PAGE A16, KEIZERTIMES, OCTOBER 22, 2021
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Celts can't complete comeback against West Salem
Football
McNary receiver Braiden Copeland looks for extra yardage after a first down catch. Copeland caught nine passes for 169 yards and two touchdowns on the night.
BY MATT RAWLINGS
Of the Keizertimes
Despite not being at full strength,
McNary had a chance to take over the top
spot in the Mountain Valley Conference
(MVC) with a win over West Salem on
Friday, Oct. 15. But late in the fourth quar-
ter, the Celtics defense couldn't get a stop
when they needed it most.
Trailing by 20 points in the third quar-
ter, McNary staged a second half comeback
to get within a score in the fourth quarter.
But the Celtics off ense didn't get a chance
to touch the ball again as West Salem ran
the fi nal six minutes off the clock to defeat
McNary 34-27 and maintain sole posses-
sion of fi rst place in the Mountain Valley
Conference (MVC).
“We just made too many mistakes. I
can't compliment our kids enough for
how they battled, we just need to clean up
those mistakes,” McNary head coach Jeff
Auvinen said.
McNary's fi rst miscue came on the
opening kickoff as Jesse Dyer lost the foot-
ball on a return to the Celtics 38-yard line,
giving the Titans great fi eld position. After
a pair of third down conversions, West
Salem running back Hudson Giertych ran
it in from 10 yards out, giving his team the
7-0 lead.
With McNary quarterback Tyler
Copeland still nursing a high-ankle sprain
he suff ered two weeks prior, Gunner
Smedema resumed the Celtics signal-call-
ing duties for the second straight contest.
Unlike last game against South Salem,
where Copeland was in street clothes, the
Celtics senior leader was dressed in full
pads in case he needed to make an emer-
gency appearance.
It became apparent after their fi rst
drive that McNary would need to turn to
Copeland in a crisis.
SPORTS
After only 25 yards passing the week
prior, Smedema surpassed his previous
total on McNary's fi rst play from scrim-
mage, connecting on a go route to Braiden
Copeland for a 42-yard gain. Moments
later, Smedema found Aron Montoya for
12 yards, giving the Celtics a fi rst-and-goal
situation from the six-yard line.
However, two plays later, the injury bug
bit McNary once again.
On second-and-goal, Smedema took off
on a designed quarterback sweep and was
tackled by multiple defenders for no gain.
When the pile cleared, Smedema was
still on the ground, clutching his right leg.
After being tended to by McNary train-
ers, Smedema was helped off the fi eld, but
couldn't put any weight on his injured leg.
With a thick brace wrapped around his
injured ankle, Tyler Copeland hobbled out
to the fi eld to take snaps at quarterback.
“It was very scary to see (Smedema)
go down like that,” Tyler Copeland said.
“When he went down, I told myself that I
had to show up for my team.”
After the game, Auvinen explained the
hesitancy behind starting his senior quar-
terback, and why he put him in the game
after Smedema went down.
“I never doubted him for a bit, I was just
Photo by MATT RAWLINGS of Keizertimes
trying to look down the road for the rest of
our season and wanted him as healthy as
possible because he is a huge part of our
team,” he said. “He was our best option.”
On the fi rst play after the injury, McNary
running back Zane Aicher scored from two
yards out to tie the game at 7-7. But the
Celtics off ense went stagnant for the next
three drives.
After West Salem quarterback Brooks
Ferguson hit Zach Dodsen Greene for a
30-yard touchdown late in the fi rst quarter,
McNary went three-and-out on the ensuing
possession.
To make matters worse for the Celtics,
McNary punter Logan Ready had the
fourth down snap go over his head, which
gave West Salem the ball in the red zone.
The Celtics defense came up with their
fi rst stop of the game when McNary safety
Pierce Walker intercepted a Ferguson pass
in the end zone. But the Celtics would wind
up giving the ball right back to the Titans.
On the second play after the turnover,
Tyler Copeland tried to hit Aicher on a
screen pass, but the throw sailed back-
wards past Aicher and was recovered by
West Salem at the one-yard line. Ferguson
snuck in for the score on the next play to
extend West Salem's lead to 21-7 early in