Polk County Sports
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • November 22, 2017 11A
2017 ITEMIZER-OBSERVER ALL-REGION PREP FOOTBALL TEAM
QUARTERBACK
Peter Mendazona
at receiver.
Central
The senior quarterback directed the Panthers’ of-
fense to success during the 2017 season. Menda-
zona threw for 1,341 yards and 16 touchdowns,
but was also a threat to scramble, rushing for 218
yards and two touchdowns. Mendazona earned
an all-Mid-Willamette Conference honorable
mention for his performance.
RUNNING BACK/LINEBACKER
Cooper Butler
Perrydale
The senior running back/linebacker was a leader
for the Pirates during the 2017 season. Butler
gained 956 yards on the ground and had 268 re-
ceiving yards with 13 total touchdowns. On de-
fense, he had 78 tackles, four forced fumbles and
three interceptions and earned second team all-
league honors at running back and linebacker.
“Cooper was the unsung hero for the team,” coach
Steve Mabry said. “He is a tough runner with break-
away speed, has great field vision and can make
defenders miss repeatedly. He is a selfless player.”
DEFENSIVE BACK/RECEIVER
Isaiah Abraham
OFFENSIVE/DEFENSIVE LINE
Caleb Sedlacek
Central
Sedlacek, a senior, was an anchor on both the of-
fensive and defensive lines. He could always be
counted on to fire up his teammates on the side-
lines and was a leader any time he was on the
field. Sedlacek recorded 48 tackles on defense
and was tied for second on the team in sacks
with three. The senior was named first team all-
league on the offensive line and second team all-
MWC on defense.
TIGHT END/LINEBACKER
Treve Earhart
The senior was a dual threat for the Dragons.
Earhart earned first team all-MWC honors at line-
backer and received honorable mention as tight
end. The four-year starter was a critical piece on
both sides of the field and was a leader through-
out his career. “He was a big boost for the defense,”
coach Tracy Jackson said.
Central
Abraham made the most of his senior season.
He led the Panthers in receiving with 22
catches for 435 yards and six touchdowns, but
Abraham was a star on defense. He was third
on the team in tackles with 58 and was tied for
first with four interceptions. He also had 10
pass defenses and two fumble recoveries. Abra-
ham was named first team all-league at defen-
sive back and received an honorable mention
RUNNING BACK/
DEFENSIVE BACK
RANDELL CANFIELD
Central
The senior was a key player on both sides of
the ball for the Panthers. On offense, Cedillo
had 21 catches for 295 yards and two touch-
downs. On defense, Cedillo led the team in
tackles with 81 and recorded two interceptions
and one sack. Cedillo was named second team
all-MWC on defensive and earned an honorable
mention on offense.
RUNNING BACK/
DEFENSIVE BACK
Jeremy Labrado
The junior running back came on strong during
league play. Chase finished the season as the
team’s leading rusher with 961 yards and eight
touchdowns. During MWC play, Chase aver-
aged 8.9 yards per carry. He also rushed for
more than 200 yards in each of the Panthers’
final two games. Chase receivedsecond team
all-MWC honors.
Perrydale
The junior transfer had never played football
prior to this fall. It didn’t take long for Canfield to
catch on. Canfield led the Pirates in rushing with
1,098 yards and 11 rushing touchdowns. He also
had 289 receiving yards and four scores. As a de-
fensive back, Canfield recorded 57 tackles and
three interceptions and earned all-league hon-
orable mentions on both offense and defense.
Not bad for his first season.
DEFENSIVE LINEMAN
Justin Ingram
Falls City
Dallas
RUNNING BACK
Hunter Chase
Central
SAFETY/RECEIVER
Marcos Cedillo
Labrado, a senior, was one of the Mountaineers’
most versatile athletes. Labrado made plays as a
running back, receiver, quarterback and defen-
sive back. His speed and elusiveness made him
tough to bring down and helped Falls City’s of-
fense score 58 or more points in all but three of
the team’s games.
Dallas
The senior helped anchor the Dragons’ defensive
line. “He’s big, physical, and strong,” Jackson said.
Ingram not only put constant pressure on oppos-
ing running backs and quarterbacks, he was a de-
pendable worker, Jackson said. Ingram earned
second team all-league honors for his efforts.
RECEIVER/LINEBACKER
Jesse Cable
COACH
Laric Cook
Central
Falls City
Cable made his presence felt no matter
where he was on the field during the 2017
season. Cable had 26 catches for 390 yards
and six touchdowns as a receiver on offense
and 78 tackles and four interceptions on de-
fense. The senior earned second team all-
league honors at both receiver and
linebacker and played a critical role in Cen-
tral’s success on both sides of the ball dur-
ing the 2017 season.
Cook has helped transform Falls City’s football
program during his tenure.
The Mountaineers lost their first game of the sea-
son before reeling off nine wins in a row and ad-
vancing to the OSAA 1A state semifinals, despite
only having 13 players.
—
The All-Region football team was selected by
the Itemizer-Observer Sports Editor Lukas Eggen
along with heavy input from area coaches.
Abraham: Senior led Panthers in receiving
Continued from Page 10A
Abraham led the Panthers
in receiving with 22 catches
for 495 yards and three
touchdowns.
On defense, he had 58
tackles, four interceptions
and two fumble recoveries.
But more than stats, it was
his leadership and persever-
ance that made Abraham
the Itemizer-Observer’s Play-
er of the Year.
—
Entering his junior sea-
son, things were looking up
for Abraham. As a sopho-
more, he became a starter
on varsity.
He was ready to play an
even bigger role as safety on
defense and as a receiver on
offense.
