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Grizzlies' `D' dominates McKay Photo By Jim Craven Jimmy Werbin (13) of Ashland tries to fend off a McKay tackler Friday night. Ashland holds Scots in check; triumphs, 23-7 By DON HUNT ASHLAND -- On a night when the offense sputtered much of the way, the Ashland Grizzlies looked to their impregnable defense and their trustworthy kicking game to post a 23-7 victory over McKay of Salem in a first-round state playoff game Friday at Walter A. Phillips Field. Jimmy Werbin passed for 179 yards and three touchdowns, but the Grizzlies managed only 57 yards rushing on 35 attempts and they scored only six points in the second half. The subpar output would be a big problem for some teams, but the Grizzlies' defense resembled a brick wall all game long. McKay's only score came in the game's opening minutes when the Royal Scots recovered a fumble at the Grizzly 8-yard line and Bryson Wilson ran the ball in three plays later from 5 yards out. "We don't have a lot of big guys, and we're not the fastest guys you'll ever see, but we've got 11 guys who play hard and fly to the football," said linebacker Joel Smith, who roamed sideline to sideline against McKay and helped put heavy pressure on Royal Scots quarterback Eric Parks. "It was an uphill battle for the offense tonight, but the defense came through. "And defense is what usually wins." Parks, who was sacked three times and harassed throughout, missed his first seven pass attempts and finished just 8-of-26 for 91 yards. And Wilson, who came into the game with more than 1,200 yards rushing, managed only 34 yards on 17 attempts. "We gave them a real short field to work with when they got their touchdown, but after that we got fired up," Grizzly defensive tackle Ryan Hansen said. "We don't like giving up anything, but that touchdown happened so fast." The No. 4-ranked Grizzlies improved their record to 10-0 and earned a second-round matchup against Churchill of Eugene next Friday at Walter A. Phillips Field. Churchill defeated Central Catholic 50-20 in the first round. After Wilson's scoring scamper, the Grizzlies put together their best drive of the night, marching 76 yards on 10 plays to make it 7-7. A 26-yard screen pass to Jay Kuester was the big play of the drive, while the touchdown came on a 15-yard pass from Werbin to halfback Kris Pavilionis. Kuester was just getting warmed up. The 5-foot-10, 150-pound senior split end caught a short sideline pass the next time Ashland had the ball, then spun to the inside and outran a McKay defender 27 yards to the end zone. "That pass was wobbly and a little short, but Jay made a good catch and turned it into a touchdown," Werbin said. "He's a great receiver." And he wasn't done yet. Kuester caught two more passes on Ashland's next drive to set up Ryan Schorovsky's 28-yard field goal with 1:21 remaining in the first half that gave the Grizzlies a 17-7 lead. Kuester had six catches for 107 yards in the first half, then sat out the entire second half with leg cramps. While Schorovsky had a good night kicking -- he was 3-for-4 on extra points and his field goal split the uprights with lots of room to spare -- punter Austin Mason was just as impressive. Mason, who also plays tight end on offense and linebacker on defense, boomed a 59-yarder in the second half and averaged 40 yards on four punts. "We shut down their running game but we never got to their quarterback and that was probably the difference in the game," said McKay coach Scott DuFault, whose team finished the season with a 5-5 record. "We came with a lot of blitzes and stunts and I think at times we had them a little rattled. But they hurt us some screen passes. "Ashland is a well-coached team but I told our kids after the game that they have nothing to be ashamed of. We played hard for four quarters and we were in it to the end." The Grizzlies' only sustained drive of the second half was an 80-yard, 10-play march that ended on a 14-yard screen pass to Graham Quandt for a touchdown. With a 23-7 lead, Ashland coach Jim Nagel went into a conservative mode. Webin threw only six passes in the fourth period. "We did some good things tonight but obviously running the football wasn't one of them," Ashland coach Jim Nagel said. "We couldn't run inside or outside. We just didn't block very well. "We'll be working on our running game in practice next week, that's for sure." Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1998, Medford,