Eagle Sports Report

McKenzie Sports Schedule This Week

There are no McKenzie Athletic events scheduled this week.

Remember Again?

Do you recall the Fall of 1991? Maybe you tagged a nice buck or hooked and boated a fat salmon. Perhaps the vibrant autumn colors bordered your photo of the Three Sisters on a brisk early morning hike. Fall season in the McKenzie Valley always offers opportunities for memorable moments.

The Fall, thirty years back, was one to remember for McKenzie High. The Eagle Boys Cross Country team coached by Head Coach Jeff Sherman ran away with their District Title, Eagle runners taking first, second, fourth, and seventh places. A week later, McKenzie finished fourth in the team standings at the OSAA State 2A Cross Country Championships.

Senior Robert Arnold, who finished the course in twentieth place, led the Eagles. Senior teammate Jerry Hedstrom crossed the finish line right on Arnold’s heels in twenty-second place. Junior Matt Stauber was the third Eagle in at thirty-fourth and junior Jeremy Dundon took thirty-sixth. Jim Hedstrom, the senior twin of Jerry, joined his teammates at the finish with a forty-fifth placemark and senior Erich Dobroth wrapped up his tour of the course with a seventy-fifth place finish.

The McKenzie Football team finished its Fall campaign with an eighth-place standing in the Class 2A Trico League. The Eagles, coached by Head Coach Wade Thomas and Assistant Coaches Galen Scrivner and Alan Mosher, posted a 3-5 League record and were 3-6 overall. Senior Quarterback Eric Coduti was selected as an Alternate for the 1991 East-West Class 3A-2A Shrine All-Star Game. McKenzie Eagles Varsity Volleyball completed a “learning season” with a 1-11 Trico League record. Sophomore Whitney Whitson was selected by Trico League coaches to the Trico League Honorable Mention All-League Team. Head Coach Donna Rae and Assistant Coach Diane Terpening coached the Eagles.

Looking back further yet, there might be a few of you out there who will recall the Fall of 1981. McKenzie High Boys Cross Country represented the School and River Community well at the Trico League District Meet. Mickey Sullivan finished fourth at District, teammate John Martin crossed the finish line in the fourteenth and Shannon Whitson ran to a seventeenth place finish. Sullivan’s District fourth qualified him for the OSAA State Cross Country Championship Meet, where he placed thirty-first.

The Eagle Football team, playing in the Trico League, finished the regular season with a 7-2 record, second to Trico Champion Oakridge. McKenzie, the Trico second seed to State and coached by Head Coach Wade Thomas, traveled North to St. Paul for an OSAA State Class 2A First Round Championship game.

On a blustery night featuring high winds and heavy rain, the Eagles and the Buckaroos slugged it out. St. Paul would escape with a 7-6 win that frustrated the visiting Eagles. Neither team could find the end zone in the first-quarter ending in a 0-0 tie. St. Paul scored the game's first touchdown on a 3 yard run in the second quarter. The Buckaroos missed another scoring opportunity just before halftime, but a delay of game penalty set them back and they had to settle for a 7-0-halftime lead.

McKenzie’s first score came in the third quarter when Eagle running back Wayne Brown punched a 15-yard scamper into pay dirt. The conversion failed, however, when the Eagle’s kicker, Rick Zook, missed wide. Still, McKenzie’s defense held St. Paul to no points in the third quarter.

Brown, the leading Eagle running back, was the target of the Buckaroo defense, and the latter did a fine job of limiting the McKenzie speedster to just 37 hard-fought yards on 11 carries. Rick Zook, the Eagle fullback, however, carried his own 11 carries for 68 yards. But on this wicked weather night, St. Paul would outrush McKenzie 170-89. With neither team able to score on the ground other than their initial TDs, each team tried to go air attack. The high winds however blew that strategy straight out the window and into the next county. McKenzie successfully passed for 39 yards and St. Paul was incomplete on 2 attempts.

Fourth-quarter the Eagles missed two golden opportunities to take the lead (and win) but failed on costly mistakes. The first, early in the fourth, came as the Eagles were driving down the sloppy field inside the Red Zone and threatening to score, but fumbled the ball away.

The second opportunity was a bitter pill to swallow. McKenzie’s final drive, found the Eagles, once again, knocking on the door to score. In fact, the team, with just 40 seconds left in the game, found the end zone on a completed pass play, only to have it called back on an illegal motion penalty, thus wiping out the winning touchdown. St. Paul’s defense stood the test the rest of the way, sealing the victory for the Buckaroos.

The McKenzie Varsity Volleyball team wrapped up a very successful season by finishing third in the East Division of the Trico League posting a 6-4 record.