AHS PREVIEWS
12A
Fishermen reloading
Football team
aiming for
another
league title
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
I
t’s a new group, with new names and
new numbers.
The seniors and all-staters —
Fritz, Olaf, Lyngstad, etc. — are all gone.
One of the most successful senior classes
in Astoria school history has moved on.
But you can be sure the Astoria Fish-
ermen still have that “favorite” label.
The defending Cowapa League cham-
pions always have high expectations.
That’s natural, especially when they’re
coming off a perfect league season and
a second straight appearance in the state
playoffs.
And though it’s a new-look team,
there’s no reason the Fishermen can’t
accomplish what they did a year ago.
Like they say in the hallowed halls
of the high school, “Tradition Never
Graduates.”
The Cowapa
Last year’s all-league team was
senior-dominated, with Astoria, Banks
and Scappoose all losing a lot to
graduation.
Still, “We hope to be right back in
the mix, in the top three with Scappoose
and Banks,” said Astoria coach How-
ard Rub, entering his 18th season at the
helm. “Coach (Jeff) Roberts running the
Wing-T automatically makes Seaside a
better program. (Kye) Johnson is doing a
good job in Tillamook, and Valley Catho-
lic is always a question, with them being
a private school.
“It’s a very competitive league. I
wouldn’t be shocked to see four teams
qualify for state.”
Those four would likely be Astoria,
Banks, Scappoose and Seaside, in no par-
ticular order.
Astoria was the clear-cut winner last
season, cruising to a 5-0 league sea-
son with wins over Valley Catholic (33-
20), Seaside (50-12), Tillamook (27-7),
Banks (22-6) and a season-ending vic-
tory at Scappoose, 25-22.
Gary Henley/The Daily Astorian
Trey Hageman is a triple threat for the
Astoria football team — the senior
can run, catch and throw the ball for
the Fishermen offense.
ASTORIA FOOTBALL
Coach: Howard Rub, 18th year
2016: 8-2 (5-0 Cowapa)
State playoffs: Defeated Gladstone (48-14),
lost to Cottage Grove (21-25).
All-League losses: Fridtjof Fremstad, QB/
DB (League Offensive MVP); Samboy Tui-
mato, LB (League co-Defensive MVP); Olaf
Englund, WR; Keldon Littell, T/DL; Jared
Lucore, C; Tyler Lyngstad, LB; Matthew Ma-
ther, G; Ryan Palek, WR/DB; Kyle Strange,
WR; Isaac Villa, T.
All-League returners: Andrew Schauer-
mann, Sr., K
It may be a little closer this season,
but Astoria is still the league favorite.
The Fishermen
Specifically, Astoria lost six all-league
starters on offense, including the league’s
Offensive Player of the Year (quarter-
back Fridtjof Fremstad), and the league’s
co-Defensive Player of the Year (line-
backer Samboy Tuimato).
Astoria’s five all-leaguers on defense
have also graduated.
“We’ve got two returning starters
on offense and two on defense,” Rub
said. “We are definitely in reload mode.
Fortunately, the lower-level coaches
have done a good job the last couple
years.”
Yes, strong teams at the freshman/
sophomore and junior varsity levels
always seem to save the Fishermen.
Astoria has dominated the Cowapa at
the junior varsity level, with just one loss
the last two years.
“To be honest, it’s a credit to those
coaches and players,” Rub said. “And
our incoming juniors look relatively var-
sity ready.”
Some of those being counted on
will include junior Tristan Wallace, the
front-runner at quarterback to replace
Fremstad.
“Tristan, K.J. Johnson, Trey (Hage-
man) — they all took reps (in last week’s
jamboree),” Rub said. “Going into North
Bend, Tristan will be the starter. We like
his athleticism. We also like how K.J.
throws the ball, and we like Trey all-
around. It’s a good problem to have, three
guys who you can count on if you need
‘em.”
At running back, “Tyler Ranta (Sr.)
is one of those two returning starters on
offense, so he should get the bulk of the
load. We like our juniors, Connor Long
and Niko Caruana, and we like the idea
of converting lineman Daegan Chattick
to fullback. We have some decent depth
there, and some good options.”
The Fishermen lost three all-league
receivers — Olaf Englund, Ryan Palek
and Kyle Strange.
“We’re replacing a ton there, but
Dylan Matteucci (Sr.) has looked really
good. He should have a solid year. If K.J.
isn’t at quarterback, he will be the split
end on the left. Ian Hunt (Jr.) has looked
good, and Josh Olsen (Jr.) is a good ath-
lete, once he’s healed.”
Other names to follow at the skill
positions: seniors Hageman and Kainoa
Kaonohi, and juniors Tryton Matlock and
Justin Villa.
All-league placekicker Andrew
Schauermann returns for his senior year.
As always, the Fishermen will have a
top-flight defense.
Quotable: Following last week’s jam-
boree, Rub said, “we made it look like
football at times. And more importantly,
good football.”
Prediction: League champions.
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30, 2017
Cain returns with
‘a solid team’ in ‘17
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
MORE INSIDE
The Astoria boys soccer
team was 3-1 through four
games last year. By midsea-
son, they were 3-4, and the
Fishermen never did regain
their winning edge, as they
finished 5-8 overall in Lee
Cain’s first year as head
coach.
And following the grad-
uation of their all-star goal-
keeper, Cain and the Fish-
ermen are facing a tough
challenge as they enter the
2017 season.
The Cowapa
The league will take care
of itself, Cain said. He’s just
focused on his team.
“I really don’t know much
about the league,” he said. “I
haven’t cared, because I want
to focus this summer on my
boys and how we’re playing.”
