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Polk County Sports 12A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • November 4, 2015 PERRYDALE FOOTBALL Pirates enter playoffs with perfect record Perrydale defeats Arlington to earn Special District 4 league title and an 8-0 mark entering the postseason By Lukas Eggen Class 1A State Football The Itemizer-Observer PERRYDALE — Perrydale will enter the Class 1A state playoffs with a perfect record. The Pirates (8-0 overall) clinched sole possession of the Special District 4 title with a 62-14 win over Arling- ton on Friday. It was the sixth time Per- rydale scored 50 or more points this season. “We have a strong, power- ful running game that is keyed by an offensive line that takes pride in what they do,” Gubrud said. “We have enough speed on the out- side to keep teams honest defensively.” As a team, the Pirates scored seven rushing touch- downs on Friday, but players aren’t satisfied with their performance so far. “It feels good (when we’re successful),” Barnes said. Who: Pine Eagle Spartans (7-2 overall, 3-1 Special District 1) vs. Perrydale Pirates (8-0 overall, 6-0 Special District 4). What: Class 1A state football playofs, irst round. When: Saturday, noon. Where: Perrydale High School. Admission: Adult, $6; students (ages 5 and up), $4. What’s at stake: The winner advances to the second round on Nov. 13 against the win- ner of Triad-Crater. The loser is eliminated. CALEB WALLACE/ for the Itemizer-Observer Perrydale’s Keenan Bailey looks to break free against Arlington on Friday night. “But we can’t really focus on what we’re doing. We have to focus on what we can do and improve.” Perrydale, which enters the postseason as the sixth seed, hosts 11th-seeded Pine Eagle Saturday at noon. Pine Eagle finished fourth in Special District 1 with a 7-2 mark overall and 3-1 record in league play. “They have two very tal- ented running backs and everyone else on their team is fundamentally solid,” Gubrud said. “They are very well-coached and present some schematic problems for us on both sides of the ball.” While Pine Eagle presents some major challenges for Perrydale to overcome, the Pirates will look to their physical play on both sides of the ball to lead them in the playoffs. “(We have a) powerful, tough running game and a very stout defense,” Gubrud said. The winner advances to face the winner of No. 14 Triad vs. No. 3 Wallowa on Nov. 13. Perrydale may have ended its regular season without a loss, but players are hoping that’s just the beginning. No matter what happens, the Pi- rates believe they are ready to play the best football of their season. “Obviously, we want to go all the way and win,” Barnes said. “But we’ll do whatever we can and do the best we can do.” State: Pirates face rematch Running hard Continued from Page 10A The winner advances to the semifinal round at 8:30 p.m. Friday against the win- ner of Powder Valley vs. Trinity Lutheran. The loser advances to the consolation bracket on Sat- urday. “We know what we’re up against,” Dickey said. “It helps us practice this week. We can focus on their strengths and on our strengths versus their weak- nesses. They have a few weak spots, but we can pick out what we can do to score points against them.” The Pirates know that Country Christian presents a difficult obstacle to over- come, but Dickey hopes her players enjoy the experi- ence, no matter what the outcome. “I want them to come out with a positive experience going to state,” Dickey said. “For the seniors, they won’t ever have this experience again. I want them to build strong memories and let them know that the hard work they started in August got them to where they’re at. It pays off and wouldn’t have come without their dedication or time spent in the gym. They’re the ones who had to sacrifice the end of their summer and all the fun things they could be doing instead of coming to practice.” CENTRAL BOYS SOCCER Panthers advance to state ELI CIRINO/for the Itemizer-Observer Central sophomore Bailie Hartford (right) races during the OSAA 5A girls state cross- country race on Saturday. Hartford finished eighth overall with a time of 19 minutes, 26 seconds. Central junior Abby McBeth also competed at state, taking 34th with a time of 20:49. Itemizer-Observer staff report EUGENE — Headed into its play-in match against Churchill on Friday, Cen- tral’s boys soccer team was- n’t riding high with confi- dence. The Panthers were com- ing off a 9-0 loss to Wood- burn on Oct. 27 to close out the regular season. “We learned we couldn’t give up and had to play the entire game,” Central coach Carlos Esquivel said. “We learned how frustrating and how bad it felt to lose a game like that.” When Churchill took a 1- 0 lead in the first half of Fri- day’s match, it could have been easy for the Pa n t h e r s to give up. B u t Central fought back. Antonio Rincon Rincon scored a pair of goals, and Angel Morenilla and Sebas- tian Diaz scored one each as the Panthers scored four unanswered goals en route to a 4-2 victory. “One thing I told them before the game is that we have to play as a team and with heart,” Esquivel said. “We have