Polk County Sports/Education
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • September 21, 2016 13A
Football: Dragons
remain unbeaten
Continued from Page 11A
Not being the biggest line
has become part of their
identity and something that
they feed off of, and they
want to send a message to
whomever they play: Un-
derestimate their strength
at your own peril.
“I love being undersized,”
Janssen said. “When (oppo-
nents) look at me and kind
of laugh, it gives me that
extra kick. I can use it as
extra motivation. They
might be bigger than me,
but I know my heart is big-
ger.”
But it’s not just the line-
men who are getting in on
the fun. The tight ends, in-
cluding TJ Dimick, have
also lined up as extra block-
ers.
The key to success has
been attention to detail —
knowing their role and be-
coming technically sound.
“It’s all technique,” Unger
said. “We have some kids
who are around 160 but are
still pushing around guys.”
That technique revolves
around staying low and
knowing exactly what to do
in any given moment. The
result has been one of the
state’s most potent rushing
attacks.
“You’ve got to know what
you have to do and do it
hard,” Gaither-Lyell said.
“You have to go out there
and win that play every
time.”
Their paths to becoming
a lineman are varied, but
they all share one thing in
common. The desire to beat
back their opponents.
“The toughest part is
knowing it’s all on you,”
Gaither-Lyell said. “If you
don’t do your job, nothing
happens.”
The offensive line will
have to overcome a new ob-
stacle. Hensley injured his
hand during the Silverton
game. And although he
played through it, he will
now miss six weeks as he re-
covers.
Senior Boe Bray will step
in.
And, like his fellow line-
men, coach Jackson be-
lieves he has something
special to show.
“They’ll fight and they’ll
b a t t l e,” Ja c k s o n s a i d .
“They’re outsized most of
the time, but they compete.
They fight in the trench and
they do stuff that kids with
big hearts who want to ac-
complish things do.”
—
The Dragons’ win on Fri-
day didn’t come easy. Dallas
trailed 7-0 at halftime, but
when it mattered most, the
Dragons dug deep — some-
thing that Jackson said he
hopes is becoming a defin-
ing characteristic.
“There were some
things we didn’t do very
well in the first half,” Jack-
son said. “It was evident
that we could get more out
of the players than we
were getting.”
The win over Silverton
was a big one for the Drag-
ons. The Silver Foxes had
beaten Dallas by a com-
bined score of 80-7 over the
past three seasons.
“This team has been a
stumbling block for us for a
long time,” Jackson said.
“There’s no telling what the
future is going to bring, but
for right now, we needed
this to happen. You get into
a struggle against certain
teams and you stop believ-
ing. I think our guys needed
this.”
Running back Tanner
Earhart scored a pair of
touchdowns while quarter-
back Caedmon Blair also
scored a rushing touch-
down. Dallas improved to
3-0 overall and 1-0 in Mid-
Willamette Conference play.
The Dragons host Glencoe
Friday at 7 p.m.
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer
Dallas’ offensive linemen and tight ends have paved the way for a potent rushing
attack. The Dragons improved to 3-0 after defeating Silverton 20-13 on Friday.
DALLAS ROUNDUP
Volleyball downs Silverton
Itemizer-Observer staff report
DALLAS — Dallas’ volley-
ball squad picked up its first
league win in dramatic
fashion on Thursday. The
Dragons defeated Silverton
25-17, 23-25, 25-22, 12-25,
17-15 in a back-and-forth
affair.
“This was a big one for
us,” coach Shana Lavier
said. “I think we needed this
win.”
Dallas opened the week
with a 25-15, 25-16, 25-12
loss to Corvallis on Sept. 13.
The Dragons also hosted
the Dallas volleyball tour-
nament on Saturday. Re-
sults weren’t available as of
press time.
Dallas played Central
Tuesday after press time.
The Dragons host Wood-
burn Thursday at 6 p.m. be-
fore competing at the Ore-
gon City Tournament Satur-
day at 8 a.m.
Dallas returns home to
host South Albany Tuesday
at 6 p.m.
