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North Bend advances to quarterfinals
By John Gunther, Sports Editor
Saturday, November 15, 2008 | 2 comment(s)
NORTH BEND — Trailing 3-0 at halftime, North Bend’s players had no worries in their Class 4A second-round playoff game against visiting La Salle Prep on Friday night.
The Bulldogs got their offense into high gear after halftime and ran to a 27-9 win over the Falcons, earning a spot in the Class 4A quarterfinals. North Bend visits Astoria next Friday night.
“We’re just a second-half team,” said running back Cameron Seiger, who scored North Bend’s first two touchdowns against La Salle, including tackle-breaking 51-yard score on the second play of the second half that ignited North Bend’s players and home crowd.
“That was real big — it got our motivation up,” said Seiger, who credited the line for setting up the touchdown.
Seiger took a handoff from quarterback Dalton Iveans, found a hole on the right side of the line, fought through defenders and broke to the left sideline, where he shook off another attempted tackle and sprinted to the end zone.
North Bend led the rest of the way, as the Bulldog line wore down the La Salle defensive front, leading to a number of other big runs, and the North Bend defense came up with stop after stop against the Falcons’ dangerous offense.
“I was real pleased with the kids,” North Bend coach Rick Taylor said. “It seems they have an ability to figure things out in the second half.”
La Salle was able to contain the Bulldogs in the first half, holding North Bend to 55 rushing yards on 21 carries. But North Bend added 289 yards on 27 carries after the break, including Seiger’s two touchdowns and two more scores by Iveans in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
“It was a great second half,” said Trae Collins, one of the anchors of North Bend’s line. “We just got after it more.”
“The guys up front believe in themselves and believe they can get things done,” Taylor said.
By the end of the game, fullback Jake Lucero had 96 rushing yards, while Cody Harden had 86, Seiger 84 and Iveans 78.
Seiger and Harden bounced several plays to the outside, while Lucero bulled through the middle for the bulk of his yards, including a 49-yard scamper in the fourth quarter, and Iveans scrambled through the defense on quarterback keepers.
La Salle coach Mike Fanger said North Bend’s front line did a great job after halftime.
“They’re a big, physical football team,” he said. “If they get a crease, (their running backs) do a good job.
“The offense they run — it’s ball control. Our defense was on the field a long time.”
The only points of the first half came on La Salle’s second possession. Following a short North Bend punt, La Salle quarterback Thomas O’Dell hit receiver Kieran McDonagh for a 28-yard gain to North Bend’s 19-yard line. A penalty made the drive stall, and Austin Thul booted a 37-yard field goal with 4:26 remaining in the opening quarter.
North Bend then drove to La Salle’s 26 on the Bulldogs’ best possession of the half, but Toi Jones batted away a fourth-down pass from Iveans to Bryce Weidman, stopping the drive.
La Salle moved quickly back into North Bend’s end of the field on three straight plays that resulted in first downs — passes from O’Dell to Seth Theroux and Michael Becker sandwiched around a 12-yard quarterback keeper. But Iveans stopped the drive by making a diving interception on the sideline.
Fanger said his team’s inability to score on that drive or an earlier possession that stalled when O’Dell bobbled a snap and was tackled for a big loss by Seiger, eventually leading to a punt, played a big role in terms of momentum.
“The way we moved the ball, when we got down there and don’t score, that doesn’t help,” he said.
North Bend stopped the Falcons on several drives after halftime.
The Falcons followed Seiger’s first touchdown by moving to North Bend’s 26, but Collins reached up and snared a pass from O’Dell for a drive-killing interception.
“That was a big momentum changer,” Collins said.
The Bulldogs drove 67 yards on 10 running plays, with Seiger sprinting around the right end 5 yards for the touchdown.
La Salle rebounded with its own scoring drive, capped by a 2-yard run from Alex Larez, and appeared to have momentum when Chase Coleman intercepted a pass by Iveans at North Bend’s 43 on the final play of the third quarter.
But four plays later, Iveans stepped in front of La Salle’s McDonagh on the sideline and picked off a swing pass, returning the ball 71 yards to the end zone. A penalty on the runback nullified the touchdown, but the Bulldogs had the momentum again.
Harden had back-to-back gains of 17 and 32 yards, and Iveans finished the drive with a 15-yard run.
La Salle again moved deep into North Bend’s end of the field, but Lucero stopped Becker well short of a first down on a fourth-down pass and then broke through La Salle’s defense for a 49-yard run.
But La Salle got another chance.
Iveans coughed up the ball on the next play and La Salle’s Paul Auxier recovered, but the Falcons were unable to gain a first down, with Skyler Walton deflecting a long pass on fourth down, and Iveans added an insurance touchdown with 2:14 remaining.
O’Dell completed 15 of 28 passes for 163 yards, but also had the three interceptions, and the Bulldogs limited La Salle to 287 yards of total offense.
Taylor was happy with the Bulldogs’ bend-but-don’t-break defense.
“I’d rather give up yardage and not scores,” Taylor said. “We didn’t want to give up big plays and I don’t think we did.”
And like several other games, the Bulldogs came through after halftime.
“If we can stay close to people in the first half, we believe we can win in the second half,” Taylor said.
Now it’s on to Astoria, where the Bulldogs will face a Fishermen squad that beat La Pine 49-15 Friday night to improve to a perfect 11-0 on the season.
Led by standout quarterback Jordan Poyer, Astoria has scored at least 45 points seven straight games and averaged 44 for the season.
“Astoria’s a tough team,” Collins said. “They pound the ball like we do. It’s going to be a great game.”
Meanwhile, La Salle’s season ended with a 7-4 record one year after the Falcons won the Capital Conference and lost a playoff game.
