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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 2, 2016)
Polk County Sports Polk County Itemizer-Observer • November 2, 2016 11A PREP FOOTBALL Panthers to face Sandy in first round Itemizer-Observer staff report CORVALLIS — Central’s football team ended the reg- ular season with a 20-17 win over Corvallis on Friday. The Panthers, ranked No. 11, will play at No. 6 Sandy Friday at 7 p.m. Against the Spartans, quarterback Peter Menda- zona threw for 235 yards and two touchdowns. Running back AJ Morales ran for 126 yards and a t o u c h - d o w n , while An- drew Barry Mendazona had seven catches for 102 yards and a touchdown. L u i s Amador had 16 tackles on defense, while Mar- lon Tuipu- lotu had seven tack- Morales les and one sack as Central clinched fourth place in the Mid- PREP GIRLS SOCCER Class 5A State Football Who: No. 11 Central (5-4 overall, 4-2 Mid-Willamette Confer- ence) at No. 6 Sandy (6-3 overall, 6-1 Northwest Oregon Confer- ence). What: Class 5A state football, first round. When: Friday, 7 p.m. Where: Sandy High School. Admission: Adults, $6; students, $4. What’s at stake: The winner advances to the second round Nov. 11-12. CENTRAL ROUNDUP Dallas falters at Churchill Itemizer-Observer staff report EUGENE — Dallas’ girls soccer team saw its season come to an end after a 4-2 loss to Churchill on Satur- day in the first round of the state playoffs. Seniors Jenifer Webb and Stefani Tallon scored for the Dragons. “From an attitude and enthusiasm perspective, they were really keyed in and ready to go by the time we got there,” coach Ron Brooks said. “We had a few weak moments every now and then, but in the second half, they really controlling possession of the ball and working as a team. In the first half, we still had indi- viduals trying to make things happen instead of doing it as a team.” Despite the loss, the Dragons found success under difficult circum- stances — a testament to their strength, Brooks said. Willamette Conference. The Panthers now turn their attention to the first round of the state playoffs. Sandy finished 6-3 overall and 6-1 in Northwest Ore- gon Conference play. The winner will play the winner of Silverton versus Redmond in the second round of the state playoffs held Nov. 11-12. “Given where we started from and all of the issues that they w e r e dealing Webb with and trying to work through, I think we made significant strides towards having a successful season,” Brooks said. “… For me, personally, that was the goal: to get them back into the mindset of let’s do this together.” Brooks said he would be open to returning as coach, but that he wanted what was best for the program. The Dragons’ season could have been lost. In- stead, Dallas persevered. “That’s the rewarding part, to see them grow throughout the season, not just as better athletes, but becoming better people.” Volleyball falls in first round Itemizer-Observer staff report MILWAUKIE — Central’s volleyball team fell in the first round of the state play- offs to La Salle 25-16, 25-13, 25-18 on Saturday. Krista Omlid had 12 kills to lead the Panthers, while Sydney Nash added 12 as- sists. Jori Kerr recorded 13 digs. “La Salle is a great team and unfortunately, we didn’t play our best match,” coach Claudine Mendazona said. “We got called on a lot of sets which disrupted any rhythm we had going or tried to get going, and La Salle did a great job with their ball placement.” The Panthers advanced to the first round by defeating North Eugene 22-25, 25-18, 25-12, 25-20 in the play-in round on Oct. 25. Omlid had 12 kills and four blocks to lead the Pan- thers. Alex Dowdell recorded 10 kills and 16 digs. Erin Cole had three aces and 13 as- LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer Central’s Annika Riddell goes up for a kill against North Eugene on Oct. 25 in the state play-in round. sists, and Nash had 17 as- sists and nine digs for Cen- tral. “Overall we played well against North Eugene,” Mendazona said. “We had a slow start, but our game plan was to put up a steady double block against their tough outside hitters and try to keep them out of system offensively.” Central dealt with numer- ous injuries throughout its 2016 campaign, but Menda- zona said the team came to- gether to overcome adversity. “One thing we struggled with early was communica- tion and giving positive feedback on the court,” Mendazona said. “We had some great leadership by Jori Kerr and Alex Dowdell. They were always great ex- amples of a team player, and when we struggled, you could count on them to keep encouraging the team and trying to keep the focus at hand.” BOYS XC TAKES FOURTH: Central’s boys cross-country team placed fourth at the Mid- Willamette Conference district championships in Lebanon on Oct. 26. The girls finished sixth. Matt Raines finished 11th in 17 minutes, 5.8 seconds to lead the boys, followed by Zach Meyer (15th, 17:24.1) and Jay- don Aydelotte (18th, 17:27.0). Bailie Hartford led the girls with a 14th-place finish in 20:45.6. Diana Nye took 18th in 21:27.1 and Beatriz Trujillo fin- ished 22nd in 21:57.1. Cross: Boys place seventh in team standings LUKAS EGGEN/ Itemizer-Observer Dallas sophomore Trevor Cross leads a pack of runners during the Mid-Willamette Con- ference district championship on Oct. 26 at Waterloo Park in Lebanon. Continued from Page 10A “His first goal was to go to state,” coach Monique Lankheet said of Cross. “His second goal was to run a smart race. He didn’t want to get stuck in a situation where he went out too fast or blew his opportunity.” From