BOYS SOCCER BLANKED
BY SOUTHRIDGE: Dallas’ boys
soccer team lost to Southridge
6-0 on Thursday. The Dragons
fell to 1-3 overall after the loss.
Dallas played Parkrose Tues-
day after press time. The Drag-
ons close out their nonleague
season by hosting Sandy
Thursday at 4 p.m. before
playing at Milwaukie on Tues-
day.
CROSS-COUNTRY TAKES
PART IN THREE COURSE
CHALLENGE: Dallas’ boys and
girls cross-country teams com-
peted in the Three Course
Challenge Saturday at Seaside.
Sophomore Trevor Cross
was the Dragons’ top finisher
in the 5,000-meter hard
course race after taking 92nd
in 22 minutes, 52 seconds.
Ryan Bibler finished 38th on
the 4,500-meter easy course in
17:08, and Gavin Grass was
Dallas’ top finisher in the
5,000-meter moderate course
taking 150th in 23:33.
Alyssa Garner was the Drag-
ons’ top finisher (110th) in the
girls hard course with a time
of 29:10. Jamie English was
the team’s top finisher in the
easy course race taking 62nd
in 22:51.
Dallas will compete at the
Mid-Willamette Conference
District Preview meet Wednes-
day (today) at 3 p.m. at
Willamette Mission State Park
in Gervais and the Nike Port-
land XC meet at Portland
Meadows Racetrack on Satur-
day.
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
Holli Paskewich, the graduate program coordinator with George Fox’s college of edu-
cation, helps a student with a science project on Sept. 14.
Professors spend
‘serve day’ at Oakdale
George Fox closes campus to help schools
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — Nathan Floyd,
Jonah Stork, Zelene Reed,
and Chelsi Durham-Rivera
need to make their apple
tower taller.
The third-graders in Jen-
nifer Casalegno’s class at
Oakdale Heights Elementary
School have pencils, pipe
cleaners, index cards, a ruler,
scissors, glue, rubber bands,
and string to get the job
done. A rolled file folder
makes up the bulk of the
tower — which will eventu-
ally hold an apple at the top
— but the group brain-
stormed ideas for making it
even taller.
Can they use the pipe
cleaners, the rubber bands,
the index cards?
“What about the ruler?
What can you do with the
ruler?” asked Holli
Paskewich, a graduate pro-
gram coordinator for the
College of Education at
George Fox University in
Newberg.
Paskewich offered that
suggestion and watched as
the four students brain-
stormed how they could im-
prove upon their creation.
“I have faith in you,” she
said before letting the group
work on its own. “I know you
can do this.”
Paskewich was one of five
professors and staff mem-
bers of the George Fox edu-
cation graduate program
spending “Serve Day” at
Oakdale. They assisted with
teacher prep, testing stu-
dents on word knowledge,
helping them with writing,
painting and science proj-
ects, and even moving books
out of storage.
George Fox closes its cam-
pus one day a year and its
faculty, staff and undergrad-
uate students donate an en-
tire day to serving in the
community. Ser ve Day
began in 1999 as a way for
students and employees to
give back. On Sept. 14, more
than 2,000 George Fox stu-
dents and staff members
worked on construction,
painting, weeding, cleaning
and visiting with seniors.
Or in the case of Oakdale’s
contingent, working with
students. Ginny Birky, a pro-
fessor at the school of edu-
cation, said the group
specifically requested visit-
ing Oakdale.
Principal Maria Drennen
is a student in George Fox ‘s
doctor of education pro-
gram and gladly accepted
their invitation.
“We wrote to Maria and
said, ‘Would you have some
jobs for us? Is there any way
we could serve you?’” Birky
recalled.
A high school teacher be-
fore becoming a professor,
Birky said working with
younger students is some-
thing she missed.
“I love it. I love interacting
with the students,” she said.
“It’s just fun to be back in
schools.”
Paskewich said the experi-
ence bought back memories
for her, too.
“I’ve also missed being in
the classroom,” she said.
“Not as a teacher, but as a
mom. I volunteered for
many years.”
Teacher Heidi Schrock
said the extra help was
greatly needed. She said a lot
of families in Dallas have
both parents working so it’s
hard for parents to find time
to volunteer to help with
prep work and other tasks
that need to be done for
class projects.
