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About Polk County itemizer observer. (Dallas, Or) 1992-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 20, 2017)
Polk County Sports Polk County Itemizer-Observer • September 20, 2017 11A PREP BOYS SOCCER Panthers down Cascade to remain undefeated By Lukas Eggen The Itemizer-Observer INDEPENDENCE — Central’s boys soccer team found itself in a battle against Cascade on Thursday evening with the Panthers eventually earning a 1-0 victory. The Panthers came into the match undefeated and scoring three or more goals their last three matches. “What’s worked well for us early on is our passing,” coach Joe Orozco said. “We’ve been creating spaces and moving to spaces without the ball.” Cascade largely eliminated those spaces. “Cascade is a pretty tough team and didn’t give us that space,” Orozco said. “We pretty much had to play their game.” Forced out of their comfort zone, the Panthers adjusted — and it showed. “The game wasn’t our best perform- ance,” junior Eduardo Gonzalez said. “But it gives us a starting point on what we have to work on.” Central had numerous scoring op- portunities throughout the second half — and a goal from junior Javier Puente proved to be the game-win- ner. “We learned if your game plan isn’t working, if you play with your heart and your mind, you can still win,” Orozco said. LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer Central’s boys soccer team defeated Cascade 1-0 on Thursday. The Panthers also defeated North Marion 5-0 on Sept. 12. Brandon Lopez scored a hat trick, and Sebastian Diaz and David Avila also scored. “We know each other’s strengths,” Gonzalez said. “We know where we can put the ball to each other and where we can’t. We know what we can do comfortable and what we have trouble with.” Gonzalez, despite playing on de- fense, is also a threat on the attack. He recorded an assist against North Mari- on and is as valuable on offense as he is on defense, Orozco said. “He’s impressed us very much,” Orozco said. “He can create a spark. I’ve told him before if you have the room to move up, go ahead. He’s a very versatile player and can go up and down the field with precision.” Along with Lopez, Evan Hoover, Avila and more, the Panthers have an attack that can score from all sides of the field with goals from a number of different players. Central (5-0 overall) plays at La Salle on Thursday at 7 p.m. While the Panthers have racked up wins during nonleague play, a Mid- Willamette Conference title is their next goal. “The guys are more mature,” Orozco said. “They don’t panic so much when they hear the name Woodburn.” Unlike previous years, Orozco said Central is eager to take on the league’s best. “If we put it together, we’ll be ready for anybody in our conference.” LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer Omar Ceja reacts to a call from the referee on Thursday. CENTRAL ROUNDUP Football team closes out nonleague play with win Itemizer-Observer staff report INDEPENDENCE — Kick- er Santana Reyna had never played football before this fall — let alone kick. Yet, Reyna found himself with a chance to give Cen- tral’s football team the lead in the fourth quarter against Glencoe on Friday night. Reyna came through, kick- ing an extra point that helped give the Panthers a 7- 6 victory. “He came out for football the first time,” coach Shane Hedrick said. “Here he is at the end of the game and he kicked. You think, ‘holy smokes, the game is on the line.’ He kicks an extra point r i g h t through and then pins Glen- coe down at their 5- yard line on the kickoff.” Mendazona T h e Pa n t h e r s trailed 6-0 in the fourth quarter before quarterback Peter Mendazona hit Isaiah Abraham for a touchdown. Reyna’s kick proved to be the difference in a tightly con- tested matchup. “Glencoe is a much-im- proved team over a year ago,” Hedrick said. “They have a lot of tools and are in- credibly well-coached. We are still finding our identity on offense. We were close on a lot of things and were one technique away or one posi- tion away from being suc- cessful. The kids battled all the way through.” Marcos Cedillo and Niko- lai Wolfe each had eight tackles on defense. “Several kids made plays that were instrumental in this win,” Hedrick said. Central plays at South Al- bany Friday at 7 p.m. to open Mid-Willamette Con- ference play. “South Albany is a team that plays everybody tough,” Hedrick said. “They’re not going to lay down for any- body. They’ve got some kids who can cause you a lot of headaches, and this is our first road trip of the year. That in and of itself is going to be a challenge going into hostile territory. We are going to continue finding where we are offensively. We have some questions we want to answer and find out where our strong points are.” Notes: MVP: Isaiah Abra- ham. Offensive Player of the Game: Peter Mendazona. Defensive Player of the Game: Jesse Cable. Special Teams Player of the Game: Santana Reyna. GIRLS SOCCER FALLS TO CASCADE: Central’s girls soc- cer team lost to Cascade 3-0 on Thursday. The Panthers played Madison Tuesday after press time. Central concludes its nonleague season at Mil- waukie Thursday at 7 p.m. VOLLEYBALL WINS TWO OF THREE AT DALLAS TOUR- NEY: Central’s volleyball team won two of three matches at Dallas’ volleyball tournament on Saturday. The Panthers lost to Philo- math 25-14, 25-23 before beat- ing Astoria 25-13, 25-19 and Blanchet Catholic 25-22, 25-17 en route to advancing to the championship match. Full re- sults were not available. The Panthers lost a pair of league matches earlier in the week. Central fell to Crescent Val- ley 25-22, 25-23, 25-11 on Sept. 