McKenzie Sports Report

McKenzie Varsity Sports Schedule This Week

The McKenzie Varsity Volleyball team travels to Alsea on Tuesday, October 15, starting at 6:00 pm. The Eagles will host Triangle Lake on Tuesday, October 22, with match time again set for 6:00 pm. McKenzie's Cross Country teams travel to Harrisburg on Thursday, October 17, to participate in the Harrisburg Invitational 2024 meet. The Girls ' meters Varsity race starts at 5:00 pm, and the Boys ' K race will begin at 5:30 pm. The Eagle football team hosts Gilchrist on Friday, October 18. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 pm.

Homecoming Week On The McKenzie

Welcome to Homecoming Week on the McKenzie. The McKenzie School District is celebrating this week's annual event with many activities, except one. What used to be one of the feature staples in a homecoming celebration, the bonfire, will not happen this year. Indeed, due to persistent fire danger extending longer into more recent Fall seasons, homecoming bonfires have become increasingly rare. However, that won't put a damper on the celebration, as the Eagles get fired up for the last home football game of the regular season with the Gilchrist Grizzlies. This week's activities at the K-12 School District include dress-up days, culminating in Thursday's Green and Gold McKenzie Day and a full school Homecoming Pep Assembly at 1:35 and 2:54 pm in the Old Gym. High/Middle School classes will participate in Homecoming decorations created in the Old Gym throughout the week. Friday night, at the Halftime of the football game with Gilchrist, the annual Homecoming parade will feature the Homecoming Court and the crowning of the 2024 Homecoming Royalty. The 2024 Homecoming Dance (a High School Formal/Semi Formal affair) will be held in the Old Gym following the game. Weather forecasts for Friday's game time look favorable. Still, even if Ma Nature throws a few sprinkles on the celebration, McKenzie is showcasing its new grandstands and newly installed score clock/sound system/concession stand on Wade Thomas Field. Sound good to You-All? Well, grab your Green and Gold, and come on out and join the good, old-fashioned Fun. Might just bring back some treasured memories of Homecomings past! Hmmm!

Eagles Over Eagles At Eddyville

The Eagles earned a Mt. West League Varsity Volleyball victory last Tuesday, October 8. Unfortunately for McKenzie, the host Eddyville Charter Eagles won the three sets by 25-8, 25-7, and 25-7, thus securing the match win. With the loss, the McKenzie Eagles fell to 0-13 in Mt. West League play and 1-15 overall. Three MWL matches remain on the McKenzie 2024 regular season schedule: Alsea this week and Triangle Lake and Siletz Valley the week next. Mt. West League playoffs will kick off at Junction City on Saturday, October 26.

Eagles Compete At Lebanon Open

McKenzie's Cross Country runners traveled to Lebanon on Wednesday, October 9, and competed at the Lebanon Open Cross Country meet at Seven Oak Middle School. Ten high school teams competed in the meet, including McKay, South Albany, West Albany, Woodburn, Scio, Regis, Triangle Lake, Oregon School for the Deaf, McKenzie, and host Lebanon. In the Girl's 5,000-meter Varsity race, McKenzie's Zyla Drake finished 11th in a time of 23:47.72 minutes, Claire Weiss finished 15th with a time of 24:30.35 min., and Myra Dion finished 18th in a time of 25:39.84 min. Jocilynn Durgeloh of Lebanon earned a first-place finish in the Girl's race, running the course in 21:17.27 min. Addy Wisner of South Albany finished second in 21:50.04 min. Eagle Will Meister brought home an 11th-place finish in the Boys 5K Varsity race. Meister's finish time was 18:54.37 minutes. David Villanueva of Woodburn won the Boys race in 16:55.59 minutes, and Zander Campbell of South Albany finished second in 17:07.58 min. Five complete Boys teams competed and South Albany won the team race with 24 points followed by Regis, in second, with 61 points, Woodburn, third, with 66 points, Lebanon, fourth, with 96 points, and Scio, fifth, with 109 points. The Girl's team competition was won by West Albany with 33 points, South Albany in second with 39 points, and Lebanon in third with 50 points.

McKenzie Rolls To Second Grid Iron Victory

McKenzie's Varsity Six-man football team broke open the floodgates in the second half to rout the visiting Washington School for the Deaf Terriers, 51-19. The visitors from Vancouver, WA, were searching for an opponent to play following a cancellation. They found the Eagles with an opening and made the trip South for a first-time visit to the McKenzie River Valley. The Terriers scored the non-league game's first touchdown on a 30-yard scamper by junior running back La'Juan Malone. The PAT failed. McKenzie would answer back with 1:07 min. remaining in the first quarter, when freshman backup quarterback Amir Enfield ran the pigskin in from 5 yards out for the touchdown. Ayton Brown kicked the PAT, which, in six-man football, is scored at 2 points, and the Eagles took the lead 8-6. McKenzie hit pay dirt first in the second quarter when wide receiver Ayton Brown broke loose and outran the field for a 74-yard score. The Eagles converted the PAT run and scored 15-6. The Terriers answered the call 14 seconds later when Dimas Zepeda-Montoto found his daylight with a 65-yard scamper to the end zone. PAT failed. McKenzie quarterback Enfield noticed wide receiver Hayden Harbick wide open, connected on a 51-yard pass/touchdown score, and following a successful PAT kick by Brown, the Eagles led at halftime, 23-12.

After the halftime break, Washington kept the pressure on with a pick-six interception that covered 50 yards, and the Terrier’s Dimas Zepeda-Montoto ran the PAT in narrowing the Eagle lead, 23-19. Harbick scored on a 40-yard pass reception with 7:33 left in the 3rd quarter, and Brown kicked the 2-point conversion to push the Eagle lead to 31-19. Having an exceptional night on both sides of the ball, Brown capped a 77-yard interception with a touchdown, and teammate Jacob Peek added the extra point with an untouched run into the end zone. The score at the end of three-quarters of play was McKenzie 38 and Washington School for the Deaf 19. The fourth quarter was all Eagles, led by Aytan Munoz-Brown. Brown scored on a 64 yard open field run (PAT failed), and then returned a Terrier punt 77 yards for the Eagle' final touchdown of the game. Eagle quarterback Hayden Kumle ran in the PAT score, and McKenzie found itself on the upside with a 51-19 victory. The win was the second of the 2024 season for McKenzie, which sits currently at 1-3 in Special District 2 League standings and 2-4 overall. Two SD-2 League games remain on the Regular Season schedule. Gilchrist is next up and the Grizzlies (2-3, 2-4) cross over the Cascades this Friday as the Highlight event of the Eagle Homecoming activities. The following week, McKenzie travels to a winless but dangerous Elks team (0-4, 0-6) still looking for its first win of the season.