October 23, 2014

McKenzie Varsity Sports Schedule This Week

The McKenzie Varsity Cross Country runners travel to Dorris Ranch in Springfield to participate in the SD4 District 4 Championships on Thursday, October 23. The meet starts at 11:00 am.

The McKenzie’s Varsity Football team travels to Lowell on Friday, October 24, with kickoff scheduled for 7:00 pm.

The McKenzie Varsity Volleyball team travels to Junction City High School, Saturday, October 25, to participate in the Mt. West League Volleyball Tournament. The Eagles first opponent will be Triangle Lake. Match time is still to be decided and fans should look on the OSAA website Thursday night or Friday day for updated times. McKenzie will play a second match later in the day with opponent and match time contingent on the results of the first contest.

McKenzie Captures Second in MWL Volleyball

Hiddleston Puts Up A Triple-double

When Crunch Time arrived, McKenzie’s Varsity Volleyball Team did the crunching, defeating the visiting Triangle Lake Lakers in a pivotal Mt. West League match. The match was played last Tuesday, October 14 and the Eagles prevailed 3-1. Set scores were 25-18, 25-22, 25-27, and 25-17.

The night started on a positive note with the honoring of this season’s senior players and their families. Seniors Aly Heins, Buggy Hiddleston, Hayley Jackson, Kailynn Ringler, Tamera Satchell, and Katey Totten were recognized for their Eagle volleyball contributions to a very supportive and appreciative crowd.

When the Lakers arrived in Finn Rock, the two MWL rivals were tied for second in the League with 10-2 records, behind first place Lowell by two matches. With the win, the Eagles greatly improved their opportunity to finish the regular season solely in second place. Triangle Lake must play Lowell in their final regular season match and McKenzie travels to fourth place Mapleton.

Against the Lakers, the Eagles displayed the best overall team play of the season, led by their four most experienced athletes, Katey Totten, Buggy Hiddleston, Tamera Satchell, and Aly Heins. Hiddleston earned a triple-double with 30 assists, 14 digs, 12 kills, and 5 service aces. Totten once again played at the top of her game as she nearly pulled off a triple-double as well, putting up 19 kills, 10 digs, 8 blocks, 6 assists, and 1 ace. Satchell had perhaps her best match of the season as she almost had a triple-double of her own with 17 digs, 14 kills, 1 block, 1 ace, and 1 assist. And Heins had a solid match with 19 digs, 8 assists, 4 aces, and 1 kill. Hayley Jackson, playing in the libero position, added 9 digs and an assist. Taylor Quirk added 8 digs. Miyanna Hayes contributed 2 kills, 3 digs, and and ace. Kailyn Ringler had 2 kills and 2 digs, and Elana Gilliam finished the evening with 2 digs and an ace.

According to McKenzie Head Coach Dan Brenner, his team is “transitioning with players who are recovering from injuries,...with roles changing.” Brenner stresses that he strongly believes in “working as many kids into the lineup, even in tight matches, to get real game experience in pressure situations. We don’t know when a starting player might go down with an injury and who might need to step into that role. Brenner believes experience in pressure situations “promotes learning” and makes his team stronger for it and easier to retool each season.

Eagles Wrap Up Regular Season With 3-0 Win Over Mapleton

McKenzie finished its regular season schedule with a three straight set win over host Mapleton on Thursday, October 16. The Eagle’s scores were 25-15, 25-17, and 25-16. McKenzie’s final Mt. West League record is 12-2, their overall record thus far is 17-8, and the Mt. West League’s second place finisher is ranked 11th in the latest OSAA Rankings.

Against the Sailors, Katey Totten continued to play outstanding volleyball on both sides of the net as she led her Eagle team in nearly all statistics. Totten finished her match on the Siuslaw with 13 kills, 7 service aces, 2 blocks and 17 digs, all team bests. The talented senior also had 3 assists.

Teammate Buggy Hiddleston had 21 assists along with 5 kills, 5 aces, and 5 digs. Tamera Satchell, again playing very well, ended her match with 16 digs, 7 kills, 6 assists, 1 ace, and led her team with 9 serves received successfully. Miyanna Hayes had 5 aces, 2 digs, 1 kill and an assist. Aly Heins finished with 4 aces, 4 digs, 2 assists, and a kill, Taylor Quirk added 4 digs and 1 ace, Hayley Jackson had 3 digs and 1 assist, Kailyn Ringler finished with 3 kills and a dig, and Katelynn Caulley had a dig.

Cross Country at Country Fair Classic

McKenzie freshman cross country runner, Naomi Satchell, ran against 143 runners and placed 34th in the Girl’s Junior Varsity (5,000 meters) race at the Country Fair Classic. The annual race, hosted by Elmira in Veneta and run on the Country Fair Grounds, was attended by 34 teams from all classifications. Satchell’s finish was timed at 23:53.00 minutes and she was the top 1A finisher in the race.

In the Boys Junior Varsity (5,000 meters) Race, McKenzie junior Jordan Evans was timed in 24:58.30 minutes and finished 160th.

Mt. West League Volleyball Tournament

The Lowell Red Devils finished the Mt. West League regular season with a perfect 14-0 record and earned the number one seed in the Mt. West League Tournament. MWL Tournament play will determine which three teams advance and represent the League in the 2014 OSAA State Championships.