the start of the race, Cross was among the lead- ers. “I think he ran as well as he could run and was happy with his performance,” Lankheet said. “I think he wishes the course was maybe 20 meters longer, and I think he might have caught (Vickstrom), but for a soph- omore, this is a pretty big ac- complishment.” State had always been on Cross’ list of goals. After a strong showing at the MWC district preview meet in September, that goal became much more realis- tic. “When I came in second at the district preview meet, that made making it to state a real goal,” Cross said. “Everyone in our dis- trict was there.” That didn’t mean the dis- trict championship was without its share of nerves — but once the race started, Cross was at peace. “I was pretty nervous,” Cross said. “I trusted my training, I knew I was ready, and I knew what to expect.” The boys finished seventh in the team standings. Kenny Sutton (21st, 17:39.8), Ryan Bibler (27th, 17:48.3), Gavin Grass (33rd, 18:01.3), Orion Knudson (44th, 18:23.4), Antonio Barrientos (52nd, 19:02.8) and Daniel Gagner (55th, 19:27.2) rounded out the team’s var- sity finishers. The girls squad finished sixth. Alyssa Garner led the girls finishing 28th in 22:15.8. She was followed by Anne Van de Ven (32nd, 22:49.6), Bekah Rocak (34th, 22:53.4), Kelsey Mcintosh (35th, 22:54.6), Jamie English (36th, 22:55.7) and Leah Miller (40th, 23:42.0). “I thought our kids really competed hard,” Lankheet said. “They came in pre- pared, and I’m happy with how well they ran. We still have a young team, and they’re already talking about next year and how they want to be better.” For Cross, his season isn’t quite done. He’ll compete at the state cross-country meet on Sat- urday at Lane Community College in Eugene. “I want him to experience that level of competition,” Lankheet said. “He went to state in the 3,000-meter run in track, so I think he’s smarter from that experi- ence. I think he’ll be more relaxed and more confi- dent.” Cross will be running on an unfamiliar course on Sat- urday and will be facing some of the fastest runners in the state — a challenge that the sophomore can’t wait to tackle. “I don’t know what to ex- pect,” Cross said. “If I can beat 16 minutes, that would be cool. I’ll just do my best and run hard.” Dallas: Dragons will host Pirates lose season finale Eagle Point at Central PREP FOOTBALL Itemizer-Observer staff report ARLINGTON — Perrydale’s football team saw its season come to a heartbreaking end on Friday as the Pirates lost to Arlington/Condon 36-28 in overtime. Perrydale (4-4 overall, 3- 3 Special District 4) fin- ished in fourth place in the league standings and one spot below Triad for Class 1A’s at-large bid for the state playoffs. “I thought we played ex- t re m e l y h a rd ,” c o a c h Duane Riddell said. “Obvi- Janesofsky ously, I’m disappointed with the loss, but I’m very proud of their ef- fort.” The Pirates needed a victory to clinch the league’s third and final automatic bid to the state playoffs. Riddell took over as coach from Chris Gubrud this summer. “To be honest it was a learning experience for me as well,” Riddell said. “I think we kept improving, but perhaps we could have gotten better a little earlier, and I think some of those things are due to me. … I think I learned how difficult it is to get some of the concepts across and do with eight guys instead of 11. You learn, you get older, and you get wiser. I’m get- ting pretty old, you’d think I’d be really wise, but I’m still learning.” Perrydale saw its share of successes on the field this season. Senior Haylen Janesof- Domes sky finished the season with 728 rushing yards, 483 receiving yards and 20 total touchdowns. Senior Daniel Domes threw for 1,263 yards and 17 touchdowns, while also run- ning for 301 yards and four scores. Senior Jacob Pope had 409 receiving yards and five touchdowns and junior Cooper But- ler rushed for 816 yards and 12 touchdowns. “They are all excellent football players,” Riddell said. “I’m proud to be around them. I really do think these are great kids and will be great adults.” Perrydale will look markedly different next season, with seven seniors set to graduate this school year, but Riddell believes that the future for the Pirates’ football program re- mains bright. “There are great kids coming up, and I’m sure they will perform admirably,” Riddell said. Continued from Page 10A “We knew that they are a really, really tough team, and they showed it tonight,” he said. “One of the reasons I think we struggled is that we weren’t focused throughout the game and made a lot of simple mistakes.” The Dragons may have suffered another loss Fri- day. Starting quarterback Caedmon Blair was injured near the end of the game, remaining on the ground for several minutes before being taken off the field. He did not return. Ja c k s o n s a i d Fr i d a y after the game he wasn’t sure of the extent of Blair’s injury. “He just got knocked,” Jackson said. “I know he’s with our trainer now, and we will just kind of figure out what they decide and will go from there.” JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer Dallas coach Tracy Jackson talks with his players after the Dragons’ 28-10 loss to Lebanon on Friday. With Eagle Point waiting, Dallas is moving past Fri- day’s loss. Senior running back Jacob Collins said he’s proud of what the team has accomplished this year, ex- cept missing out on being league champions. “We were driving toward a big goal and, yeah, we didn’t reach that goal,” Collins said. “But we are ready to bounce back and hopefully drive far into the playoffs.”
