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About Keizertimes. (Salem, Or.) 1979-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 16, 2016)
PAGE A10, KEIZERTIMES, SEPTEMBER 16, 2016 % FOR APR FINANCING 66 MONTHS ON SELECT VEHICLES* 1.9 Keizer 3555 River Road N, Keizer (503) 463 - 4853 FUSION www.skylineforddirect.com ESCAPE F-150 *Not all buyers qualify for Ford Credit fi nancing. 1.9% APR for 66 months at $15.97 per month per $1,000 fi nanced, on select vehicles. regardless of down payment. Take delivery from dealer stock by 9/30/16. Residency restrictions may apply. See dealer for qualifi cations and details. KEIZERTIMES.COM Lady Celts get ‘huge’ win By DEREK WILEY Of the Keizertimes McNary senior Kayla Ev- ans had been waiting for a win like this. Behind strong team de- fense, the Lady Celts passed their fi rst true test of the sea- son, shutting out Gresham 2-0 at home on Thursday, Sept. 8. The Gophers have been a mainstay in the state tourna- ment, getting at least to the play-in game the last three seasons and fi nishing runner- up in the Mt. Hood Confer- ence in 2013 and 14. “It’s huge,” Evans said of the victory. “We started from the bottom and we’ve been build- ing up and up and it fi nally feels good to be up and be able to compete against teams like this and win. It’s defi nitely one of the best games we’ve played, ever.” It was Evans who got Mc- Nary on the scoreboard with a header off a corner kick from Gina Munguia in the 25th minute. “I noticed I had no one on me and I was literally looking up at the ball and I just fol- lowed through with as much force as possible,” Evans said. “It was a beautiful service from Gina. I defi nitely think it just pumped up all of the en- ergy. It made us so confi dent that we could actually do this (win).” The score remained 1-0 heading into intermission but the Lady Celts increased its opportunities in the second half. In the 52nd minute, Mun- guia nearly netted a free kick over the head of Gresham’s goalkeeper that was saved. Seven minutes later, Jessy Shore then played a through- ball to Evans, who appeared to have an open goal before a Lady Gophers defender came out of nowhere to make the save. Kolbie Kopp too had a shot to extend McNary’s lead but it was also cleared off the line. With only eight and half minutes remaining and the Lady Celts still holding on to a 1-0 lead, freshman defender Sam Alfano fi red a shot from 35 yards out that even Alfano thought was saved before the ball escaped through the legs of the keeper and into the net. It was Alfano’s fi rst high school goal and she didn’t even see it. “I turned around because I was pretty sure it wasn’t go- ing in and then I started hear- ing everyone screaming so I turned around and the ball was in the goal,” Alfano said. “It was one of the best feelings ever. I did not expect to score a goal this game. I was really surprised.” McNary head coach AJ Nash said his team’s defense, led by seniors Katelyn Tallon and Abigail Smith, was the dif- ference in the win. Gresham played a 4-5-1 formation with one attacking forward. “In the second half we didn’t even know there was an attacking player because Kat completely shut her down,” Nash said. The Lady Celts have opened the season 4-0 but this was their fi rst win over a qual- ity opponent. “It’s a big win for the pro- gram, a big win for the girls,” Nash said. “Ultimately, we should ex- pect to begin winning games like this. This was a win against a playoff caliber team from Portland that was primarily made up of club players. In or- der to get to the playoffs you have to beat teams that go to the playoffs regularly and this is our fi rst big win in a num- ber of years against a team that consistently goes to the play- offs every year. I’m proud to be their coach tonight. They really played well.” Please see HUGE, Page 11 KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley McNary freshman Samantha Alfano scored her fi rst high school goal in the 71st minute of the Lady Celts 2-0 victory over Gresham on Thursday, Sept. 8. Up next: Sprague By DEREK WILEY Of the Keizertimes McNary has seen two different Sprague football teams on fi lm. There’s the one that went into South Salem and blew out the back- to-back Greater Valley Conference champions 48-7 to open the season. And then there’s the Olympians who lost 36-29 at home to West Sa- lem. What was the difference? Mistakes. “They made a lot more mistakes against West,” McNary head coach Jeff Auvinen said. “They were pretty dang good against South as far as be- ing mistake free for a fi rst game.” The biggest mistake Sprague