to be aggressive throughout, and that’s what we did.” Central played top seed- ed Wilsonville Tuesday after press time in the first round of the state playoffs. While facing the top seed presented a daunting chal- lenge, Esquivel said the Panthers have already shown growth and a base to build on in the future. “We’re a really young team that hasn’t necessarily played together for very long,” Esquivel said. “We expected to play well, but we’ve built a lot more quickly than I expected. The team has come together and I’ve been impressed.” Trail: Dallas will play at Wilsonville on Wednesday night Continued from Page 10A Dallas took a 2-0 lead at halftime thanks to goals from Jennifer Webb and Stefani Tallon. Webb added a second goal in the second half. “It was awesome,” senior Kelli Pedersen said. “I had chills. … It was nerve-wracking coming to the end. I feel like we all felt pretty confident, but you never know the end until the end.” Dallas now faces a difficult test in the first round of the state play- offs. The Dragons play at second- seeded Wilsonville Wednesday (today). The Wildcats defeated Dal- las 4-0 on Sept. 15 and finished the regular season with a 12-1-1 record overall. “It’s a known opponent,” Myrold said. “With so much time between games, Wilsonville has improved “It’s still a game of soccer. There’s still two halves, one ball and 11 girls competing against another group of 11.” — Dallas coach Kirk Myrold and so have we. It’s about trusting in the system we play and in our teammates. It’s still a game of soc- cer. There’s still two halves, one ball and 11 girls competing against another group of 11.” The Dragons enter the contest after winning their last two match- es by a combined score of 6-1. Dallas will be missing Tallon, who suffered a broken collarbone midway through the second half. Players are counting on the fact that they’ve rarely played at full strength this season due to injuries and illnesses as proof that they can find a way to win, despite the loss. “She’s a huge aspect of our team,” Lichtenberger said. “It’s going to be tough with losing a teammate. I feel like we have to come together. We’ve done it be- fore.” For the seniors, Wednesday pro- vides a chance to experience something no other girls soccer player has before at Dallas. “We all know if we play like a family, we will win,” Pedersen said. “The last few matches, we’ve been playing together. It helps every- body a lot and we’re looking for- ward to (the playoffs) and hoping for the best.” LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer Dallas’ Olivia Nelson chases after a ball against Springfield on Thurs- day. The Dragons earned a 3-0 victory and advanced to state. Central: Berroa rushes for 237 yards against Woodburn Continued from Page 10A The Panthers (6-3 overall, 5-2 MWC) enter the state playoffs as the seventh seed and will host Hillsboro Fri- day at 7 p.m. Hillsboro finished third in the Northwest Oregon Conference with a 7-2 record overall. The Spar- tans’ losses came against Liberty and Wilsonville, the top two finishers from the league. Each of Hillsboro’s seven wins came by at least 10 points. “Now that we’re in playoff mode, there’s more urgency with our preparation and planning,” Hedrick said. “We feel (Hillsboro is) a very good team and played some very good football in their conference. Two years ago when we made the classifi- cation switch, they were in 6A when we were in 4A. They bring a lot of kids to the game. They have a deep depth chart and there are challenges there we’ll have to overcome.” Central began its weekly preparation a day early, call- ing in players on Sunday to look at film. The Panthers enter the postseason on a three-game win streak and have scored at least 33 points in each of its last five games. “The biggest difference is our team is gelling and play- ing more mature football,” Hedrick said. Berroa, a junior, finished the regular season with 1,329 yards and 13 touch- downs on the ground, while fellow junior Peter Mason had 575 receiving yards and seven touchdowns. Sopho- more quarterback Peter Mendazona threw for 1,384 yards and 17 touchdowns. Junior Marlon Tuipulotu recorded 65 tackles and 10 sacks on defense, and senior Madison Stepp had five re- ceiving touchdowns. “One of the things we’ll al- ways battle at Central be- cause of our numbers is that we rely on each class to con- tribute to the program,” Hedrick said. “This year that has been highlighted. We have four-plus sophomores who are contributing in a good, solid manner. Each week the kids get a little bit better and more acclimated. The fundamentals are there at the beginning and they should be able to prosper and grow.” The Panthers also look forward to a home field ad- vantage. “The Monmouth-Inde- pendence area is a very sup- portive community. When we have home games, our crowds show up and really support their team,” Hedrick said. The winner of Friday’s matchup advances to the second round on Nov. 13 against the winner of Silver- ton versus Crater. With a showdown against Hillsboro looming on Friday, Hedrick said players are ex- cited to begin what they hope is a long playoff run.