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.”