Chieftains take over late to give O’Rourke win No. 150

Homecoming is not officially until next week at Columbia River High School.

Friday night, however, former Chieftains came out of the woodwork a week early to celebrate something even bigger.

Coach John O’Rourke earned his 150th career win in his 22nd season at River, but he sweated this one out until early in the fourth quarter before his team pulled away for a 43-13 nonleague victory over Mark Morris at Chieftain Stadium.

O’Rourke, who turned 70 a week ago, is now 150-71 overall, but more important to him, 2-0 so far in the 2015 season.

“With all the groups of kids that came back tonight, it just validates all the sacrifice and hard work our family has had to go through,” O’Rourke said. “You try to balance all the personal relationships with the crisis-a-day that you face as a football coach, and you create that loyalty within a team. That never goes away.”

The crisis O’Rourke faced Friday came early in the third quarter after watching Mark Morris’ Max Dawkins burst untouched through a gap and race 48 yards for a touchdown, drawing the Monarchs within 18-13. But River quickly reseized the momentum.

Isaiah James returned the ensuing kickoff 48 yards into Mark Morris territory, and Garrett McKee scored five plays later on a 23-yard quarterback keeper. After forcing a three-and-out, McKee capped another drive with his second field goal, this one a 36-yarder.

River then tried to squib the kickoff, but it bounced off a Monarchs up-man right into the arms of Noholoa Lidstone. Six plays later, McKee hit Dakota Mason in stride on a 42-yard touchdown pass — and just like that, it was 35-13 and the Chieftains could breathe a little easier.

“We’re learning to battle through adversity and respond to what’s going on around us,” said McKee, who finished 14 of 33 for 232 yards. “We got punched in the face tonight, but we’re learning to punch back.”

River jumped out to an 18-0 lead, but McKee threw a pair of interceptions trying to run the two-minute offense late in the first half that gave Mark Morris life.

Dawkins’ first touchdown, a 3-yard run, followed McKee’s first pick, and the Monarchs nearly scored just before halftime after his second.

“I tried to force some balls that I shouldn’t have, and they made me pay for it,” McKee said. “I just needed to settle down.”

Lidstone said the defense similarly needed to pick itself up after giving up two quick scores to the Monarchs, who were shut out by Kelso last week and have lost 11 of their last 12 games.

“We just picked our heads up and came back after that,” said Lidstone, a first-year starter at free safety who had a team-high nine tackles. “We always seem to start slowly, but once we get started, we don’t go down. We just keep rising.”

McKee gave the River partisans a scare early in the fourth quarter when he limped off the field following a gadget play on which he had a 13-yard reception. It turned out that it was just a muscle cramp, and McKee was one of the first to congratulate his coach following the milestone win.

“The guy is a legend, and to share this experience with him and shake his hand after the game was a good moment for me,” McKee said.

COLUMBIA RIVER 43, MARK MORRIS 13

Mark Morris 0 7 6 0—13

Col.River 7 11 17 8—43

First Quarter

CR — Travon Santiago 1 run (Garrett McKee kick)

Second Quarter

CR — Hunter Pearson 3 run (Nathan Kunz run)

CR — FG McKee 38

MM — Max Dawkins 3 run (Gage Hendrickson kick)

Third Quarter

MM — Dawkins 48 run (run failed)

CR — McKee 23 run (McKee kick)

CR — FG McKee 36

CR — Dakota Mason 42 pass from McKee (McKee kick)

Fourth Quarter

CR — Alex McGarry 2 run (Kunz run)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—MM, Will Burghardt 12-11, Dawkins 10-95, Kyle Johnson 9-45, Zack McCarthy 6-40, Hunter Robbins 5-13, August Shulda 1-0. CR, Santiago 9-48, Pearson 9-40, McKee 6-37, Ryder Waite 5-26, Kunz 2-3, Anthony Jenkins 2-0, Koben Jamison 1-0, team 1-(minus 4).

PASSING—MM, Burghardt 8-18-0-71, Brent Myklebust 1-4-0-11. CR, McKee 14-33-2-232, Blake Duhamel 1-1-0-13, Jenkins 1-1-0-(minus 1).

RECEIVING—MM, Cody Guernsey 3-20, Dawkins 2-17, Devin St. Jean 1-28, Dawson St. Jean 1-11, Shulda 1-1, McCarthy 1-5. CR, McGarry 7-83, Mason 3-108, Duhamel 1-28, Dalton Garrett 1-2, McKee 1-13, Jamison 1-10, Pearson 1-1, Kunz 1-(minus 1).