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NOVEMBER 15, 2019, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE B1 KEIZERTIMES.COM McNary eighth-graders complete perfect season KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings McNary’s Cameron Ferrando (33) breaks away from a Lake Oswego tackler after making an interception. The Celtics forced six turnovers in their 28-6 win. By MATT RAWLINGS Of the Keizertimes It’s one thing to fi nish the season undefeated, but it’s a whole other thing to do it in dominating fashion. But that’s exactly what the McNary Youth Football var- sity eighth-grade team did to Lake Oswego on the after- noon of Saturday, Nov. 9 at Tigard High School. The Celtics controlled the game from start to fi nish, beating Lake Oswego 28-6 to clinch the AFC bracket of the Tualatin Valley Football League with a 10-0 record. “I couldn’t be more proud of all these kids. They earned it. Each player worked their butt off and they just put the pieces together all season long,” Celtics head coach Dan Burrus said. The McNary offense was a little bit sloppy to come out the gate as they commit- ted multiple penalties that stalled their fi rst two drives and couldn’t take advantage of a pair of early turnovers by Lake Oswego. But the Celtics were able to tighten things up as the second quar- ter began. The Celtics defense got a huge fourth down stop in Lake Oswego territo- ry when defensive lineman Nick Henry came away with a sack to give McNary the ball back. Facing a third-and-10, Celtics quarterback Jesse Dyer hit Gage Smedema perfectly in stride down the sideline for the touchdown to get McNary on the board. McNary forced the Lak- ers third fumble of the game on the following posses- sion, which was recovered by Cougar Bailey and taken down to the Lake Oswego 12-yard line. Four plays later, McNary running back Pierce Walker punched it in from a yard out to give his team the 14-0 lead. “We try to take pride in focus and attitude. We just told the the boys to calm down and get their heads back in the game,” Burrus said. Lake Oswego responded with a 72-yard touchdown run on the following play from scrimmage to get with- in one score. But McNary wasn’t fazed in the slightest. An 18-yard scramble by Dyer had 15 yards tacked on to it after a late hit from a Lake Oswego defender, which took the ball down to the Lakers 22-yard line. Once they got the ball Please see CELTS, Page B2 Celtics ousted by Sherwood in fi rst round By MATT RAWLINGS quarter. Of the Keizertimes Guerra ran for another After rattling off four touchdown later in the peri- straight victories on their way od to increase the Sherwood to a Mountain Valley Con- lead to two scores. McNary was on the verge ference title, the McNary football squad came back to of responding on their fol- Earth against Sherwood on lowing possession, thanks to two long completions to Friday, Nov. 8. The Bowmen scored 21 Noah Lelack, getting the points in the third quarter Celtics in the red zone. But on fourth-and-one and easily took down Mc- Nary in the fi rst round of the from inside the fi ve-yard line, OSAA Playoffs, defeating the the Sherwood defense came up with a huge stop, stuffi ng Celtics 49-7. The 42-point defeat was Walling right at the line-of- McNary’s worst loss of the scrimmage. The Celtics offense got season “That second half was a another chance inside the red zone just little bit hard moments later to take. They when Sher- got after us “ That second wood fumbled and we didn’t half was a little the ball inside respond on the 20. But either side of bit hard to once again, the ball very take. They got M c N a r y well,” McNary couldn’t take head coach after us and we advantage. Jeff Auvinen didn’t respond “We were said. moving the W h i l e on either side ball, but we the Celtics just couldn’t showed signs of the ball very get it in the of competi- well.” end zone,” tiveness early, they struggled — Jeff Auvinen, Auvinen said. Auvinen, to capitalize McNary head coach however, was on opportu- much more nistic situa- encouraged with how the tions in the fi rst half. On the opening drive, McNary defense played in McNary quarterback Erik the second quarter. “I thought kids were mak- Barker looked to be getting into a rhythm after a pair of ing plays and owning their fi rst down completions to gaps in that second quarter,” Layton Thurlow and Junior he said. McNary held the Bow- Walling. The Celtics got the ball men to a three-and-out mid- past midfi eld thanks to a per- way through the quarter. But sonal foul on Sherwood. But later in the period, Guerra while trying to keep the en- struck for his third touch- suing play alive, Barker was down of the game, fi nding stripped of the football and the end zone from 39 yards the Bowmen took over on out to put Sherwood on top their own 45-yard line. 21-0 with 49 seconds left in From there, it only took the half. The Celtics, however, Sherwood four plays to get into the end zone. A 15-yard were able to show their quick score from Jamison Guer- strike capability right before ra put the Bowmen on top halftime. 7-0 midway through the fi rst McNary took over on their own 38-yard line after a solid kick return from Ethan Martin. On the fi rst play of the drive, Barker threw a perfect pass to Walling on a wheel rout for a 41-yard gain. The two connected for an- other fi rst down on the fol- lowing play. Barker then hit Alex Tave- ra on a quick out for a 11- yard fi rst down to put the ball at the seven. The senior signal-caller fi nished off the impressive series by fi nding Walling on a screen pass for the touchdown with less than 10 seconds remaining in the second quarter. But any preconceived mo- mentum that McNary had going into the locker room was dissipated in the second half. The Celtics had no an- swer to Sherwood’s daunting wing-T attack as the Bow- men scored on all three of their possessions in the third quarter. McNary’s offense, on the other hand, had a diffi cult time moving the sticks. Sherwood fi nished the game with 416 rushing yards on 52 carries. “We thought we were get- ting a handle on things after stubbing our toe a couple times in the fi rst half. But the second half, it was not pret- ty. (Sherwood) could pretty much just do whatever they wanted to. It looked like we were not handling blocks very well,” Auvinen said. Similar to last season, it’s safe to say that the 2019 foot- ball season was a roller coast- er for the Celtics. But for the second straight year, despite having a 4-6 re- cord, McNary was crowned the MVC champs, which al- lowed them to walk off the fi eld with pride on Friday night. “Whether they were se- niors, juniors or sophomores, we had a lot of kids rise up this season,” Auvinen said. KEIZERTIMES/Matt Rawlings McNary quarterback Erik Barker steps up in the pocket to get away from pressure. Barker threw for 230 yards in the Celtics 49-7 loss to Sherwood on Friday, Nov. 8.
