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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 2, 2015)
Polk County Sports Polk County Itemizer-Observer • September 2, 2015 12A SCHEDULE COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 2 Volleyball: Perrydale at Willamette Valley Christian, 6 p.m. Picking up the slack THURSDAY, SEPT. 3 Girls Soccer: Warner Pa- cific College at Western Oregon, 4 p.m. Volleyball: West Salem at Central, 6 p.m. Falls City at Country Christian, 5:30 p.m. FRIDAY, SEPT. 4 Boys Soccer: Madison at Central, 7 p.m. Football: Central at Bend, 7 p.m. Dallas at Crater, 7 p.m. Perrydale at Falls City, 7 p.m. Volleyball: Western Ore- gon at Courtyard & Resi- dence Inn Marriott Oredig- ger Volleyball Classic, Gold- en, CO, 10 a.m. SATURDAY, SEPT. 5 Football: Western Ore- gon at Humboldt State, 6 p.m. Volleyball: Dallas at Southridge Tournament, 8 a.m. Western Oregon at Courtyard & Residence Inn Marriott Oredigger Volley- ball Classic, Golden, CO, 10 a.m. SUNDAY, SEPT. 6 Girls Soccer: Western Oregon at Colorado State, Pueblo, 6 p.m. TUESDAY, SEPT. 8 Boys Soccer: Central at McNary, 6:30 p.m. Girls Soccer: David Dou- glas at Dallas, 4 p.m. West- ern Oregon vs. New Mexico Highlands at Pueblo, CO. Volleyball: South Albany at Central, 6 p.m. Dallas at Woodburn, 6 p.m. Damas- cus Christian at Falls City, 5:30 p.m. Perrydale at Liv- ingstone Adventist Acade- my, 5:30 p.m. Lewis & Clark at Western Oregon, 7 p.m. — Schedules Subject to Change QUICK HITS WOU to accept Hall of Fame nominations MONMOUTH — Western Oregon University’s athletic department will accept nominations for its 11th Hall of Fame Class through Sept. 28. Nominations can be made online at www.wou- wolves.com/sb_output.asp x?form=14 or by down- loading printable forms and mailing submissions to WOU. Any student-athlete that has been nominated since the Hall of Fame was first adopted in 2004 does not need to resubmit an appli- cation. Student-athletes who played for WOU in 2010 or before are eligible to be nominated. The Hall of Fame induc- tion ceremony will be held Jan. 29, 2016. For more information: www.wouwolves.com. WOU finishes renovations MONMOUTH — Western Oregon completed renova- tions on the track at McArthur Stadium. Construction began in late May. WOU will host the NCAA West Regional Cross-Coun- try Championship in No- vember and the Great Northwest Athletic Confer- ence Outdoor Track & Field Championships in May of 2016. www.polkio.com Western Oregon has big shoes to fill on offense By Lukas Eggen The Itemizer-Observer MONMOUTH — At first glance, Western Oregon ap- pears set up for a run at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference title. The Wolves return a majority of the starters from a year ago when WOU finished in a three-way tie for second. If head coach Arne Fer- guson is to help lead the Wolves to a conference title this year, Western Ore- gon must navigate a competi- tive con- ference and see some new faces per- form in key positions. “Game after game is decided by one or two plays,” Ferguson said in an interview with the conference. “How well this team comes together and as a team, how we do Revis the little things will be important to win those one or two plays.” The Wolves were one of the conference’s most prolif- ic on offense in 2014. WOU finished second in the GNAC in passing yards, av- eraging 309.5 yards per game, but the Wolves have some key pieces to replace if they want to replicate that success. Chief among t h e m i s Ty r e l l Williams, now with the NFL’s San Diego Chargers. Williams ended his WOU ca- reer as the leader in re- ceiving yards (2,792) and touchdowns (21). Also gone is for- mer starting quarter- back Ryan Bergman, w h o t h re w f o r 2 6 touchdowns last season and was ranked ninth in the country in passing yards per game. In his place, senior Trey Shimabukuro will WOU Football Head coach: Arne Ferguson (11th season). 