out and absolutely dominate the Rams. When it was all over the Cats won big and left 602 yards of total offense on that field. Josh Hill, Casey Kasai, Robert Casteel, Johnathan Pearson, Konner Knudsen, Christian Magdaleno, Ricky Martin, Grady Garrett, Patrick Acosta, David and Daniel Aguilar, Clif Heim, and others, all Seniors, played like seniors with something to Prove and shut down the highly touted CC Rams. It was amazing.
In week two the Cats traveled to Eugene to face the Sheldon Irish. It had been about 14 months since the Wildcats had been at Sheldon and in that Game the 2007 Cats laid down the law on the Irish who had not been beaten at home in 7 years. Once again the Cats were expected by supposed experts to lay down and roll over for the "Superior" Irish.
Somebody forgot to tell the Wildcats. This game was so hardly fought and there was virtually nothing more that could have been done. Leads changed and there in the Fog we all saw it...we saw the 2008 Cats find themselves. Together down by down and step by step they battled. Nothing was left undone except for the final kick from 52+ yards with 2.8 seconds left that could have sent this thriller into overtime. That kick by Patrick Acosta was blocked and after a wild finish that you had to see to believe the Cats season ended 33-30. We will never know what would have or could have happened had that kick gone through but we all knew he was going to make it. This is the stuff that memories are made of and that drive the human spirit on by the thoughts summed up in two simple words....."What If?".
There in the fog and the sweat and blood that is Friday Night Lights we saw this small band of Seniors and a very tough group of Juniors and Sophomores fight harder brother to brother than perhaps any Wildcat team had ever fought. They fought to win and to not disappoint. They fought for the years of pain and suffering and exhaustion they had endured. They fought for the Fans, for mom and dad, for each other but most of all they fought to try and stem the tide of time that they all knew was rolling in on them. They fought for one more chance and one more down.
When it was over we saw what the new era and 2008 season had produced. With full hearts and open but tearful eyes we saw the heart of the Wildcats. In that moment we saw the best these boys had to offer. And it was great....it really was.
"To the Seniors...I love you. My heart is full. Thank you! To you Juniors and Sophomores you use this thing as fuel. Remember this. I love you all."
Coach Greg Fisher
You said it all Coach! Great season boys and the fans, parents, and coaches of the Westview Organization wish to acknowledge the great effort that was given in 2008 by the entire team. We are very proud of you all!
I have a couple of exciting announcements: Josh Hill signed a letter of intent to attend and participate in football at the United States Air Force Academy this coming season. Josh signed his letter of intent amongst a small gathering of friends, family and coaches. He joins 4 other Metro League players in committing to Division I football programs. Congratulations, Josh!
In addition, both Josh and Robert Casteel have been selected to participate in this summer's high school football showcase, The Les Schwab Bowl. They are very excited and we are all looking forward to watching them get out there on the playing field to represent Westview with Oregon's best high school football players. The Les Schwab Bowl will be played @ PGE Park on Saturday, June 20th (kickoff slated for 7:00 p.m.). We hope to see a large showing from the Westview Community in support of both Josh and Robert.
Lastly, Josh and Robert will be selling tickets to help raise funds to participate in this exciting event. If you are interested in purchasing tickets for the game, please contact me and I will begin generating a ticket order list. Thanks for your attention and continued support of Westview Football.
Sincerely,
Greg Fisher Business Education / Head Football Coach Westview High School greg_fisher@beavton.k12.or.us (971) 570-5257
The Metro League must be pretty mighty, because its No. 4 team routed the Mt. Hood Conference champ Friday at PGE Park.
Westview racked up 598 yards offense and scored on a bevy of big plays to beat the Rams, 42-7, in the first round of the Class 6A football playoffs.
Quarterback Josh Hill completed 10 of 16 passes for 233 yards and three long touchdowns and added 118 yards on eight carries on the ground, including a 70-yard sprinting score. Running back David Aguilar, sidelined for the first quarter after missing two practices with sickness, ran for 170 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries.
