SEASIDE – The Game of the Night in Oregon high school football took place right under the bright lights of Broadway … Field.

And if someone had told Seaside coach Scott Dean before Friday’s game that his team would hold leads of 28-7 and 34-14 in the second quarter, and that his star running back would finish the game with 322 yards rushing … what else could he think?

The 22-game losing streak is history. Right?

Wrong. The Gulls managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, as Taft rallied for a dramatic 49-42 win over Seaside. The losing streak is now at 23. And this one hurt, even more than the first 22 losses combined.

“I know we can run the football, I know we can pass the football,” Dean said after the game. “It’s becoming apparent now that we don’t have enough depth defensively.”

Part of that is that Dean’s team is still missing a number of key players, out with injuries.

“Ian Dueber is playing hurt, and we had three or four key ball players out of the game, and that hurts us,” he said, “because we still don’t have the depth at those key positions. If we did, we win that game running away.

“I give (the Tigers) credit for having a lot of guts and coming back, but they’ve learned evidently to win, and we have not.”

The entertaining game featured 91 points and 939 yards in total offense, with just four penalties.

The Tigers scored two touchdowns in the final two minutes and 10 seconds on a 75-yard punt return by John Wilkinson, and a 30-yard scoring pass from Wilkinson to Thomas Lovejoy with 41 seconds left.

“This is my 36th year of coaching, and I don’t think I’ve ever been involved in a game like that,” said Taft coach Jack Wilkinson.

The Gulls had everything going their way in the second quarter.

Seaside scored three touchdowns in a little over four minutes, including a 43-yard sprint up the middle by Zeke Smith, an 11-yard TD run by Smith, and a 50-yard scoring strike from quarterback Myls Miller to Dueber.

Taft countered with a 45-yard touchdown run by Joe Whitaker, and Seaside answered with a 25-yard TD toss from Miller to Dueber, which gave the Gulls a 34-14 lead with 2:03 left in the first half.

After recovering a Taft fumble, the Gulls went for the knockout punch, but Jordon McNelly intercepted a pass with just over a minute remaining. And the Tigers made Seaside pay, as Whitaker scored on a 6-yard run to cap a three-play drive, cutting the score to 34-20 at halftime.

The score was probably the turning point in the game, Dean said.

“When it was 34-14, instead of throwing a deep corner – which was going to be open – we threw a ball soft and inside, and it was picked. And that’s my fault,” Dean said. “We could have been up 42-14, and that game would have been over.”

After six touchdowns in the second quarter, Whitaker scored on a 5-yard run for the only points in the third period.

McNelly was on the receiving end of a 13-yard scoring pass from Wilkinson to start the fourth quarter, but the Gulls answered right back with a 33-yard TD run by Smith, who added the two-point conversion run for a 42-34 lead with 6:47 left.

A lost fumble by the Tigers gave the ball back to Seaside, but the Taft defense rallied for a big stand and forced the Gulls to punt.

Wilkinson made the catch at his own 25, and found a lane up the right sideline and sprinted 75 yards for the score. He also ran in the two-point conversion to tie the game at 42-42.

“We had a punt block on at that time, and I don’t know if that held their coverage kids at the line a little longer, but he managed to take the ball to the house,” coach Wilkinson said.

The Tigers forced a three-and-out by the Seaside offense, and took over at their own 30 with 1:20 left.

After a pass interference call on the Gulls, the Tigers executed a hook-and-ladder play (Wilkinson to McNelley to Whitaker) for a gain of 29 yards.

After a loss on first down, Wilkinson found Lovejoy on a deep crossing pattern over the middle for the go-ahead touchdown with 41 seconds left.

“We were down 34-20 at halftime, and we had first possession of the second half,” coach Wilkinson said. “We felt if we go out and drive the length of the field and score, we’d be in a good position to get back in it. But we followed by giving up a touchdown.

“It was just a run-and-shoot game, and we were fortunate that when the clock ran out, we had the balance of the scoring.”

Seaside’s last hope was extinguished when they fumbled the ensuing kickoff.

“Offensively, we did what we wanted to,” Dean said. “But when we couldn’t stop them, it was a snowball effect of ‘here we go again.’ And we can’t allow that to happen. Let’s step up to the level of competition and go.

“We have to play smart, we have to execute,” he added. “When we do, we’ll win. When we don’t, we won’t.”

A team can go one of two ways after a devastating loss, Dean said.

