Photo by Sean Patterson
Canby's Shelby Ticen has position on a Dallas midfielder Thursday. Canby dominated the match, taking an 8-0 halftime lead en route to the easy 9-0 shutout.
By Sean Patterson
for the Herald
A split with two league opponents has kept the Canby
High School girls soccer team in position to challenge for a playoff spot with just one
week to go in the regular season.
A 9-0 shutout of Dallas Thursday pushed the Cougars to 3-3 in Pacific-9 Conference play -
good for sole possession of fifth place with two games remaining on the schedule. Canby
won't catch Tualatin (6-0), Forest Grove (5-1) or Tigard, but the girls could overtake
Woodburn for the fourth and final postseason spot.
Heading into this week, however, Canby still had to play the league's best team, Tualatin,
so a victory over McMinnville (1-4-1) on Thursday will be a must.
"It's my understanding that if we can tie Tualatin Monday and beat McMinnville, we've
got a good shot at making it," Canby head coach Greg Hess said. "If we end up at
.500, we'll be on the bubble. I'm hoping we can at least get a tie (with the Timberwolves)
and then win Thursday, which would put us in great shape."
Results of Monday's visit to Tualatin were not available by press time, but it's safe to
say the Cougars had their work cut out for them: In six league matches this year, the
Timberwolves have outscored opponents a combined 22-3.
Ultimately, though, Canby's season rides on Thursday's finale with the Grizzlies,
scheduled for a 4 p.m. start at CHS.
The Cougars helped their cause by easily knocking off Dallas Thursday at home, as Maria
Jost scored three goals and teammate Lindsey Morgan booted in a pair. Desa Swaim,
Jean-Marie Peterson, Kiara Yoder and Stephanie Olsen - normally the team's keeper - also
scored.
There was little Dallas could do to keep the Cougars out of their end, making for a long
night for Dallas keeper Monica Smith. Canby got on the board just three minutes into the
game and made it 2-0 in the 11th minute on a Jost goal.
Just five minutes later, Jost scored again when she lofted a high arcing shot from about
30 yards that floated over Smith's head.
Yoder then made it 4-0 by tapping in a cross with just over 22 minutes to go in the half,
and Canby scored two goals just 49 seconds apart in the 27th minute. A breakaway tally by
Morgan and another long floater by Jost accounted for the final two goals of the period.
At halftime, it was 8-0.
Hess, already substituting freely and putting players in unfamiliar positions, had his
team back off its attack in the second half. And in a funny twist, the only goal of the
half came from regular keeper Olsen, who had been moved to center midfield.
The Dragons rarely threatened, but when they did the Cougars stopped them with Stevie
Smith and Heather Truax in goal.
All told, the Cougars took 20 shots on goal in the opening period and saw nearly half of
them go in.
"That's amazing when you consider we took 25 on Forest Grove and only one went
in," Hess said.
Unfortunately, nothing came easy for the Cougars in a 3-0 loss to Tigard on Oct. 16. The
physical contest remained scoreless until 18 minutes remained in the game, when Tigard
rattled off three goals in an eight-minute span to take control.
Canby, without defender Jenn Tyhurst, was able to keep the Tigers in the midfield most of
the night, only to see the opposition find its scoring touch late. The match was also
marred by an incident in which a Tigard player threw a punch at Canby's Smith, drawing a
yellow card.
The Cougars were equally frustrated on the offensive end, missing a couple of direct free
kick chances and a golden opportunity when the Tigard keeper dropped a ball in front of
her net as a Canby player charged in. A shot was taken, but it went wide.
Cougars
exact some revenge
on Tualatin, Newberg
By Sean Patterson
of the Herald
Canby, needing at least two
wins last week to stay in the Pacific-9 Conference volleyball race, responded by winning
two of three matches to keep alive the hope of catching Tualatin for the league's fourth
and final playoff berth.
The girls opened the week with a two-game sweep of the Timberwolves - a school that had
beaten CHS in the season opener Sept. 7 - then capped things with a split of a
doubleheader with Newberg and McMinnville Thursday at Newberg High School.
With that, the girls stand at 7-7 in Pac-9 play with just an Oct. 24 visit to Dallas and
an Oct. 26 home match with Woodburn left on the schedule. Put simply, the girls have to
win both matches to have any chance of catching fourth-place Tualatin (9-5). Forest Grove
(12-1) is in position to win league, and Silverton (11-3) and McMinnville (10-3) are
postseason shoo-ins.
"By losing a couple of early-season matches we probably should have won, we've put
ourselves in this must-win situation," head coach Judi Gay said of Canby's dilemma.
"We have to hope Tualatin loses its final two while we win out. At least they play
two of the better teams in our league, so we have a shot."
The Timberwolves have to face Forest Grove and McMinnville this week, while Canby is going
up against two opponents who have a combined record of 6-21. Should Canby and Tualatin
finished tied, though, Gay believes the Timberwolves would get the playoff nod because the
Cougars lost to a lower-level team (Newberg) than the Timberwolves did.
