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PAGE A10, KEIZERTIMES, OCTOBER 21, 2016 KEIZERTIMES.COM McNary thinking playoffs Celtics tame Bulldogs By DEREK WILEY Of the Keizertimes On paper, McNary-West Albany looked like it would go just like most of the Celt- ics’ other Greater Valley Con- ference games this season—a back-and-forth battle to the end. However, McNary had something else in mind. Setting the tone with a 15- play, 62-yard scoring drive to open the game, the Celtics defeated West Albany 28-7 on Thursday, Oct. 13 in Keizer. “We really came together like I don’t think we have yet this year,” senior Kolby Barker said. “Our offense was click- ing. Our defense was click- ing. Everybody did their job. We’ve been talking this whole time about taking us from good to great and I think we showed that tonight. I think people that haven’t been ex- pecting a lot from us are go- ing to change their minds real quick.” McNary was missing senior Brendan Van Voorhis, who was in New York on a track and fi eld recruiting visit to West Point. “I was wondering how we were going to respond both offensively and defen- sively and it was great to see we didn’t miss a beat,” Celtics head coach Jeff Auvinen said. Senior Josh Benson be- came quarterback Josiah Gil- bert’s No. 1 option at receiver, catching three touchdown passes. “I just knew I had to step up with (Van Voorhis) being gone to New York,” Benson said. “I thought we were going to run the whole entire time. I didn’t even expect a pass be- cause of all this rain we’ve had. It’s pretty crazy. It feels nice to be the star.” McNary started out run- ning as Gilbert and Lucas Garvey went back-and-forth carrying the ball 11 times for Please see TAME, Page 12 KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley Lucas Garvey and Josh Benson celebrate one of Benson’s three touchdowns in a 28-7 win over West Albany. Senior night at McNary Celtics defeat Vikings By DEREK WILEY Of the Keizertimes McNary’s seven seniors in uniform were determined to win their fi nal home game. Switching to a 3-5-2 for- mation, the Celtics scored three goals in the fi rst 20 minutes on their way to a 4-1 victory over North Salem on Tuesday, Oct. 18. McNary’s fi rst two goals came from seniors. In the eighth minute, Kanta Ohyama got the Celtics on the board with a shot from at least 20 yards away that fl ew over the goalkeeper’s head and into the back of the net. Senior Jose Vasquez then fi nished a corner kick from senior Bryan Keo in the 11th minute to put McNary up 2-0. “I was actually pretty sad because I’ve been playing here for the past four years but it was great to end our last home game on senior night with a win,” Keo said. Freshmen Luis Lopez had KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley McNary seniors Alex Pineda, front, left, Jose Abundiz, Bryan Keo, Gustavo Villalvazo, Junio Del Moral Javier Zepeda, Ramon Due- nas, Jose Vazquez, Parker Dean, Kanta Ohyama, Aidan Garcia and Damian Camarena won their fi nal home game. a part in the Celtics fi nal two goals, scoring in the 19th min- ute and then assisting junior Bhavdeep Bains with only 47 seconds remaining in the fi rst half. “I was really nervous,” se- nior Gustavo Villalvazo said of playing his fi nal home game. “Obviously as the last game, you don’t want it to happen. We’ve got to let the youth come in and do their thing as well. We all believe in each other. Every practice we go 100 percent. We give it our all and these guys aren’t going to give up. They did everything for us to win tonight.” Please see SENIORS, Page 12 Lady Celts lose fi nal home match By DEREK WILEY Of the Keizertimes Sydney Hunter had 19 kills, Shaylee Williams added eight, Jaylene Montano had 12 digs and Katelyn Kolb had 28 as- sists. But that wasn’t enough for McNary’s six seniors, which also includes Kate Lester and Alexa Strand, to win their fi nal regular season home match as the Lady Celts fell 3-1 (17-25, 23-25, 25-11, 15-25) to Mc- Minnville on Wednesday, Oct. 12. The fi rst set was never close as McNary fell behind 7-15 and couldn’t recover. “Senior night is always ex- tremely emotional with all the things that happen,” Lady Celts head coach Bruce My- ers said. “Unfortunately, we al- lowed the emotions to last too long and weren’t able to get them out of our system earlier in the set.” McNary showed more fi ght in the second game and tied it at 22-22 on a kill by KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley McNary acknowledged senior volleyball players Sydney Hunter, Alexa Strand, Jaylene Montano, Katelyn Kolb, Kate Leaster and Shaylee Williams before its match against McMinnville on Wednesday, Oct. 12. Williams. However, the Lady Grizzlies won three of the next four points to go ahead 2-0. With their backs against the wall, the Lady Celts then dominated the third set. “We were passing well and we were also serving assert- ively and kept them out of system,” Myers said. Please see FINAL, Page 11 By DEREK WILEY Of the Keizertimes The playoffs don’t techni- cally begin until Nov. 4. But with two teams who will mostly likely be in the state tournament remaining on the regular season schedule and McNary clinching a spot as well, the Celtics are already in playoff mode. “I think (wide receiver) coach (Frank) Gauntz put it really well (Monday),” MHS head coach Jeff Auvinen said. “They’re (North Medford) going to be a playoff team. West Salem is going to be a playoff team. We might as well start the playoffs right now with that kind of intensity, that kind of mentality, that kind of preparation and focus. These are going to be playoff type teams so we use this as the be- ginning of our playoff run.” At 5-2, McNary is third in the Greater Valley Conference. McMinnville, West Albany and South Salem are all tied for fourth at 3-3. The Celtics have head-to- head wins over the Grizzlies and Bulldogs, who play each other on Oct. 28. The Saxons host West Salem, who is 6-0 in conference, on Oct. 21. North Medford, who Mc- Nary plays Friday, Oct. 21 in its fi nal home game, is fi fth in the Southwest Conference at 2-3 but ranked 22nd in the OSAA rankings. After beginning the sea- son 3-0 with two wins over California teams, the Black Tornadoes have dropped three of their last four. But two of those losses have come to Sheldon and South Medford, both top 10 teams. “I think they (North Med- ford) play hard,” Auvinen said. “It’s kind of like some of the teams we’ve been playing. I don’t think they’re a great football team but I don’t think they’re bad either. I think they do some things well that are going to be good for us to get ready for the playoffs.” On offense, the Black Tor- nadoes throw the ball more than any other team McNary has played. “They throw and catch the ball fairly well, which a month ago I would’ve been a lot more concerned,” Auvinen said. “We’re playing a lot bet- ter defensively in the second- ary right now. Obviously, it concerns me because big plays can happen but I feel better about where we are right now back there.” McNary last played North Medford to open the 2013 season, which the Celtics won 20-13. “It’s kind of a weird week,” Auvinen said. “Since I’ve been here, I don’t know if we’ve played a non-league game this late in the year. For years and years and years, it was the fi rst game or two.” Already in the playoffs, Auvinen wants the Celtics to continue to improve over the fi nal two weeks of the regular season. Of course, McNary, which is ranked 19th, can also im- prove its seeding. “These kids are really play- ing well together, which is huge in football,” he said. “They’re excited about play- ing. I think we want to keep the momentum going and building. The sky’s the limit with these guys.”