Home  |  Admissions  |  International Program  |  General Information  |  Student Life  |  Giving  |  Alumni  |  Athletics  |  Community

West Edges East 14-6 In Shrine All-Star Game
Football - Football All-Stars
Written by Andy Wooldridge (CCCougarfan)
Valley Players Key West Win

The West edged the East 14-6 in the 58th. East-West Shrine All-star football game Saturday in Baker City in a defensive battle that went down to the last play of the game. The Shrine contest features top seniors from the 4A, 3A, 2A, and 1A classification schools.

After the East went three and punt on the first possession of the game, the West consumed almost the entire first quarter, driving one and a half times the length of the field to score. Cascade's Tyrell Williams punt return to the East 39 yard line gave the West a short field, but Baker's Dekker Smith picked off a pass by Scappoose quarterback Nick Paxson, and returned it all the way to the West 12 yard line.

However, Williams and Willamina's BJ Wilson ran down Smith, forcing a fumble. It was just the first of several times Williams and Wilson would team up for the West.

The West drove the length of the field, with a fly sweep by Wilson setting up the first score, a 21 yard pass by WR Williams (15, l), off a double handoff from Wilson (28), to Portland Christian's Preston Dace (7, r.) on the right sideline. Dace turned and sprinted in for the touchdown with just 2:24 left in the opening period.
"We worked on that all week in practice," Williams explained, "and when we were able to bait their defense with that sweep, it was the perfect time for it." The East's next drive ended in a failed fourth down conversion early in the second quarter, but their defense stiffened, as Scio's Coulter Mastenbroek (3, below) had an interception to stall the West's drive.

A bad snap ended the East drive, but the West could manage only one first down, as Molalla's Jacob Moore took over at quarterback, and the West went more to a running attack. The East stalled again, but after an encroachment penalty made it only fourth and one, Mastenbroek completed a pass on a fake punt to keep an East drive alive. That drive subsequently stalled, but bottled up the West, who led only 7-0 at halftime.

The East opened the second half with an on-side kick, but Dayton's Jacob Gonzalez wasn't surprised, recovering at midfield for the West. Three incomplete passes in four plays turned the ball back over to the East though, who finally threatened Newport's Tristan Metcalf (22, below), who had been bottled up all game long, got lose for a catch and run from Wallowa's Tyler Harshfield for over 50 yards.

However, the West mounted two goal line stands. The first East drive stalled after Mastenbroek reached the two yard line, on an incomplete dump pass over the middle. But the West fumbled two plays later, and Henley's John Myers recovered, giving the East another shot at scoring. Blitzing Scott Lambert of Knappa covered a fumble to thwart the next East threat, though. The West drove into East territory, but facing a fourth and 16 at the 33 yard line, Williams was stopped two yards short of the first down.


East defenders stop Tyrell Williams two yards short of converting a fourth down.

 The West hung to the one score lead going to the fourth quarter, after Amity's Chad Chitwood broke up an East pass on a fourth down play.

Another Mastenbroek interception finally set up an East score, a 42 yard pass from Harshfield to Baker's Trace Richardson (r.). Metcalf's PAT kick to tie the game was wide left, though.

The West's drive stalled, but so did the East's, and then another by the West, as both defenses were controlling the line of scrimmage.

After another West drive went 1-2-3 punt, Willams and Wilson teamed up again to pin the East inside their one yard line, as Williams downed Wilson's punt."Our defense had been playing great all game," Williams said.

"We felt if we could get them backed up, the defense could contain them." The East couldn't move the ball, but a 58 yard Richardson punt turned field position, and the West was stopped cold on three plays again. But a Chitwood sack of Harshfield thwarted the East's surge.

The West looked for the knockout punch, but Metcalf undercut Williams on a deep pass route, intercepting the ball (above) at the East three yard line. The East offense had been bottled up all day, due largely to the work of linebackers Chitwood and Perrydale's Blake Barnes, and Barnes appeared to ice the game with an interception for a touchdown, and an eight point lead, with 1:59 left.

Perrydale's Blake Barnes (22) celebrates his "pick-6".
"I read their guards' drop in protection, and rolled right into the route," Barnes said of the interception.

Baker's Trace Richardson elevates for a pass.

Ontario's Frank Lopez brought the kickoff out to the 38 yard line, and the East mounted one last drive. Harshfield found Richardson over the middle to convert on fourth down, only the second successful gamble on fourth down of the day, to reach the West 42 with 41.9 seconds left.

Another completion brought another first down, and the East stayed alive when an interception was nullified for being out of bounds with 14.3 seconds left.

Wallowa's Tyler Harshfield drives the East in the waning seconds.
Another completion over the middle pushed the East inside the West 20 yard line with five seconds left. A dead ball penalty, followed by Harshfield downing the ball gave the East one last chance with 3.7 seconds left.

Fittingly, though, the West defense forced Harshfield into a hurried throw, and broke up the pass in the end zone (above), preserving the win. "Our defense was unbelievable all day," West coach Howard Rub of Astoria said.

The West stopped the East seven times on fourth down gambles, including one of the goal line stands. "(Assistant) coach Thor (Ware) insisted on having Chitwood and Barnes when we put the team together," Rub added, "and you can see why." The West outgained the East, and controlled much of the game, so Rub "Hoped to score more," but mistakes continued to derail the West.

"Typical of all-star games, these guys didn't have that much time to work together, and timing is what suffers. That, and what looks like poor execution can be due to great defense," Rub noted. "The East's defense was really strong up front." The West's third win in a row cut the East's lead in the series to 29-26, with 3 ties.

Injury update: The only significant injury of the game was to Nick Turner of Banks (shown above carrying for a gain), who has taken to the hospital by Baker Fire paramedics. As of 7:30, Turner has been released, but has been diagnosed with four breaks in his left clavicle. Turner will red-shirt this year at Linfield.

East  6
West 14

1st. qtr.
West - Preston Dace 21 yard pass from Tyrell Williams (BJ Wilson kick) 2:24

4th. qtr.
East - Trace Richardson 42 yard pass from Tyler Harshfield (kick wide left) 10:42
West - Blake Barnes 3 yard interception return Wilson kick) 1:59


Scappoose's Nick Paxton (6) throws a pass for the West.

Baker's Dekker Smith (46) and Imbler's Bryan Mills (12) battle to bring down
North Marion's Jordan McCain (21).

BJ Wilson of Willamina (28) hurdles Scio's Coulter Mastenbroek (3).
Portland Christian Schools | 12425 NE San Rafael Street | Portland, Oregon 97230 | Phone: (503) 256-3960 | Fax: (503) 256-2773 | E-mail: cheryl.jarvis@pcschools.org
Sitemap | Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | PCSchools.org © 2000- | NWWCC.com © 1998-