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Castle Rock quarterback Stephen Ibsen is tackled by R.A. Long's TraMayne Jenkins near the goal line, Friday, Sept. 2, at Longview Memorial Stadium. Ibsen fumbled on the play but recovered the ball in the end zone for the game-winning score.
R.A. Long's TraMayne Jenkins dives for the end zone in the first half of a football game against Castle Rock, Friday, Sept. 2, at Longview Memorial Stadium. Jenkins cleared the goal line on the play but the touchdown was called back for a holding penalty.
Castle Rock's Chase Rusher tries to round the corner during a game season opening football game against R.A. Long at Longview Memorial Stadium, Friday, Sept. 2.
R.A. Long quarterback Shaun Mize is tackled by Castle Rock's Aaron Smiley during a season opening football game at Longview Memorial Stadium, Friday, Sept. 2.
Castle Rock quarterback Stephen Ibsen holds on to the football as R.A. Long defenders converge during a 12-9 win over the Lumberjacks, Friday, Sept. 2, at Longview Memorial Stadium.
Castle Rock quarterback turns the corner and looks to stiff arm a defender during a Week 1 game against R.A. Long at Longview Memorial Stadium, Friday, Sept. 2.
Castle Rock's David Garcia kicks off to start the 2022 high school football season during a Week 1 game against R.A. Long at Longview Memorial Stadium.
Castle Rock coach Aaron Gehring surveys the action during the first half of the Rockets' Week 1 win at R.A. Long, Friday, Sept. 2.
R.A. Long coach Jon Barker takes in the action during the first half of the Lumberjacks' Week 1 contest at home against Castle Rock.
After stopping a Castle Rock drive before it could get started the Jacks took over possession with 29 seconds left in the half and 24 yards to go for a score. The offense couldn’t find any room to maneuver, though, and on 4th and long the home team called upon Layne Oberloh, a soccer player who looks natural in a helmet, and he promptly drilled a 46-yard field goal that traveled at least 10 yards farther than the crossbar.
That kick worked the home crowd into a lather in time for the halftime festivities and gave R.A. Long a 9-6 lead, and for the next 18 minutes and change of game time, the Jacks remained in the driver’s seat.
It was Castle Rock who lit up the scoreboard first when quarterback Stephen Ibsen pulled off a magic trick. After taking the ball up the middle into the heart of the defense on a keeper, Ibsen was surrounded on all sides and appeared to be going nowhere. Then, inexplicably, Ibsen popped out of the middle of a 22-man scrum and hit the burst button for a 64-yard touchdown run with 8:49 remaining in the first quarter.
Ibsen would go on to lead all rushers with 152 yards on 20 carries..
Eight minutes later, though, it was the Lumberjacks who found wiggle room and a bit of pay dirt at the end.
After scuffling along and finding little room to run, R.A. Long went to the air and quarterback Shaun Mize connected on three consecutive passes to cover sixty yards in a matter of seconds. Aizik Rothwell caught the second pass to reach the red zone, with TraMayne Jenkins hauling in the first and third throws to notch the score. The touchdown toss traveled just five yards with Jenkins posting up a shorter Castle Rock cornerback in the back of the end zone.
Jenkins led R.A. Long’s offense with 108 receiving yards on five catches. Rothwell picked up 70 more yards on three receptions. Mize finished the game 12 of 25 passing for 200 yards and the touchdown, but it could have been more if not for an series of ill-timed penalties that took two scores off the board for the Jacks in the second quarter.
With 7:10 left in the first half Jenkins took a handoff and went around the end before diving across the goal line for what appeared to be a 19-yard touchdown run. However, a holding penalty deep on the backside of the play called the ball back and set the Jacks up with 1st and 25 from the 33. On 2nd and 10 Mize found Rothwell working in space and hit him in stride for a touchdown just before he slipped out the side of the end zone and tumbled into the long jump pit.
That play, too, was called back for a penalty and pushed the Jacks all the way back to the 40 yard line. After taking a sack on third down R.A. Long faced 4th and 41 and called out the punt team with Oberloh dropping the ball inside the ten yard line and Koynn Williamdyke chasing it down to stop it on the three yard line.
“We’ve just got to clean up the penalties.We had a million false starts and that’s what killed us,” RAL coach Jon Barker said. “We can execute, we can get out to the edge and we’re dangerous, we just have to eliminate the mental mistakes.”
That spectacular special teams play did little to appease the frustrations of the previous offensive set but it did set the Jacks up for a defensive stand and Oberloh’s ensuing field goal boot.
The third quarter came and went without a score as darkness settled in and the Friday night lights kicked in for the first time this season. The Rockets held possession at the end of the third quarter and held on for nearly seven more minutes as they put together the game-winning drive.