He was also receiving in-
terest from numerous col-
leges — including some Di-
vision I schools.
During the summer, he
worked with his dad on
training and entered
s t r o n g e r, q u i c k e r a n d
smarter than ever before.
On Sept. 30, the Panthers
played rival Dallas when
Abraham injured his ankle.
“After the injuries, the DI
schools kind of dropped
away,” he said. “That was
tough. Junior year is your
biggest year for recruiting,
especially for DI schools.
That left me devastated.”
Abraham attempted to re-
turn later in the season, but
coaches pulled him out be-
cause of the pain, he said. In
the immediate weeks after,
Abraham could barely move
his ankle.
Those closest to him – his
teammates, family and
friends — wouldn’t let him
stay down for long.
“I had a great support sys-
tem,” Abraham said.
He began the long road
back, working on movement
in his ankle, before being
able to walk without a boot,
then jog and run. It was hard
and frustrating at times, but
Abraham stayed the course.
Slowly, he regained strength
and balance in his ankle.
When the Panthers took
the field this year, he was
ready to be one of Central’s
leaders.
“Isaiah can be a game-
changer with his knowledge
of football and his physical
prowess,” coach Shane
Hedrick said. “He has a
unique style of being in po-
sition to make plays and
take advantage of the oppo-
nents weaknesses.”
Abraham has drawn inter-
est from a few Division II
and Division I universities,
including Portland State and
an Ivy League school. He’s
not sure where he'll end up.
He just knows every snap
he plays, every class he
takes, and everything he
does honors his hero.
“Let’s hope I can do some
good in the future for him,”
Abraham said.
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer file
Isaiah Abraham was a leader on offense and defense for the Panthers.
WESTERN OREGON ROUNDUP
Ribich places 30th at nationals
Itemizer-Observer staff report
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Led by a 30th-
place finish by senior David Ribich,
Western Oregon University’s men’s
cross-country team
finished 21st at the
NCAA Division II Na-
tional Cross-country
Championships on
Saturday.
Ribich finished the
10,000-meter course
in 31 minutes, 47.1
seconds. Josh
Ribich
Dempsey finished
88th (32:37.9), followed by Tyler Jones
(118th, 33:09.9), Justin Crosswhite
(186th, 34:12.4), Dustin Nading (202nd,
34:31.7), Hunter Mosman (240th,
35:30.3) and Parker
Marson (285th,
36:08.6).
Ribich earned All-
American honors for
his performance.
Kennedy Rufener
finished 97th in the
women’s race. The
Rufener
senior completed the
6,000-meter course in 22:27.2.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL IMPROVES TO
3-0: Western Oregon University’s women’s
basketball team defeated Notre Dame de
Namur 81-62 on Friday. The Wolves are 3-0
for the first time in 19 years. Central High
graduate Maddy Pape scored a game-high
18 points. Shelby Snook added 16 points,
and Kaylie Boschma recorded eight points
and 10 rebounds.
The Wolves played Humboldt State
Tuesday after press time.
VOLLEYBALL ENDS SEASON WITH
WIN: Western Oregon University’s volley-
ball team finished its season with a 25-19,
23-25, 25-19, 25-18 win
over Saint Martin’s on
Senior Night on Satur-
day.
Jenna Compton led
the Wolves with 15 kills
and four blocks. Alisha
Bettinson added 13 kills
and four blocks.
WOU lost to Seattle
Bettinson
Pacific 25-22, 18-25, 25-
21,23-25, 15-11 on
Thursday. Western Oregon finishes the sea-
son with a 7-20 record overall and 3-18
mark in Great Northwest Athletic Confer-
ence play.
Wolves: Western
improves to 4-0
Continued from Page 10A
The focus will be on ball
security, Omlid said —
something Western Oregon
struggled with at times
against Azusa Pacific.
“I think we were a little
overwhelmed with their
length at times,” Omlid
said. “But, aside from that
game, I think our ball secu-
rity has improved.”
WOU plays at Holy
Names Friday at 5 p.m. and
at Notre Dame de Namur
on Saturday at 7 p.m.
While winning a confer-
ence regular season and
tournament title remain
high on the Wolves’ list of
goals, Omlid said they have
a much larger goal in mind
— undefeated.
“We’re trying to win
every game,” Omlid said.
“It’s nice to beat teams like
Azusa and Dixie State who
are usually in the tourna-
ment every year. Last year,
we needed to win our (con-
ference) tournament to ad-
vance. This year, we want
to step it up so we don’t
have to worry about that.”
Falls City: Mountaineers finish 9-2
Continued from Page 10A
The Mountaineers had a
chance to score early in the
second half to close the gap,
but a dropped pass on
fourth down stalled the
drive.
“That’s a touchdown if he
catches it,” Cook said. “That
broke our back a little bit.”
The Rangers added three
more touchdowns to stretch
their lead to 52-22 before the
Mountaineers scored their
final touchdown of the game
in the fourth quarter.
“I’m prouder than heck of
the guys,” Cook said. “They
never quit and kept playing
hard. We just didn’t execute
as well as Dufur.”
Falls City finished the sea-
son with a 9-2 record. Both
of the team's losses came to
Dufur.
“We're glad to have had
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Falls City’s Jeremy Labrado, left, escapes a tackle against Dufur on Saturday.
this opportunity and hope-
fully we can turn this into
something that happens
every year,” Cook said.
Sickles believes the
groundwork has already
been laid for sustained suc-
cess.
“I think the younger guys
saw that anything is possi-
ble, no matter what,” Sickles
said.
LUKAS EGGEN/Itemizer-Observer
Vince Boumann drives to the hoop for a basket
against Azusa Pacific on Friday night.