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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 2016)
Polk County Sports 12A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • October 5, 2016 Dallas: Dragons face South Albany next Continued from Page 11A “They’ve developed a good sense of pride in their program, and they’re not going to bow down to any- body,” Jackson said. A major theme will be avoiding any lingering ef- fects from the Central game. “I don’t see the loss as it being an apocalypse,” Jack- son said. “We lost one game by one point to the returning league champions. You don’t like losing to them at any time, but there aren’t a lot of teams in the position that we LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer Dallas running back Tanner Earhart (24) looks to dive for a first down against Central on Friday night. are at.” The run game continues to be the source of Dallas’ success on the gridiron. In addition to Earhart, quarterback Caedmon Blair and running back Jacob Collins also recorded rush- ing touchdowns against Central on Friday. But the Dragons also know they can’t afford to let scoring oppor- tunities slip away like they did against Central. “We have some things we can build on,” Jackson said. “But there’s always plenty of room for improvement.” LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer Quarterback Caedmon Blair attempts to elude a tackler. Pirates: Perrydale to Dallas excited to show get road tests soon league what it can do PREP BOYS SOCCER By Lukas Eggen The Itemizer-Observer DALLAS — Last season, Dallas’ boys soccer team accomplished something it hadn’t in years — winning a match. This year, when the Dragons defeated St. He- lens 3-2 on Sept. 6, players were happy but not satis- fied. “We won a game, but who cares? We want a play- in game this year,” Jacob Jones said. D a l l a s ( 1 - 6 ov e ra l l ) , which opened Mid- Willamette Conference play against Lebanon on Tuesday, knows that will be a tall order, but after losing three matches by one goal, players believe they are on the cusp of turning a cor- ner. “If one goal goes in, we keep trying hard,” senior Josh Dudley said. “Before we would kind of give up and they w o u l d score a lot of goals in a short amount of time.” The top six teams Dudley in the MWC advance to the post- season. The league has six teams with records above .500 en- tering league play. “Our league is tough, but we have our sights set on having several league wins, which hasn’t happened for too long,” coach John Jones said. The Dragons have long been an easy win for oppo- nents. Players are ready to show that is no longer the case. “People expect us to lose by a lot,” Jacob Jones said. “We’re used to losing. When that first goal goes in against us, we sometimes shut down. We have to change that up.” Dudley and Jones will play a pivotal role for Dal- las’ success going forward. “Josh is an incredible worker,” John Jones said. “He’s one of our most consistent kids. He’s al- ways there. He doesn’t talk a lot, but when he says something, people listen. He’s ver y wise. Jacob is also a very hard worker and does a good job at getting the ball where it needs to go.” But they aren’t worried about individual recogni- tion. They want to show the MWC that the Dragons are no longer pushovers. “I’ve seen quite a bit of progress from the first m a t c h ,” D u d l e y s a i d . “We’ve had people step up to fill positions. … If we could get early wins, it would build our confi- d e n c e f o r t h e re s t o f league.” Continued from Page 11A “It’s a whole new system,” senior Haylen Janesofsky said. “In the past, we’ve been a man-for-man team. This season, coach Rid- dell has been teaching us a lot of zone cov- erage and blocking. The schemes are differ- ent, but we are understanding it better.” The results have been a mixed bag. The Pirates’ three wins have come against teams with a combined record of 4- 9, while its losses have come against teams with a combined record of 8-2. The contrast in results shows Perrydale to be in a unique no-man’s land — clearly bet- ter than teams that are struggling, but not at the level of Class 1A’s best. But after a 2015 season that saw Perry- dale advance to the 1A state semifinals, re- turning players know the Pirates have what it takes to challenge for a state title. “The guys who weren’t on the team last year don’t know what it’s like,” senior Daniel Domes said. “But they want to feel it. The guys who were, we know what it takes. We all want the same thing.” Perrydale hosts Ione, which has yet to win a game, Friday at 7 p.m. The Pirates end the regular season at Dufur, which entered the week 4-1, on Oct. 21 and at South Wasco County, which en- tered the week undefeated, on Oct. 28. Those games will go a long way in show- ing whether Perrydale is closer to the squad BRIAN EVANS/ for the Itemizer-Observer Perrydale quarterback Daniel Domes looks to pass on Friday night. blowing teams out, or getting blown out and Janesofsky said the Pirates are excited to see what