By James Day
They say defense wins championships.
If so, this year’s Silverton High football team is in good shape.
The Foxes, who made an emphatic statement Sept. 21 with a 49-0 Mid-Willamette Conference victory against Corvallis, have allowed six points in their past 15 quarters of play.
After Springfield scored 21 points in the first period of the Aug. 31 opener, Silverton has shut out Bend and Corvallis and allowed just six points in a 40-6 win against Dallas in the MWC opener.
“They really executed our plan well,” Silverton Coach John Mannion said of the Foxes’ showing against Corvallis. “They were running to the ball and playing team defense. We have some good players and they all play hard and run and prepare well.”
The Foxes (4-0 overall, 2-0 MWC) faced another challenge Friday after Our Town’s presstime against West Albany ( 4-0, 2-0).
Another hot varsity team is the Silverton High girls soccer squad coached by Fred George.
The Lady Foxes were 4-1 heading into the Sept. 25 game at Sandy. Silverton has outscored its opponents 18-4 and its lone defeat was against Class 6A Oregon City.
“Our greatest asset is our team speed and our depth,” George said, in his fourth year running the girls program. “We have extraordinary players on all sides of the ball.”
Playing key roles for the Foxes are three senior captains Maddy Trudelle, Miranda Roth and Anna Funrue. Striker Trudelle and winger Roth have been dynamic contributors on offense, while Funrue holds down the center of midfield.
Silverton was 8-7 last season (4-3 in the MWC) and advanced to the Class 5A play-in round before losing to Bend. George and the team have more ambitious goals this season.
“I believe that we’ll be one of the teams to beat in our conference,” George said. “Historically, Corvallis, Crescent Valley and West Albany have been the traditional powerhouses. Every year that I’ve coached, we’ve been closing the gap on these teams. These are teams steeped in history and tradition. But I think it will be tough for any team to stack up against our team speed and fitness.”
The Lady Foxes open MWC play Tuesday against West Albany, visit Corvallis on Oct. 9 and host Crescent Valley on Oct. 16. Make sure to check out a game and see these players perform.
Meanwhile, Silverton boys basketball standout Zach Gengler has verbally committed to play in college at Portland State University.
Last season the 6-2 Gengler averaged: 22.8 points per game plus 4.0 rebounds, 4.2 steals and 3.8 assists. Gengler cannot officially sign a letter of intent with PSU until Nov. 14.
“He is going to be an excellent player for the Vikings,” said Foxes coach Darren Shryock. “He is a big time scorer at the high school level. He will continue to score at the next level but will be an even better defender. His anticipation and quick hands make him excel and those skills translate to the college game as well.”
Silverton’s cross country teams both finished second in the Silver Falls Invitational on the “Monster” course at Silver Falls State Park. Philomath won the boys large school division with 41 points to 56 for the Foxes. Dallas scored 49 points to edge Silverton (54) in the girls large school race.
Junior Jonathan Sisley took third for the Silverton boys in 20:50.6, followed by senior teammate Morgan Coxen in fourth at 21:38.5. Maddie Fuhrman (25:35.0) took second for the Foxes in the girls race, with Kelly Faulhaber fourth in 26:55.2.
The Kennedy boys cross country team finished fifth in the small school division led by junior Dalton Susee, who finished third in 21:52.5.
On Sept. 22, the Kennedy girls cross country team took second in their division at the Three Course Challenge at Seaside. The boys finished fourth. Trojans sophomore Lauren Stokley was 64th overall and eighth in her division.
The Kennedy volleyball team continues its strong play. The Trojans were 11-1 overall and 6-0 in the Tri-River Conference heading into a Sept. 25 home match against Regis that occurred after presstime. Kennedy started the week one game ahead of Culver (5-1) in league play.
The Kennedy football team fell to 1-3 on Sept. 21 while playing up a class again in a 37-21 loss to Class 3A Rainier. The Trojans were off Sept. 28 and open Tri-River Conference play Friday at Santiam.
Sean Mannion, the son of Foxes head coach John Mannion, passed for a career-record 379 yards and two touchdowns to lead Oregon State to a 27-20 Pac-12 Conference win Sept. 22 at UCLA. The win moved the Beavers into the No. 18 spot in the AP top 25 heading in their Sept. 29 game against Arizona.