The Wildcats (6-4) let Central Catholic score only once, tying the game 7-7, and then rattled off 35 unanswered points. It wasn't like Central didn't move the ball; the Rams got into Westview seven other times, but left without points after three interceptions, three unconverted fourth downs and a missed field goal.
The Rams (9-2) saw their nine-game winning streak end. It wasn't a fluke, this No. 4 team beating that league champ.
"They have some explosive kids," Central coach Steve Pyne says. "We ran up against a team that was physical and fast, and I don't think we matched up well. Give them credit, they played well."
The Wildcats were coming off a 54-14 loss to Southridge, only the second time Westview has lost to its Beaverton School District rival. The Wildcats had a good week of practice, capped off by a night of bowling and pizza on Thursday.
"Finishing fourth place in Metro, maybe nobody was looking at us," the 5-11, 195-pound Hill says. "But, it's the best league in the state; coming out four, we're probably as good as a one or two in other leagues. It's a playoff game every week in the Metro."
Westview advances to play defending state champ Sheldon next weekend. The Irish beat Tigard 29-14.
Hill, Aguilar, Hayes Garrity and Robert Casteel shined for the Wildcats, who turned a close game into a rout in the second half.
The teams traded some defensive stops and missed field goals, and then closed the first half with scoring.
Casteel caught the ball over Central defender Seth Downes and scored on a 30-yard pass play to put Westview up 7-0. But the Rams responded with a well-executed passing play, as QB Derek Bowen rolled out left and threw back across the middle to hit Marcos Montas on a 63-yard scoring strike.
But the Wildcats came right back as Hill hit Garrity, who outleaped a Central defender, for a 23-yard reception. On the next play, Garrity caught the ball and cut between two defenders and a blocker by the sideline and ran for a 45-yard score, putting Westview up 14-7 at halftime.
Westview made a defensive stop to start the second half and then scored quickly, as Hill ripped off a 28-yard run and Aguilar found a big hole on a sweep and scored on a 52-yard run.
Central still felt good about its chances, and decided to use injured running back Luke Onderko in the second half; he tweaked his sore hamstring in pre-game warmups, and Rams coaches wanted to be cautious. The 5-11, 220 Onderko pounded ahead for 39 yards on five carries, as Central moved to the Westview 25.
On the next play, defensive back Hill telegraphed a Bowen pass and made an interception.
Hill then found Casteel again on a 41-yard catch-and-run, with Central's Jordan Perry saving a touchdown with a tackle.
Four plays later, Aguilar scored on a 3-yard run and the rout was on.
Daniel Keel picked off Bowen, and the very fast Hill outsprinted the Ram defense on his 70-yard TD run, making it 35-7.
Early in the fourth quarter, Hill and Casteel hooked up again on a 45-yard score. Later, driving for pride, Central got stopped again as Westview's Grady Garrett picked off backup Ram QB Perry.
Running the spread offense, Hill has been known to tuck and run with the ball too much. But he showed off his passing ability, after throwing low, behind and high to receivers early in the game.
"We had some miscommunication and I was a little jittery," Hill says. "My senior year, I want to do big things. Once we settled in, it was all good."
Westview's domination started at the line of scrimmage, Hill adds. "We were getting five and 10 yards without getting touched," he says. "When we do that, big things happen."
Westview coach Greg Fisher says his team has athletes, it's just been matter of putting things together.
"It is a game of momentum. You get one (score), and you're trying to get another if you get a team down who's a half step behind," he says. "All season long it's been us working on us as a team, the maturity level, because we have athletes."
Garrity, substituting for Aguilar early, rushed for 50 yards on seven carries, and he added three catches for 75 yards and a touchdown. Casteel had four catches for 123 yards and the two scores.