happens. “We want to get a good win streak going,” Janesofsky said. “It would help get our con- fidence and morale up and lead us into the playoffs the right way.” DALLAS ROUNDUP CENTRAL ROUNDUP Volleyball wins two Cross places 13th Itemizer-Observer staff report INDEPENDENCE — Cen- tral’s volleyball team picked up a pair of Mid-Willamette Conference victories last week. The Panthers defeated Woodburn 25-11, 25-19, 25- 12 on Sept. 27 and Silverton 25-22, 20-25, 25-20, 28-26 on Thursday. Krista Omlid had 18 kills against the Silver Foxes to lead Central. Alex Dowdell added 16 kills and 14 digs, while Sydney Nash record- ed 27 assists and seven digs. The Panthers (6-4 overall, 5-3 MWC) p l a y e d South Al- bany Tues- day after press time. Central plays at Crescent Dowdell Valley on Thursday before hosting Lebanon Monday at 6 p.m. The Panthers play at Dallas on Oct. 12 at 6 p.m. GIRLS SOCCER DROPS FINAL NONLEAGUE MATCH: Central’s girls soccer team lost its final nonleague match, falling to Milwaukie 7-0 on Sept. 27. The Panthers enter league play with a 1-4-1 record overall. Central faced Silverton Tuesday after press time. The Panthers play at South Albany on Thursday and at Crescent Valley on Monday before host- ing Lebanon on Oct. 12 at 4 p.m. BOYS SOCCER FALLS TO NEWBERG: Central’s boys soc- cer team lost to Newberg 3-1 on Sept. 27. The Panthers end non- league play with a 3-2-1 mark. Central opened MWC play against Silverton Tuesday after press time. The Panthers host South Albany Thursday at 4 p.m. and Crescent Valley Monday at 6 p.m. Itemizer-Observer staff report ALBANY — Dallas’ boys cross-country team took 26th at the Harrier Classic in Albany on Saturday after- noon. Sopho- m o r e Trevor Cross led the Drag- ons with a 13th-place f i n i s h overall, Cross finishing the 5,000-meter course in 16 minutes, 44.5 seconds. Freshman Gavin Grass finished 91st in 18:07.9. The girls squad finished 27th. Junior Alyssa Garner placed 129th in 22:48.3 to lead the girls. Sophomore Bekah Rocak took 149th in 23:31.0. Dallas will compete at Lebanon on Oct. 12. GIRLS SOCCER LOSES TO OREGON CITY: Dallas’ girls soccer team lost to Oregon City 11-0 on Sept. 27. The Dragons finished nonleague play with a 1-5 mark. Dallas opened Mid-Willamette Con- ference play against Lebanon Tuesday after press time. The Dragons host Crescent Valley Thursday at 4 p.m. and Corvallis Monday at 4 p.m. before playing at Silverton on Oct. 12. VOLLEYBALL DROPS TWO: Dallas’ volleyball team lost a pair of MWC matches last week, falling to South Al- bany 25-21, 25-20, 25-19 on Sept. 27 and to Lebanon 25- 18, 25-20, 25-16 on Thursday. The Dragons (4-10 overall, 2-6 MWC) entered the week in seventh place in the league standings. Dallas played Cres- cent Valley Tuesday after press time. The Dragons host Corvallis Thursday at 6 p.m. before playing at Silverton on Monday. Dallas returns home to host Central on Oct. 12 at 6 p.m. Panthers: Central rallies in second half Continued from Page 11A Mendazona also rushed for a touchdown in the third quarter to give the Panthers the lead for good a t 1 4 - 1 2 , a n d Re y n a’s touchdown put the Pan- thers up 21-12 entering the fourth quarter. A week after seeing the defense hold off South Al- bany from a potential-game tying score, it was the of- fense’s turn on Friday. After Dallas pulled to within 21- 20, the Panthers offense took the field with 6:32 left in the game. Central made sure Dallas never got the ball back. “It’s awesome,” Menda- zona said. “Beating Dallas is one of the best feelings in the world. To be this close on Homecoming night, it was so much fun. Our whole team is electric.” The win didn’t come easi- ly, but the Panthers, who have now won three games in a row, showed a few in- juries wouldn’t deny them a victory. “That was a good ball game right there,” coach Shane Hedrick said. “I tip my hat off to Dallas. They fought incredibly hard and were well-coached. I’m especially pleased with our players. We had kids stepping up and making plays. I thought de- fensively we played well, and offensively, down 12-7 in the second half to be able to score and take the lead, I thought those were good an- swers.” Central (3-2 overall, 2-0 Mid-Willamette Confer- ence) plays at Crescent Val- ley on Friday. The Raiders present a much different challenge to the Panthers. Crescent Valley quarter- back Talanoa Hufanga has thrown for 846 yards and seven touchdowns, while also rushing for 601 yards and 15 touchdowns so far this season. “They’ve got a good guy at quarterback,” Mendazona said. “We have to contain him. The defense had a tough job this week, but they’ll have another tough job next week.” But tackling that chal- lenge could wait — at least for a night. On Friday, the Panthers were all smiles. “It was an amazing expe- rience for my last year at Central,” Reyna said. “Beat- ing Dallas has always been one of our top priorities, and we did it.” LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer Central football players enjoy fireworks after defeating Dallas 21-20 on Friday.