“That’s why it’s nice for us
to serve, because we know
(teachers) will have to do it
or give it to a parent,” Birky
said.
SCHOOL NOTES
Meet teachers, tour school at open house
INDEPENDENCE — Central High School will host an open house Wednesday (today) at 6:30 p.m. at
the school. Parents can pick up their student’s schedule and a map of the building at 6. A demonstra-
tion and instructions on how to access PowerSchool to view your child’s grades, attendance, assign-
ments, and sign up to receive email notifications of these items as well as daily announcements will
be given at the event. After this demonstration, parents will follow their child’s schedule in six-
minute periods where teachers will introduce themselves, share the course syllabus and expecta-
tions, and answer questions.
Whitworth student’s art selected for calendar
DALLAS — Whitworth Elementary School fifth-grader Braden Bollman is one of the winners of
Oregon Agriculture in the Classroom’s annual calendar art contest.
Braden picked bees and beehives in a field of clover as the subject of the drawing he submitted.
“Bees are very important to Oregon agriculture because they pollinate flowers,” he said, adding
that he likes honey.
Bollman’s artwork will be featured in the organization’s school year calendar, distributed to 10,000
schools and businesses statewide.
Thirteen winners were chosen out of 1,574 submissions statewide. The contest is open to students
in Oregon’s public, private, charter schools and home-school students.
Bollman and the other winners were recognized at a ceremony at the Oregon State Fair.
FOOTBALL
Pirates blank Mitchell in league opener
Itemizer-Observer staff report
PERRYDALE — Perry-
dale’s football team defeat-
ed Mitchell 60-0 on Friday
night in the Pirates’ Special
District 4 opener.
Haylen Janesofsky had
14 carries for 158 yards and
three touchdowns while
Cooper Butler had 13 rush-
es for 84 yards and one
touchdown.
JJ Avila added three car-
ries for 56 yards and a
touchdown.
“We improved our block-
ing a great deal,” coach
Duane Riddell said. “We
executed the defense and
just did a lot of things
well.”
The Pirates improved to
2-1 overall and 1-0 in Spe-
cial District 4 play.
Perrydale plays at Dufur
Friday at 7 p.m.
Dufur enters the game 3-
0 and has scored 50 or
more points in each of its
last two games.
“We need to keep im-
proving, stepping into the
FALLS CITY ROUNDUP
Sept. 13 and Willamette
Valley Christian 25-20, 25-
8, 25-11 on Thursday.
Falls City played Crosshill
Christian Tuesday after press
time.
The Mountaineers host
C.S. Lewis Thursday at 5:30
p.m. before playing at Jewell
on Tuesday.
FOOTBALL DEFEATS
MAPLETON: Falls City’s foot-
ball team earned its first win of
the season after defeating
against one of the league’s
best.
“The kids are looking
forward to Friday,” Riddell
said. “It will be a real test
for us and a good marker to
see where we are at right
now.”
SPORTS BRIEFS
Volleyball drops two
Itemizer-Observer staff report
FA L L S C I T Y — Fa l l s
City’s volleyball team lost a
pair of Casco League
matches last week. The
Mountaineers fell to Perry-
dale 25-13, 25-13, 25-20 on
correct places, getting to
the line correctly and make
less mistakes than before,”
Riddell said. “That’s life. You
make mistakes and keep
trying to correct them.”
The Pirates are eager to
see just how they stack up
Mapleton 58-14 on Friday. The
Mountaineers led 28-8 at the
half. Stats were not available as
of press time.
Falls City (1-2 overall, 1-0
Special District 3) plays at Siletz
Valley Friday at 7 p.m.
Volleyball league begins Tuesday
DALLAS — A fall volleyball league will begin Tuesday at the
Whitworth Elementary School gym, 1151 SE Miller Ave., Dallas,
from 6:30 to 9 p.m.
The league will run through mid-December and will offer
both competitive and recreational play. The league is open to
all ages.
There is a one-time cost of $14.
For more information, or to sign up: Doug Juergensen,
DJuergensen@hotmail.cm.