Some routs, and upsets in Local Prep FB Week Six
Grants Pass stuns North Salem, Sheldon crushes South Medford and South Salem shuts out McNary-plus more
Special District One football action in week six included some unexpected outcomes, and more shuffling of the district standings. Here are the game summaries.
Grants Pass 29, North Salem 22
A mixture of mistakes and unexpected injuries led to a surprise loss for the North Salem Vikings this past Friday at Grants Pass.
The Vikings had an error-filled night of football, and their young Grants Pass opposition was more than happy to cash in on the mistakes in a 29-22 upset loss.
Jamahl Wilson rushed 23 times for 190 yards and a touchdown, but there were few other bright spots in a game that included the loss of three top North High performers: quarterback TC Manumaleuna, receiver/sweeper back Pierce Walker, and sophomore standout Braxton Singleton.
Coach Jeff Flood declined to address the injuries or the future playing status of the three players, but did admit it was a rough evening of football.
“We dealt with a lot of adversity in the game- some of it self-inflicted- including injuries, costly penalties and turnovers,” said a disappointed Flood.
“We didn’t play well enough on either side of the ball to overcome those things and win.”
North committed four turnovers—three fumbles and an interception.
Manumaleuna had only nine yards passing during the game.
Speedy Demari Thompson did provide some positive numbers with 7 rushes for 45 yards and a TD. Before he was injured, Singleton had an 86 yard pick six for a score.
The Vikings did have one last chance to send the game to overtime or perhaps salvage a win with a two-point conversion. Facing a fourth down and 15 inside Grants Pass territory with 90 seconds remaining, North came up two yards short of continuing their drive, and the Cavemen had their upset.
North Salem (2-2 in SD1, 4-2) will host Sprague (1-3, 1-5) on Friday at 7:00 pm, while Grants Pass (1-3, 2-4) will travel to face South Medford (2-2, 4-2), also at 7:00 pm.
Sheldon 27, South Medford 0
Coming into last Friday’s game at Medford’s Spiegelberg Stadium, the South Medford Panthers had been a running machine. They averaged 360 yards on the ground, and had pounded several of their opponents mercilessly. Two weeks before, the Panthers were limited to 250 yards rushing, and were humbled by top ten-ranked South Salem. They dispatched Sprague the next week to run their record to 2-1 in Special District One.
But the latest game was against the Sheldon Irish—a team almost overlooked after losing their first two games—non league contests against a Hawaiian football power and defending state champion West Linn. But since then, Sheldon hasn’t been challenged in any way, shape or form.
South Medford found out how good this year’s Sheldon squad is, failing to score a single point and managing just 190 yards in total offense, in a 27-0 smackdown.
The host Panthers managed just three first downs in the opening half. But even more disheartening was the three touchdowns Sheldon put on the board to led 21-0 at the half.
The Irish tallied their first two TDs on their first two possessions in the opening quarter—first with a 30-yard run by 6-4 senior quarterback Colby Parosa, followed by 1 yard plunge by junior running back Mana Tuioti.
The second quarter was a decidedly defensive struggle, but Sheldon managed to score in the closing minute of the period. Sheldon worked their way down the field, and converted on a big fourth down play. Parosa scored on a two yard scamper with just under 20 seconds to play in the half.
The second half was a decidedly defensive slugfest. Nobody scored a touchdown in the third or fourth quarters, but Sheldon did come up with a couple of fields goals—of 34 and 46 yards—by Rocco Graziani.
Sheldon’s defense was stifling. Kameron Rague was the Panther’s leading rusher with just 38 yards on ten carries. Quarterback Colby Schwartz completed nine of 19 passes for 72 yards, including four catches and 40 yards for wideout Mike Duclos. Schwartz’s final pass of the game was intercepted in the end zone.
Sheldon (4-2, 4-0 in SD1) will host North Medford (5-1, 4-0) this coming Friday in the unofficial Southern school title in Special District One. Unbeaten South Salem (5-0, 6-0) faces neither Sheldon or North Medford (again) this season.