Bowen, fairly crisp in the first half, finished 19 of 33 for 189 yards. He was 7 of 17 for 61 yards in the second half, as Westview's pressure got to him. Nick Aguas and Onderko combined for 85 yards on 16 carries, and receiver Downes caught seven balls for 65 yards for Central.
"Our guys who made plays for us all year long struggled," Pyne says. "It's what you expect out of kids — they struggle sometimes — and it's tough to win football games. We moved the ball, we just couldn't finish drives.
"It's unfortunate, but our seniors accomplished more than anybody thought they would, being 9-2 and winning the league. It hurts, it's disappointing, but I'm proud of them."
It was a rainy night and the ball would just not stay in the Wildcats Possession this night. Jesuit led by Anthony Blake, Dylan Jackson, and Keanon Lowe were just too much for the Cats. The game did feature some nice offensive series by Josh Hill and the Wildcat Offense but mistakes costs the Cats this Game: 45-7 Jesuit. Expect to see Jesuit go deep into the Post Season as they are for sure one of the top 2-3 teams in the State of Oregon once again. The three aforementioned athlete's are probably the three best offensive weapons Jesuit has ever had in combination. Tough loss....now the Cats prepare for Beaverton in Week #2!
Bring your Red Cat Gear, Tshirts, Hoodies, or anything Red to Westview this Friday Night for the Metro League Season Opener as The Wildcats Take on the Jesuit Crusaders! There will be a pre game BBQ once again that will start between 5:30 and 6PM right above the field entrance and we will be selling T shirts and a great Meal once again! This is a Big Night so be a part of it! Join the Sea of Red!!
The Wildcats entered tonight's contest at Canby High School at 3-0 and ranked sixth in the state but left in considerably worse shape after the Cougars (3-1) pounded out 271 yards rushing and scored 21 straight points in the second and third quarters to beat Westview 35-28.
"I think the big thing now is we know we can play better and we need to get better," said Westview senior tight end Christian Magdaleno, who had four catches for 60 yards, including two touchdown receptions. "We missed a lot of assignments and we’ve just got to play as a team and do what we need."
"We’re still suffering from growing pains," said Westview head coach Greg Fisher. "It’s a team game -- you can have 10 guys doing something right and one guy doing something wrong and it could be the difference between a fumble or a sack or a touchdown, so we’re still working on that."
The Wildcats looked good early, getting a 61-yard TD pass from senior tailback David Aguilar (14 carries for 105 yards and a touchdown) to senior wide receiver Robert Casteel (three catches for 131 yards and a TD) on their first offensive play from scrimmage, and they led 21-7 early in the second quarter when quarterback Josh Hill connected with Magdaleno for a 30-yard score.
Article is here: http://highschoolsports.oregonlive.com/game/news/122202/article/20862/
Just another 14-7 game featuring four field goals, a safety and a late touchdown to make it interesting, right?
Patrick Acosta, a week after kicking a 32-yard field goal to push Westview past Grant, kicked four field goals, including a 47-yarder in the third quarter, to score all of the points the sixth-ranked Wildcats needed to get past David Douglas 14-7 on Friday night at David Douglas High School.
"I really didn't have the best of warmups tonight," Acosta said.
No one counts warmups, anyway.
Acosta broke a scoreless first half with a 25-yard field goal as the second quarter expired.
A long punt return by Daniel Aguilar -- opened up by two stiff blocks -- set Westview (3-0) up at David Douglas' 34-yard line with 1:52 left in the half. After an incomplete pass, David Aguilar took a handoff from Josh Hill, started left, reversed field and picked up 20 yards. After a sack and a 13-yard completion from Hill to David Aguilar, Acosta ran onto the field and got Westview on the board.
In the third quarter, the Wildcats turned to their defense. Casey Kasai intercepted David Douglas quarterback Brian Teague's pass at the Scots' 44-yard line with 9:06 left in the third. The Wildcats couldn't do þanything with the ensuing possession but killed the punt at the 1-yard line.
