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Cascade quarterback John Schirmer (11) passes the ball against Philomath during the quarterfinals of the OSAA Class 4A state playoffs, Friday, November 13, 2015, at Corvallis High School in Corvallis, Ore.
CORVALLIS – Garrett Coffey knows he needs to buy Malachi Gonzalez breakfast because Gonzalez saved Coffey’s bacon Friday night.
With just more than two minutes left and Cascade High School’s football team clinging to a 35-34 lead against Philomath, Coffey fumbled the ball for the first time on his 43rd carry of the night.
Gonzalez, a senior guard and linebacker, recovered it to allow the No. 3-ranked Cougars to run out the clock to upset No. 1-ranked Philomath 35-34 in the quarterfinals of the OSAA Class 4A state playoffs at Corvallis High School.
It was the second fumble recovery in the final 5:34 for Gonzalez as the first one on defense gave the Cougars the ball back and the opportunity to get the go-ahead score at 35-28 on a 2-yard quarterback keeper by John Schirmer.
“He worked his butt off tonight and I’m happy he had my back,” said Coffey, the senior running back.
No. 9 seed Cascade (10-1) avenges its only loss of the season – a 26-14 defeat by Oregon West rival Philomath (8-2) from Sept. 25.
And it advances the Cougars to the Nov. 21 4A state semifinals to play the winner of Saturday’s Mazama vs. Banks game.
“They humbled us when we played them the first time, and our kids didn’t like that,” Cascade coach Steve Turner said. “A bit of a redemption night, I guess. All you got to do is win by one and move on. It doesn’t matter what the score is or how pretty it is. We get to go another week.”
Cascade relied a lot of the broad shoulders of Coffey.
The senior running back rushed for 291 yards and four touchdowns on 44 carries. A week prior against La Grande he carried the ball 55 times.
“He was Garrett Coffey,” Turner said. “We drank a whole pot of Coffey tonight.”
Coffey’s second rushing touchdown put the Cougars up 14-6 with 1:39 left in the first half.
But as was the case most of the night, Cascade would put together a long, clock-consuming drive and Philomath would strike quickly.
Kenan Conner hit Cal Stueve for a 6-yard touchdown pass, and Conner caught a 2-point conversion on a halfback pass by Logan Williams to tie the game at 14 with 11 seconds before halftime.
“I think it was definitely hard, but we needed to realize that they couldn’t stop us on those long, hard drives,” Gonzalez said. “We knew we could gain four yards every play and still put it in. We knew that we were more conditioned than they were. I think there was a little bit of anger, but I think we all knew and we had faith that we could punch it in and put it in the end zone.”
After Williams’ 15-yard touchdown run tied Cascade at 28 with no time remaining in the third quarter, the Cougars went on another long drive, but Schirmer’s pass on fourth-and-5 was incomplete, giving Philomath back the ball with 7:39 on the Warriors’ 22-yard line.
On the fourth play of the drive, however, Conner’s pitch to Williams fell on the turf and Gonzalez recovered it on Philomath’s 30-yard line.
Six plays later Schirmer ran for a 2-yard touchdown and Lucas Bjorklund kicked the PAT for a 35-28 lead with 3:27 left.
It took Philomath’s offense a quick five plays to respond with a 14-yard touchdown run by Williams.
The Warriors went for two, but Conner’s pass was out of the reach of Stueve, and Cascade ran out the clock to win.
“I say just the will to win,” Schirmer said. “We’ve just been preaching that. How bad do you want it? They just finally dug deep, opened up their hearts and finally played like they wanted to.”
bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com, (503) 399-6701 or Twitter.com/bpoehler
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Cascade defensive back Cameron Molan (8) and linebacker Malachi Gonzalez (56) cause a fumble against Philomath during the quarterfinals of the OSAA Class 4A state playoffs, Friday, November 13, 2015, at Corvallis High School in Corvallis, Ore.
Cascade 35, Philomath 34
CAS
0
14
14
7
— 35
PHI
6
8
15
6
— 34
-First quarter
PHI- John Sommers 50 pass from Kenan Conner (kick fail) 4:53.
-Second quarter
CAS- Garrett Coffey 36 run (Bjorklund kick) 11:28.
CAS- Coffey 5 run (Bjorklund kick) 1:39.
PHI- Cal Stueve 6 pass from Conner (Conner pass from Logan Williams) :11.
-Third quarter
CAS- Coffey 2 run (Bjorklund kick) 7:36.
PHI- Williams 19 run (Williams kick) 6:31.
CAS- Coffey 8 run (Bjorklund kick) 3:25.
PHI- Williams 15 run (Williams kick) :00.
-Fourth quarter
CAS- John Schirmer 2 run (Bjorklund kick) 3:35.
PHI- Williams 14 run (pass fail) 2:11.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: Cascade: Garrett Coffey 44-291-4, Isiah Roniger 4-17, Hunter Thomas 2-21, John Schirmer 2-5-1; Philomath: Logan Williams 8-77-3, Trenton Looper 13-55, Casey Croy 3-29-1, Kenan Conner 5-16.
Passing: Cascade: John Schirmer 6-10-49; Philomath: Kenan Conner 11-14-286-2, Logan Williams 0-1-0.
Receiving: Cascade: Michael Biddington 2-33, Isiah Roniger 2-20, Cameron Molan 1-8, Hunter Thomas 1- -3; Philomath: John Sommers 3-113-1, Logan Williams 3-52, Riley Davis 2-33, Casey Croy 2-12, Cal Stueve 2-78.