There are a lot of supposed truism is football, the things that when they happen usually translate to wins. Like when you have a running back rush for over 100 yards, including a 59 yard rushing touchdown, as Mason Rivers did, AND you nearly get a second 100 yard rushing game, as the North did Saturday night in the 68th Les Schwab Bowl, you usually win the game. Especially if you hold your opponent to 15 net yards rushing from the running back position, which is all the South was able to muster.
But then there is the old one about defense winning football games. That one isn’t supposed to be the story in all-star games, and in a game where the offenses combined for 9 touchdowns. But it was the story, and the reason the South took the 42-21 win.
You don’t see 2 goal line stands in any game very often, much less an all-star game, where the teams, compromised of supposedly primarily offensive stars, had only a week to work together.
But when you do, you usually see that translate into a win, especially when one of the stands is followed up with a 92 yard touchdown march.
Technically, the South actually had 3 such stands, as the game ended with the North being turned away yet again, though North coach Ken Potter’s decision to not use any of his second half timeouts factored into it as well. And it was the second one the South made in the second half that effectively ended the game.
Capitalizing on turnovers and field position are another good way to win football games, and the South did that as well.
A fumble forced by Hermiston’s Landon Gammell and recovered by Silverton’s Colton Cypert on the second play of the game set the South up on the North 32 yard line, and that led to Eric Dungey’s 3 yard touchdown run that put the South on the board not 3 minutes into the game.
After an exchange of punts, the North used an 86 yard drive to even the score at 7 apiece, capped by a 2 yard touchdown run by Sergio Hoffman of Gresham, above.
The South’s ensuing drive stalled, ending in a punt, and so should have the next North drive.
But rather than playing for field position on 4th down just over mid-field, Potter inexplicably went for it on 4th and 8, and an incompletion again gifted the South a short field.
Silverton’s Cole Chandler, above, promptly made the North pay, leading the South on a scoring drive, which he personally capped with a 3 yard touchdown run 2 plays into the second quarter to take a 14-7 lead.
The South pushed their advantage to 21-7 on their next drive, capped by Dungey’s 12 yard touchdown toss to Central’s Wes Riddell, above.
The North got back into the game with a 75 yard scoring drive of their own, capped by a 5 yard scoring sweep by Dominique Penn of Gran, above, 2 minutes before halftime.
But the South took over the game in the third quarter.
The first goal line stand, in which Hoffman was stopped twice, and then Portland St. bound Jonathan Boland from Parkrose was sacked, was followed by the 92 yard touchdown drive.
Dungey, who is Syracuse bound, was 6 of 6 passing on the drive, including the 15 yard scoring strike to Grants Pass’ Southern Oregon bound Keegan Weiss, above, that made it 28-14 South.
The North quickly answered, with a 59 yard touchdown run on a slant play by Sherwood’s Mason Rivers 3 plays later.
Undaunted, the South promptly proceeded to put the game out of reach though.
Chandler led a 78 yard scoring drive, helped by a pass interference penalty, and capped by a 9 yard touchdown toss to Sheldon’s Kellen Strahm that opened the lead to 35-21.
Two plays later, Chris Adamo from Mt. View picked off North quarterback Austin Brisbee, above, and on the next play, Dungey hooked up with Strahm again, this time for a 59 yard touchdown down the left sideline, below.
Strahm, who is bound for Oregon, but to play baseball, not football, would wind up the South’s skill player of the game, finishing with 108 yards receiving, plus 18 more on fly sweeps, though he would have to be helped to the trophy table, his right knee iced after a key 6 yard run late in the game, to help get the South out of the shadow of their own goal line after the second goal line stand.
West Albany’s Joey Roos picked off Westview’s Austin Brisbee’s pass to stop the ensuing North drive early in the 4th quarter, but the South left the door slightly ajar.
Needing to eat some clock with a 3 touchdown lead, an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for a poor choice of words, followed by a questionable decision to go for it on 4th down, which ended in an illegal pass pitch from Dungey to a lineman, gave North the ball back in South territory, when a punt would have pinned them deep in their own territory.
Brisbee went 5 for 5 on the drive passing, and Hoffman got as close as the 1 yard line, but 3 carries from at or inside the South 4 yard line were all turned away, the last on a stop by West Albany’s JT Valenzuela.
An incompletion on 4th down produced the second goal line stand of the second half for the South, who then ran off over 4 minutes before punting the ball back to the North, with just over 2 minutes left in the game.
Aided by a personal foul and a face mask penalty, the North used consecutive completions to Mason Rivers from Sherwood, above, who would wind up as the North’s skill player of the game, and Grant’s Chris Lewis, who fought back from an ankle issue late in the first half, to get to the South 6 yard line.
But Rivers was stopped 3 times in a row, and because the North left all their timeouts on the board, time ran out and the South had pulled to within 2 games of the North in the all-time series that began as the Metro-State All-Star game, and spent much of its run as the North-South Shrine Game, before its current run as the Les Schwab Bowl.
The South snapped a 2 game North winning streak, but the North still leads the series 33-31 with 4 ties.
Dungey, above, was the George Shaw Most Valuable Player of the Game, below, finishing with 13 completions and 3 touchdowns on 17 passes, with 1 interception, for 186 yards, and 3 scores, as well as rushing 13 times for an additional 89 yards, and another score.
Sheldon’s Willy Spears was named the South’s lineman of the game, and Will Allen from Barlow received that honor for the North.
Rivers led the North, with 109 yards rushing, and 47 more receiving, and Hoffman added 92 yards on the ground.
But though Brisbee and Boland combined to throw for 256 yards, Brisbee, above, was only 14 of 29. Most of the problems coming in the first half, when at least a half dozen drops of balls initially caught, but not controlled to the ground, saw Brisbee complete only 4 of 13 passes.
It amounted to missed opportunities, and contrasted with the efficiency of the less productive statistically, but more effective and timely South passing game, was the other difference in the contest besides the goal line stands.
The North ran 29 more plays than the South, outgained them 477 yards to 397, and had almost an 8 minute edge in time of possession. But was turned away in the red zone when it mattered the most.
North 7 7 7 0 – 21
South 7 14 21 0 – 42
Q1
South – Eric Dungey 3 yard run (Brady McGetrick kick) 12:22
North – Sergio Hoffman 2 yard run (Joey Kenney kick) 5:52
Q2
South – Cole Chandler 3 yard run (McGetrick kick) 14:27
South – Wes Riddell 12 yard run (McGetrick kick) 8:01
North – Dominique Penn 5 yard run (Kenney kick) 2:00
Q3
South – Keegan Weiss 15 yard pass from Dungey (McGetrick kick) 6:20
North – Mason Rivers 59 yard run (Kenney kick) 5:14
South – Kellen Strahm 9 yard pass from Chandler (McGetrick kick) 2:29
South – Strahm 59 yard pass from Dungey (McGetrick kick) 1:43
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