Polk County
Sports
SCHEDULE
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • November 22, 2017 10A
2017 ITEMIZER-OBSERVER ALL-REGION FOOTBALL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
FRIDAY, NOV. 24
Men’s basketball: West-
ern Oregon at Holy Names,
5 p.m.
Heroic effort
SATURDAY, NOV. 25
Men’s basketball: West-
ern Oregon at Notre Dame
de Namur, 7 p.m. McKenzie
at Falls City, 7 p.m.
Abraham dedicates season to his hero
WEDNESDAY, NOV. 29
Boys basketball: North
Eugene at Central, 7 p.m.
Century at Dallas, 7 p.m.
Girls basketball: Central
at North Eugene, 7 p.m. Dal-
las at North Salem, 6:45
p.m. McKenzie at Falls City,
5:30 p.m.
—
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE — When Central senior Isaiah Abraham scored the
game-winning touchdown against Glencoe, he raised a finger to the sky.
Yes, Abraham helped the Panthers earn a victory. In truth, football was
the last thing on his mind.
The moment was a lasting tribute to his uncle, Brian.
The bond Isaiah and Brian shared went beyond family.
“I have a picture of him when he was little on a big canvas,” Abra-
ham said. “He has on this big Superman costume. He really was my
hero.”
After each game, Brian would call or text Isaiah. He was there to support
him, encourage him and talk football with him.
“He didn’t have any kids, so he kind of looked at me as his son,” Abra-
ham said. “He was someone who was always supportive of me no matter
what I did.”
Abraham made sure Brian was always close to his heart.
“(I keep) a text telling my uncle that he was my hero,” Abraham said.
“He replied telling me how much he loved me. It means a lot to me.”
Earlier this year, Abraham lost his hero.
Brian died of cancer in February. This fall was the first football season
without him.
“It was tough going through the season without him, but I knew he was
watching over me. That touchdown was for him and I wanted to have a
good season for him,” Abraham said.
The senior defensive back/receiver delivered in spades.
See ABRAHAM, Page 11A
Schedules Subject to Change
QUICK HITS
Les Schwab to
host bottle drop
Saturdays
DALLAS — Les Schwab,
121 Main St., Dallas, will
host a bottle drop the last
Saturday of every month
from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
All bottles and cans will
go toward the Field Turf
project at Dallas High
School.
Dallas business owner
Michael Eshelby will match
dollar-for-dollar money do-
nated by local businesses.
An anonymous donor
will also match donations
of $10 to $300, up to
$10,000. Bottle Drop will
also match a percentage of
the earnings through Dec.
20. For more information:
www.dhsboosterclub.org.
Coaches needed
for basketball
KINGS VALLEY — Kings
Valley Charter School’s ele-
mentary school basketball
teams are in need of
coaches.
Coaches are needed for
the kindergarten, first and
second grade co-ed team,
and the third-, fourth-and
fifth-grade girls team, if
there is enough player in-
terest.
All games are held Sat-
urdays in Philomath.
Contact David Crowe,
541-929-2134, ext. 102 or
email to Dcrowe@-
kvschool.org for more in-
formation about coaching.
There will be an infor-
mational meeting held on
Nov. 30 at 6:30 p.m. at
KVCS, 38840 Kings Valley
Highway, Philomath.
Cost is $20 per player
and $15 for a team shirt.
Scholarships may be
available, if needed.
Trammell named
player of the week
MONMOUTH — Western
Oregon men’s basketball
player Demetrius Trammell
was named the Great
Northwest Athletic Confer-
ence Player of the Week on
Monday.
Trammell averaged 24
points per game and shot
70 percent from the field
during the Wolves’ victories
over Azusa Pacific on Fri-
day and Dixie State on Sat-
urday.
The Wolves improved to
4-0 on the season.
PREP FOOTBALL
Mountaineers fall in semifinals
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
HILLSBORO — Falls City’s
football team’s ride in the
state playoffs came to an
end on Saturday.
T h e
sixth-seed-
ed Moun-
taineers
lost to No.
2 Dufur 58-
28 in the
1A state
semifinals.
“It’s far-
Labrado
ther than
Falls City’s ever been,” senior
Noah Sickles said. “It was
pretty big for the team and
for the community.”