"The bottom line is, we need to go out and win these last two," she said.
"We can't worry about what other teams are doing."
Thursday in Newberg, Canby got off to a slow start against the Tigers before storming back
for a 17-15, 15-12 victory. Newberg led 6-0 at the start of the first game before the
Cougars began putting together mild runs.
Canby also fell behind to start the second game, but the team's strong passing game,
combined with the Tigers' hitting woes, allowed CHS to come back.
Michelle Boeckman was on top of her game, getting seven kills and three blocks, while
Jenny Lawrence led the attack at the net with 12 kills. Ellie Raines and Danielle Palmer
each contributed five kills, and Jamie Schantin had five block assists.
Boeckman was also consistent in the back, getting 12 digs, while teammates Lawrence (10)
and Raines (10) also reached double figures in that department. Natalie Postlewait came up
with seven digs.
In the second match of the night, the Cougars found a weakness in McMinnville's coverage
of the court in the opening game, and the girls parlayed that into a 15-13 first-game win.
The Grizzlies wised up to Canby's tactics, though, by the second game, and it didn't help
that the Cougars couldn't buy any hitting breaks. The result was an 8-15 loss, forcing a
third and deciding game.
McMinnville wasted no time taking control in the finale, jumping out to a 6-0 lead. Canby,
struggling with passing errors, regrouped in time to make a comeback, but it came up
short, 11-15.
Caitlin O'Connor's nine kills and 11 digs led the Cougars, while Lawrence chipped in eight
kills and nine digs. Boeckman and Schantin also came through with nine digs.
"I think it was just a case of having a mental breakdown in that third game,"
Gay said. "It was like we were right at the peak of the mountain and just couldn't
get over the hill. We did a nice job of coming back, but it was too little, too
late."
Canby had a considerably easier time with Tualatin at home Tuesday, rolling 15-10, 15-9
behind some superb serving and overall outstanding play by Boeckman.
The junior middle blocker was all over the court, passing well from the back row while not
committing a hitting or blocking error. Meanwhile, Schantin served up five straight points
in the middle of the first game before Tori Beck served up points 13-15.
Tualatin scored the first couple points of the second game, but Canby's consistency was
too much to handle. Lawrence finished with five kills and O'Connor contributed six digs
and seven kills.
Thursday's match with the Bulldogs is set for 7 p.m. at CHS.
alive with victory
By Sean Patterson
of the Herald
McMINNVILLE - Their backs to the wall after three straight losses, the Canby High
School football team responded in a big way Friday, scoring a 22-15 victory over
McMinnville to keep alive their hopes of reaching the Class 4A playoffs.
The Cougars used a punishing ground attack (274 yards) and a stubborn defense to hold off
the Grizzlies and improve to 2-3 in league with two games to play.
It wasn't the prettiest of wins - the pace of the game was slowed by 265 yards in
penalties - but it was just what the Cougars needed in wake of shutout losses to Tualatin
and Dallas.
"It was a good win, a hard-fought win," Canby head coach Mike Doty said.
"We were able to run the ball in spite of the penalties, and our defense did its job,
picking off three passes and coming up with big stops. It's just unfortunate the way the
game played out. With all those penalties, it took forever to get done."
To make matters worse, many of the flags were questionable at best, drawing the ire of
both benches. All told, 135 yards were walked off against the Cougars, 130 against the
Grizzlies.
One of those flags hurt the Cougars after they took a 6-0 lead on Jeff Wilson's 25-yard
scoring run in the second quarter. Going for two, the Cougars were blown for the dead-ball
violation of illegal motion, yet the play continued anyway and CHS didn't score.
Doty contended that the play should have been whistled dead. "We should have gotten
another chance but didn't get it," he said.
McMinnville answered right back on its ensuing drive, scoring on Tom Patterson's 1-yard
plunge, but the extra-point attempt failed.
Late in the quarter, the Cougars regained the lead for good by putting together an
impressive drive that culminated with Marc Koch's 2-yard run. Koch then ran in the
two-point conversion, and the Cougars had a 14-6 lead at halftime.
McMinnville (1-4, 3-4) got the ball first in the second half, but Canby's defense held and
forced a punt. That's when the Grizzlies caught their biggest break of the night, as the
Canby return man failed to field the ball after touching it.
McMinnville pounced on the loose ball, and four players later, pulled within 14-12 on
Patterson's 5-yard pass to Dustin Lehman. McMinnville went for two and the tie, but failed
to convert.
Yet another penalty on the kickoff buried the Cougars deep in their own end, but a
methodical drive the length of the field resulted in Koch's second scoring run of the game
- this time from 14 yards out.
The key play of the drive, though, came on third-and-long from deep in Canby territory.
Quarterback Derek Devine, getting his first taste of extended minutes, hit Todd Ricksger
for a 26-yard gain.
Moments later, Jake Wilmes made a tricky catch good for 12 yards. Ironically, they were
the only two passes the Cougars completed all night - but they couldn't have come at a
better time.
