PAGE A12, KEIZERTIMES, JANUARY 3, 2020
THE RESULTS ARE IN!
2014
2015
2019
OREGON’S FORD
2016
2017
2018
6
DEALER OF
THE YEAR
YEARS
IN A ROW
DONOFRIO’S SKYLINE FORD
3555 River Road N, Keizer
(503) 463- 4853
www.skylineforddirect.com
KEIZERTIMES.COM
Top sports
stories of
2019
McNary claims second straight league title
Most coaches would be
pretty distraught with a 0-5
start.
But even after the McNary
football team dropped their
fi fth straight contest against
South Medford on Friday,
Oct. 4, head coach Jeff
Auvinen wasn’t dismayed in
the slightest, saying that this
season felt “eerily similar
to last season” — when the
Celtics rallied to win all four
league games in route to a
Mountain Valley Conference
title, despite losing their fi rst
fi ve games of the year.
When the regular season
came to an end on Friday,
Nov. 1, Auvinen proved
himself to be prophetic.
Running back Junior
Walling scampered for a
season-high 216 yards and
four touchdowns on 28
carries as the Celtics danced
their way to a second straight
MVC title, defeating South
Salem 35-15.
It is the fi rst time since
1998 that McNary has
repeated as league champions.
“We have been working
for this all year. It’s huge for
us seniors because we have
been dreaming about this. It’s
just such an amazing feeling,”
Walling said.
The Celtics offense wasted
no time getting to work as
they went 61 yards in six plays
on their opening drive, which
was capped off by a 33-yard
File
The McNary football team celebrates with the Mountain Valley Conference Championship trophy.
touchdown by Walling.
Walling scored his second
touchdown of the game from
four yards out with 1:01
left in the opening period.
The Celtics held a 14-7 lead
after Layton Thurlow caught
a pass in the end zone from
Erik Barker on the two-point
conversion.
South Salem got the ball
back and wasted no time
getting into the red zone early
in the second quarter. And
similar to their fi rst drive, the
Saxons faced fourth-and-goal
from the one-yard line.
But a defensive stop from
McNary forced the Saxons to
turn the ball over on downs.
The
defensive
stop
ended up providing a huge
momentum
boost
for
McNary.
Using a key fi rst down
run from Barker, a pair of
receptions from Noah Lelack
and a steady dose of hard-
fought carries from Walling,
the Celtics slowly broke
the will of the South Salem
defense.
A 23-yard run from Riley
Flores took the ball down
to the two, where Walling
punched it in on the following
play to complete the 99-yard
drive.
“I have never seen this
offensive line play so well.
All fi ve of us came out super
strong. It was pound and
ground all night,” McNary
offensive lineman Nathan
Young said.
Walling also added: “I just
trusted my line. They were
getting a push all game, so I
got to give them all the credit.”
Despite having a lot of
success with their vertical
passing game in their fi rst
two drives, the South Salem
defense struggled to get
anything
going
against
the Celtics defense for the
remainder of the contest.
After the Saxons could
barely get past the line of
scrimmage on their next two
drives, the Celtics increased
their lead to three scores
midway through the third
quarter when Barker found
the goal line from four yards
out.
“Our
defense
kept
getting tougher and tougher
throughout the game. We got
a few three-and-outs and I
think that was huge for us,”
Walling said.
Even though the South
Salem offense drove into
Celtic territory in each of
their next two possessions,
the McNary defense forced
turnovers
both
times,
including a interception from
Celtics linebacker Quinn
Bach that was returned to the
Saxons 24-yard line — which
eventually set up Walling’s
fourth touchdown of the
game.
“It’s unbelievable. It’s the
same exact story as last season.
This team has fought so hard
through the season. It’s an
honor to play with these
guys,” Young said.
Volcanoes clinch fi rst
half division crown
For the fi rst time since 2015, the Sa-
lem-Keizer Volcanoes were in the North-
west League playoffs.
Yorlis Rodriguez hit an RBI-double in
the top of the 12th, then came into score
on a base hit by Simon Whiteman,
helping give the Volcanoes the
4-3 victory over the Boise
Hawks on Sunday, July 21.
The win allowed Sa-
lem-Keizer to clinch
the fi rst half crown in
the NWL South divi-
sion and earn a spot in
the postseason.
“It feels good to give this
back to the community, because
they have waited a long time for
this,” said Mitche Graf, the Volca-
noes president of business opera-
tions. “Now we have to fi nish the
job.”