12 and Lebanon 24-26, 25-22, 25-21, 25-18 on Thursday. “Last week, we struggled getting started,” coach Clau- dine Mendazona said. “Thurs- day, we rebounded, but lost a tough match against Lebanon.” Krista Omlid led the Panthers with 21 kills. Annika Riddell had three blocks and Meagan Men- dazona and Sydney Nash com- bined for 36 assists. Elizabeth Chavez recorded 36 digs. Central (5-4 overall, 1-3 MWC) played Dallas Tuesday after press time. The Panthers host Corvallis Thursday at 6 p.m. before playing at Woodburn Tuesday at 6 p.m. Falls City: Mountaineers travel to Lowell on Friday LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer A quartet of Falls City defenders attempt to bring down a Siletz Valley runner during the Mountaineers’ 58-0 victory on Friday night. Perrydale Continued from Page 10A Perrydale has won in straight sets in all but two of its matches. While that level of dominance has led to some relatively easy victo- ries, Dickey said the Pirates will focus on conditioning so they are ready once they get into a challenging match. “We haven’t gone to five sets yet,” Dickey said. “That’s when conditioning will come into play.” Perrydale’s win streak was snapped on Saturday. The Pirates lost to North Douglas 21-25, 25-8, 25-23, 25-13 on Saturday before beating Trinity Lutheran 25-5, 25-7, 25-19. “North Douglas is a very good team,” Dickey said. “They have good of- f e n s e , w h i c h forced us to get out of our sys- tem. Perry- d a l e Lux p l a y e d very well at times, but could not sustain it. But a loss always helps us to work harder to be better the next time we compete.” The Pirates travel to Falls City Tuesday at 6 p.m. “It’s really been a team ef- fort,” Dickey said. “I’m excit- ed for them. I want this for them to have that experi- ence and have a chance to go deep at state.” Continued from Page 10A The offensive line paved the way for a potent rushing attack, led by Austin Burgess and Noah Sickles. “If Austin gets into space, he can turn it on,” Cook said. “He’s got pretty good speed. Noah has gotten sub- stantially faster. We’re not burners by any means, but we’ve got some kids who are good athletes. Evidently we were blocking well because, my gosh, there were places to run.” On defense, Reid Sim- mons and Jeremy Labrado each had an interception. The Mountaineers stuffed Siletz Valley’s offense. “I’m not sure they would have had positive yards in the first half if we didn’t give them all those yards through penalties,” Cook said. Aside from penalties, it was a dominating victory — one that players hope fuels them forward. “Our offensive line really executed well tonight,” Sick- les said. “They opened up holes for the running backs. We came out more excited and with more energy. (This win) gives us a lot more con- fidence.” A season-opening loss to Dufur, the defending 1A state champions, showed the Mountaineers how far they need to improve be- fore the end of the season — but Friday’s victory gave a taste of what it can do if everything is clicking. “I feel like we’re a lot more passionate this year,” Sickles said. “We saw what we were able to do last year, and we know we have to take it to another level if we want to keep going.” The Mountaineers may have the key to reaching that new level. Falls City was scheduled to get a major addition this week — Jesse Sickles. The senior missed the first two games, but gives the Mountaineers a key addition that can — and will — play multiple positions. “He’ll play outside line- backer on defense,” Cook said. “Jesse will come in on offense and play some quarterback and running back, and maybe even some tight end. (Quarterback) Je- remy Labrado kind of makes things go, but Jesse can throw the ball well. If we can give him enough time, that’s a pretty good weapon to have with Austin and Jeremy in space. We’re hoping to be multifaceted, spread the ball around and be balanced. That’s not typ- ical of what I’ve done in the past.” Falls City plays at Lowell Friday at 7 p.m. Lowell presents a diffi- cult challenge because of their size, Cook said, but he also believes the pieces are starting to fall into place for the Mountaineers to thrive. “If we get mentally tough, we’ll be able to hang with the big boys,” Cook said. PERRYDALE FOOTBALL Pirates drop league-opener 69-26 Itemizer-Observer staff report PERRYDALE — Perry- dale’s football team dropped its league-opener, falling to Arlington 69-26 on Friday. Running back Cooper Butler had 14 carries for 166 yards. Randall Canfield rushed 11 times for 123 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback David Domes threw for 110 yards and a touchdown. Josh Crawford had three catches for 48 yards and returned a kick 74 yards for a touch- down. On defense, Butler led the Pirates with 14 tackles. JJ Avila recorded 11 tackles and Domes had six tackles and an interception. “We are learning that it’s a four-quarter game,” coach Steve Mabry said. “Our youth has shown up over the past few weeks with a lack of focus at times, with turnovers, and not making plays when they are avail- able. I like the effort the kids have given, we just need to keep progressing forward.” The Pirates (1-2 overall, 0- 1 Special District 4) plays at McKenzie Friday at 7 p.m. Super Senior bowling league results First place team: Shakey Pins and Go For It tied at 6 wins and 2 losses. Scratch game men: Den- nis Fritz — 235 Scratch game women: Jo Harwood — 211 Scratch series men: Den- nis Fritz — 585 Scratch series women: Jo Harwood — 487 Handicap game men: Rich Robertson and Terry Casper — 256 Handicap game women: Eloise Nelson — 260 Handicap series men: Mel Smith — 737 Handicap series women: Debbie Cates — 685