After Koch gave the Cougars some breathing room, Erik Wiesehan pushed the score to 22-12
with the conversion run. Wiesehan, Canby's regular quarterback until Friday, ended up
playing four positions - split end, tight end, fullback and halfback.
"We see him as our playmaker, so we decided to move him around in an attempt to get
him the ball," Doty said. "Unfortunately, we didn't get him the ball
enough."
Forest Grove pulled within a touchdown with Mark Benton's 29-yard field goal in the fourth
quarter, but Canby's defense made sure the Grizzlies wouldn't come back.
McMinnville, aided by a roughing penalty and a facemask infraction, moved as far as the
Canby 35 in the waning minutes of the game, but the CHS defense stopped the drive on
downs.
But the drama wasn't quite over. Canby got the ball back and, with six seconds left, ran a
long sweep on fourth down that seemingly took several seconds.
The clock, however, only ran off four seconds, and the Grizzlies had one last chance. It
fizzled, though, with a quarterback sack.
Kamal Salem wound up leading Canby's ground game with 86 yards on 13 carries. Wilson
rushed for 56 yards, and teammate Koch picked up 48 yards.
In the passing department, Canby hit on 2 of 10 attempts for 38 yards. McMinnville was a
lot more proficient in the air, throwing for 198 yards, but the Grizzlies only managed 97
yards on the ground.
Defensively, Canby got two interceptions from Koch and one from Brian Stuhr.
Doty was also pleased with defensive ends Lucas Short and Steve Schrader.
The Cougars (4-3 overall) can help their playoff chances with a win this Friday at home
against Silverton. The homecoming contest is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. start.
With just two games remaining, Canby has to win both to have any chance of landing the
Pacific-9 Conference's fourth and final playoff spot. Dallas and Tualatin, still unbeaten
at 5-0, lead the league, and Tigard (3-2) is in good position to get third.
The Cougars are tied at 2-3 with Newberg and Silverton, the two teams they still need to
play. The regular-season finale in Newberg is set for Nov. 3.
IN J.V. ACTION: Canby beat McMinnville 52-41 to improve to 4-4, while the freshmen
remained unbeaten with a 50-40 victory over the Grizzlies.
Huskies end skid with
win in Creswell
By Jason Horton
for the Herald
The North Marion Huskies finally got on the winning
side of a football game Friday night. It had been five weeks since their opening-week win
over Taft. But last week, North Marion traveled south of Eugene for a nonleague contest
against the Creswell Bulldogs and came out on top, 35-12.
"It was a sloppy first half," North Marion head coach Tracy Jackson said.
"We played like a team that hadn't won in over a month. But the kids stepped it up in
the second half and played a great half of football."
After a scoreless first quarter, Creswell got on the board first, jumping to a 6-0 lead.
The Huskies came back, though, and got a 13-yard touchdown pass from Jeremy Miller to Jeff
Kahle. Miller hit Adam Kraft for the two-point conversion, giving North Marion an 8-6
halftime lead.
"We lost two fumbles in the first half," Jackson said. "The weather was
pretty bad, and the field was not in good condition. But we flat out didn't play
well."
The second half was a different story, though. The Huskies were able to get a ground game
going and rolled up 27 unanswered points.
North Marion got a 29-yard touchdown pass from Miller to Abel Garza early in the third
quarter. Justin Whitney kicked the extra point, and the visitors were up 15-6.
After a Husky interception, Miller had the Huskies moving again. Ty Brack had a 16-yard
catch, followed by a 16-yard touchdown pass to Mike Cox. Whitney kicked another point
after, and North Marion had a 22-6 lead after three quarters.
In the fourth quarter, the Husky ground game took over. Miller had a 1-yard touchdown run,
but the drive was set up by Whitney, who rushed for 42 yards. Whitney kicked his third
PAT, giving the Huskies an insurmountable 29-6 lead.
Moments later, Miller had another touchdown run, this time from 3 yards out. On that
drive, Whitney chipped in a 20-yard jaunt.
Creswell got one more late touchdown against the Husky reserves to make the final 35-12.
"It was nice to run the ball as well as we did," Jackson said. "I can't say
enough about the way our defense played in the second half, either. They stepped it up for
us."
Whitney led all rushers with 111 yards on 16 carries. Seth Sumetz added 42 yards on nine
carries.
Garza led the receivers with five catches for 71 yards and a touchdown. Kraft was right
behind him, grabbing three passes for 67 yards.
Miller was 18-for-37 passing for 257 yards. He threw three scoring passes and ran in
another two touchdowns.
Defensively for the Huskies, Kraft, Garza, and Andy McLaren each had interceptions.
"Getting the win felt good," Jackson said. "Except for the fact that we
wasted a half of football, we did some nice things. It was nice to get that winning
feeling back."
North Marion hosts Molalla in their final game of the 2000 season next Friday at 7 p.m.
Both teams will be looking for their first league win of the season.