2014 record: 6-5 overall; 4-2 Great Northwest Athletic Conference, tied for second place. Key returners: Paul Revis, soph., receiver; Trey Shimabukuro, sr., quarterback; Joe Harris, sr., running back; Shane Kuenzi, sr., linebacker; George Swartzlender, sr., defensive line. Newcomers to watch: Andy Avgi, sr., tight end; Shawn Munro, fr., linebacker; Chris Adamo, fr., defensive back. Significant stat: 108.2 — The number of passing yards per game WOU averaged under Shimabukuro in 2014. start the season-opener at Humboldt State on Saturday evening. Shimabukuro played in five games in 2014, throwing for 541 yards, three touch- downs and interceptions while Bergman was injured. Shimabukuro will have the luxury of throwing to one of the conference’s most dangerous offensive weapons in Paul Revis. The sophomore receiver/returner set a pro- gram record for receiving yards in a season (1,149) and tied the school mark for re- ceiving touchdowns (11). Revis averaged 184.5 all-pur- pose yards in 2014, seventh most in all of Division II. In addition to receiver, Revis is one of the confer- ence’s top returners, averag- ing 23.7 yards per kick re- turn in 2014. “Paul Revis makes amaz- ing catches,” Ferguson said. “We’re excited to see his de- velopment.” WOU also sees four of five starters on the offensive line return. The Wolves hope that experience leads to a big im- provement after allowing 54 sacks in 2014 — the second most in the nation. WOU may also have a se- cret weapon to unleash on opponents this fall. Western Oregon basketball player Andy Avgi will play as a tight end for the Wolves. On defense, WOU’s front seven will form the team’s strength. Senior linebacker Shane Kuenzi had 65 tackles and 2.5 sacks in 2014, while defen- sive linemen George Swart- zlender gives a 300-pound presence in the trenches. Also returning are soph- omore linebacker Tyler Johnson (71 tackles, two in- terceptions) and defensive back Roger Garret (second team all-Conference in 2014), keeping a group that gave up 25.1 points per game in 2014 nearly intact. While the Wolves will see 18 starters return, WOU’s newcomers will have a big c h a n c e t o c o n t r i b u t e. Among them include fresh- man defensive back Chris Adamo and freshman re- ceiver Malik Braxton. The Wolves enter the 2015 season with conference title aspirations. Whether they accomplish that goal will de- pend on how quickly some key players step up in new roles. PREP GIRLS SOCCER Central faced with early season test Panthers look to rebound after big defeat, injury in first the match of the season By Lukas Eggen The Itemizer-Observer INDEPENDENCE — It was a routine play. A se- quence of events that Cen- tral junior Alyssa Orozco had encountered playing for the Panthers’ girls soc- cer team countless times before. Near midfield, Orozco was fighting for control of a ball against her opponent. This time, things took a turn for the worse. “I was going for the ball and I had just taken the step to get the ball,” Alyssa said. “My foot or my knee locked up on me and I felt my knee go out. The other girl didn’t push me or anything.” Orozco suffered a left knee injury. She couldn’t put pressure on it when being helped off the field and will see a specialist in Portland on Thursday to determine the full ex- tent of the injury. The out- look isn’t good. “The kn- ee was swollen Orozco and the X- rays didn’t see anything,” Central coach and Alyssa’s fa- ther Joe Orozco said. “There were no broken bones, thank God. They think it’s maybe her ACL or meniscus.” Joe Orozco said there’s a chance it could be a less se- rious injury than an ACL. If it is less serious, she’ll likely miss at least a month. An ACL injury would mean the end of her season. “I have it in a brace and I can’t move it or anything (as of Tuesday),” Alyssa Orozco said. The Panthers, which lost 11-1 to North Eugene on Thursday (Aug. 27), are left without one its captains and most experienced players, but Joe Orozco said Central can — and will — regroup quickly. “We don’t rely on one player,” he said. “We’re a team. It’s a tough loss, but Naomi (Torres) and Lupita (Campos) are experienced and captains as well.” Alyssa Orozco’s absence in the midfield also means Joe Orozco will make a few line- up changes, though he’s not sure who he will move around just yet. Joe Orozco remains opti- mistic about the season. He believes the combi- nation of the potential sea- son-ending injury to a key player and lopsided loss to North Eugene should be a valuable lesson, not a dev- astating setback, for his team. See CHS, Page 13A LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer Senior co-captain Naomi Torres (13) watches a play un- fold during Central’s match against North Eugene. www.facebook.com/pages/Polk-County-Itemizer-Observer/205062686252209 Mon -Fri 8am - 6pm • Sat 8am - 5pm DALLAS 121 Main St • 503-623-8155 • www.LesSchwab.com INDEPENDENCE 1710 Monmouth St • 503-838-6340 www.twitter.com/PolkIOSports