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PAGE A14, KEIZERTIMES, NOVEMBER 6, 2015 KEIZERTIMES.COM Celts draw defending state champs BY ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes To advance to the second round of the Oregon football playoffs, the McNary High School varsity football team will have to unseat the OSAA 6A champs of the past two sea- sons. The 28th-ranked Celt- ics travel to meet fi fth-ranked Central Catholic High School Friday, Nov. 6. Kickoff is 7 p.m. at Hillsboro Stadium. “We want to compete and play our best game. Nobody’s seen our best game yet this sea- son and that is our best weap- on,” said Celt Hayden Sader. To make an impact in the game, the Celtics will have to put together 48 minutes of offense, defense and special teams, said Jeff Auvinen, Mc- Nary head coach. “If we do that it helps our chances tremendously,” he said. The Rams have won sev- en straight games, but haven’t been the crushing offensive force of seasons past. The last time the two teams faced each other, in 2013, Central Catho- lic routed McNary 62-7. The Rams have thrived this season on defense. In its last seven wins, the team has held its opponents to 99 total points. The defensive line has had huge help from punter Owen White. Two weeks ago, White kicked a 47-yard fi eld goal and fi ve punts of more than 45 yards. “They’re a better defense than they are an offense so that means I’m going to have to get the ball off quick and get the right reads. After that, it’s just making holes,” said McNary’s Trent Van Cleave. On Ram offense, quar- terback Deandre Smith has completed 67 of 100 for 930 yards with one intercep- tion and seven touchdowns. Running backs Ronnie Rust (686 yards for the season with nine touchdowns) and Brady Breeze (449 yards) lead the ground attack. “We have to keep working on defense and I want to have no leakage on the run game,” said Celt LaCroix Hill. “We have to regroup after the loss last week and make sure every- one is on the same page, and there is no intimidation.” McNary’s offense will have to fi nd its center this week if the Celtics stand a chance of coming out on top. The Keiz- er team will also have to halt a three-game losing skid. The team has shown signs of great- ness at times when it makes use of its many weapons on the receiving end of the ball, KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald The Celtic defensive line makes a goal-line stand preventing a touchdown in the game Friday, Oct. 30. but frequently relies on the rushing skills of quarterback Trent Van Cleave and running back Brady Sparks. Its best performances so far this season have been in a 51- 28 rout of Forest Grove High School and an admirable start in a 56-12 loss to South Salem High School two weeks ago. In a 21-14 loss to Sprague High School last week, the Celtic defense proved it was capable of coming up with red zone stops. However, break- downs on ball returns and long passing plays have plagued McNary since the start of the season. “To win, we have to have great practices all week and everybody has to buy in. That’s what its going to take,” said Sader. WMS streak still alive Whiteaker Middle School’s heavyweight football team kept its dream season alive with a 24-0 win over a tough Houck team in a game that was closer than the score re- vealed. Houck’s physical, ball con- trol scheme used the clock and kept the high fl ying Wol- verine offense grounded for long stretches. After a scoreless fi rst quar- ter, in which each team had promising drives thwarted by penalties, Houck had the fi rst chance to score. Driving deep into Whiteaker territory, the Salem team was denied by an inspired goal line stand that began with Oskar Ol- sen and Nate Young tackling the Houck ballcarrier on the Photo courtesy of J&H Photo Lady Celt Shaylee Williams sends the ball over the net in McNary’s game with Cleveland High School Wednesday, Oct. 28.. Netters fall to Pacers By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes The McNary High School varsity volleyball team took down Cleveland High School in the fi rst round of the state playoffs, but ran into a wall in the second round. The Lady Celts lost 3-1 to Lakeridge High School Saturday, Oct. 31, in the second round, ending the season. “We worked a lot in practice on taking care of each other when things go wrong, we also fo- cused on doing what we do well with blocking and defense. The girls felt good going into the match,” said Kellie Scholl, McNary head