South Medford (2-2 in SD1, 4-2) will entertain Grants Pass (1-3, 2-4) Friday night. Sheldon (4-0, 4-2) will host North Medford (4-0, 5-1) in the unofficial battle for the championship of 6A Southern Oregon teams.
South Salem 62, McNary 0
Many times, when the league’s top team in high school football meets a winless squad for a game, things can go crazy.
Friday night, unbeaten South Salem came to Keizer to face 0-5 McNary. South got the ball first at their own 20-yard line.
Saxon quarterback Athan Palmateer tossed the ball to his possession receiver, Esteban Mendez.
80 yards later, Mendez had scored the first touchdown of the game.
And that is how it went for the entire Special District One football contest. South Salem scored seemingly at will, while McNary had no answers for the Saxon defense. That allowed South Salem to record its sixth win of the year by a score of 62-0.
McNary was admittedly playing short-handed in a big way. Senior quarterback Gage Smedema was ruled out for the season on Friday after a cracked vertebrae was found in his back. That didn’t help matters for a McNary team that had been on the wrong end of a few blowouts already this season.
Sophomore Arris Vasseur was called upon to operate the Celtic offense. Not the most ideal of conditions to make his varsity debut. And it was a long night for the home team.
“South brought the pressure on defense and made it difficult to do much of anything,” lamented McNary head coach Connor Astley.
“Offensively they did what they do best: threw the ball all over the yard and attacked our weak spots.”
Throw and throw South Salem did most of the night. After Mendez’s opening score, the Saxons added two more TDs in the first quarter. Griffin Haider caught a 17-yard TD pass, and Tristan Geer rushed for a two-yard touchdown to make it 21-0 at the end of one.
South made it 42-0 at halftime after three more scores—all passes: a four-yard TD to Haider, a 61-yard strike to Jacob Nemecek, and an 85 catch and run by the speedy Romyl Luster.
The score at half meant a running clock would be used for the entire second half.
The Saxons kept scoring, as back up QB Ben Hennan came on in relief of Palmateer. He only attempted two passes, but one of them was a 25 yard-TD to Mendez. RB Colby Raddle scored on a 41 yard run.
Freshman Kellen Bowman came on for South Salem in the fourth quarter as both teams weore subbing in back ups. Bowman scored on two yard run.
For the night, Saxon place kicker Nathan Segura-Coley made all six PATs attempted. The final PAT became a pass attempt when the snap was fumbled.
McNary’s offense did struggle against one of the best defenses in Special District One. South’s D gave up 51 yards rushing on 37 carries. Vasseur did relatively well passing the ball under the circumstances, completing six of eight passes for 40 yards.
Offensively for South, quarterback Athan Palmateer connected on 14 of 17 passes, with 392 yards and five touchdowns. Mendez had four receptions for 167 yards, and Eli Johnson also had four catches for 74 yards. Colby Raddle was tops in the rushing department with four carries for 86 yards and a TD.
Coach Astley was philosophical about the entire night, with the Celts’ quarterback injury, a top-notch opponent, and rough season overall.
“Something will bounce our way eventually.”
McNary’s next game this coming Friday will pit the Celts against West Salem in Keizer at 7:15 pm. South Salem will be at home to host Roseburg, also with a 7:15 pm kickoff.
North Medford 30, Roseburg 9
The North Medford Black Tornado stayed at the top of the Special District One standings after a physical game at Roseburg High School on Friday night, muscling their way 30-9 victory.
NM hasn’t lost since week one to top ten Tigard. Roseburg hasn’t won since their season opening victory over Beaverton. That trend continued Friday as North scored the first TD of the game on a six-yard run by Jeremiah Robbins.
Roseburg responded with an exclamation point, as Indians receiver Dane St. Clair turned a short pass into a TD, sprinting down the sideline 78 yards for the touchdown on a pass thrown by QB Owen Betea. The PAT was missed.
The Indians did take the lead briefly when Jacob Michael nailed a 25-yard field goal midway through the second period to make the score 9-7.
North Medford responded with an extended drive paused for a few minutes after a Roseburg injury. Tornado quarterback Traeger Healy hit Robbins on a screen pass that was cashed in for a 25-yard TD pass to give the visitors a 10-9 advantage at intermission.