McKenzie (12-2) finished the regular season in second place by losing two close matches to Lowell, and the Eagles are thus the number two seed. The Triangle Lake Lakers (10-4) lost two matches to both the Eagles and the Red Devils and are the number three seed entering the Tournament. These “Big Three” of the Mt. West League have positioned themselves through League play with the best opportunity to advance to State.

The Mapleton Sailors, the Alsea Wolverines, and the Siletz Valley Warriors all finished tied for fourth place with 6-8 records and played a tie breaking, double-header match on Monday, October 20. That tie breaker took place at Siuslaw High School, a neutral site. Mapleton and Alsea played the first match and the Sailors beat the Wolverines 3-1, advancing to play Siletz Valley in the nightcap. Mapleton defeated the Warriors, 3-1, as well, and thus qualified as the fourth seed in the League Tournament.

Alsea, the sixth seed will travel to Siletz Valley, the fifth seed, on Thursday, October 23, for a first round tournament match. The winner will advance to meet Mapleton on Saturday, October 25, in the second round of the tournament. The winner of that match will meet the loser of the match between McKenzie and Triangle Lake, with the subsequent winner securing the number 3 seed to the OSAA State Volleyball Championship.

The Mohawk Indians and the Eddyville Eagles both finished with 1-13 regular season records and did not qualify for the Mt. West League Tournament. The winner of the McKenzie/Triangle Lake match will advance to play Lowell in the Championship game to determine the first and second seeds to the OSAA State Championships.

Eagles Get No Salvation From Mohawk’s Church

McKenzie Head Football Coach Neil Barrett’s team traveled to Mohawk on Friday, October 17, with real aspiration to defeat the Indians and earn their first 2014 victory in the West Division standings of the Mt. West League. The Eagles had captured their first victory of the season on the previous Friday against Alsea, from the League’s East Division.

Mohawk and McKenzie took the field Friday with identical records of 0-2 in West Division play and 1-5 overall. Mohawk’s aggressive and physical style of play eventually overwhelmed the Eagles and the Indians sent the Eagles packing with a 62-28 thumping.

What Coach Barrett didn’t foresee coming was his starting quarterback, Chanse Hamlow, leveled early in the first quarter and end up spending the rest of the contest on the bench for precautionary measures. Backup quarterback Eric Huffman performed well under center the rest of the evening, but the Eagles running game took the hardest hit this side of Hamlow’s without Huffman’s experience in the running back position. Indeed at the end of the game, McKenzie rushed for a total of minus 12 yards on just 25 team carries.

The Indians junior running back Isaac Church however ran all over the valley as he personally totaled 301 rushing yds. on 29 carries and scored six touchdowns. Church was a one man wrecking crew as he also led his team on defense with 15 total tackles.

Mohawk’s Austin Smith added misery to pain as he added 120 rushing yards and two touchdowns offensively and on the other side of the ball, sacked the Eagles quarterback four times and totaled 11 tackles.

With the Eagle’s game up in the air, Huffman passed for 400 yds. on 19 completions out of 35 attempts and also threw for four touchdowns. Huffman turned the ball over twice on interceptions.

Blue Bloomer was Huffman’s favorite target and the senior caught 11 passes good for 304 yds. and three of the four touchdowns. Huffman carried the ball 14 times for -46 net yds. and Hamlow carried twice for -2 yds. Bloomer had 7 carries for 31 positive yds. and Jason McCarrick carried twice for 5 total yds. Senior Eagle tight end Alex Nastasiuk hauled in 7 Huffman aerials for a total of 144 yds. and the other McKenzie touchdown. McCarrick had one reception for 6 yds.

With the odds stacked against them the Eagles still battled valiantly. Trailing just 16-8 after one quarter of play and only 24-16 at the half, McKenzie was every bit still in the game. For sure, had not a late first quarter 90 yd. interception return by the Eagle’s Bloomer been called back, perhaps the Eagles might have gone into the half with a tie or lead.

Coach Barrett certainly felt the called back play (the Indians scored on the next play) “changed the momentum for the remainder of the game.” McKenzie would hang with Mohawk through some of the third quarter; according to Coach Barrett, “with 10:35 left in the 3rd quarter it was 24-22.” However, Mohawk made the “right plays” from there on and the rout was on.

At the end of the third quarter the score was 40-22 and the Indians sewed up the deal outscoring the visitors 22-6 in the fourth quarter. Defensively, newcomer Trevor Evans was a bright spot for McKenzie as he led the team with 24 total tackles, 13 which were solo. Huffman, as always, was busy on both sides of the ball as he totaled 18 tackles, 12 solo. McCarrick had 12 total tackles, 5 solo, Bloomer finished the game with 9 tackles, 3 solo, Nastasiuk added 6 tackles, 5 solo, plus had a sack, Jeffrey Bayer totaled 5 tackles, 2 solo and also had one sack, James Rimmer had 2 tackles, 1 which was solo, and Nate Welch had a solo tackle.

Coach Barrett gave credit for “some great individual efforts, but Mohawk’s physical play was too much for us to handle.”

McKenzie Honored With MWL Sportsmanship Award

The Mt. West League Volleyball Coaches voted the McKenzie Varsity Volleyball team as the 2014 recipient of the Mt. West League Sportsmanship Award and Trophy. The honor was bestowed on McKenzie Head Volleyball Coach Dan Brenner’s team at the season ending All-League meeting held on Sunday, October 19.

The Eagles will be recognized along with other team awards and individual All-League recipients at the Mt. West League Tournament at Junction City on Saturday.

McKenzie River Reflections