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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 13, 2015)
Lessons for gridders amid struggles By ERIC A. HOWALD Of the Keizertimes The McNary High School varsity football team ended its season with a 42-21 loss to Central Catholic High School in the fi rst round of the state playoffs Friday, Nov. 6. The Celtics experienced a fair bit of success in the season’s early going, but ran into the buzzsaw of its sched- ule four weeks ago. McNary ended up losing its last four games of the season. Jeff Auvinen, McNary head coach, said the season’s pivotal game proved to be a 10-7 loss to McKay High School in the fourth week. “It really hurt us in the power rankings and gave us a loss that we couldn’t really afford, but it also woke us up a little bit. It spurred us into some good efforts with the We are Everything Except Overpriced Simple Cremation $695 Inexpensive Burial and Funeral Options Pre-Planning Available On-Site Crematory 4365 RIVER RD N, KEIZER 503.393.7037 KEIZERTIMES/Eric A. Howald McNary’s Hayden Sader turns up the fi eld en route to a fi rst down in McNary’s game with Central Catholic High School Friday, Nov. 6. teams after that,” he said. McNary won its next two outings against Mc- Minnville and Forest Grove High School. The latter was the Celtics’ most dominating performance of the season and ended with a fi nal score of 51-28. After losing the next week in a 43-40 squeaker hosting West Salem High School, the boys seemed to lose a bit of confi dence as the league leaders in the Greater Valley Conference took their posi- tions on the opposite side of the fi eld. Still, McNary fi nished fourth in the league. “The thing was is we were in a tough league this season and we fi nished near the top,” said Celt LaCroix Hill. Even as the season was ending Trent Van Cleave, Mc- Nary quarterback, said some things had survived the team’s late-season struggles. “We defi nitely didn’t fulfi ll our potential, but we’re still a family,” he said. In hope of getting closer to fulfi lling that potential in 2016, Auvinen planned to start offseason workouts in the coming weeks. “We need to get a little stronger and tougher physi- cally and mentally. The big thing is getting stronger. The younger kids are pretty ex- cited to start on that path,” Auvinen said. “We didn’t quite get there this season, but its our goal in every game. I want our younger kids to learn from the desire our seniors had this season and from the pitfalls they en- countered along the way.” For the team’s depart- ing seniors, Auvinen said he would like them to take away lessons of cooperation and teamwork. “Football is the ultimate game of everyone doing their job. That means doing your job and trusting everyone else to be doing their jobs,” he said. “It’s a total coop- erative effort and, when we were doing those things, we were a pretty good team. I’d like them to learn from those moments about the value of cooperation and teamwork. It makes us a lot stronger when we work together.” WILSON, continued from Page A11 where-to and how-to from them. George, who had lived there all his life, warned me, “Opening weekend is always a mess. Too many hunters, too many dogs and lots of confu- sion. You have to know most of the farmers to get permission to hunt. A high percentage of the hunters will not hunt again the rest of the season.” My trusty book had warned me not to hunt my young dog in a crowd with other dogs. So, opening weekend I slipped out, not letting Rusty see me leave. I was thankful for the guid- ance of the book. As George had said, “it was a mess.” We had big aggressive dogs out of control, dog fi ghts, birds going in all directions, cripples down and running, and lots of shoot- ing and yelling. I learned a lot about what not to do. All weekend I kept thinking that Monday after work, Rusty and I would be out there for a quality experience. So, here we are, and he’s locked on point. He doesn’t fl inch as I ease up to him in the ankle deep alfalfa. I think to myself, “I have to kill this fi rst bird for Rusty.” The rooster explodes into the air with a loud cackle as he heads straight away. The 12-gauge Ithaca swings into place and, as coach had taught me, I whisper, “shoot-him-in- the-butt.” The rooster is dead in the air at 30 yards. This is a totally new experi- ence for Rusty. The bird hits the ground and he is on it in a heartbeat. The next minute or so becomes one of the greatest experiences I have ever had in No Job Too Big or Too Small • Additions & Repairs • Dry Rot Repairs • Flooring & Countertops • Roofi ng & Siding KEIZER CLASSIFIEDS NOVEMBER 13, 2015, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A11 • Kitchens & Baths • Doors & Windows • Decks & Fences • Patio & Deck Covers GARAGE SALE Quality Holiday Sale. Great miscellaneous. Don’t miss it! 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Divorced in 1-5 weeks possible. 503-772-5295. www.paralegalalternatives.com legalalt@msn.com ONAC 503.393.2875 remodelkeizer.com CCB#155626 the fi eld. Rusty grabs the rooster, drops it, wheels, lets out a “yip” and charges at me in a dead run. My fi rst thought is he has grabbed a sharp, broken wing bone. At about three feet, he leaps straight into my chest, and almost knocks me down. I try to hug him with one arm, but it’s like trying to hug a freshly landed 40-pound salm- on. He squirts out of my arm and heads back to the rooster. He fl ips it in the air, streaks out in a 30-yard circle as hard as he can run, ears fl ying in the air, and a “yip, yip, yip” each time he hits the ground! I put the shotgun aside just in time for him to jump into my arms again. I have never seen such un- controlled joy in an animal. He repeats his circling routine again. I sit there in the cool autumn air, tears of joy rolling down my cheeks. Rusty’s fi rst rooster will al- ways occupy a special place in my heart. WMS, continued from Page A11 “Undefeated? I still can hardly process it. I remem- ber our fi rst practice like it was yesterday,” said T. Lar- imer. “Eleven of my 25 play- ers had never played football before, and half of them took one look at Junior and Fowler and Young and were scared to death. But my staff—Marcus and Coach Barker, as well as my main assistant Angel Ochoa and line coaches Jason Wall- ing and Zach Drake (another former Whiteaker and Mc- Nary captain) were amazing from day one—they created a culture based on technique, teaching, repetition and pure positive reaffi rmation, and the kids completely bought in.” “Before the game tonight I asked my kids if they cared enough about their teammates to give their very best on the biggest stage—and that’s ex- actly what they did.” J. Walling added, “This sea- son is the result of players and coaches who are fully com- mitted to a common cause.” Submitted by Tom Larimer