The difference came on first and goal from the three yard line when Ibsen took the snap and looked to dive up the middle for the score. RAL’s Jenkins met the Rockets’ quarterback head on in the hole and ripped the football loose as disembodied arms from both sides reached haphazardly to try to secure the ball at the bottom of the pile. When the masses finally parted it was Ibsen smiling with the ball back in his arms and just over the goal line.
“We owned the third quarter and we owned most of the fourth quarter. They definitely dug in and kept chopping away down the field,” Castle Rock coach Aaron Gehring said. “The offensive line stepped up and made running lanes for Stephen.”
Even after the tough luck bounce put his team in the hole, Barker was thrilled with the frenetic play that Jenkins brought to the field.
“Tre had a helluva game as the honey badger in the middle and just trying to cause havoc,” Barker said. “He’s a competitor, if you broke his leg he’d rip it off and stab you with it.”
Accordingly, RAL wasn’t ready to concede just yet. Instead, they went back to the air with Mize hitting Jenkins in the flat with 18 second left in the game and more than 50 yards to go. Jenkins made two defenders miss but with an open field ahead of him the last Rocket he came across, Tony Ibsen, was able to dive and knock him out of bounds near the 30 yard line.
On the outer edge of Oberloh’s field goal range and 11 seconds remaining on the clock the Lumberjacks elected to run one more play in order to help their kicker cut through the wind. But the plan went haywire when the Rockets broke through the line of scrimmage with Ryker Heller and Jakob Behrendsen combining to bring a scrambling Mize back down to earth as the horn sounded.
“We left points on the board. We should have played this a little bit better, got it out of our hand and gotten another play and gone to overtime,” Barker said. “It was a matter of do we take a shot and then kick it, or just kick it? We took another shot but the way-back-machine says we probably should have kicked it… It wasn’t a matter of if, just when.”
All told, Castle Rock outgained R.A. Long on the ground 240 to 37 and gave up just 40 yards on penalties compared to the Jacks’ 90 yards of punishment. Moreover, the Rockets held R.A. Long scoreless for the entire second half.
“We made some adjustments to contain their quarterback, he’s a helluva athlete,” Gehring said. “We just battled to the end, made some plays and rallied.”
Castle Rock (1-0) will host Kalama next Friday, while R.A. Long (0-1) will head to Franklin Pierce.
CR — Stephen Ibsen 64-yd run. Pass failed.
RAL — Shaun Mize 5-yd pass to TreMayne Jenkins. Kick failed.
RAL — Layne Oberloh 46-yd field goal
CR — Ibsen 3-yd run; Run failed
Comp-Att-Int 5-9-0 12-25-0
Rushing — CR: Ibsen 20/152. RAL: Koynn Williamdyke 1/16, Mize 9/11, Jaxon Pleas 6/10.
Passing — CR: Ibsen 5-9/5. RAL: Shaun Mize 12-25/200
Receiving — CR: Chase Rusher 5/5. RAL: TreMayne Jenkins 5/108, Aizik Rothwell 3/70.
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Castle Rock quarterback Stephen Ibsen is tackled by R.A. Long's TraMayne Jenkins near the goal line, Friday, Sept. 2, at Longview Memorial Stadium. Ibsen fumbled on the play but recovered the ball in the end zone for the game-winning score.
R.A. Long's TraMayne Jenkins dives for the end zone in the first half of a football game against Castle Rock, Friday, Sept. 2, at Longview Memorial Stadium. Jenkins cleared the goal line on the play but the touchdown was called back for a holding penalty.
Castle Rock's Chase Rusher tries to round the corner during a game season opening football game against R.A. Long at Longview Memorial Stadium, Friday, Sept. 2.
R.A. Long quarterback Shaun Mize is tackled by Castle Rock's Aaron Smiley during a season opening football game at Longview Memorial Stadium, Friday, Sept. 2.
Castle Rock quarterback Stephen Ibsen holds on to the football as R.A. Long defenders converge during a 12-9 win over the Lumberjacks, Friday, Sept. 2, at Longview Memorial Stadium.
Castle Rock quarterback turns the corner and looks to stiff arm a defender during a Week 1 game against R.A. Long at Longview Memorial Stadium, Friday, Sept. 2.
Castle Rock's David Garcia kicks off to start the 2022 high school football season during a Week 1 game against R.A. Long at Longview Memorial Stadium.
Castle Rock coach Aaron Gehring surveys the action during the first half of the Rockets' Week 1 win at R.A. Long, Friday, Sept. 2.
R.A. Long coach Jon Barker takes in the action during the first half of the Lumberjacks' Week 1 contest at home against Castle Rock.
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