Warriors fall in closing seconds of Val-Co opener

By Kevin Hampton
Gazette-Times reporter

PHILOMATH - The Philomath High football team spent most of its Val-Co League opener against Taft overcoming setbacks.

There were several holds on big runs. A running into the punter penalty. Missed extra-points. A lost fumble in the red zone. Finally, an interception deep in PHS territory that allowed the Tigers to take a 26-25 lead.

Still, it looked as if the Warriors would get past that one when they drove toward what would be a game-winning score in the final moments. On fourth-and-5 at the Taft 20, PHS quarterback Henry Vaughn hit Heath Honeycutt over the middle for a first down at the 8.

Vaughn had Honeycutt open in the end zone, but the pass was just out of reach. The Warriors moved the ball to the 4, lined up for a field goal. One last setback. Blocked.

The Tigers took a knee and celebrated their win, leaving the Warriors frustrated with one that slipped away.

“I thought we had a pretty good chance. We thought we had it and just let it go,” PHS senior John Koeppe said. “You feel good for points and then it’s a huge heartbreaker when you get there. You think you’ve got it and all of a sudden, you don’t.”

Philomath coach Troy Muir said the Warriors weren’t getting the little aspects of the game done and were hit with too many untimely penalties and turnovers, but had their share of breaks.

“We had our chances there and we just didn’t execute,” Muir said. “A blocked field goal. We should have had a touchdown. We set it up fine and we just didn’t complete the pass.”

It wasn’t the first blocked kick of the game by Taft. The Warriors had a PAT blocked after their first touchdown, forcing Muir to go for two-point conversions after later scores. When those failed, it gave Taft the opening it needed.

“That’s the ball game,” Muir said. “When you can’t get the job done on special teams, it’s going to come back and tonight that was the difference.”

The Warriors were on the brink of pulling away in the second quarter. They took an 18-7 lead on Koeppe’s second score of the game and wasted little time in threatening again when Derek Davis broke open, grabbed Vaughn’s pass and raced 57 yards down the sideline.

Two plays later and the Warriors were at the Taft 5, but Matt Hill lost the handle on the ball and could not make the recovery in the ensuing scramble.

Taft turned around and marched the distance to score with just over a minute left before halftime.

“We get up by 14 and then let them back in,” Muir said. “That’s kind of the tell-tale of our season. We don’t know how to handle that success at this point. We play well and then we kind of sit back for a second and let them back in it. We just don’t continue to make the plays that we need to in order to be a successful football team at this point. We’ve got to continue to work in that direction.”

Taft 26, Philomath 25

TAFT 7 6 6 7 - 26

PHILOMATH 6 12 7 0 - 25

First quarter

T: Jeremiah Bennett 3 run (Tygem Butler kick), 9:44

PHS: John Koeppe 13 run (kick blocked), 4:27

Second quarter

PHS: Derek Davis 22 pass from Henry Vaughn (pass failed), 9:39

PHS: John Koeppe 6 run (pass failed), 6:41

T: James Driver 1 run (run failed), 1:02

Third quarter

PHS: Keith Fakhoury 7 run (Riley Stephenson kick), 8:18

T: Jeremiah Bennett 2 run (kick failed), 4:10

Fourth quarter

T: James Driver 17 pass from John Wilkinson (Tygem Butler kick), 6:55

RUSHING: PHS - John Koeppe 8-68, Keith Fakhoury 17-100, Matt Hill 15-54

PASSING: PHS - John Koeppe 1-7-0 58, Henry Vaughn 4-9-2 33

RECEIVING: PHS - Derek Davis 2-79, Heath Honeycutt 1-12>