SEPTEMBER 11, 2015, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A9
Wildcats up next
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
McNary High School ju-
nior Kolby Barker thought
the Celtics could have come
out stronger in their fi rst
game last week. He wants
to see that change with this
week’s game at Westview
High School.
“We were a little bit ner-
vous. That was part of it, but
we need to be more prepared
for our next game,” Barker
said. “We watched some fi lm
and (Westview) seems to be
pass heavy. We had pass pret-
ty well locked down against
North, but then we still had
some mistakes. We have to
contain a bit better.”
The Celtics beat North
Salem High School, 34-21,
Celt Matt Aguilar sprints
up the fi eld on a kickoff
return.
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
WIN,
continued from Page A8
in their fi rst game. West-
view lost their fi rst game
of the season in a squeaker
to Springfi eld High School,
26-23.
While Brad Emmert, Mc-
Nary offensive coordinator,
was happy to rely on the
running game when it was
successful against North, he’s
hoping for a little diversity in
plays when McNary meets
Westview.
“I want to see us throw
for 150 yards or 200 yards.
Our goal is to be 50/50 in
the run/pass and we weren’t
even close to that last week,”
Emmert said. “Their defense
is a little more familiar to us
and I think we’ll get the ball
to more players in a lot of
different ways. Brendan Van
Voorhis and Matt Aguilar
will get the ball more fre-
quently, and we have a lot of
people who have the talent
to step up for the team.”
Against
North, Mc-
Nary had 300 yards on the
ground and 51 in the air.
Senior quarterback Trent
Van Cleave completed four
of fi ve with one touchdown
and one interception.
KJ McCrae, Celt defen-
sive coordinator, said the big
takeaway from the fi rst game
was the need to hit the fi eld
ready to play.
“We have the capability
to be really good as a de-
fense but it starts with align-
ment, assignment and effort.
I know the guys were not
satisfi ed with how the North
McNary’s LaCroix Hill takes
down Viking Pedro Flores.
KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald
A fumble ended McNary’s
next drive and North took
the change in momentum
and turned it into another
touchdown. The
teams
headed to the locker room
with North leading 14-8.
In the second half,
McNary’s running game
came to life. Van Cleave and
Sparks shared running duties
on the opening drive and
were in the end zone after
seven plays. Van Cleave ran
in the touchdown and the
conversion to reclaim the
lead, 16-14.
“On almost every play,
they were lining up four
guys on defense to our six on
offense and I assumed we’d
see an adjustment, but we
never did,” Emmert said.
for Gage Mance to make
plays. I think the defensive
line was very strong inside
which made North run
the ball outside more to
gain yards. Josiah Gilbert
defi nitely showed up this
game and made some great
plays. Brendan Van Voorhis
also made a few touchdown-
saving tackles.”
Martinez
said
the
difference showed in the
relatively small gains North
made while the Celtics’ fi rst-
stringers were on the fi eld.
“We started causing some
turnovers on downs and
kind of got into their heads,”
Martinez said.
McNary’s offense went
back to the same well (the
run game) and kept drawing
from it. The highlight was a
25-yard run that saw Sparks
get brought down on top
of a North Salem tackler.
Sparks spun out and up off
the tackler to keep running
for another seven yards. On
the next play, Sparks ran for a
The Celtic defense put
up big stops again and gave
control of the fi eld back to
McNary’s offense.
“I think the defense kind
of woke up in the second
half and realized how they
needed to play the game to
win,” said McCrae. “LaCroix
caused a lot of problems in
the middle when he was
in the game and had to be
double or triple teamed a
lot which opened up gaps
game was played but a vic-
tory is a victory and they’ll
learn from it. This week we
want to come out and play
fast, make decisions and do
them with 100 percent ef-
fort. With that kind of mind-
set usually good things fol-
low,” McCrae said.
Westview is likely to be
a slightly more skilled team
than North and the Wildcats
played with heart despite the
loss – the team came back
from a 20-7 defi cit at half-
time against Springfi eld to
take a lead.
Senior running back
Donovan Baldocchi had 122
yards and two touchdowns
for Westview. Junior Jason
Rucker chipped in another
86 yards in the game.
touchdown from the 13-yard
line. Van Cleave put in his
third two-point conversion
on the ground for a 24-14
score.
North made some of its
biggest attempts at the passing
game on its next drive, but
Celtics Josiah Gilbert and
Trevor Guzman broke up
two passes that would have
given the Vikings prime fi eld
position. North’s offense left
the fi eld empty-handed.
Sparks and Van Cleave
traded running plays on
McNary’s return drive that
ended with another Van
Cleave touchdown after a
brief scramble. After another
Van
Cleave
two-point
conversion, McNary led 32-
14.
The Celtic defense gave
up just 15 yards on the next
North drive. Barker put the
nail in the coffi n with a sack
for a 10-yard loss. A blown
snap on the punt attempt
ended up as a McNary safety.
North scored the game’s
fi nal touchdown on a long
bomb to Alex Vasquez off
McNary’s secondary for the
fi nal 34-21 score.