BITS & PIECES-October 18

Some notable anniversaries, a rescheduled fight, a crazy football play and more

I have waited a while to submit another edition of this feature—but it is well worth the wait.  Take a look at the items of note.

50-year football anniversary

It was 50 years ago this season that the Sprague Olympians and South Salem Saxons first squared off on the football field.  It came after Sprague opened its doors that fall—splitting students from the south end of town between South Salem and Sprague. The two teams have enjoyed the rivalry ever since.  As the son of Sprague’s first-ever football coach, I may be overly excited about this celebration, but want to be able to share it with proper enthusiasm. 

Jerry Gilman was at the helm at Sprague’s gridiron program, and his best buddy, Val Barnes, was the new head coach at South Salem.  They actually played each other twice that first year. The first game ended in a 14-14 tie, while Sprague won the second encounter, 7-6. 

A former Saxon, Mark Hildebrandt, shared with me that about his exciting interception of a Sprague pass in that second game, returning it over 50 yards to the Olympian 18-yard line.  South scored, but missed the extra point—and Sprague escaped with the 7-6 victory.

On the radio this Friday night, I will be chatting at halftime with two former Saxons-turned Sprague Olympians: Monte Bousquet and Terry Haugen.  The two will talk about that first year of Sprague football, and all items related to that first year.  You can tune into that conversation on KBZY Radio, 1490 on the AM dial.  KBZY can also be heard online at kbzy.com.«click the link here

Also part of the halftime chat—a second segment about what was arguably the most anticipated football game between the two teams—back in 1977.  South was ranked second in the state at that point, and Sprague was ranked fourth.  I won’t tell you how the contest turned out.  Expect a pretty lively conversation.

This year’s South-Sprague match up items of note: Saxon senior wide-out Tini Tinitali has 2,000 yards receiving for his career. He also has 148 receptions going into the game.

25-year football anniversary

Twenty-five years ago today (Tuesday), the Willamette University Bearcats made college football history.  On this day, the Bearcats called upon women’s soccer player Liz Heaston to kick extra points for the team.  She became the first woman ever to score points in a college game.  In case this story sounds vaguely familiar, I wrote about it back in June as the nation observed the 50th anniversary of Title IX—the federal law requiring equal access to athletics, regardless of gender.

Equipment from Heaston’s historic day is now on display at the National College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.

Right: Liz Heaston’s jersey and cleats at National College Football Hall of Fame; Left: Liz preparing to kick in 1997

Longtime Willamette sportscaster Mike Allegre, who says it was a thrill to call the kick back in 1997, wants to dismiss criticisms leveled back then that Heaston’s kicking was little more than a publicity stunt.

“Willamette had two injured kickers at the time, and no one else could kick a PAT,” recalls Allegre.

“She was in one of Coach (Dan) Hawkins’s classes where he talked about his team’s kicker situation, and Hawk had asked if anyone was interested in trying out.  Liz said yes, and made the cut, and was later assigned the number 39.  That Saturday, she left her soccer game when it ended, and changed on the way to the football field.”

Liz put on the pads in the locker room as the game was starting, and joined the team on the field.

And later in the game, as Allegre proudly broadcast, “she did it… the ’next player up’ made history.”

The kicks Liz made also weren’t without merit—they were part of a 27-0 victory over archrival Linfield that Saturday afternoon.

Twenty years later, Allegre got to see it happen again, when KayLyn Stirton, also a women’s soccer player, became the second Willamette woman to kick a PAT.  It also was not a publicity stunt.  She played for the football team full time for two seasons.

Good on the Bearcat football program.

Longtime Oregonian back in the Octagon

When we last checked on long-time Keizer resident, turned Mixed Martial Arts/Ultimate Fighter Becca Spivey, her first big fight in Ohio was abruptly canceled due to a severe thunderstorm moving in on her outdoor venue the night of the event. 

Becca had been waiting on getting the new bout scheduled.  It has finally happened.

Becca’s fight promo has a (sort of) holiday theme

Becca will face Katie Friend in the event named “Caged Thunder 18” at the Chapparells Community Center in Akron, Ohio, on December 17th.  Spivey says she is ready to finish what she started after more weeks of intensive training.

As a warm up, Becca went 2-0 in a Brazilian Ju-Jitsu tournament over the weekend, and won gold for her weight class and division.

We will check back on the outcome of her fight in a couple of months. 

Good luck, Becca.

Special District One Football Oddity

This tidbit is from a Special District One football game last Friday between South Medford and Grants Pass, a game won by Grants Pass, 27-26.

South Medford QB Deacon Edgar. Photo courtesy of Medford Mail Tribune

In that contest, South Medford quarterback Deacon Edgar was at the center of a strange play in the second half during his team’s furious rally back in the game.  The Medford Mail Tribune described it this way:

“In the craziest play (later) in the third quarter, Edgar had a pass deflected at the line of scrimmage back into his arms and he ran it in for what was deemed a 13-yard TD run.”

And as the newspaper noted, the play was scored as a run.  But after further reflection, it was changed.

