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12 Wednesday,February24,2021 Columbia Gorge News www.columbiagorgenews.com SPORTS Columbia suffers overtime football loss on road at Vancouver’s Seton Catholic Petshow ■ By For Joe Columbia Gorge News Host Seton Catholic foiled Columbia’s come-from-behind, fourth-quarter effort Saturday and then scored on its first offensive play in overtime to edge the Bruins, 28-26, in the Trico League football opener for both schools. The comeback win spoiled a valiant Columbia effort, where the Bruins overcame a two-score, second-half deficit. It also soured an outstanding performance by Columbia senior Austin Charters, who accounted for 269 yards of offense. “It was really a story of giving them four extra possessions, and two of them were on our first play after taking over on offense,” Columbia Coach Dan Smith said of his team’s four turnovers. “You get down in a hole and you start getting out of what your game plan is. You have to claw your way back … we were really close. “Like I told my team at the end of the game, I was extremely proud of the way they battled back. We could have hung our heads after going down 20-7 in the third quarter.” The game featured five lead changes, one tie, as well as a four-touchdown, 249-yard rushing took a pitch to the left, cut back to the right, broke an attempted arm tackle, then shook free of two Seton defenders at the 24 and continued untouched to the end zone. Juan Martinez and Chase Colloton helped spring Charters by Coach Dan Smith staying with their blocks 10 and 15 Columbia High School yards beyond the line of scrimmage. Columbia threatened once more in regulation, but Seton stopped Charters on a fourth-and-1 at the effort by Charters (on 22 carries). Cougar 6-yard-line with a little His 15-yard TD catch on a fourth- more than a minute showing on the and-10 pass from Garrett Hogberg game clock. gave Columbia a 26-20 overtime “Right before that fourth-down lead. But on Seton’s first offensive overtime play from the 25-yard line, stop, our kicker, Chase Colloton had CJ Hamblin threw a halfback pass to hurt his knee,” Smith said. “(Or) we probably would have kicked a field Lance Struck to tie the game at 26. goal in that situation.” Seton then scored on a two-point Each team had plenty of other conversion — a quick pass to the left flat to Elijah Volk, who was met in-game adjustments, something Smith said he and his coaching staff at the goal line by two Columbia expected — in part, because of a defenders, but spun into the end lack of practice time and, also, not zone. knowing what to expect from Seton Seton led 14-7 at the half and under its first-year Coach Dennis took a 20-7 lead with 6:40 left in Herling. the third quarter on Volk’s 1-yard, One of Columbia’s adjustments fourth-down run. Columbia battled was when Smith switched Charters back, as Charters broke free for from quarterback to running back a 79-yard touchdown with 2:11 remaining in the period, pulling the on Columbia’s third offensive possession. Bruins within 20-14. “Going into (the) game we knew He scored again on a 28-yard run early in the fourth quarter to tie the we might be making some adjust- game, 20-20. On the play, Charters ments,” Smith said. “(Charters) had “LikeItoldmyteamattheend ofthegame,Iwasextremely proudofthewaytheybattled back." been my starting quarterback for the last two years. … We’ve been trying to find a feature running back this year. “Without having any summer ball … we’re kind of experimenting right now. And, so, the move (Saturday) was really to see what we could get a spark with. And Austin definitely gave us that spark.” With Charters receiving the football, instead of handing it off, Columbia looked much different than the jittery team which started the game — the one coming off a 475-day layoff (Columbia’s last contest was Nov. 1, 2019, a 50-7 shellacking of Stevenson). Seton also took a few possessions to get its game legs. The Bruins had shut out Seton 42-0 in 2019, but the Cougars served noticed early that this is a new era — with Herling at the helm. The Cougars took advantage of a short field following a Columbia turnover to open the game’s scor- ing. Quarterback Noah Carlos con- nected with 6-foot-3 wide receiver Lance Struck on a 13-yard slant pat- tern with five minutes left in the first quarter. Charters, a sturdy 5-foot- 10, 175-pounder, gave Columbia its first lead, 7-6, on a 33-yard run late in the opening period. Charters took the handoff Gorge Sports Schedule Gorge sports schedules for Feb. 23 through March 4 (as of Feb. 21, sched- ule is subject to change): Girls Soccer Feb. 23 Columbia at Seton Catholic Feb. 25 Columbia at King’s Way March 2 Castle Rock at Columbia March 4 Franklin at Hood River; The Dalles at Riverside; La Center at Columbia Cross Country Feb. 27 Columbia at Seton Catholic, Vancouver. March 3 The Dalles at Crook County; Hood River at Pendleton. Boys Soccer March 2 Horizon at Damascus March 4 Riverside at The Dalles; Hood River at Franklin running to his right, then cut back to his left to avoid a Seton defender in the backfield and kept angling back against the pursuit en route to the end zone. “We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us this week,” Smith said, accen- tuating the positive. “Austin had a good game, an interception and led our team in tackles. … Chase Colloton, playing at cornerback, he did a really good job of coming up and helping on the run. “I’m just really excited that we got to play a game again. (Although) one thing that stood out for us: We’re not in game shape. We’re on the right track. I think we’ll be able to right the ship.” The Bruins are scheduled to play their next game 7 p.m. Friday at home against Fort Vancouver. If Columbia’s field is not available be- cause the weather, the game might be moved to Seton Catholic’s turf field and be played in the afternoon on Friday or Saturday. Trico Football Scores: Week 1 Seton Catholic 28, Columbia 26 (OT) Castle Rock 52, Goldendale 13 La Center 58, Fort Vancouver 0 Ilwaco 12, Stevenson 6 (3OT) Hennessy signs to run at Whitman College Football Feb. 26 Fort Vancouver at Columbia Volleyball Feb. 23 Columbia at Seton Catholic Feb. 25 King’s Way at Columbia March 2 Hood River at Redmond; The Dalles at Pendleton; Columbia at Castle Rock; Dufur at Heppner; Dufur at Ione/ Arlington March 4 Columbia at La Center; Mitchell- Spray at Dufur; Bickleton at Glenwood Hood River’s Lucy Hennessy signed a let- ter of intent to run cross country this fall at NCAA Lucy Division III Hennessy Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wash. Hennessy finished 30th in the 2019 Class 5A state meet in Eugene. She ran 19 minutes, 53 seconds in that 5,000-meter race. That was a one-minute, 38-second improvement over the time she ran the prior week at the district meet and a personal record by more than a minute. Whitman’s women’s cross country team won the 2019 Northwest Conference championship. Whitman College is a nationally recognized liberal arts college in Walla Walla, Washington, that encour- ages scholarship, creativity, character and responsibility, according to their website.