OCTOBER 2, 2015, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A11
Royal Scots stun Celtics in 10-7 win
By ERIC A. HOWALD
Of the Keizertimes
There was a single moment
in the McNary High School
varsity football team’s 10-7 loss
to the McKay High School
Royal Scots that seemed em-
blematic of the night as a
whole.
With 3:23 to go in the third
quarter, McNary had just re-
covered a Royal Scot fumble
at the one-yard line. It was the
second time in less than four
minutes that a Celtic drive was
beginning buried near the end
zone.
After coming up empty on
two running attempts, Celt
Brady Sparks broke through
for a three-yard gain to bring
up third-and-seven. On the
next play, McNary quarter-
back Trent Van Cleave kept
the ball and made a break for
it along the near sideline. He
was taken down hard and was
slow to get up – Van Cleave
had already spent a good por-
tion of the night getting beat
up trying to run the ball. The
fi rst thing he did once he was
standing was turn to see if he’d
made the fi rst down and dis-
covered he was a yard short.
His shoulders visibly slumped
as he handed the ball to the
referee and the Celts punted
on fourth-and-one. That same
sense of defeat seemed to hang
over the Celtics for the rest of
the game.
“We didn’t make the plays
that presented themselves and
they did. Defensively we made
the plays when we absolutely
had to, but it wasn’t what I
would call the best defensive
game we’ve had,” said Jeff
Auvinen, McNary head coach.
It was a night of frustration
for the Celtics as the Royal
Scots emerged with a win in
the rivalry for the fi rst time
since 2009.
“We prepared all week, but
we got to the game and it felt
like we didn’t have it together,”
said Hayden Sader, a McNary
senior.
McNary’s night on the
gridiron began much better
than it ended. The Celts had
possession of the ball fi rst and
made a 13-play drive up the
fi eld from their own 35-yard
yard line, mostly with Sparks
working the run game.
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Photo courtesy of J&H photo
Celt Josiah Gilbert makes a leaping interception during the game with McKay High School Fri-
day, Sept. 25.
On the penultimate play
of the drive, McNary’s Brodie
Nepstad reeled in a catch that
brought up third-and-inches
close to the one-yard line.
Sparks punched through on
the next play for a touchdown.
An extra point by Gustavo Vil-
lalvazo made the score 7-0.
After a tough defensive
stand, McNary took back
possession of the ball near
midfi eld and drove back to
the Royal Scot red zone. The
Keizer team stalled out and
opted for a fi eld goal attempt
from the 21-yard line. A bob-
bled snap left Nepstad short
on time. He picked up the ball
and ran to the outside of the
pack for a “Hail Mary.” He
nearly connected with Celt
Hayden Sader in the end zone,
but one of the Scots made a
perfectly-timed leap and swat-
ted away the pass.
McKay kept its next drive
alive with a faked punt. The
Salem team nearly notched a
touchdown, but Celt Bobby
Botta tripped the running
back inside the McNary 15-
yard line. A big tackle by Celts
Shawn Snyder and Brendan
Van Voorhis kept the Scots off
kilter, but a fi eld goal attempt
succeeded, making the score
7-3.
“Everyone did their own
job on defense like we’ve been
doing in practice. Everyone
was more excited on defense
and, when they stopped us,
we were eager to get it right
back,” said Celt LaCroix Hill.
Three failed drives later,
McKay was in possession with
3:47 left on the clock and
took its time running the ball
back to McNary’s nine-yard
line bringing up fi rst-and-goal
with 19 seconds left in the
half. A fi ve-yard Celtic penalty
gave the Royal Scots a shorter
distance to close and they ran
for a touchdown to make the
score 10-7 going into halftime.
Coming out of halftime,
Celtics Kolby Barker, Jon An-
derson, Snyder and Marc Baiza
made tackles to slow down a
powerful Royal Scot drive.
McNary’s Josiah Gilbert came
up with an interception at the
one-yard line, but was imme-
diately swarmed and brought
down.
“We didn’t communicate
very well, especially on the
pass coverage, and that’s some-
thing we have control of and
can make better,” Snyder said.
Van Cleave made a wily
41-yard run to give McNary
breathing room at their own
42-yard line, but the Celts
lost 20 yards on a high snap
and sack by the Scots. McKay
came up with an interception
on the next play. The Royal
Scot drive ended on the Celt
one-yard line with a fumble
that McNary recovered. That
play brought up Van Cleave’s
momentum-crushing shortfall.
Late in the fourth quarter,
McNary got one more chance
to tie the game with a 31-yard
fi eld goal attempt, but it fell
short of the mark.
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