Andy Cripe/Corvallis Gazette-Times Philomath's Ian Braly, left, tries to break free from Siuslaw's Jordan Rainwater in the first quarter.

Progress for Philomath

Warriors can see improvement despite loss to No. 6 Siuslaw

By Aaron Yost
Corvallis Gazette-Times

PHILOMATH — Forget about the scoreboard for a moment.

Set aside a loss in Philomath's home opener and look at what the Warriors accomplished on the football field instead.

Senior co-captain Brett Johnson saw it easily enough, and so did coach Gerald McEldowney.

Improvement, everywhere but on the scoreboard.

"We've gotten a lot better since last week and just some big plays hurt us," Johnson said, summing up Friday's 36-0 loss to No. 6 Siuslaw at Clemens Field.

"We just couldn't get our offense going," Johnson added. "We have to keep working hard and I think we'll do pretty well in league."

Philomath (0-2) opened the season with a 45-6 loss to Stayton on Sept. 2. Against Siuslaw (1-0) the numbers looked similar, but didn't tell the whole story.

There were struggles on offense, but there were also signs of ability, too.

Four turnovers — three fumbles and an interception — damaged the Warriors' chances, although their defense came up with three turnovers.

They had a couple of moderately big plays on offense, including a 25-yard run by sophomore Matt Hill, who led PHS with 51 yards on 18 carries, but those were balanced against the play of the Vikings' defense.

Siuslaw, which has been involved in the state playoffs six of the last 10 seasons (the same number as Philomath), allowed .8 yards per carry in the game. That figure was helped by sacks, Philomath fumbles behind the line of scrimmage and a botched punt that resulted in a 9-yard loss.

"We did move the ball and then we'd get down there and sputter," McEldowney said. "We'd either turn it over or don't get the first down."

The Vikings had four players rush for more than 75 yards — highlighted by third-string running back Sean Campbell dashing off a 91-yard scoring run with 4:17 left in the game.

That came on Campbell's first touch. He finished with 96 yards on two carries, while Siuslaw had an 8.7 yard per carry average while gaining 355 yards rushing.

Despite those numbers, Philomath trailed 9-0 with less than 30 seconds to go in the first half. The Warriors had dodged a touchdown thanks to an offensive pass interference penalty on Siuslaw and took over on downs at their own 40.

But a reverse went awry when the handoff between Kolt Gunter and Johnson wound up on the turf and Trevor May scooped the ball up and dashed 24 yards for a 15-0 advantage.

"I was real happy with our play in the first half," McEldowney said. "When it went up 15-0, that was probably on me. I was trying to switch the receivers, moving A to Z and vice versa and run a reverse and we didn't get the mesh on the reverse. I told the kids that was on me."

Philomath travels to Astoria on Friday.

Siuslaw 36, Philomath 0

SIUSLAW 9 6 8 13 — 36

PHILOMATH 0 0 0 0— 0

First quarter

S — FG Chris Perkins 31

S — Jordan Rainwater 23 pass from Aaron Mitchell (kick blocked)

Second quarter

S — Trevor May 24 fumble return (run failed)

Third quarter

S — Kirk Wilson 8 run (Wilson run)

Fourth quarter

S — A. Mitchell 5 run (Kody Thrall kick)

S — Sean Campbell 91 run (kick blocked)

Rushing — Siuslaw 41-355: Wilson 10-84 1TD, Satnowski 8-75, A. Mitchell 13-77 1TD, Wells 4-13, Thrall 1-(-8), Campbell 2-96 1TD, D. Rainwater 1-5, J. Mitchell 1-17, Team 2-(-4); Philomath 35-28: Gunter 2-(-2), Hill 18-51, Vaughn 6-(-32), Gregory 1-3, Johnson 6-17, Patterson 1-(-4), Team 1-(-1).

Passing — Siuslaw 3-10-2-46: A. Mitchell 3-10-2 46 1 TD; Philomath 7-15-1-33: Vaughn 7-15-1 33.

Receiving — Siuslaw: J. Rainwater 3-46 1 TD; Philomath: Braly 4-19, Motter 1-1, Patterson 1-7, Johnson 1-6.