BG Gould, who compiles statistics for North Medford and South Medford High Schools, says the Grants Pass statistician decided the proper designation for the nutty play was a pass.

So in other words, Deacon Edgar completed a 13 yard touchdown pass…. to himself.

That will be quite the story the senior signal caller will have to tell his grandkids.

Local Basketball Has A New Look

Everything might appear “run of the mill” in prep sports this year if you look at the football season.  Salem-Keizer Schools have linked up with Southern Oregon Schools to establish a “special district” for the sport.

But things are actually quite odd after this year’s realignment that put Bend Schools back with other Central Oregon schools where they belong.

You see—the Salem-Keizer Schools are in a league with… each other—period.  In fact, with McKay playing at the 5A level, the Central Valley Conference is limited to just five schools—McNary, North Salem, South Salem, Sprague, and West Salem.  And that five-school league is all there is for most sports.  Including basketball.

That brings us to a scheduling headache for athletic directors. How should the games be laid out?

What ADs have decided is that they will split the season into three parts… all three parts different—but the same.

What is that again?

The season begins on January fifth, and teams will play each other once—on Mondays and Thursdays during this segment.  The days are the way mid-Valley teams are dealing with the ongoing shortage of game officials, with girls at one site, and boys at the other.  Surrounding 5A and 4A schools will get the traditional Tuesday-Friday game nights for the first part of the year.

In late January, the teams will again meet each other just once—but on Tuesdays and Fridays, switching nights with the lower level schools.  Again, girls and boys will be at the opposite locations.

February marks the third part of the hoops season.

South Salem Athletic Director Brian Armstrong—who put together the hoops schedule, explains the reason for the third, different variation in the schedule: “With the third rotation, we are trying to make it a little different experience and make it more exciting for fans.”

In this part of the schedule, all teams—both boys and girls, including frosh and JV—will play at the same sites as has been done in years past—a stacked schedule.  Some nights, at the varsity level, the girls go first, other nights, the boys will have the earlier time. This final part will take the teams up to the start of the 6A post-season.

One last note about the regular hoops season—with five teams in the mix, one will always have a night off.  There are only a a few non-league contests scheduled to fill the void.

It is a plan that is simple on its face, but complex when you attempt to track it all.  Try to do it as a sportscaster looking to set up a broadcast schedule.

It is going to be a wild winter.

Mostly Personal

I had a pretty busy high school football week.  We at KBZY Radio made the decision to change our game of the week to North Salem at Sprague, which made for a late night on Thursday, followed by an early morning doing a run-down of Friday games on the airwaves at 7:30 am.  Fortunately, there was no need to get up and shower—as it was a phone-in situation.

FYI: My bride did give her ok to all of this extra work

Friday night, I attended the (0-6) McNary at (0-6) West Salem game—which had been our original game of the week.  The game itself wasn’t close, but I got to talk to a number of folks, including teenagers—which used to be a part of my normal day as a teacher.  It was fun in that regard.  Also, it was fun getting a hot dog and a soda at half time. 

My good buddy—and radio statistician Curtis Morley—was encouraged by me to come to the game at West and take photos with his nice digital camera.  He was there for only a half—but still sent along 24 (!) photos to edit and process.  We were both up very late making the photo exchange. Also a note here—I also utilize some parent photographers who keep me flush with game photos during the season. I can’t be everywhere—but they make it look like I am.  All for a credit under each pic.  I am lucky to have them as members of my “team.”

Saturday, it was off to watch the South Salem-Roseburg game Saturday afternoon after it was moved from Roseburg to South due to forest fire smoke making the Roseburg air unplayable on Friday and again Saturday.  Once more, the game was not close—but it was a hoot to talk to people at the contest, including AnneMarie Dufault, the wife of South coach Scott Dufault.  The lady is a dynamo and involved in a ton of programs.  She is worthy of a future feature story.

An aside here to the parents and generic “members of the public” who said many kind things to me at the games.  Some were very complimentary of my 35+ years of sportscasting—which sometimes makes me choke-up, as it recalls pleasant memories of the three decades my father and I spent in the booth.  Still others were supportive of my budding writing efforts here on Substack.  Some said things like “your features are great!” while others voiced appreciation for the coverage of local prep sports, saying my work “filled a void.”  The face-to-face affirmation is awesome!  I would still like to encourage you to drop to the bottom of articles to click on the “like” heart and/or to leave a comment.  It is good to know you are reading.

Back to the past several days: I spent time over the weekend designing a graphic to honor the fifty years of Sprague vs. South Salem football.  It holds a special place in my heart. The final product turned out pretty good, and I was seriously wanting to make it into a tee-shirt to sell at the South-Sprague game Friday.  Alas, the effort came up short—details aren’t necessary, but I was a bit disappointed.  Real life can be that way sometimes.

Needless to say, I was exhausted when the three days were all said and done—but frustratingly couldn’t sleep Saturday night.  The normal morning of church was not on the schedule as a result.  I even slept through NFL games during the day.

A glutton for punishment? Perhaps. But I still love it.