“We replaced a lot of guys (from last year),” Fanger said. “I told the seniors, this (season) is the most fun I’ve had coaching football.”
The Bulldogs got their offense into high gear after halftime and ran to a 27-9 win over the Falcons, earning a spot in the Class 4A quarterfinals. North Bend visits Astoria next Friday night.
“We’re just a second-half team,” said running back Cameron Seiger, who scored North Bend’s first two touchdowns against La Salle, including tackle-breaking 51-yard score on the second play of the second half that ignited North Bend’s players and home crowd.
“That was real big — it got our motivation up,” said Seiger, who credited the line for setting up the touchdown.
Seiger took a handoff from quarterback Dalton Iveans, found a hole on the right side of the line, fought through defenders and broke to the left sideline, where he shook off another attempted tackle and sprinted to the end zone.
North Bend led the rest of the way, as the Bulldog line wore down the La Salle defensive front, leading to a number of other big runs, and the North Bend defense came up with stop after stop against the Falcons’ dangerous offense.
“I was real pleased with the kids,” North Bend coach Rick Taylor said. “It seems they have an ability to figure things out in the second half.”
La Salle was able to contain the Bulldogs in the first half, holding North Bend to 55 rushing yards on 21 carries. But North Bend added 289 yards on 27 carries after the break, including Seiger’s two touchdowns and two more scores by Iveans in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
“It was a great second half,” said Trae Collins, one of the anchors of North Bend’s line. “We just got after it more.”
“The guys up front believe in themselves and believe they can get things done,” Taylor said.
By the end of the game, fullback Jake Lucero had 96 rushing yards, while Cody Harden had 86, Seiger 84 and Iveans 78.
Seiger and Harden bounced several plays to the outside, while Lucero bulled through the middle for the bulk of his yards, including a 49-yard scamper in the fourth quarter, and Iveans scrambled through the defense on quarterback keepers.
La Salle coach Mike Fanger said North Bend’s front line did a great job after halftime.
“They’re a big, physical football team,” he said. “If they get a crease, (their running backs) do a good job.
“The offense they run — it’s ball control. Our defense was on the field a long time.”
The only points of the first half came on La Salle’s second possession. Following a short North Bend punt, La Salle quarterback Thomas O’Dell hit receiver Kieran McDonagh for a 28-yard gain to North Bend’s 19-yard line. A penalty made the drive stall, and Austin Thul booted a 37-yard field goal with 4:26 remaining in the opening quarter.
North Bend then drove to La Salle’s 26 on the Bulldogs’ best possession of the half, but Toi Jones batted away a fourth-down pass from Iveans to Bryce Weidman, stopping the drive.
La Salle moved quickly back into North Bend’s end of the field on three straight plays that resulted in first downs — passes from O’Dell to Seth Theroux and Michael Becker sandwiched around a 12-yard quarterback keeper. But Iveans stopped the drive by making a diving interception on the sideline.
Fanger said his team’s inability to score on that drive or an earlier possession that stalled when O’Dell bobbled a snap and was tackled for a big loss by Seiger, eventually leading to a punt, played a big role in terms of momentum.
“The way we moved the ball, when we got down there and don’t score, that doesn’t help,” he said.
North Bend stopped the Falcons on several drives after halftime.
The Falcons followed Seiger’s first touchdown by moving to North Bend’s 26, but Collins reached up and snared a pass from O’Dell for a drive-killing interception.
“That was a big momentum changer,” Collins said.
The Bulldogs drove 67 yards on 10 running plays, with Seiger sprinting around the right end 5 yards for the touchdown.
La Salle rebounded with its own scoring drive, capped by a 2-yard run from Alex Larez, and appeared to have momentum when Chase Coleman intercepted a pass by Iveans at North Bend’s 43 on the final play of the third quarter.
But four plays later, Iveans stepped in front of La Salle’s McDonagh on the sideline and picked off a swing pass, returning the ball 71 yards to the end zone. A penalty on the runback nullified the touchdown, but the Bulldogs had the momentum again.
Harden had back-to-back gains of 17 and 32 yards, and Iveans finished the drive with a 15-yard run.
La Salle again moved deep into North Bend’s end of the field, but Lucero stopped Becker well short of a first down on a fourth-down pass and then broke through La Salle’s defense for a 49-yard run.
But La Salle got another chance.
Iveans coughed up the ball on the next play and La Salle’s Paul Auxier recovered, but the Falcons were unable to gain a first down, with Skyler Walton deflecting a long pass on fourth down, and Iveans added an insurance touchdown with 2:14 remaining.
O’Dell completed 15 of 28 passes for 163 yards, but also had the three interceptions, and the Bulldogs limited La Salle to 287 yards of total offense.
Taylor was happy with the Bulldogs’ bend-but-don’t-break defense.
“I’d rather give up yardage and not scores,” Taylor said. “We didn’t want to give up big plays and I don’t think we did.”
And like several other games, the Bulldogs came through after halftime.
“If we can stay close to people in the first half, we believe we can win in the second half,” Taylor said.
Now it’s on to Astoria, where the Bulldogs will face a Fishermen squad that beat La Pine 49-15 Friday night to improve to a perfect 11-0 on the season.
Led by standout quarterback Jordan Poyer, Astoria has scored at least 45 points seven straight games and averaged 44 for the season.
“Astoria’s a tough team,” Collins said. “They pound the ball like we do. It’s going to be a great game.”
Meanwhile, La Salle’s season ended with a 7-4 record one year after the Falcons won the Capital Conference and lost a playoff game.
“We replaced a lot of guys (from last year),” Fanger said. “I told the seniors, this (season) is the most fun I’ve had coaching football.”
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