By James Day
The Cascade High football team is on the verge of a possible Oregon West Conference championship in its first year under coach Steve Turner.
Turner, who won an OSAA Class 5A title last year with Mountain View of Bend, has led the Cougars to a 7-1 overall record and a 3-1 mark in the Oregon West. Cascade was tied with Philomath and Newport heading into the final regular-season games Oct. 26. Cascade visited Taft (1-3), Philomath hosted Stayton (1-3) and Newport visited Central (2-2).
“Our guys have improved each week in some aspect of the game,” said Turner. “I knew that these guys had been coached by coach (Karl) Elliott. That meant that they would be sound in the fundamentals of football. That, combined with the large number of seniors with plenty of experience, all added up to a group of players that could become a team. And the guys have done just that.”
If the three contenders finish the season tied, the tie will be broken by the OSAA’s power rankings. Cascade currently is sixth in the ratings, one spot ahead of Philomath. Newport is No. 19.
Stayton’s boys soccer team lost eight seniors from last year’s squad, which advanced to the OSAA Class 4A semifinals. Despite the losses, the Eagles have come back strong, with a 9-0-3 overall record and a 7-0-1 mark in the Oregon West heading into the final two games of league play.
“We replaced our entire defense, including our goalkeeper,” said Stayton coach Chris Shields, “but we have come along very well as a group and I am pleased with our development.”
Playing key roles on the defense, which has allowed just two goals in league play, have been Brandon Kerr, Carlos Camacho, Cristian Baltazar, Christian Gonzales, Mike Riley and Richard Gomez.
Cascade’s girls cross country team finished fifth in the Paul Mariman Invitational at Philomath High on Oct. 6 in a meet that attracted most of the top Class 4A teams in the state. The Cougars put six girls in the top 50 and were led by Kristen LaChapelle, who finished sixth.
The Cougars’ boys team took eighth, led by John Roth’s 12th-place effort. Three other Cascade runners finished in the top 50.
On Oct. 17 Cascade and Stayton participated in the Country Fair Classic in Veneta.
The Cougars’ girls team took sixth, led by LaChapelle, who finished eighth in 19:42.11. Stayton took ninth, with Raquel Albee finishing 14th for the Eagles in 19:59.22.
Stayton took 12th in the boys team competition, led by Jeremie Edwards (31st in 17:11.74). The Cougars were 14th.
Stayton and Cascade competed Oct. 27 at Cascade in the Oregon West Conference championships, with spots in the OSAA championships on the line. The state meet is Saturday at Lane Community College in Eugene.
The Scio football team enjoyed strong success in the past few years at the 2A level, winning a state title in 2010 and finishing second in 2011. Coach Jim Mask is not surprised that the Loggers (7-1 overall, 6-0 PacWest) are among the state powers after moving up a class to 3A.
“We knew that we could compete at the 3A level because we had played some of the best 3A teams the last few years,” said Mask. “We played Dayton, Horizon Christian, and Rainier last season, so we had an idea of what we could expect. We start nine or 10 seniors on each side of the ball, and they have seen a great deal of success in their high school careers, so we expected to compete.”
Scio hosted Blanchet (6-2, 5-1) on Oct. 26 after Our Town’s presstime and concludes the regular season Nov. 2 at Creswell (3-4, 2-4).
Former Loggers Colton Mastenbroek and Wyatt Briggs are enjoying success at the college level this season. Mastenbroek, a sophomore defensive back/kick returner at Western Oregon, has returned eight kickoffs for a 22.1 average, intercepted two passes for 118 yards and has 24 tackles. Briggs, a junior defensive end, has eight tackles for Willamette.
Also of note:
- Cascade finished its Oregon West volleyball season at 8-2, one game behind champion Philomath (9-1) and one game ahead of third-place Stayton (7-3). Cascade hosted Douglas on Oct. 27 in a Class 4A play-in game. Stayton, meanwhile, faced Elmira on Tuesday .
- Freshman Hannah Flores of Aumsville has 147 digs and 14 service aces for the Corban volleyball team.
- The Regis cross country team took third in the girls race and sixth in the boys competition. Senior Hannah Scrocca was the top girls finisher for the Rams, taking ninth in 22:46.1. Junior David Haren was the top scorer for the boys, taking 14th in 18:45.6. Junior Sarah Tabor won the girls junior varsity race in 27:32.5.
- Regis downed Kennedy 3-2 on Oct. 25 to advance in the Tri-River Conference volleyball playoffs.
