Corvallis fails to score three times deep in Ashland territory

By Kevin Hampton

Gazette-Times reporter

Three times the Corvallis High football team moved inside the Ashland 10 in the fourth quarter on Friday night.

Three times the Spartans came up empty.

It was too much for CHS to overcome in a 14-9 nonconference loss to the Grizzlies at Spartan Stadium.

"You can't beat a good team like that," Corvallis coach Chris McGowan said. "You've got to take care of the ball down there. That was pretty much the game."

The Spartans held the Grizzlies to 161 total yards and finished with 330, but fumbled five times and lost three and had an interception returned for a touchdown.

Two of the three lost fumbles were crucial.

The Spartans were on the move after giving up an interception return for a touchdown late in the third. Quarterback Kevin Younger hit Daryl Watkins for 20 yards to the Ashland 10 on the second play of the fourth.

On the next play, tailback Chris Henry charged up the middle, banging his way to the 1, but lost the ball.

The Spartans went back to work on their next drive and had first-and-goal from the 6. A two-yard run by Henry and an incomplete pass made it third-and-goal from the 4, but Henry lost the ball again.

Younger moved the Spartans into scoring position for the third time, completing four passes to get to the 6, but he went cold from there as three straight throws fell incomplete and CHS turned the ball over on downs.

It was a tough loss to take for the Spartans, who dictated the pace of the game in the second half.

McGowan said he was happy with the way the team played other than the turnovers.

"We're a team that's kind of a work in progress still and if they can show progress like that, then we're OK. We're happy as coaches," he said. "You hate to lose a tough one like that, but I thought that was encouraging. I thought they picked up their intensity level and I think that will carry on to week to week to week."

The first sign that it could be a tough game for the Spartans came in the first quarter. Younger found Jordan Bamber open and Bamber headed upfield with a clear view of the end zone. The play covered 38 yards, but an Ashland player caught Bamber from behind and poked the ball loose.

The Spartans struggled to get a drive going and had to punt from deep in their territory three times. The Grizzlies finally took advantage on the third, punching the ball in on the ground shortly before the half.

Younger had misfired on throws to an open Watkins a few times, but hit him in stride for a 62-yard score. The pair started clicking and Watkins finished with five catches for 138 yards.

"We try to go to him a lot. He's our go-to guy, of course," McGowan said. "We've got other guys and we probably should spread it around a little more. Kevin is a very good quarterback, but he doesn't have a lot of experience. He's kind of learning and his learning curve is really steep on varsity out here on Friday nights, but he'll get there, though. He'll take these mistakes and grow from them."

Watkins was impressed with the play of the Spartans defense. Corvallis held the Grizzlies, a run oriented team, to 54 yards on the ground.

"I like how our defense played a lot," he said. "We made a few mistakes on the offensive side, but our defense played really well. It stepped up definitely in the second half."

Ashland 14, Corvallis 9

ASHLAND 0 7 7 0 n 14

CORVALLIS 0 0 7 2 n 9

Second quarter

AHS: Lewis Sebrell 7 run (Charlie Sebrell kick), :55

Third quarter

CHS: Daryl Watkins 62 pass from Kevin Younger (Ian Shute kick), 6:22

AHS: Andrew Hodgkins 17 interception return (Charlie Sebrell kick), 3:00

Fourth quarter

CHS: Safety, Ashland punter steps out of end zone, :19.5

RUSHING: Ashland - Lewis Sebrell 15-40, Matt Dierks 11-2. Corvallis - Chris Henry 16-81, Kevin Younger 9-13, Nate Williams 4-12

PASSING: Ashland - Matt Dierks 10-18-0, 107. Corvallis -Kevin Younger 14-31-2, 224

RECEIVING: Ashland - Max Gordon 5-64, Charlie Sebrell 2-22. Corvallis - Daryl Watkins 5-138, Jordan Bamber 1-38, Jason Martin 2-27, Newt Alvis 2-9,Chris Henry 2-6, Nate Williams 1-6