Polk County Sports
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • October 18, 2017 12A
Central: Panthers face Corvallis, Woodburn
Continued from Page 10A
That trust stems from a
balanced scoring attack.
Stop one scoring threat,
Central has another ready
to step up.
From junior Brandon
Jones to freshman Omar
Ceja, the Panthers have
seen big contributions from
a number of players.
“Last year, we basically
had two players score all
our goals,” Hoover said.
“This year we have five or
six players scoring lots of
goals.”
He l p i n g t o l e a d t h e
charge are Padilla and
Hoover, who refuse to let
teammates let up or get
down during a match.
“Aaron and Evan are pret-
ty special players,” coach
Joe Orozco said. “They
never let down. They fight
for every ball.”
Driving them is a desire
to advance past the first
round of the state playoffs,
where they have seen each
of their first three seasons
end.
“The younger players
have watched Aaron and I
lose in state, and lose in
state and lose in state,”
Hoover said. “This year, we
don’t want to lose any-
more.”
Before the postseason ar-
rives, the Panthers end the
regular season with its
toughest challenges of the
league season.
Central, which played
Dallas Tuesday after press
time, hosts Corvallis Thurs-
day at 6 p.m. before playing
at Woodburn on Tuesday.
Both Corvallis and Cen-
tral entered the week with
identical records (10-0-1
overall, 4-0 Mid-Willamette
Conference), while Wood-
burn entered the week with
an 8-1-2 mark overall and 2-
0-2 record in league play.
Woodburn and Corvallis
faced each other Tuesday
after press time.
Up for grabs is a league
title and playoff seeding.
The top two finishers in the
league advance to the first
round of the state playoffs.
The third-place squad will
host a play-in match.
All three teams have
given up nine or fewer goals
so far this season. The Spar-
tans and Panthers have yet
to lose and Woodburn’s lone
loss this season was a 2-0
setback to Hood River Val-
ley, the top-ranked team in
Class 5A according to the
OSAA power rankings.
Orozco’s message to his
players is clear: Be ready for
a battle.
“We’re happy so far, but
we’re not satisfied,” Padilla
said. “We’re hungry.”
CENTRAL ROUNDUP
Warriors rally to beat Panthers
Itemizer-Observer staff report
INDEPENDENCE — It
was an almost perfect start
for Central’s football team
Thursday night against
Lebanon.
The Panthers recovered a
Warriors fumble on the
game’s first offensive play,
and Central running back
Hunter Chase scored a 36-
yard touchdown on the
Panthers’ first play from
scrimmage to take an early
7-0 lead.
That lead wouldn’t last, as
Lebanon defeated the Pan-
thers 40-27.
For much of the first half,
it appeared the Panthers
were in control.
A pair of touchdown pass-
es from Peter Mendazona to
Isaiah Abraham put Central
up 20-8 with 8:40 left in the
first half, but the Warriors
were ready to rally.
Lebanon scored twice to
PERRYDALE ROUNDUP
Volleyball extends
win streak to seven
Itemizer-Observer staff report
PERRYDALE — Perr y-
dale’s volleyball team defeat-
ed C.S. Lewis 25-3, 25-4, 25-7
on Oct. 10 and Crosshill
Christian 22-25, 25-19, 25-
27, 26-24, 16-14 on Thurs-
day.
The Pirates played Coun-
try Christian Tuesday after
press time.
Perrydale entered the
week 22-4 overall and 11-1
in Casco League play, good
for first place and on a
seven-match win streak.
Perr ydale will play
Crosshill Christian Saturday
at 4 p.m. at Oregon School
for the Deaf in the Casco
League tournament.
FOOTBALL DEFEATS PILOT
ROCK: Perrydale’s football
team defeated Pilot Rock 42-14
on Thursday.
Randall Canfield had 14
rushes for 187 yards and three
touchdowns. Cooper Butler ran
for 125 yards and a touchdown.
Butler also had 15 tackles and
two sacks. Evan Lambert had
five sacks. The Pirates host
Oakridge JV Friday at 7 p.m.
take a 21-20 lead into half-
time. The Warriors added
two more touchdowns to ex-
tend their lead to 33-20 early
in the fourth quarter.
Mendazona threw a 29-
yard touchdown to Marcos
Cedillo to pull within 33-27
with 8:49 left in the game,
but it was as close as the
Panthers would get.
Lebanon scored its final
touchdown to go ahead 40-
27 with 1:11 left in the game.
Central (3-4 overall, 1-3
Mid-Willamette Conference)
plays at Silverton next Fri-
day at 7 p.m.
VOLLEYBALL FALLS TO
DALLAS: Central’s volleyball
team lost to Dallas 25-22, 25-
18, 26-24 on Oct. 11.
The Panthers (9-8 overall, 5-
7 MWC) played Corvallis Tues-
day after press time. Central
hosts Woodburn Thursday at 6
p.m. to close out the regular
season. The Panthers entered
the week in sixth place in the
MWC standings.
GIRLS SOCCER LOSES TO
LEBANON: Central’s girls soc-
cer team lost to Lebanon 7-1
on Oct. 11. The Panthers played
Dallas Tuesday after press time.
Central plays at Corvallis Thurs-
day at 6:30 p.m. before closing
out the regular season by host-
ing Woodburn Tuesday at 6
p.m.
CROSS-COUNTRY TAKES
SECOND AT CV: Central’s boys
and girls cross-country teams
placed second at a Mid-
Willamette Conference 4-way
race at Crescent Valley High
School on Oct. 11.
Jonathon Brown led the
boys with a fourth-place finish
in 16 minutes, 53.76 seconds.
Rufus Schrader placed eighth
in 17:18.42.
Bailie Hartford paced the
girls with an eighth-place fin-
ish. Hartford finished with a
time of 20:08.51. Naomi Vega
took 11th in 20:39.29.
Central will compete at Dal-
las Wednesday (today) at 4 p.m.
Off and running
Kids take off at the start
of the fun run during the
Dallas Glow Run on Satur-
day evening.
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer