Philomath stands tall

Warriors play Sisters tough in first half

By Aaron Yost
Corvallis Gazette-Times

PHILOMATH — There was plenty to feel good about at halftime Friday for the winless Philomath High Warriors.

They'd stood toe-to-toe with undefeated Sisters for 24 minutes and had the lone serious scoring threat of the nonleague football game at Clemens Field.

Although they'd been denied on fourth-and-goal with 41.5 seconds left in the second quarter, the Warriors had held Sisters to 29 yards of total offense.

However, the second half was another matter entirely. That's when Sisters turned two fumbles into quick touchdowns, gained 237 yards and built a 33-0 lead before settling for a 33-15 victory in the second half.

"Once they scored, we got our heads down, and like coach said, we need to keep our heads up and we'll be fine," PHS senior Brett Johnson said.

"What I told them after the game was flush that second half," PHS coach Gerald McEldowney said. "We have to face adversity better than we are. Once they scored that first touchdown we deflated a little bit. When they scored that second one we deflated a little more."

After holding Sisters sophomore running back Cory McCaffery to minus-7 yards in the first half, and coming up with the game's only turnover of the first half, the Warriors had high hopes entering the second half.

"The second half we just didn't come out with the same energy we did in the first half," PHS junior Ben Motter said. "The first half we had the most energy we've had all the football we've played."

But a lost fumble on the second play of the third quarter gave the Outlaws a short field and McCaffery capped the 35-yard drive with a 9-yard dash to the end zone.

Two plays later, Philomath turned the ball over again on a fumble and Sisters' Andy Burke threw a 22-yard scoring pass.

Philomath's offense imploded on the next possession, a dead-ball personal foul penalty and a bad snap to Jack Vaughn in the shot gun leading to a punt on fourth down from the Warriors 10.

McCaffery scored on Sisters' first play, going 35 yards. The sophomore finished with 128 yards on 13 carries with three touchdowns — the last was a 63-yard run — gaining 135 yards on six carries after halftime.

In his second game at tail back for Philomath, Johnson rushed for 164 yards on 31 carries. His three-yard run for a TD with 2:15 left in the game ended a 23-quarter stretch without an offensive touchdown for the Warriors.

Vaughn's six-yard run two plays after Sisters fumbled gave the Warriors two scores for the first time all season. They had been shut out in three straight games.

"It's a huge confidence builder, considering we haven't been able to score an offensive touchdown in four games," said Motter, who caught Vaughn's two-point conversion pass after the second score. "That should help out a lot."

The Warriors open ValCo League play next Friday at Central of Independence.

Sisters 33, Philomath 15

SISTERS 0 0 27 6 — 33

PHILOMATH 0 0 0 15 — 15

Third quarter

S — Cory McCaffrey 9 run (kick blocked)

S — Jeff Fitter 22 pass from Andy Burke (McCaffrey run)

S — McCaffrey 35 run (Doug Emberton kick)

S — Jeff Sampson 1 run (kick blocked)

Fourth quarter

S — McCaffrey 63 run (kick blocked)

P — Brett Johnson 3 run (Johnson kick)

P — Jack Vaughn 6 run (Ben Motter pass from Vaughn)

Rushing: Sisters — McCaffrey 13-128, Jackson 1-2, Sampson 8-79, Burke 5-16, N. Emberton 1-1, Maurer 3-3, Hasskemp 1-(-7), Hernandez 1-2; Philomath — Johnson 31-164, Gunter 3-10, Hill 1-5, Zook 1-3, Vaughn 10-(-29).

Passing: Sisters — Burke 3-11-0 43 1TD; Philomath — Vaughn 1-4-0 18

Receiving: Sisters — McCaffery 1-13, Jackson 1-8, Fitter 1-22; Philomath — Johnson 1-18