OCTOBER 1, 2021, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A21
Copeland leads Celts to victory over Bend
Football
McNary quarterback Tyler Copeland shakes free from the Bend pass rush. ( Photo courtesy of Tammy Ready)
BY MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
The McNary off ense made a big
statement in their Mountain Valley
Conference (MVC) opener, led by their
senior quarterback Tyler Copeland.
Copeland was 17-of-25 for a career-
high of 318 yards and three touchdowns
through the air, plus one on the ground,
as the Celtics moved to 4-0 with a 41-21
win at Bend on Friday, Sept. 24.
It's the fi rst time McNary has started
the season with four straight wins since
2005 — which was Tom Smythe's second
to last year at the helm of the Celtics foot-
ball program.
“The off ense was very dominant. It
was great to see. We threw the ball really
well, and a lot of it was Tyler shaking
off defenders, reversing fi eld, and our
receivers continuing to work to get open
for big gains,” McNary head coach Jeff
Auvinen said. “Not all the throws were
there right away, so Tyler had to keep his
eyes downfi eld and do some things that
aren't easy to do.”
Senior running back Zane Aicher also
had a monster game for McNary, rushing
for 100 yards and two touchdowns on 16
carries. Additionally, Aicher caught four
balls for 148 yards and a score.
McNary had an abundance of explo-
sive plays in this one, starting with the
fi rst snap from scrimmage as Copeland
connected with Aicher for a 71-yard gain
down to the Bend seven-yard line. Two
plays later, Copleand found his brother,
Braiden for a touchdown to put the
Celtics on top 7-0 — Braiden Copeland
fi nished the game with seven catches for
114 yards and two touchdowns.
Bend responded on their opening
possession with a touchdown to trim the
defi cit to 7-6, but Tyler Copeland capped
off a 75-yard drive with a fi ve-yard touch-
down run late in the fi rst quarter to
extend the Celtics lead to 14-6.
After giving up a touchdown on the
fi rst drive, McNary stifl ed Bend's Wing-T
attack for the remainder of the half. A
rushing and receiving score by Aicher
in the second quarter gave McNary 20
unanswered points and a 27-6 advantage
at halftime.
“For Zane to play as many snaps as he
did in a physical game and do what he
did in receiving and rushing was huge
for us,” Auvinen said.
After Bend got within two scores with
a touchdown to open the third quar-
ter, Braiden Copeland caught his sec-
ond touchdown of the game later in the
period to get McNary's lead back to 20
points at 34-14.
In the fourth quarter, Aicher ran for a
28-yard score to put the game on ice.
McNary hosts Sprague at 7:15 p.m. on
Friday, Oct. 1. McNary lost to Sprague
28-0 during the COVID-shortened
spring season, and are coming into this
game with something to prove according
to Auvinen.
“They took us to the woodshed. That
was by far our worst game of the year,”
Auvinen said. “I think we have some pay-
back for them.”
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