Clatskanie football escapes with narrow win over Colton

Clatskanie's perfect season continues, as the Tigers held off Colton 22-20 at home last Friday. The Vikings were the first of the two teams to reach the scoreboard, courtesy of a 40-yard touchdown pass. The ensuing two-point conversion attempt failed, leaving the score 6-0 Colton. Clatskanie would respond with a 25-yard touchdown throw from sophomore quarterback Will Van Voorst to senior wide receiver Daylon Gutierrez. Junior kicker Gunner Engen's point after attempt was no good, so the score would remain 6-6 going into the second quarter. A two-yard touchdown run and successful two-point conversion would give the Vikings a 14-6 lead, putting the Tigers in some quite unfamiliar territory as the trailing team. Van Voorst would run in a four-yard touchdown, and a successful two-point conversion would have the score knotted at 14 going into halftime. "They were definitely an athletic team that we struggled to stop at times, but we also had some uncharacteristic turnovers and penalties in the first half that cost us some points," said Head Coach Sean Gorley.

Neither team would score in the third quarter, setting up a classic postseason fourth-quarter. “[The] second half was a defensive struggle as the fog set in on our field," said Gorley. "As coaches, we stood on the sidelines, barely able to see our team on the field, so it was pretty nerve-racking to not know exactly what was going on out there."

With Colton driving into their red zone, Clatskanie senior Russ Carver was able to haul in an interception to change the possession. The favor would be returned just a minute later, as Van Voorst threw an interception of his own. Colton would eventually have to punt, and Clatakanie would start at mid-field. With five minutes left to go in the game, Van Voorst ran a score in from the 12-yard line to take the lead for the first time in the game. A successful two-point conversion had the Tigers with a lead they would not relinquish. On the team's next drive, Colton would punt away to Clatskanie, but would get the ball back after Clatskanie was forced to punt with under two minutes to go in the game. A minute later, Colton found the end zone with a seven-yard touchdown run. Clatskanie's defense dashed Colton's hopes, as the two-point conversion that would have tied the game failed. "They ran a quarterback sweep for the two-point conversion. Gunner Engen from the safety position got a great read and beat the quarterback to the edge to turn him back into Russel Carver scraping from his linebacker position." With their last hopes resting on the ensuing kickoff, Colton attempted an onside kick, but Clatskanie sophomore Landyn Winton recovered the ball, sealing the victory for the Tigers. "[It was] really a great game that could’ve gone either way," said Gorley.

Van Voorst led the team through the air with 79 yards passing and a touchdown. Though not scoring himself, senior running back Lucas Andreasen led the team with 151 yards rushing. Van Voorst added 98 yards of his own on the ground, resulting in the team's other two touchdowns. Junior Michael Simpson led the team in tackles with 10, tackles for a loss with three, and sacks with two. Senior Ayden Blackshire had the team's other turnover with his fumble recovery. "Offensive line obviously did well," said Gorley. "Defensively, we gave up some chunk plays, but our defense stood tall when it needed to."

Clatskanie (10-0) travels to St. Paul Friday, Nov. 14 to take on the defending state champions at 7 p.m. St. Paul is 6-2 on the season.