Image provided by: West Linn High School; West Linn, OR
About The amplifier. (West Linn, Oregon) 1921-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 2009)
November Varsity Football earns top academic honors S ean P ebler ________________ The Varsity Football Team has done more than just win important games this year. They have also placed first academically in Oregon for the third year in a row. "We take a lot of pride in it," Ron Chappell, head coach, said. "The three things we stress most in our program are to do well on the football field, be good citizens and be excellent academically." Even though some people believe that football is a game Photo by Tracie Krellwitz, Stop Action Memories Kalan Hoedl, sophomore, fights p a s t b lo c k e rs in a h a rd -fo u g h t lea g u e g a m e against Clackamas. The Lions won 31-6 racking up their fifth win on the way to a second place Three Rivers League finish. of the mind, others don't see the correlation between the classroom and the playing field. "It's academics, not football, so I don't feel it really relates to the performance of the team," Seth Wegener, senior, said. To go along with this academic feat, the team is also completing a very successful season. They have an 8-2 record coming off of a convincing first round playoff win over Gresham. Their only losses have come at the hands of Southridge, defending State Champions, and Lake Oswego the only league foes to defeat the Lions. "We've pretty much met or exceeded all of our goals so far. I believe we’ve maximized our abilities. We put a lot of time in the weight room and it's paying off for us," Chappell said. The last regular season win for the Lions over Putnam was also a milestone for Chappell. It resulted in the 100th win of his West Linn coaching career. In the first round of the playoffs, the Lions defeated the Gresham Gophers, 31-28. They face a second round contest against a tough Westview opponent, and play them on the Wildcats' home field tonight; time to be announced. Last year, the Lions advanced to the second round of the playoffs after beating Barlow 42-28. In the second round, they were ahead of Beaverton late in the game until the Beavers put together a late drive and won, 12 - 10 . The year before, the Lions also advanced to the second round of the playoffs when they were defeated by West Salem, 41-26. "I'm feeling we'll make it to at least the quarterfinals which means winning our first two playoff games," Wegener said. Varsity Volleyball takes tenth Three Rivers title A shley S heron ______________ The Girls' Varsity Volleyball Team continues to dominate the Three Rivers League taking its tenth title since 1999. Along with continuous TRL wins, the team in 1999, 2003 and 2007 won State titles. The team made a good start to the season, going undefeated until they matched up against Lakeridge. The team still stood first in the TRL standings despite the heartbreaking shutout. Before losing to Lakeridge, the team had racked up 139 consecutive wins. The last games, the team practices for 45 minutes. "I have them work on their on passing, serving and defense," Carl Neuburger, head coach, said. Last year's team had eight seniors. This year, being the only senior, Valentine's experience and game intensity has proven extremely important to team success. According to Neuburger, Valentine has demonstrated it by the way in which she performs at matches. "Although we're a young team, no one should take us for granted," Valentine said. tim e they had lost a league m atch w as on Sept. 30, 1999 From the younger players, N euburger w ants to see against Oregon City. Despite the loss then, they tied for the league title and won their first State title. "We want to be competitive in every game and take every team as a challenge, since we're a growing team," Isabel Valentine, senior captain, said. Practices have been long and intense. The team practices up to three and a half hours. They also play in tournaments on the weekends. Even before away consistency and maturity. Fie said they need to learn how to handle pressure and discipline. The team matched up against Sunset on Nov. 7 in the second round of playoffs. The Lions fell 25-14, 25-20, 25-20. Both Neuburger and Valentine agree that the team has tradition and a good chemistry as well as energy that kept them going strong this season. After the season, Valentine, Courtney Wanamaker and Reagan Beatty, juniors, were named to the All Three Rivers League Team. Neuburger was also named Coach of the Year in the TRL. Photo by Tracie Krellwitz, Stop Action Memories Isabel Valentine, senior, and Courtney Wanamaker, junior, go up for a block in a playoff game against Sunset on Nov. 7. The girls lost the game in three sets, capping a successful season in which Valentine, Wannamaker and Reagan Beatty, junior, were named to the Three Rivers All League Team. College football teams hope to finish season with quality bowl appearances S ean P ebler _______________ After going 6-1 in their last seven Pac-10 games, the Oregon Ducks' expectations have greatly increased. They experienced a monumental win over the USC Trojans at Autzen Stadium, 47-20, where College Gameday, the national ESPN pre-game football show, chose Eugene as its location, marking the biggest game of the week in college football. However, a week later, Oregon suffered a letdown loss against Stanford 51-42. The Ducks still control their own destiny, which means that if they can win the rest of their games, they will at least win the Pac-10 Conference and go to the Rose Bowl. So far in league games, the Ducks have outscored their opponents 366-130. Currently, they are 6-1 in league play and 2-1 in non-league play. The Oregon State Beavers, on the other hand, have lost two league games so far this season, and still have road games at Washington State and Oregon ahead of them. However, if they can take out the Cougars on the road, they have the possibility of fighting for a Rose Bowl bid with Oregon in the Civil War. One of their league losses came at the hands of Arizona, 37-32. Coming off of a disappointing loss to USC, the Beavers rebounded by defeating three tough league opponents in a row: UCLA, California and Washington. With the college football season coming to a close, many other teams are looking to make a Bowl Championship Series (BCS) looking to spoil the hopes of higher-calibur teams. The possible bowl ” | matchups can also depend on the conference. For example, the Rose Bowl is limited to the winner of the Pac-10 Conference ----------------------------------------------------------------against the Photo by Eric Evans, Oregon Media Services w in ne r Gf Oregon Ducks quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, junior, Big-10 dodges University of Southern California tacklers at Conference Autzen Stadium in Eugene against the Trojans. The , , Ducks upset the fifth ranked Trojans, 47-20 vaulting 1111 eSS ^ them to an eighth place national ranking. winner of appearance and earn some respect for their university. Other teams, who have already lost hopes of competing in a bowl, are one of these conferences goes to the BCS National Championship. Then, the runner-up in the conference would be awarded a spot in the Rose Bowl. If the season were to end right now, the Rose Bowl would be between the Oregon Ducks and the Ohio State Buckeyes. The BCS National Championship game would most likely feature the Florida Gators and the Texas Longhorns. Oregon State would probably end up somewhere in the range of the Emerald Bowl or the Poinsettia Bowl. With six undefeated teams left after ten weeks of play, many of the different bowls are still undecided. If these teams really want to end their season with a bang, their best chance is to control their own destiny and win the rest of their games because, in college football, every game matters.
