Football: Astoria rally comes up short against Valiants

Published 2:05 pm Sunday, October 27, 2019

Valley Catholic and Astoria put on a high-scoring affair Friday night for the fans in Beaverton where the Valiants ultimately outscored the Fishermen 32-29 in a Cowapa League football finale.

Astoria rallied from a 32-13 deficit late in the game, but could not recover a second onside kick. The Fish finish 0-8 overall, while Valley Catholic improved to 3-5, and moved into a three-way tie for third place at 2-3 in the league standings.

Valley’s Logan Howerton opened the scoring on the Valiants’ first possession, scoring on a 63-yard run.

After another Valley Catholic touchdown, Astoria’s Michael Moore plowed in from a yard out for the first Fishermen score with 1:15 left in the first half.

The Valiants gradually built a big lead, before Astoria’s Ebin Hillard scored on a 3-yard run midway through the fourth quarter, but Valley’s Trey Eberhart answered with a 50-yard touchdown sprint on the very next play, his third TD of the game.

The Fishermen still trailed 32-13 with just 1:17 left in the game, when Ryan Stenblom ran a quarterback keeper 65 yards for a touchdown.

Anthony Tumbarello’s onside kick was recovered by Astoria, and three plays later, Stenblom connected with Tristan Boyle in the end zone from 30 yards out.

Ryan Stutznegger converted his second straight two-point conversion, and the Fishermen were within three points with 36 seconds left.

The Valiants, however, recovered the ensuing onside kick to run out the clock.