By James Day 
The Silverton High football team has a rematch with West Albany set for 7 p.m. Friday at McGinnis Field, with a berth in the OSAA Class 5A semifinals on the line.
The Foxes took apart Putnam of Milwaukie 49-0 on Nov. 9 to improve to 10-0 while recording their fourth shutout of the season. West Albany, which finished second behind Silverton in the Mid-Willamette Conference, advanced with a 42-7 victory against Ashland. Silverton downed the Bulldogs 28-21 on Sept. 28 at McGinnis, dealing West Albany its lone loss of the season.
“We’re looking forward to (facing West Albany),” said Foxes coach John Mannion amid the celebration at McGinnis after the Putnam win. “It’s a great challenge, and we’re excited to still be playing.”
“We beat them a couple of weeks ago, but they are going to be pumped up for this one,” said Silverton running back/linebacker Chris Garcia. “We’re expecting a really good game.”
Garcia rushed for 96 yards and four touchdowns against Putnam, while turning in his usual stellar play at linebacker. The Silverton defense stopped the Kingsmen four times inside the Foxes’ 30 and racked up 13 plays that produced negative yardage.
“Our defense has been playing great all year,” said Mannion. They’re hustling and tackling real well.”
Only two teams, Springfield and West Albany, have scored more than seven points against Silverton this season.
“It’s practice … we practice and practice,” said Garcia of the performance of the defense. “I’m at a loss for words.”
The Foxes’ defense spoke volumes against Putnam, intercepting quarterback Max Bailey four times and holding touted wide receiver Deshawn Stephens without a catch. Silverton stopped the Kingsmen on downs on two drives inside the 30 and foiled the other two incursions on interceptions.
The Foxes’ offense was brutally efficient, scoring on their first drive of the game and piling up at least one touchdown per quarter. Silverton’s defensive work and some Putnam special teams problems led to great field position for the Foxes, who scored touchdowns on four drives of 43 yards or less.
Garcia capped a 64-yard TD drive with a 13-yard scoring run with 5:54 left in the first quarter, but the rout didn’t start until Silverton put up two touchdowns in a 56-second span late in the first half.
First, Garcia scored on a 4-yard run with 2:57 left in the period to complete an 81-yard drive that included a 31-yard pass from quarterback Cole Chandler to Nick Teubel, who made a sliding catch at the 34 of the Kingsmen.
A 7-yard Putnam punt set up the Foxes at the 34, and it took Silverton one play to increase the lead to 21-0 on a 34-yard pass from Chandler to Preston Kirk with 2:01 to go. Chandler, a 6-1, 175-pound sophomore, was in top form all night, hitting 10 of 16 passes for 173 yards. He was not intercepted.
Silverton made it 28-0 with 1:30 left in the third quarter on an 11-yard run by Garcia. The Foxes only had to drive 20 yards for the score after a bad snap sailed over the head of the Putnam punter.
The Foxes tacked on three more touchdowns in the fourth quarter on a 1-yard run by Garcia, a 4-yarder by Max Wilson and a 1-yarder by Sam Kuschnick.
Silverton finished the game with 210 rushing yards to 23 for the Kingsmen, who finished their season 5-6.
Mathis Kuenzi had two interceptions for the Foxes, while Cort Martin and Teubel had one apiece.
Junior place-kicker Michael Dooley was his usual reliable self with a perfect 7-for-7 performance on extra points.
“We played hard,” summed up Garcia. “There were times in which we didn’t execute like we could, but 49-0, I think that’s a good game.”
The Foxes’ 7-0 run through their Mid-Willamette season led conference coaches to issue a slew of awards to the squad and its coaching staff.
Garcia was named defensive player of the year, while Mannion was named coach of the year and Mike Fessler won assistant coach of the year honors. Garcia also was named a first-teamer at running back. Quinn Dreher also was an all-conference pick on both sides of the ball, earning first-teams honor at guard and linebacker.
Other Foxes on the first team were center Joseph Kuenzi, tackle Matthew Willis, wide receiver Kirk, Chandler at quarterback, defensive lineman Matt Craig and Teubel at defensive back.
Versatile running back Ken Pike (41 yards rushing and 46 receiving against Putnam) was named to the second team. Earning honorable mentions were guard Joe Biben, tackle Levi Stadeli, defensive lineman Camryn Clokey, Wilson at linebacker and defensive backs Martin, Mathis Kuenzi and Craig Hodges. Wyatt Arrington was the honorable mention punter.
Here is a look at other all-conference honors for Silverton teams:
Boys soccer: J’Rett Baker and Anthony Reyna received honorable mention
Girls soccer: Maddie Trudelle was named first-team forward. Miranda Roth and Stephanie Russ were second-team midfielders, and defender Annaliese Kuenzi and goalkeeper Sheyenne Brusven received honorable mention.
Volleyball: Gracie Matchniff and Audrey Anderson were honorable mention as middle hitters as was libero Destinee Sandlin.
Cross country: Junior Jonathan Sisley took 37th in the Class 5A state meet after finishing second in the Mid-Willamette district meet.
Kennedy advances in post season
It has been a banner fall for the Kennedy sports program. The Trojans’ cross country teams both advanced to the OSAA meet, the volleyball team made it to the state quarterfinals and the football team still is playing, with a date Friday against Tri-River Conference rival Central Linn in the 2A quarterfinals.
“We’ve got good kids for sure, and good coaches across the board,” said Kennedy athletic director Kevin Moffatt. “It’s a good start to the school sure, that’s for sure.”
The volleyball squad, which finished second in the Tri-River behind Culver, fought its way to the state tournament before falling to eventual state champion – and conference rival – Culver 3-1 in the quarterfinals. The Trojans then lost to North Douglas 3-2 in the consolation round.
“It was good to see our volleyball team doing well,” said Moffatt. “And they’re young. They’re going to be pretty tough in the next few years.”
Kennedy was 12-2 in Tri-River play and finished 19-6 overall. The Trojans dealt Culver its lone loss of the league season Sept. 18 in Mount Angel and advanced to the state tournament with a playoff win against Oakridge.
Kennedy’s boys cross country team took ninth in the OSAA 3A-2A-1A, led by junior Dalton Susee, who finished ninth in 17:16. Freshman Adrian Parra was 24th in 17:48 and was the top placer among ninth-graders. It was the 14th appearance at state in the past 15 years for the Kennedy boys.
The Trojans’ girls team took 11th, led by district runner of the year Lauren Stokley, who was 18th in 21:06. Kennedy’s girls were running at state for the 11th consecutive year.
Kennedy’s football team, which clinched the Tri-River title Nov. 2 with a 14-6 win against Central Linn, took out Bonanza 57-0 on Nov. 10 at Salem Academy in the first round of the 2A playoffs..
Kennedy has had to battle a bit of adversity this season. Coach Randy Traeger missed one game and had to miss a few practices as well because of hip pain that forced him to use a golf cart to get around.
Moffatt said that Traeger “still is in a little bit of pain” but added that he is doing better and that his “good staff” of assistant coaches helped keep the team on track.
This is the fourth consecutive appearance in the quarterfinals for the Trojans, who lost to Scio in the 2009 2A title game.
Follow James Day on Twitter @jameshday
