Polk County
Sports
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • August 30, 2017 12A
SCHEDULE
WEDNESDAY, AUG. 30
Boys soccer: Central at
Thurston, 4:30 p.m.
THURSDAY, AUG. 31
Boys soccer: Sprague at
Central, 7:30 p.m.
Football: Falls City at
Dufur, 7 p.m. Mapleton at
Perrydale, 6 p.m. Western
Oregon at Idaho State, 5:30
p.m.
Girls soccer: Central at
North Salem, 7 p.m.
Volleyball: Central at
North Marion, 4:30 p.m. Per-
rydale vs. Triad (at North
Clackamas Christian), 4:45
p.m. Perrydale at North
Clackamas Christian, 6:30
p.m.
Women’s soccer: Biola
at Western Oregon, 3 p.m.
FRIDAY, SEPT. 1
Cross-country: Western
Oregon at Linfield Harrier
Classic, 10 a.m.
Football: Central at
Bend, 7 p.m. Dallas at
Parkrose, 7 p.m.
Volleyball: Western Ore-
gon vs. Cal State,
Dominguez Hills (at Con-
cordia), noon. Western Ore-
gon vs, Lubbock Christian
(at Concordia), 5 p.m.
SATURDAY, SEPT. 2
Cross-country: Central,
Dallas at Ultimook Invite, 2
p.m.
Volleyball: Dallas at
McKay Tournament, 8 a.m.
Western Oregon vs. West-
ern Oregon vs. Westminster
(at Concordia), 9:30 a.m.
Women’s soccer: San
Francisco State at Western
Oregon, 1 p.m.
TUESDAY, SEPT. 5
Boys soccer: St. Helens
at Dallas, 4 p.m.
Girls soccer: Dallas at St.
Helens, 4:30 p.m.
Volleyball: Silverton at
Central, 6 p.m. Dallas at
Lebanon, 6 p.m. Falls City at
Crosshill Christian, 6 p.m.
Livingstone Adventist at
Perrydale, 6 p.m.
Women’s soccer: North-
west Christian at Western
Oregon, 4 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 6
Volleyball: Livingstone
Adventist at Falls City, 6
p.m.
—
Schedules Subject to Change
QUICK HITS
WOU Hall of Fame
nominations open
MONMOUTH — The
Western Oregon University
athletic department is now
accepting nominations for
the 2017 Hall of Fame class.
Nominations may be
made online at
w w w. w o u w o l v e s . c o m .
Printable forms are also
available online.
Nominations are due by
Sept. 8.
Any student-athlete that
has been nominated for the
Hall of Fame since it was
first adopted in 2004 does
not need to resubmit an ap-
plication, as those are car-
ried over year-to-year. Any
student-athlete that played
in 2012 or prior is eligible to
be nominated.
Cross Creek
men’s club results
DALLAS — Cross Creek’s
men’s club results for Aug.
21:
Modified Stableford
Gross: 1 (tie), Bob
McLeery, Jim Schroeder
and Bill Karjala, 17; 4 (tie),
Wayne Weathers and Ted
Bennett, 16; 6, Kevin
O’Brien, 15.
Net: 1, Al Fahlman, 35; 2,
Jason Fahlman, 32; 3, David
White, 30; 4, Ken Ross, 28; 5
(tie), Greg Fisher, Bob Hugh-
es, Dave Day and Rich Do-
minick, 25; 9 (tie), Derrill
Weaver and Bill Bishop, 24.
WOU basketball to
hold skills camp
MONMOUTH — Western
Oregon’s women’s basket-
ball program will host a
skills camp Sept. 16 in the
New. P.E. Building.
The camp is open to all
high school players and will
run from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
For more information:
www.wouwolves.com.
www.polkio.com
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Pack on
the hunt
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer file
Western Oregon senior wide receiver Paul Revis had 70 catches for 1,057 yards and eight touchdowns during the 2016 season.
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
MONMOUTH — Western
Oregon University’s football
team is coming off an un-
even 2016 season.
