Polk County
Sports
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • October 19, 2016 12A
SCHEDULE
PREP BOYS SOCCER
Giving it all
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 19
Cross-country: Central
at Lebanon, 4 p.m. South
Albany, Corvallis, Crescent
Valley at Dallas, 4 p.m.
THURSDAY, OCT. 20
Boys Soccer: Woodburn
at Dallas, 6 p.m.
Girls Soccer: Corvallis at
Central, 6:30 p.m. Dallas at
Woodburn, 6 p.m.
Volleyball: Central at
Woodburn, 6 p.m. Dallas at
South Albany, 6 p.m. Saint
Martin’s at Western Ore-
gon, 7 p.m.
Herrera plays with no regrets
FRIDAY, OCT. 21
Football: Silverton at
Central, 7 p.m. Dallas at
Crescent Valley, 7 p.m.
Falls City at Yoncalla, 7
p.m. Perrydale at Sher-
man, 7 p.m.
Boys Soccer: Central at
Corvallis, 6 p.m.
SATURDAY, OCT. 22
Cross-country: Western
Oregon at Great Northwest
Athletic Conference Cham-
pionship at Bellingham,
Wash., 10 a.m.
Football: Humboldt
State at Western Oregon,
12:30 p.m.
Volleyball: Falls City,
Perrydale at Casco League
Tournament, TBA. Seattle
Pacific at Western Oregon,
7 p.m.
Women’s Soccer: Simon
Fraser at Western Oregon,
11 a.m.
TUESDAY, OCT. 25
Boys Soccer: Woodburn
at Central, 6 p.m. South Al-
bany at Dallas, 4 p.m.
Girls Soccer: Central at
Woodburn, 6 p.m. Dallas at
South Albany, 6 p.m.
Volleyball: 5A state
play-in round: Central, Dal-
las vs. TBA, TBA.
Women’s Soccer: Saint
Martin’s at Western Ore-
gon, 3 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 26
Cross-country: Central,
Dallas at Mid-Willamette
Conference (at Willamette
Mission State Park, Ger-
vais), 2 p.m.
—
Schedules Subject to Change
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE — It was 2014 when
Central’s boys soccer team fell to Hood
River Valley 2-0 in the first round of the
state playoffs and Jose Herrera, a sopho-
more at the time, felt empty. It wasn’t be-
cause they lost.
“I felt I could have done more that
match,” Herrera said.
Now in his senior season, he is deter-
mined not to let that feeling haunt him
again.
“I tell (my team) whatever happens, hap-
pens, don’t worry about it,” Herrera said.
“As long as we play 100 percent, it’s OK.”
—
Herrera, along with fellow senior Tony
Rincon, help lead an impressive attack for
the Panthers. The duo has helped Central
score 35 goals — second most in the Mid-
Willamette Conference — even as Herrera
has played a new position.
Prior to this season, Herrera had always
played midfield. This fall, coach Joe Oroz-
co had an idea.
“Coach wanted to put me up top (as a
forward) because of my height,” Herrera
said.
The senior agreed to give it a go.
Herrera scored once against Crescent
Valley on Oct. 10 and has helped lead a
dangerous attack.
“Jose is a dependable player and versa-
tile,” Orozco said. “No matter where he is
playing, he will make plays happen. He is a
great striker and has the speed.”
While others, like Rincon, have scored
more, those goals wouldn’t be possible
without Herrera.
See HERRERA, Page 13A
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer
Central senior Jose Herrera has helped Central’s boys soccer team score 35 goals — the second most in the Mid-Willamette Conference.
PREP FOOTBALL
Dragons earn 2-0 win over Corvallis
By Lukas Eggen
Football
The Itemizer-Observer
QUICK HITS
DHS auction set
for Saturday
DALLAS — The Dallas
Booster Club Auction re-
turns Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
at the Col. James Nesmith
Readiness Center, 730 Oak
Villa Road., Dallas.
A silent auction kicks off
the evening’s festivities,
followed by a live auction.
Attendees are encour-
aged to bring food to share
at their table.
Water, coffee, tea and
soft drinks will be provided.
Tickets cost $25 by con-
tacting Heidi Classen,
heidi.classen@salemhealth.
org.
The Booster Club hopes
to raise $40,000 for Dallas
High School athletics.
Dragon wrestling
camp returns
DALLAS — The Dragon
kid wrestling camp returns
Nov. 8.
The youth wrestling pro-
gram is open to kids in
grades kindergarten
through sixth.
Practices will be held
Nov. 8, 10, 15 and 17 at
Dallas High School from
6:30 to 7:30 p.m., culminat-
ing with a tournament on
Nov. 19.