coach. While McNary had beaten the Pacers as little as two weeks prior to the match, Scholl said the Lake Oswego team found a way around the Celt- ics’ big blockers. “They tipped the ball a lot, something they didn’t do the fi rst two times we met this year. Our girls just had trouble adjusting,” she said. “We still played great defense and with confi dence.” Set scores were 21-25, 25-13, 25-18 and 25- 22. The Keizer girls beat Cleveland in the fi rst round Wednesday, Oct. 28, to advance to the sec- ond round. Set scores were 25-8, 25-20, 20-25 and 25-21. While the team will lose a several big con- tributors in seniors Kylie Gilmour, Madie Cloyd, Kaelie Flores, Madi Hingston, Reina Strand and Vanessa Hayes, Scholl was confi dent the team would return next season as good as ever. “The team will do great things next year,” Scholl said. “Last year, we lost fi ve seniors, all starters, and we came in this year even stronger. They had great leadership and role models with this year’s seniors, and our juniors and sopho- mores will do great things and follow in their footsteps.” Scholl herself won’t be part of the program next year. She notifi ed school offi cials of her in- tention to resign midway through the season, a result of relocating to Sisters. Even if the team fell a bit short of its goal for the season – fi nishing in the top three in the state – she said there were still lessons to take away. “The girls are proud of what they have done – being competitive while creating a family at- mosphere where they play for each other. When they played with confi dence and didn’t get scared, the girls could accomplish anything,” Scholl said. Whiteaker one-yard line. Af- ter a tackle for no gain by An- drew Shaw and Josh Patton, a sack by Layton Thurlow made it fourth-and-goal, Houck’s back broke free for a sure touchdown but was stopped inches short of the goal line by Joseph Fowler, Noah Le- lack and Thurlow. Nico Sandoval gave White- aker breathing room with a 15-yard run. On the next play quarterback Erik Barker hit wide receiver Junior Wall- ing on a quick slant; Walling slipped an arm tackle and sprinted 84 yards untouched for a touchdown. A Fowler run for the two-point conver- sion put Whiteaker up 8-0. A long Houck drive then ended as the fi rst half expired with Houck on the Whiteaker nine-yard line. Head Coach Tom Larimer said, “Houck deserves a ton of credit. They came out with a great plan. They wanted to dictate the tempo of the game, and they did. They wanted to control the clock, and they did. Coach Jeff Lafountaine had a plan and stuck to it. I credit him and his kids. But our defense made stops when it had to, and our offense re- sponded with some quick scores to fi nally put the thing away.” Houck began the second half with a 12-play drive, but again the Whiteaker’s defense held. Whiteaker then struck Please see WMS, Page A16 Olys take 21-14 win By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes The Sprague High School varsity football team domi- nated possession time in their game with the McNary High School Celtics to take a 21-14 win Friday, Oct. 30. The Olys ran up a 14-point early in the match-up and held on as the clock wound down to take the win. “We actually did pretty well, but it’s executing on both sides of the ball. I feel like we lost control of the tempo a lot and that hurt us,” said Hayden Sader, a McNary senior. McNary’s fi rst possession sputtered quickly, and the Celtic defense looked set to spoil Sprague’s fi rst drive. Tack- les by Kyle Aicher, Jon Ander- son, Sader and Kolby Barker brought up fourth-and-10 at midfi eld. However, Sprague faked a punt and junior run- ning back Dane McKinney took the snap. McKinney bar- reled up the fi eld to the Celt- ics’ one-yard line. Teammate Anthony Nunn punched it KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald McNary’s Sam Farr fends off a pair of Oly linemen. into the end zone two plays later for a 7-0 lead. On McNary’s next drive, the Keizer boys pushed all the way to the Oly 17-yard line and quarterback Trent Van Cleave ran a weaving route for a touchdown that was called back. After that setback, the drive ended with McNary fac- ing fourth-and-18. “We weren’t very consistent offensively and that hurt us quite a bit when it came down to it,” said Jeff Auvinen, Mc- Nary head coach. On the fi rst play of Sprague’s return, Oly Nick Brotton sloughed off three Celtic tack- lers to get the second touch- down of the game and give the Please see OLYS, Page A15