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SHS PREVIEWS THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2016 11A BOYS SOCCER Gulls hopeful for one more Cowapa title By GARY HENLEY The Daily Astorian Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian Seaside football head coach Chad Smith talks with his team in a huddle at Broadway Field. Seagulls football under new management now Defending league cham- pions, only three starters lost to graduation, with six returning all-league players and the Coach of the Year? The 2016 boys’ soccer sea- son has “Seaside” written all over it. The Gulls are the favor- ites to repeat as the Cow- apa League champs, and they’re hoping to make a bet- ter post-season showing than last year’s irst-round exit. After winning nine of its inal 10 regular season games, Seaside lost a 2-1 overtime decision at home to Junction City in the state playoffs. The loss left a bitter taste, and provides a strong moti- vation for the 2016 Gulls. The Cowapa By GARY HENLEY The Daily Astorian A 46-23 win over Val- ley Catholic on Sept. 25 of last year had Seaside foot- ball fans excited, as the Gulls were looking to recap- ture the magic of the 2013 season. After the victory over the Valiants, the Gulls were 3-1 overall, 1-0 in league, and only had to win one of their next four to secure a spot in the playoffs. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. Seaside suffered a 26-6 setback at Tillamook the next week, then lost three straight to Banks, Astoria and Scappoose to inish the season. Their 1-4 record left the Gulls out in the cold for the post-season, after two straight winning seasons in league play in 2013 and ’14. A few months later, head coach Jeff Roberts stepped down to focus on his duties as principal at Seaside High. Former Roberts’ assistant Chad Smith has taken the reins, and hopes to lead Sea- side back to glory in 2016. SEASIDE FOOTBALL Coach: Chad Smith, 1st year 2015: 3-5 (1-4 Cowapa) All-League Losses: Alex Barker, Austin Eagon, Zach Marston, Jaxson Smith, Nathanael Ward All-League Returners: Michael Bailey, Jr. Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian Seaside freshman Gavin Rich warms up during practice. The Cowapa The 2016 version of Cow- apa League football is up for grabs, as the top three inish- ers from a year ago — Scap- poose, Banks and Astoria — all lost a number of key players to graduation. Scappoose’s all-star quar- terback-receiver combo — Robert Lohman to Bren- nen McNabb — is gone, along with running back and Co-Offensive Player of the Year Braden Clark. The Braves were certainly hit hard, with the gradua- tion of Co-Offensive Player of the Year Donny McClean, Defensive Player of the Year Twister McComas, and irst- team all-league receiver Jaron Malcom. Co-Coach of the Year Ben Buchanan has stepped down, and former Astoria assistant Cole Linehan has taken over as head coach. The Fishermen lost their all-star backield of Carter Wallace and Clay Englund, but return three all-leaguers. “Banks will still be pretty tough, and then Scappoose is always tough,” Smith said. “Valley Catholic hired a new Danny Miller/The Daily Astorian Seaside’s Otto Hoekstre completes a catch as the Seaside Seagulls practice in August at Broadway Field in Seaside. More photos online at DailyAstorian.com coach, but he was in the pro- gram as well.” The Seagulls Seaside lost ive all- league players of its own to graduation. The backield trio of Alex Barker, Jaxson Smith and Nathanael Ward (all three made the all-league squad) are gone, and both football and basketball will deinitely feel the loss of Austin Eagon and Zach Marston. On the plus side, the Gulls had several young skill posi- tion players on the roster last season, including soph- omore quarterback Payton (named after Walter) Wester- holm, junior running backs Astor Landwehr and Duncan Thompson, and junior tight end Dawson Blanchard. Quarterback Otto Hoek- stre returns for his senior season. The Seaside line is in great shape, with several returners. Two-way lineman Michael Bailey was all-league last year as a sophomore. Without giving away too much, Smith said, “Our offense will be different, but a lot of the other things will be the same. “We’re learning a new offense … we have more skill guys than we do linemen,” he said. “So on offense, we will spread it out with a lot • 2 LOCATIONS • Easy & Convenient CELEBRATING OVER 50 YEARS OF MAKING SWEET MEMORIES! Downtown Cannon Beach 256 N. Hemlock & Seaside Outlet Mall of open formations, we’ll throw a lot