Tillamook is the defend-
ing league champion, with
Seaside looking to regain the
title this year. Banks is also
back with a varsity team, as
the Cowapa returns to a full
six-team league.
The Fishermen
Astoria lost some big-
time scorers (Rafael Alcan-
tar, and brothers Jorge and
Luis Herrejon), and their big-
time goalie (Kyle Birge, the
Cowapa’s Goalkeeper of the
Year). So a rebuilding job is
definitely in order for Cain
and the Fish.
They’re off to a good start.
“We’ve got a pretty solid
team,” Cain said, one week
into practice. “Nine, possibly
10 seniors and six juniors,
so it’s a fairly mature team,
and they’re all playing well
together.”
Astoria had a turnout of
40-plus players, and Cain
will keep 17 to 20 on the
varsity.
“We will have a real solid
JV squad that I want to keep
together,” he said. “A couple
Astoria girls soccer: Searching for goals
By GARY HENLEY
The Daily Astorian
On the field, there were
improvements shown for the
Astoria girls soccer team in
2016. On paper, the highlights
were few and far between.
Their 1-0 nonleague win
over Rainier early in the sea-
son was Astoria’s first victory
over someone other than Til-
lamook in three years; and a
1-1 tie against Banks Oct. 20
highlighted the league season.
Unfortunately, still no
playoffs, and the goals were
still hard to come by for the
Lady Fishermen.
Outside of the 11 goals
Astoria scored in two wins
against Tillamook, the one
goal vs. Rainier and the 1-1 tie
against Banks represented the
only other scores for the Fish-
ermen, who were outscored
35-0 in their nine losses.
No one said life in the
Conference of Champions
was going to be easy.
The Cowapa
Last year’s tie vs. Banks
was big, but the jinx is still
there — no league wins for
Astoria over any team but Til-
lamook since 2013.
The Cowapa is a
tough league, as first-year
coach Tim Fastabend found
DEL’S O.K. TIRE
last season.
“The tough part is play-
ing Valley Catholic and Scap-
poose,” he said. “I think they
only lost two or three seniors
each.”
Scappoose has won two
state titles over the last four
years, and Valley Catho-
lic has played in four state
championship games over the
last five years. North Valley
defeated Valley Catholic 2-1
in last year’s 4A title game.
And the Valiants and Indi-
ans “are probably stronger
than they were last year,”
Fastabend said. “A number
of those girls play year-
round, which is something we
don’t have.”
Still, the Lady Fish are
hoping to be competitive in
all games.
“We had a couple games
against Seaside that could
have gone either way,” Fas-
tabend said. “And with Lexi
(Law) in goal, she saves a
couple goals every game. If
we can figure out how to go
forward, we may have a lit-
tle more offensive power this
year, score some goals and be
in a couple games.”
The Lady Fish
“We have to replace a
lot of seniors,” Fastabend
said. “We have some juniors
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who have been with the var-
sity for three years. We have
Lexi Law back, and that gives
us a strong back end. Claire
Albright, Sarah Lertora,
Haley Ranta, Hannah McCa-
rley — the senior group is
pretty good.
“This will be the third var-
sity year for Andrea Harris;
we have a couple sophomores
and we’re bringing in three
freshmen. We have a good
class mix.”
That mix includes seniors
Jasmin Mabry and Megan
Schacher, and junior Saman-
tha Messing. Stepping up to
varsity are sophomores Taile-
igh Cole and Libby Whitsett,
Astoria High School
cross country and
volleyball previews.
Page 11A
ASTORIA
BOYS SOCCER
Coach: Lee Cain, 2nd year
2016: 5-8 (2-6 Cowapa)
Playoffs: None
All-League losses: Kyle
Birge (GK of the Year); Rafael
Alcantar, Jorge Herrejon, Luis
Herrejon
All-League returners: Cody
Early, Sr.; Jose Gonzalez, Sr.
years down the road we’re
going to have a real solid
team.”
For now, the Fishermen
will replace Birge with senior
Jake Hurd in goal.
“That’s a tough spot to
fill,” said the coach. “Jake
Hurd is going to be our start-
ing keeper. He’s been work-
ing hard and looks good. He
played JV and part-time var-
sity last year; it’s a big spot to
fill, but I’m happy with what
I’m seeing in Jake.”
Elsewhere, Cain said,
“Cole Beeson (Sr.) is back,
Antonio Bermudez (Sr.),
David Bermudez (So.), Trev
Byrd (Sr.), Aldo Cruz (Jr.) …
Jose Gonzalez (Sr.) is really
solid, strong and can play
anywhere; Jonathan Jimenez,
Christian Medina-Perez and
Rodrigo Palacio-Rojas (all
juniors) will be the varsity
back line.”
Also playing big roles
will be returners Gustavo
Velazquez (Sr.) in the mid-
field and Porter Whitsett (Jr.).
Serving as backup keep-
ers to Hurd, the Fishermen
have several incoming fresh-
men, as well as junior Taylor
Palmberg.
Also on the preseason
roster: senior Tyler Gagnon,
junior Ivan DeLaCruz, soph-
omore Michael Postlewait
and freshman Josh Condit.
ASTORIA
GIRLS SOCCER
Coach: Tim Fastabend, 2nd
year
2016: 3-9-2 (2-6-2 Cowapa)
Playoffs: None
All-League losses: Jenna
Rudolph; Rachel Simmons
All-League returners: None
while freshmen Elle Esplien
and Hayley Kelley will see
action at the varsity level.
“It’s a fairly athletic team,”
Fastabend said. “We’re not
strong technically, but they
have a good attitude and can
get up and down the field. We
had kind of a weak summer
turnout, so it might take us
three weeks to get up to speed,
but the girls seem enthusiastic
and willing to work hard.”
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