By James Day
The Cascade High School footballteam is looking like a contender once again. The Cougars, who advanced to the OSAA Class 4A semifinals last season under first-year Coach Steve Turner before losing to Baker in triple overtime, have jumped out to a 3-1 start this year.
Cascade opened with a 31-26 loss to Banks but has scored three convincing victories in a row, downing Crook County 33-6; Clatskanie 40-7 and Sisters 48-10. The Cougars opened Oregon West Conference play Friday after Our Town’s presstime with a home game against 1-3 Newport. The Cubs were the lone Oregon West team to beat the Cougars last season, taking a 16-7 win in the Oregon West opener.
Regis also is off to a strong start. The Rams are 3-1, including a 33-25 road win Sept. 20 against defending Tri-River champion and Class 2A quarterfinalist Kennedy in the conference opener. New head Coach Tom Beckett led Regis to a 40-34 win against Class 4A North Marion and a 29-8 win against Gold Beach before falling 33-19 to Portland Christian. The Rams stay on the road the next two weeks, going to Waldport on Friday and Culver on Oct. 4 before returning home Oct. 11 to face Toledo.
Scio, meanwhile, has struggled a bit while facing outstanding competition. The Class 3A Loggers opened with a 37-16 loss against Class 4A Siuslaw and played up a class again in week two, christening its new artificial turf at Newcomb Stadium with a 24-22 win against Class 4A Sutherlin. Scio opened PacWest play against Santiam Christian on Sept. 20 and fell 7-6. The Loggers and Eagles were the top teams in the PacWest a year ago. Scio won the conference title with an 8-0 record, with Santiam Christian second at 7-1. Both teams ultimately advanced to the Class 3A semifinals.
Cross country: Regis has a been a busy bunch this season, running at the Silver Falls/Oktoberfest Invitational on Sept. 11, the Santiam Christian Invitational on Sept. 17, the Three Course Challenge on Sept. 21 and the Jefferson Invitational on Sept. 24. The Rams’ girls team took third at the Jefferson meet, with the boys finishing fifth. Sam Nieslanik was the top individual finisher for Regis, taking 12th in the boys race. The Rams also will host their own invitational Oct. 3.
Stayton, meanwhile, took third in the girls team race and fifth in the boys in the Sept. 24 Camp Tadmor meet. Kymberlin Bush was the top finisher for the Eagles, taking 11th. Cascade participated in the Three Course Challenge, with the Cougars’ boys team taking 21st in the hard course event and the girls finishing 14th in the medium course competition.
Volleyball: Cascade is 3-0 in Oregon West Conference play heading into its Sept. 26 showdown with 3-0 Philomath, a match that was played after Our Town’s presstime. Stayton is 2-1, with its lone loss Sept. 24 vs. Cascade. Regis is in the thick of the playoff hunt in the Tri-River with a 5-3 record. The Rams are third in the standings behind 6-0 Culver and 6-1 Kennedy.
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