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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