made against West Salem was an intercep- tion in its own end zone that turned out to be the deciding score. “They are pretty good,” Auvinen said. “They do a lot of things really well. That being said, they make high school mistakes and I think we’ve got a good game plan to take them out of what they want to do.” The Olympians want to run the football. Against West Salem, they rushed for more than 320 yards but passed for less than 50. “We’re going to force them to do things that are a little more challeng- ing than they like to do and get them out of their comfort level a little bit,” said Auivnen, who is also McNary’s defensive coordinator. “They have two good running backs (Dane McKinney and Noah Mellen) that they like quite well. They have a really good group of lineman, a pretty good quarterback (Spencer Plant), especially with his feet. They are naturally a gifted run- ning team. They have good athletes so they still have potential to do other things but I’d rather take them out of what they’re most comfortable with.” The past two McNary-Sprague games have been nail-biters. A year ago, the Celtics offense marched 99 yards and converted a two-point attempt to get within 21- 14 with 3:54 left in the game but couldn’t complete the comeback. In 2014, McNary scored a late touchdown to win 34-33. This season’s matchup kicks off Friday, Sept 16. at 7 p.m. at Sprague. KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley McNary defensive back Junior Walling and lineman Caleb Kiefi uk-Yates team up to tackle South Salem quarterback Harrison Broadus Friday, Sept. 9. Fumbles, penalties spoil home opener By DEREK WILEY Of the Keizertimes McNary head football coach Jeff Auvinen likes the effort he’s seen from the Celtics over the fi rst two weeks of the season. They just have to clean up the mistakes. “If they can just take that effort, limit the mistakes, the scoreboard is going to take care of itself,” Auvinen said after a 34-29 loss at home to South Salem on Friday, Sept. 9. “You can’t say enough about our effort, our enthusiasm, guys going both ways and playing every snap.” Neither team was able to get much going offensively in the fi rst half. South Salem scored its only touchdown on a short fi eld after blocking a McNary punt and start- ing at the Celtics 9-yard line. Three plays later, Francisco Ramirez-Perez was in the end zone on a 6-yard run. The Celtics blocked the extra point but South Salem led 6-0 with 9:31 remaining in the second quar- ter. The short fi eld wasn’t the only one the Saxons had in the fi rst half. They started two other drives in McNary territory. One ended in a punt and the other a missed fi eld goal. “In the fi rst half, I thought we were fortunate to only give up six,” Auvinen said. “Our defense played really hard and kept them out of the (end) zone.” With 1:49 remaining in the fi rst half, McNary had just 53 yards when Lucas Garvey put some life into the Celtics offense by catching a screen pass, making two defenders miss and racing 47 yards to the Saxons 19- yard line. McNary quarterback Josiah Gil- bert then fi nished the drive with a 1-yard sneak and A.J. Johnk’s extra point gave the Celtics a 7-6 lead at halftime. McNary continued to make mis- takes in the second half, fumbling away its fi rst possession, which South Salem, again on a short fi eld, turned into six points to take a 12-7 lead. After trading punts, both offenses woke up and a shootout began. First, Gilbert found an open re- ceiver in the end zone—Kyle Mc- Callister, who took a big hit but was able to hold on to the football for a 15-yard score. A two-point attempt failed but the Celtics led 13-12 with 6:06 re- maining in the third quarter. After a holding penalty and tack- le for a loss, the Saxons converted a third-and-14 and then Ramirez- Perez scored a 4-yard touchdown and two-point conversion to put South Salem on top 20-13. Please see SPOIL, Page 11 KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley McNary senior Sydney Hunter had 10 kills in a 3-0 victory over North Salem on Thursday, Sept. 8. MHS sweeps Vikings By DEREK WILEY Of the Keizertimes Back home after two diffi cult loss- es to West and South Salem, it took about half a set for McNary to get going. But once it did, it was all Lady Celts in a 3-0 (25-19, 25-13, 25-17) victory over North Salem on Thurs- day, Sept. 8. “We had to pick up our energy,” said setter Samantha Van Voorhis, who had 25 assists and three digs. “We had a few good volleys and that just brings everybody’s energy up. We got pret- ty excited and then kept it up from there.” Please see SWEEP, Page 11
