PAGE A20, KEIZERTIMES, OCTOBER 29, 2021
Celtics blank Cougars on senior night
BY KEIZERTIMES STAFF
Whether it was on off ense, defense
or special teams, the McNary football
squad dominated from start to fi nish,
defeating Mountain View 35-0 in their
home fi nale on Saturday, Oct. 23.
After making some costly mistakes
in their loss to West Salem the previ-
ous week, McNary head coach Jeff
Auvinen was impressed with how his
team remained disciplined throughout
the game.
“I thought we were great in all three
aspects. We cleaned it up really nicely,”
Auvinen said.
With the victory, the Celtics secured
their fi rst winning season since 2017,
improving to 3-2 in Mountain Valley
Conference (MVC) play and 6-2 overall.
Despite playing on an injured ankle,
McNary quarterback Tyler Copeland
had another brilliant game for the
Celtics, going 12-for-17 for 247 yards
and three touchdowns. The senior sig-
nal-caller has thrown for over 200 yards
and three or more touchdowns in fi ve
of the seven games he has played, and
improved his touchdown-to-intercep-
tion ratio to 19-1.
The McNary off ense got things
going late in the fi rst quarter after
Jesse Dyer broke off a 40-yard run into
Mountain View territory. Moments
later, senior running back Dakota
Dunagan scored from 22 yards out to
give the Celtics the 7-0 advantage.
After missing some time this sea-
son, Dunagan had a night to remem-
ber in his fi nal home game as a Celtic,
rushing for 128 yards and a score on 19
carries.
McNary didn't take long to get the
ball back as Zane Aicher picked off
a Mountain View pass early in the
second quarter and returned it into
Cougars territory. After the big play
on defense, Aicher capped off the short
McNary drive by punching in a four-
yard touchdown, extending McNary's
lead to 14-0.
Mountain View was on the verge
of answering back, driving the ball
McNary running back Dakota Dunagan ran the ball 19 times for 128 yards and a touchdown in the Celtics 35-0 win over Mountain View on
senior night.
Photo by JOEY CAPPELLETTI of Keizertimes
inside the fi ve-yard line. But the
Cougars coughed up the ball on third-
and-goal, giving it right back to the
Celtics. McNary then went 98 yards
on their ensuing possession, thanks to
a 24-yard touchdown catch by Aicher,
putting the Celtics up 21-0 at the half.
“It's a good way to end it,” Aicher
said about his fi nal game at Flesher
Field. “I'm really happy with how we
played.”
With their second-leading receiver,
Gunner Smedema, missing the game
due to injury and their top pass-catcher,
Braiden Copeland, getting banged
up earlier in the game, senior wide-
outs Aron Montoya and Logan Ready
stepped up for the Celtics in the sec-
ond half.
After Mountain View committed
their third turnover of the game on
another interception by Aicher, the
Celtics took advantage when Tyler
Copeland found Montoya for an
81-yard touchdown to make the score
28-0 in favor of McNary late in the third
quarter.
Ready soon followed with a
touchdown catch of his own from 25
yards out early in the fourth quarter to
make it 35-0.
McNary heads over the mountain to
face seventh-ranked Summit in their
fi nal regular season game at 7 p.m. on
Friday, Oct. 29. If they are able to come
away with a victory, the Celtics would
likely fi nish ranked in the top 16 and
would be in position to host their fi rst
round playoff game.
“Summit is a good football team so
it will be interesting to see what hap-
pens,” Auvinen said.
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