Roseburg came out of the locker room with a certain measure of confidence, down by only five. That confidence was taken down a notch when the Indians punt returner lost the ball on a fumble at their own 20. North Medford took advantage of the miscue quickly with a four yard TD run by Robbins to make it 21-9.
Roseburg was not deterred for the moment, but had a pair of mistakes in the late minutes to slam the door shut.
First, the Indians had a punt snap fly over the head of Roseburg QB Owen Betea. A Roseburg lineman managed to recover the football, but was tackled in the end zone for a safety to give North Medford a 23-9 advantage.
Roseburg still had time and opportunity left, but the North Medford footballers took advantage of another Indian mistake. Betea had a shotgun snap slip through his fingers, and the Tornado dropped on the ball at the Roseburg 10. On the very next play, Traeger threw up a perfect pass to WR Nolan Kelly in the right back corner of the end zone to push the Black Tornado lead to 30-9—final.
Robbins was the player of the game for North Medford—scoring three times on a pair of TD runs and the screen pass from Healy.
Things won’t get easier this coming week for the Black Tornado. The team (4-0 SD1, 5-1) travels to Eugene to square off against Sheldon (4-0, 4-2), which has won four-straight in district play after losing their two non-league games to open the season. The Irish thumped South Medford at Spiegelberg Stadium with a shutout victory. The two teams are tied with South Salem for first place in Special District One. The game will begin at 7:00 pm
Roseburg (0-4, 1-5) travels north Friday to play at South Salem (4-0, 6-0). The contest is slated to kickoff at 7:15 pm.
West Salem 40, Sprague 13
Coming into Friday’s Special District One football match up at West Salem High, the Titans and visiting Sprague Olympians were an intriguing match-up on paper. The team had similar offensive numbers on the season both rushing and passing—and had played tough schedules in arriving with identical 1-4 records.
But the game didn’t turn out to be that close—as the Titan defense and special teams slowly took control of the contest, enroute to a 40-13 West Salem victory.
Early on, the contest was played evenly—although West got an extra edge with their first score.
After Sprague had their initial drive stall, the Olys lined up to punt. The line drive kick was fielded by junior Evan Wusstig at the Oly 42 yard line, and he weaved his way through the Sprague coverage team—until he strode into the end zone for six. Connor Oertel’s PAT made it 7-0 West Salem with just over nine minutes left in the first. (see Wusstig’s punt return here-courtesy of Full Access Sports)
Sprague received the ensuing kick and again the offense was frustrated by a West Salem defense that smothered the run all night—forcing the Olympians to kick it away again.
Titans quarterback Kaden Martirano then engineered a 5 play, 73 yard drive, capping off it with an 18-yard run by Martirano himself, to push the Titan advantage to 14-0 with three minutes left in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Sprague finally countered with a drive of their own, despite West Salem’s continued ball-hawking defensive efforts.
Olympians QB Dakkati Witherspoon moved his team 41 yards on six plays. RB Kenya Johnson punched it into the end zone from four yards out to cut the Sprague deficit to 14-7.
But West Salem’s special teams plays gave them short fields for most of the rest of the game, which paid off in the form of Titan scores.
West returned the kickoff after the Sprague touchdown to the Olys’ 49 yard line. The Titans marched eight plays to the end zone—the last a 29 yard sprint up the middle by Carson Evenson—to make it 21-7, West.
Sprague’s next drive was stalled quickly, and again, a good punt return—once more by Wusstigg positioned the Titans in Oly territory at the 40. West again took advantage quickly with a seven play drive taking just over two minutes. Martirano rumbled in from four yards, but the extra point was blocked. That made the score 27-7—where it stayed until half time.
West received the second half kickoff, and picked up where they left off—beginning with a good kickoff return to their own 44 yard line.
Martirano guided his team on a seven play, 56-yard possession, capped off by a 23-yard pass from Martirano to receiver Jordan Senados for a 33-7 Titan advantage.
