By James Day
Joe Panuke is the new head football coach at Kennedy High. A health and physical education teacher, he has been an assistant football and baseball coach the past six years. Panuke, who served as an assistant coach at Marshfield of Coos Bay and Regis, replaces Randy Traeger, who is moving on to a new position at Willamette University.
“I would like to continue the tradition of putting a quality football team out on the field every Friday night,” Panuke told Our Town. “We have been in the state playoffs the last five years in a row. I believe those expectations are still there.”
“We are excited to elevate Coach Panuke to the head football position,” Trojan’s Athletic Director Kevin Moffatt said. “We love the fact that Joe is a teacher here at school and will have daily contact with our kids. The past 11 years Joe has been an assistant under two of the best coaches in the state, Kent Wigle at Marshfield and Randy Traeger here at Kennedy. You don’t get any better mentors than that.”
“Coach Panuke brings an extensive knowledge of the game to our program” Kennedy Principal Craig Swanson said. “More importantly, he brings a passion for helping the students he works with develop to the best of their abilities. Coach Panuke will have our football team prepared for success in the classroom as well as under the lights on Fridays.”
Traeger will be a “character” coach at Willamette, his alma mater, and will work to instill his Virtue First morality curriculum at the college level for the first time. The Trojans, who finished 6-4 last season, open the 2014 campaign Sept. 5 at Monroe.
Silverton football: The Foxes won their own 7-on-7 passing league tournament for the third consecutive year. Silverton, which hosted the 16-team event June 28 at the Schlador Street campus, downed Oregon City in the semifinals and South Albany in the finals.
“This was a good event for us,” Coach John Mannion said. “The best thing about it is that it simulates what the real games are going to be like, but without line play it’s not a complete indicator. It’s a good way for the team to come together in competitive situations.”
Playing starring roles for Silverton were quarterback Cole Chandler, who will be in his third year as the starter in the fall, plus receivers/running backs Logan Munson, Travis Sinn and Noah Dahl.
The Foxes also participated in a jamboree-like passing league event June 7 at Bend and finished second behind Class 6A power Central Catholic in a July 19 tournament at Liberty in Hillsboro.
“They take a lot of pride in this,” Mannion said. “We’re a 5A school and we beat a few 6A schools. When you can play for an hour with a Central Catholic, that makes you feel pretty good about yourselves.”
Area colleges: Former Silverton High softball standouts Jordan Martin and Taylor Medley had strong seasons for Chemeketa. Martin, who played first base for the Storm, played all 46 games and hit .344 with three home runs and 28 RBIs. Catcher Medley played 43 games and hit .322 with three homers and 15 RBIs. Ex-Foxes tennis star Kelsey Rosborough teamed up with Lukas Kleinman to win four matches as the No. 1 doubles team at Linfield College.
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