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!
Some great pics by Dirk Knudsen; www.oregonpreps.com editor and one of our youth coaches and also a great local Realtor. www.theknudsens.com. Make sure to support Dirk if you can and call him if you real estate help need help at 503-799-8383. The Senior Night Pictures are here as well.
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 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."