The Volcanoes fi nish the fi rst half
with a 26-12 record, two games better
than the second place Hillsboro Hops.
“It’s a great feeling. I’m really proud of
everyone on this staff and the hard work that
we have put in so far,” Volcanoes manager
Mark Hallberg said. “We have a talented
group of guys that we’re developing.”
Salem-Keizer grabbed the early advan-
tage in the top of the fi rst to go up 1-0.
Whiteman led off the contest with a double.
But after a free pass was issued to Hunter
Bishop, Franklin Labour lined into a dou-
ble play. Logan Wyatt, however, was able to
drive in Whiteman with an RBI-single to
left fi eld.
The Volcanoes struck again in the top of
the second thanks to a solo bomb from Ar-
mani Smith to put his team up 2-0. It was
Smith’s second home run of the season.
On the mound, Volcanoes starter Kervin
Castro was phenomenal in his fi rst four in-
nings of work as the young right-hander
from Venezuela gave up just one hit to the
Hawks. But in the bottom of the fi fth, Boise
got on the board with an RBI-double by
Daniel Cope to cut the lead to one.
Castro left the game after fi ve innings,
giving up just three hits and one run.
He gave up no walks and struck out
four.
Boise came back
to tie the game in
the bottom of the
eighth thanks to anoth-
er RBI-double, this time
courtesy of Aaron Schunk,
which forced the game to
go into extra innings.
A new rule implement-
ed in the minor leagues last
season is that when a game
goes into extra innings, the
player that was the last out of the
previous inning starts the frame at
second base — this rule was en-
acted to speed up the pace of play
when a game goes past the ninth inning.
Neither team was able to take advantage
of the runner in scoring position in the 10th
or 11th innings, but the Volcanoes fi nally
capitalized in the top of the 12th.
Rodriguez’s double to left fi eld scored
Alexander Canario to give the Volcanoes
the 3-2 lead. Two batters later, Whiteman
came through with a key RBI-single that
allowed Salem-Keizer to get a much-need-
ed insurance run.
In the bottom of the frame, Hallberg
brought in reliever Deiyerbert Bol ivar to try
and get his fi rst save of the season.
A pair of wild pitches allowed a run to
score from second, but Bolivar struck out
the side to seal the deal.
File
On Wednesday, Dec. 13, Junior Walling signed his letter of intent with the Oregon State Beavers.
Walling was the Mountain Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year for McNary in 2019.
Walling signs with OSU
McNary linebacker Junior
Walling, had received nearly a
dozen offers from Division I
schools. And on Thursday, June
13, Walling made the decision
on where he wants to continue
his career as a student-athlete.
In a two-minute video
posted on his Twitter account,
Walling reveled that he has
committed to Oregon State
University to play college foot-
ball.
Walling has been an Oregon
State fan for his entire life — in
large-part due to the fact that
his father, Jason, was a tight
end and defensive end for the
Beavers from 1990-92. So be-
ing able to play in Corvallis is a
dream come true .
“It feels amazing to know
that I will be a Beaver. I grew
up dreaming that one day I
would be able to play at Reser
Stadium,” Walling said.
Walling is the number
two in-state recruit and the
14th-ranked inside linebacker
in the country according to
247Sports.com
He had offers from Army,
Air Force, Princeton, Yale,
Georgetown, Brown, Cornell,
Columbia, Eastern Washington
and Utah in addition to his of-
fer from Oregon State.
In his approach to the re-
cruiting process, Walling broke
down his decision into three
categories. He wanted to have
a solid connection with the
coaching staff, he wanted to
attend a place that met his aca-
demic needs — Walling is a 4.0
student — and he wanted to
be at a place that was a good
fi t socially.
“I wanted to make sure I
felt like I connected with the
coaches and had the ability to
be successful in the program. I
also wanted to make sure that
the school had an engineer-
ing program, as that is what I
will be focusing my education
around. Then, of course, it was
important to me to be com-
fortable with where I would be
living for the next four to fi ve
years of my life,” Walling said.
“After my family and I visited
more than 15 campuses, it was
very clear to me that OSU was
where I belonged.”
Walling made it offi cial with
the Beavers on Wednesday, Dec.
13 by signing his letter of in-
tent if front of friends, family
and local media.
FOR MORE, see Pages A7-A9