Falls City took an early 8-0
lead after a 24-yard touch-
down pass from Jesse Sickles
to Noah Sickles.
Dufur scored 18 unan-
swered points before the
Mountaineers pulled to
within four after Jesse Sick-
les hit Austin Burgess for a
touchdown. The Rangers
answered to go up 26-14
with 2:14 left in the first
half. Falls
City drove
down the
field and
scored on
an 11-yard
t o u c h -
down pass
from Jere-
Burgess
my Labra-
do
to
Burgess
with 10
seconds
left in the
half.
Dufur re-
turned the
ensuing
kickoff for a
Sickles
touchdown
go take a 32-22 lead into the
half.
“I didn’t want to kick it
deep and give them a
chance to run it back,”
coach Laric Cook said. “We
were supposed to squib it
hard around the 30-yard
line and have it go out. We
didn’t execute that. That
kind of kicked us in the rear
end there.”
See FALLS CITY, Page 11A
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Falls City senior Noah Sickles catches a touchdown against Dufur on Saturday.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Wolves on the hunt for tourney berth
By Lukas Eggen
The Itemizer-Observer
Revis a finalist for
national award
MONMOUTH — Western
Oregon football player Paul
Revis is a finalist for the
2017 Harlon Hill Trophy,
presented to the Division II
College Football Player of
the Year. Revis was one of
34 candidates revealed on
Monday.
Revis finished his career
with the Wolves with 274
catches for 3,998 yards and
32 touchdowns. Revis set a
school record in all-purpose
yards with 6,713 and set a
school record for most
catches in a season with 93.
Revis was also a dangerous
returner. He had 1,066 punt-
return yards and 1,558 kick-
off-return yards. The 34 can-
didates will be placed on re-
gional ballots and the top
two from each region will
advance to a national ballot.
www.polkio.com
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Western Oregon senior Tanner Omlid shoots over an
Azusa Pacific defender on Friday night.
MONMOUTH — When
senior Tanner Omlid arrived
at Western Oregon Universi-
ty two years ago, the men’s
basketball team was about
to embark on its historic run
to the Final Four.
The Wolves are itching to
make a similar run this sea-
son.
“We have a lot of competi-
tors on our team,” Omlid
said. “I think we’re playing a
lot better than we were last
year at the beginning of the
season.”
Last year, the Wolves had
to replace four of five
starters. This winter, WOU re-
turns three starters — Omlid,
the Great Northwest Athletic
Conference’s Preseason Play-
er of the Year, Ali Faruq-Bey
and J.J. Chirnside.
Faruq-Bey averaged 15
points per game and was
second on the team in as-
sists during
the 2016-
17 season.
T h e
Wolves im-
proved to
4-0 after a
99-87 win
over Azusa
Omlid
Pacific on
Friday and an 97-86 win
over Dixie State on Saturday.
The Wolves have seen re-
turners such as Omlid (19
points, 12 rebounds and two
steals against Dixie State) and
newcomers such as redshirt
sophomore Riley Hawken (21
points, eight rebounds) con-
tribute early in the season.
While Western Oregon
coach Jim Shaw has used a
few different lineups early
on, that may be more be-
cause of depth rather than
finding a workable combina-
tion.
W h e t h e r i t ’s j u n i o r
Demetrius Trammell or
transfers Malik Morgan or
www.facebook.com/pages/Polk-County-Itemizer-Observer/205062686252209
V i n c e
Boumann,
this year’s
s q u a d
w o n’t b e
short on
offensive
options.
E a r l y
Bey
on, shoot-
ing has emerged as a huge
area of improvement. Dur-
ing the 2016-17 campaign,
the Wolves shot 43.5 per-
cent from the field and
34.5 percent from beyond
the arc.
Through four games,
those numbers are at 54.5
and 50.4 percent.
“Last year, it took us 15 to
16 games to kick it into
gear,” Omlid said. “By the
end, we were a solid team. I
think we’re a step ahead this
season. We have multiple
ball handlers. We have a
bunch of guys who can
make big shots.”
See WOLVES, Page 11A
www.twitter.com/PolkIOSports