of quick, sprint- out passes, screen plays and things like that, to move our quarterback around so he’s not sitting back there. We want to get the ball to some of our skill guys, who can do well one-on-one with the defensive players.” And on defense, the Gulls will be tested early. “Our opener is with North Marion, a bigger school with well-coached kids,” he said. “They run the Wing-T, so it will be interesting for us to go against that. Our kids know the Wing-T, but you still have to stop them.” Personnel-wise, “We lost 12 or 13 seniors, and we’re light on seniors this year,” Smith said. “We have ive total, two who didn’t play last year, and one that moved from Clatskanie (Phoe- nix Johnson, who igures on being a big part of the Sea- side offense, judging from last week’s jamboree). “We have Otto Hoekstre back, Michael Bailey, Astor Landwehr … for the most part we’ll be a real young team, with mostly sopho- mores and juniors and our ive seniors.” Some other names to get familiar with: Duncan Thompson, (“a great skill player”); Westerholm (a bright future for the three- sport athlete, although he suffered a broken ankle in Seaside’s recent jamboree); Johnson (“a great addition”); “and another kid from Wyo- ming, Garret Kiser, a pretty athletic kid,” Smith said. Junior Cameron King also saw plenty of touches in Sea- side’s jamboree. And for the future, “We have about 16 incoming fresh- men, and that’s a pretty good class for a school our size.” Given all of Seaside’s returners, there doesn’t appear to be any serious challengers standing in the way of the Gulls and another league title. In their eight league games in 2015, the Gulls allowed just six goals and inished 7-1. Their only loss in league play came to Scap- poose, which posted a 1-0 win at Broadway Field Oct. 1, a game in which the Indi- ans had just one shot on goal. The Gulls got even with a 1-0 win at Scappoose Oct. 22, part of their ive-game win streak to end the league season. “We open with Scappoose at home this year,” coach John Chapman said. “That was our only loss last year, so we need to break that neme- sis. They seem to come here and have our number. “You never know what you’re going to get with Val- ley Catholic until the season starts. I’m optimistic that we can win the league again.” And the targets are squarely on the backs of the Gulls. “I would expect our league to be coming at us,” he said. “Which is OK. It’s amazing — when you win once, they all think you’re the Dallas Cowboys.” The Gulls Seaside dominated the Cowapa All-League selec- tions in 2015, just as they SEASIDE BOYS SOCCER Coach: John Chapman, 4th year 2015: 11-4 (7-1 Cowapa) State Playoffs: Lost first round to Junction City, 1-2 All-League Losses: Taylor Barnes; Raiden Bowles All-League Returners: Colton Carter, Jr. (Co- MVP); Jackson Januik, Sr.; Rafi Sibony, Jr.; Hunter Thompson, Sr.; Dylan Wallis, Sr.; Brent Walsh, Sr. dominated the action on the ield. Coach of the Year Chap- man had eight players on the all-leaguer squad, and only two (Taylor Barnes and Raiden Bowles) were seniors. The other key loss to graduation was goalkeeper Jarrett Coughlin. Among the returners, seniors Jackson Januik, Hunter Thompson and Brent Walsh were all irst-team selections as juniors, as was Colton Carter — the Cowa- pa’s Co-Player of the Year and the only sophomore on the 4A all-state team. Dylan Wallis (Sr.)and Rai Sibony (Jr.) were honor- able mention. Additional returners include Will Garvin and Juneau Meyer — both senior cross country runners, along with Carter, Januik and Thompson. “We only lost two guys off the ield, and we’ve gained a couple more,” Chapman said. “In goal, we have Jesus (“Chewy”) Perez. Behind him we’ll have (sophomores) Ashton Boyd and James Petty. Chewy has been the ‘Steve Young’ waiting in the wings. He gets his chance now. This is his Super Bowl as a senior.” Other contributors this season will include junior Henry Chapman and sopho- more Irving Contreras. “Irving is more experi- enced and playing at a higher level; and Henry Chapman is making some great strides, moving up from a solid JV player to a solid varsity player,” said coach (and dad) Chapman. Gary Henley/The Daily Astorian Four-sport athlete Jackson Januik is ready to chase down another successful year, starting with soccer and cross country this fall. GO SEAGULLS!! SCORE BIG WITH YOUR FAMILY & FRIENDS THIS FALL SEASON BY SHOPPING AT BRUCE’S!! GOOD LUCK TO ALL FALL ATHLETES & COACHES! CB: 503-436-2641 Seaside: 503-738-7828 www.brucescandy.com Candy Makes the Sweetest Gift!