West added one more score with five minutes left in the third, as Martirano picked up his second TD pass on the evening—this one a 13 yarder to Luke Looney. It was 40-7 Titans heading to the fourth quarter.
The only score in the final quarter came from Sprague. The Olympians methodically worked down the field on a ten play, 80-yard drive that consumed four minutes of clock. From the Wildcat Formation, Kenya Johnson pushed through the pile for a one-yard TD. The PAT was blocked, and the score—which was also the final---stood at 40-13.
For the game, Sprague was outgained by West, 381 yards to 282. The biggest discrepancy came in the rushing totals. Sprague was outgained 142-63, as the Titans targeted RB Kenya Johnson all game long. Sprague lost one fumble and had a pass interception, while West had one fumble on the night.
Individually for the game, West’s Kaiden Martirano racked up 225 yards passing on 11 of 16 passes with two touchdowns. He also led West in rushing yards with 61 yards on 7 carries, and two touchdowns. Carson Evenson had a TD on seven carries for 59 yards.
Sprague’s Dukkati Witherspoon recorded 214 yards passing on 22 of 38 attempts. Kenya Johnson was Sprague’s leading rusher—and was limited to just 26 yards on 19 carries as he was targeted by West Salem’s defense all evening.
West Salem defensive coordinator Damien Ramirez cited four of his defensive players as the top performers. Quinn Burrow had 10 tackles as a defensive back, and fellow DB Zach Diaz had two tackles, two pass break ups and two tackles for loss. Linebackers Cade Vandiver and Cougar Bailey were also quite active. Vandiver had seven tackles, including two for losses, while Bailey had six tackles, including one for loss. He also contacted Sprague QB Dukkati Witherspoon in the backfield.
Next week, West Salem (2-4, 2-2 SD1) will be at McNary to face the Celtics (0-6, 0-4). Sprague (1-3, 1-5) travels to North Salem (4-2, 2-2 SD1) for their next contest.
(5A) McKay 42, Central 15
A solid offensive performance combined with a reversal of gridiron fortunes in another long-running rivalry, and the McKay Royal Scots are looking at potentially having a share of first place in the 5A Mid Willamette Conference.
The Scots took care of business on the road, pounding Central 42-15 on Thursday night to improve their record to 5-1. McKay now has a chance to forge a tie atop the conference standings after previously unbeaten West Albany lost to in-town rival South Albany this past Friday 20-14—the Redhawks first win in the series after 17 consecutive losses to the Bulldogs. McKay plays at unbeaten and second-ranked Silverton in their third consecutive Thursday night game this week.
Scots QB Kyrin Fuimaono was efficient passing the ball—completing 15 of 19 passes (78 percent) for 232 yards and three touchdowns. Lukes Dominguez caught seven of those passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns, including a 54 yard TD strike. Gavin Aguero also caught five balls for 57 yards.
Joel Sanchez continues to impress on the ground, rushing for 134 yards on 15 carries, including a 50-yard TD run.
McKay led the game at halftime, 23-7.
Dominguez came on in relief for Fuimaono in the second half, and completed a 35 yard TD to Justice Anthony. Anthony had a total of four catches 59 yards on the evening.
Coach Brandis Piper had praise for all phases of his team’s play, especially the defense.
“I thought we became more physical defensively as the game went on and really started to set the tone.”
Piper’s assessment is reflected in the stats. Justice Anthony and Jadyn Garibay had an interception apiece, and Joel Sanchez and Malik Nelson Allise forced fumbles for the Scots. Rodolfo Flores Jr and Danavyien Berry were also very active with stops on defense.
Between McKay’s defensive effort and offensive prowess, Piper expressed admiration for his team’s cohesive development.
“I’m extremely proud of how much this team believes in their collective identity,” he said.
The entire Mid Willamette Conference plays on Thursday this week. All those games, including the big McKay (5-1) at Silverton (6-0) contest, kickoff at 7:00 pm.
BONUS PHOTOS:
Photo album from McNary-South Salem game with LE Sports Photography, click here.
Photo album from West Salem-Sprague game with Caitlin Evenson Photograph, click here.