“If we are worth our salt as players and coaches, it will go the other way. We’ll have another test next week (vs. Philomath). We can run the football – we know that. We’ll have some weapons back, and it will make a difference in a game like that.

“Instead of having Zeke come out, we’ll have a quality back behind him.”

Smith finished with 322 yards rushing on 32 carries, while Whitaker tallied 206 on 24 attempts for Taft.

“They get tired,” Dean said of his running backs. “They’re having to go both ways. They don’t have to go both ways when we get everybody back. That will make them more effective on offense.”

Still, the line is blocking well and Smith can run on anybody, given a chance.

“Our offensive line did a nice job,” Dean said. “(Nate) Rotella, (Alex) Swynenburg and (Justin) McMains. You have to give them kudos, because my gosh we got a lot of yards (462). The bottom line was we didn’t get the win. That’s key to our program. We just have to get one, and then we’ll be OK.”

South Bend 46, Warrenton 8WARRENTON – South Bend scored three touchdowns in the first quarter Friday night at Warrenton, on its way to a 46-8 win over the Warriors.

David Lorton had a pair of scoring passes to Brett Rose in the first period, as South Bend built a 20-0 lead, before the Warriors scored on a 15-yard pass from Thomas McFadden to Jordan Kelly.

South Bend’s Terrell Boyes returned the ensuing kickoff 72 yards, and the Bulldogs led 33-8 at halftime.

McFadden had 53 yards rushing to lead Warrenton, while Josh Wheatley caught three passes for 54 yards.

Knappa 49, Vernonia 0VERNONIA – Vernonia vs. Knappa football – i.e., the Logger Bowl – just hasn’t been much of a contest the last two years.

Logger Bowl ’09 was all Knappa, which built a 35-0 lead through one half, and cruised to a 49-0 win.

Since Vernonia won a 7-6 contest in 2007, Knappa has outscored Vernonia 84-0 in the last two meetings.

Friday’s game was nothing more than a scoring battle between Knappa’s Bryan Sablan and Eddie Corder.

Sablan scored three touchdowns on runs of 2 and 6 yards, and a 61-yard punt return.

Corder followed each of Sablan’s touchdowns with a score of his own, scoring three TDs on runs of six and 30 yards, in addition to a 50-yard completion from Cody Strickland.

Jeremy Lemire capped the scoring with a 55-yard run for Knappa, which hosts Clatskanie this week.

Eddyville 28, Jewell 8JEWELL – Injuries and sickness can take a big toll on an eight-man football team, which it did Friday to Jewell.

Eddyville paid the Jays a visit and left with a 28-8 win.

“We were missing five to six players at each practice this week, due to illness and injuries,” said Jewell coach Shea Little. “Three of our starters were not able to play in the game.”

Eddyville held a 16-0 halftime lead.

Erik Armstrong scored Jewell’s lone touchdown, while Haiden Culp rushed for 129 yards on 16 carries. Cody Lowery caught three passes for 31 yards, and Alex Miller had nine tackles defensively.

Naselle 22, Ilwaco 20NASELLE, Wash. – Naselle’s Kai Leach blocked a 21-yard field goal attempt by Ilwaco’s Christian Dekeyser with 45 seconds left, helping the Comets to a 22-20 win over the Fishermen Friday.

Leach, a freshman, also blocked a punt early in the game, leading to a 10-yard scoring run by Logan Scrabeck.

Leach recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, setting up a three-yard TD run by Austin Burkhalter.

Ilwaco’s Justin Short hit Kyle Breckinridge for a 29-yard scoring toss late in the first half, and Short connected with Josh Berteaux for a 17-yard scoring strike in the third quarter, cutting the Comet lead to 14-13.

Naselle answered by returning the ensuing kickoff, with Jesus Martinez taking it the distance for an 81-yard return.

VolleyballWarrenton def. IlwacoWARRENTON – The Warrenton volleyball team won a nonleague encounter with Ilwaco Saturday, 25-15, 25-15, 25-15.

Brooklyn Campbell led the Warriors with eight kills on 23-of-25 hitting, while teammate Payton Hummell was 12-of-12 with five kills.

Chelsea Smotherman connected on 18-of-18 serves with three aces for the Warriors.

Girls SoccerMontesano 5, Astoria 0MONTESANO, Wash. – Montesano held a 4-0 lead just 15 minutes into the game, and went on to post a 5-0 win over the Astoria girls soccer team in a nonleague game Saturday.

The Bulldogs had 24 shots on goal in the first half and 15 in the second, to no shots on goal for the Fishermen.