But with a solid core of re-
turning players, the Wolves
may be ready to challenge
the Great Northwest Ath-
letic
Conference’s
top
teams — if questions at key
positions are answered
quickly.
—
On offense, WOU returns
eight starters.
The Wolves will look to get
wide receiver/kick returner
Paul Revis the ball as much
as possible.
Revis, a first team all-Great
Northwest Athletic Confer-
ence selection, led the team
in receiving with 70 catches
for 1,057 yards and eight
touchdowns. He also re-
turned a punt for a touch-
down.
“Paul came in as a redshirt
and wasn’t our best player,”
WOU coach Arne Ferguson
said. “He worked hard and
he’s the best player on our
team right
now, hon-
estly.”
Quarter-
back
re-
mains an
unsettled
position.
Last year,
Revis
Phillip Fen-
umiai and
Nick Duck-
worth split
time, with
Fe n u m i a i
throwing
for 1,387
yards and
10 touch-
downs and
Johnson
Duckworth
throwing for 1,092 yards and
nine touchdowns.
Both are in the running to
start this fall.
As of press time, Ferguson
said he had not named who
would enter the season as
the starter.
“Both quarterbacks are
doing a really good job,” Fer-
guson said. “We’re excited
about the things both of
them are capable of doing.”
See WOLVES, Page 13A
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer file
Senior linebacker Bo Highburger led the Wolves in tackles in 2016, recording 111. High-
burger was named first team all-Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
PREP BOYS SOCCER
Panthers aim to break through
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE — Sen-
iors Aaron Padilla and Evan
Hoover have seen Central’s
boys soccer team come close
to emerg-
ing
as
league and
state con-
tenders.
The Pan-
thers have
a d va n c e d
to the state
playoffs
Padilla
each of the
last three years — and each
time Central’s season has
ended in the first round.
“We’ve gotten stuck in the
first round of state,” Hoover
said. “We want to get past
that.”
What was most frustrating
for players was that it wasn’t
a matter of being outclassed.
“The small details matter,”
Hoover said. “We just need
to fix the small mistakes and
capitalize on our opportuni-
ties.”
Both players believe the
Panthers are ready to com-
pete for a league title and
Boys soccer
• Central’s boys soccer team opens the 2017 season Wednes-
day (today) at Thurston at 4:30 p.m.
• The Panthers finished the 2016 season with an 8-6-2 record
overall and a 4-2-1 mark in Mid-Willamette Conference play,
good for third place.
• Central advanced to the first round of the state playoffs be-
fore losing to Hillsboro 4-0.
• The Panthers have advanced to the first round of the state
playoffs each of the last three seasons. Central has not ad-
vanced past the first round.
make a deep run at state.
“I think it’s possible for us
to get a league champi-
onship,” Padilla said.
At first glance, that appears
to be a tall order. Antonio
Rincon and Jose Herrera,
two of the team’s leading
scorers from last year, both
graduated.
In spite of that, this year’s
team boasts an experienced
roster, many of whom have
grown up and played soccer
together for years.
“We have a lot of experi-
ence on the team,” Padilla
said. “We should be solid
everywhere. We don’t have a
star player, but we have good
quality at every position.”
Padilla, who used to run
cross-country, has chosen to
focus on soccer this fall ,and
the Panthers have been fo-
cused on going from a good
team to a great one.
To help accomplish that,
many of the players joined a
men’s soccer league during
the summer, building chem-
istry and receiving some
harsh lessons.
“We learned we need to
be more physical — a lot
more physical,” Padilla
said. “We have to be
smarter and quicker with
the ball. We have to have
three touches max and then
pass the ball.”
The Panthers play at
Thurston Wednesday (today)
at 4:30 p.m. before hosting
Sprague Thursday at 7:30
p.m.
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer file
Senior Evan Hoover, left, hopes to lead Central’s boys
soccer team past the first round of the state playoffs.
www.facebook.com/pages/Polk-County-Itemizer-Observer/205062686252209
www.twitter.com/PolkIOSports