The Wildcats' defense held, and Daniel Aguilar again took a punt deep into Scots territory, this time to the 29. That set up a 32-yard field goal by Acosta that made it 6-0 with 3:31 left in the third quarter.
Acosta forced a touchback on the ensuing kickoff, and two Scots penalties -- the second for intentional grounding -- moved David Douglas (1-2) back to its 2. On third and 28, Westview's Ricky Martin sacked Teague for a safety. That made it 8-0.
Westview took the kick and did almost nothing with it. The Wildcats picked up two yards. Then they brought on Acosta to kick a 47-yard field goal. He added a 26-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to make it 14-0.
"Our defense played well enough to win," David Douglas coach Dan Wood said. And he was happy with the energy, and the way the offense stuck together and kept plugging away.
The Scots finally put together a late drive. Dominique McCallister capped it with a four-yard touchdown run with 1:46 left. He finished with 33 yards rushing on 13 carries. Tyler Maes came in at quarterback for the Scots and completed 6 of 7 passes for 74 yards.
It wasn't quite enough. David Douglas finished the game with 101 more yards of total offense than Westview (203-102); Acosta was the difference.
"I'll give credit to David Douglas, they came at us hard," Westview coach Greg Fisher said. "Honestly, I think we were a little surprised. We've got some work to do."
-- Ryan White: 503-412-7024; ryanwhite@news.oregonian.com
Click on this Picture to Read the Full Story by the Tribune
This Game started out with the Cats driving 80 plus yards up field for a Touchdown and PAT to take the early lead. The Cat "D"Fense held tough as Grant could not get much going. The Cats Drove again in the Second as the O'line man handled the Generals and scored again to take a 14-0 lead into half time.
But one of the most exciting things about High School Football is that anything can happen at anytime and it did as a fumble on punt return on about the 7 yard line turned into a General Touchdown in One play and the game went on to 14-7. Grant was pumped up and soon had the ball back making some noise of their own. The Generals scored again and after that had 2-3 chances to score near their own Goal Line in the 3rd but the Cats "D" stood the test. It took almost 10 minutes of the second half but Josh Hill and the Cat Offense drove the field and scored on a beautiful Acosta Field Goal to go up 17-14. The Generals tried but could not score and the Cats hang on to win in week #2. This young Cat team learned some great lessons and will have things to build on off of this game. Next Up David Douglas! See you all there at David Douglas for week three!
It was an exciting night at Wildcat Stadium as the Greg Fisher era began. A Tough Barlow Bruin Team led by the #1 running back in the State in Malcolm Johnson came in to beat the Cats in this 2008 Opener. It was an exciting game right from the start and after a shaky start the Cats got on Track. The Cats young line stood up to the Bruins on both sides of the ball and the defense kept Johnson in check other than two plays where he was able to score.
The Cats Offense scored several times behind the leadership of Josh Hill and the nifty running of David Aguilar who went for 153 yards. Robert Casteel hauled in a great touch down pass deep in the corner of the end zone in double coverage as well. Most exciting was the 90 yard kick off return by Daniel Keel as this Junior showed his blazing speed! It was a hard fought win and a good start to the 2008 season. Surely there is work to be done but Players and Fans alike left with the sense that the Cats are on track! Now on to week #2 and the Grant Generals!
Hello Westview Wildcat Football Fans! We want to Welcome you to the 2008 Season and our New Website here at http://www.westviewfootballpride.com/ . This is the beginning of something special as together we will build our teams and our Football Community into something Very Special Indeed. Come Join us and the Sea of Red this Friday Night (8/29/2008) at 7 PM @ Wildcat Stadium as the 2008 Cats take on the Barlow Bruins and #1 Oregon Prep Running back Malcolm Johnson. This promises to be a very special night and we are very excited about all the new energy that the staff, players, and fans have brought to Wildcat Country. Get Involved and Join us as we Push Forward into the Battle that is.....