Cost is $20 and includes
a T-shirt and entry into the
tournament. Registration
will be held at 6 p.m. on
Nov. 8.
For more information:
Tony Olliff, Tony.Olliff@dsd
2.org.
Cross Creek
men’s club results
DALLAS — Cross
Creek’s men’s club results
for Oct. 11:
Low gross/low net
Gross: 1, Wayne Weath-
ers, 38; 2, Randy Wiley, 39;
3, Derrill Weaver, 42.
Net: 1, Denny Klassen,
34; 2 (tie), Larry Hatcher,
Dennis Bergman and David
Karr, 36; 5 (tie), Lynn Hurt
and Doyle Cornman, 37.
www.polkio.com
DALLAS — By the start of
the second quarter on
Thursday, Dallas junior
Brycen Grillo was sure of
one thing.
Dallas’ football team was
locked in a scoreless tie
against Corvallis and need-
ed a spark.
“I knew the offense wasn’t
working the way they usual-
ly do,” Grillo said. “I knew
the defense was going to
have to something to win
the game.”
Wet and muddy condi-
tions meant moving the ball
on offense would be difficult
at best.
The Spartans, after an in-
tentional grounding penalty,
was punting from its own
end zone.
This could be Dallas’ best
shot, Grillo thought.
• Dallas defeated Corval-
lis 2-0 on Thursday. The two
teams combined for seven
lost fumbles.
• The Dragons gained
176 yards of total offense.
Tanner Earhart led Dallas
with 95 yards on the
ground.
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer
Jacob Ronco (32) and Cody Janssen (55) attempt to block for Tanner Earhart against
Corvallis on Thursday. Earhart rushed for 95 yards against the Spartans.
Grillo came through,
blocking a punt out of the
end zone. The safety was all
the Dragons needed for a 2-
0 Homecoming win.
“I think they showed a
will to win,” coach Tracy
Jackson said. “It was a really
tough situation that they
worked out of.”
The weather wreaked
havoc on both teams.
In the end, two missed
field goals by Corvallis
meant Dallas earned a hard-
fought victory.
“It’s amazing we could
persevere through not being
able to get our offense
going,” Caedmon Blair said.
“It’s just amazing the fight
that our guys have, the will to
win and how much we love
each other and this game.”
See DRAGONS, Page 13A
PREP VOLLEYBALL
Panthers prepare for postseason push
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
Volleyball
INDEPENDENCE — En-
tering the final week of the
regular season, Central’s
volleyball team knows it
has punched its ticket to
the play-in round on Tues-
day.
Where that match will
take place is still up for
grabs.
The Panthers, which
played Corvallis Tuesday
after press
time, close
the regular
season at
Woodburn
on Thurs-
day.
Ce n t r a l
(7-5 Mid-
Willamette
Dowdell
Confer-
ence) entered the week in a
three-way tie for third place
in the league standings with
Silverton and Crescent Val-
ley.
The third- and fourth-
place teams from the
• Central defeated Dallas on Oct. 12 and Philomath on Thurs-
day.
• Krista Omlid had 23 kills and two blocks against the Drag-
ons, while Alex Dowdell added 13 kills and 15 digs. Sydney Nash
had three aces and 30 assists. Elizabeth Chavez recorded nine
digs.
• Against Philomath, Chavez had two aces and 22 digs.
Dowdell added 11 kills and 10 digs.
league will host a league
play-in match, scheduled
to take place on or before
Tuesday.
The fifth-place finisher
will go on the road.
Either way, the Panthers
hope recent victories give
Central a boost headed into
the postseason.
—
The Panthers, fresh off a
25-14, 25-19, 22-25, 25-19
win over Dallas on Oct. 12
and a 25-13, 16-25, 17-25,
25-19, 15-11 win over Philo-
math on Thursday, are
hopeful the wins are signs of
things coming together at
the right time.
“(Dallas) was a tough
match for us,” coach Clau-
dine Mendazona said. “Dal-
las was very scrappy and
played great defense. …
They were tough to beat, but
I thought we played fairly
well against them.”
Central’s season has been
an up-and-down affair with
big wins and frustrating
losses.
The reason is simple, ac-
cording to senior Alex
Dowdell.
“We play better against
tougher teams,” Dowdell
said. “When we player lower
teams, we don’t improve be-
cause we play down to their
level.”
See PANTHERS, Page 13A
LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer
Central’s Krista Omlid goes up for a kill against Dallas on
Oct. 12 as Erin Cole watches.
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