By James Day
The Silverton High football team just doesn’t like to lose. Since a 13-0 loss to West Albany on Sept. 27, the Foxes have won five consecutive games in dominating fashion, including a 35-0 Class 5A playoff dismantling of Mountain View of Bend on Nov. 8 at McGinnis Field.
Silverton (9-1) has outscored its opponents 231-18 since the West Albany loss and will visit Springfield Nov. 15 in the quarterfinals in a game that was played after Our Town’s presstime.
“Ever since the West Albany game people have been saying we didn’t have it in us,” Foxes defensive back and special teams star Cort Martin said. “But we just keep playing hard-nosed defense. We’re just going to keep doing our thing.”
Martin, a 6-0, 180-pound senior, intercepted a pass and ran it back 45 yards for a TD to give Silverton a 28-0 lead in the second quarter against Mountain View. The Cougars came into the game with an 8-2 record, with both losses to Class 6A teams.
Martin keeps finding different ways to score points and spark the Foxes. His kickoff return for a touchdown at the start of the second half against Dallas on Sept. 13 broke a 7-7 tie and put Silverton on the path to a 38-7 win. And he ran back two punts for touchdowns to propel the Foxes to a 38-12 win Oct. 18 against Crescent Valley in the game that determined second place in the Mid-Willamette Conference.
Also showing his mettle in the post-West Albany push was senior running back Max Wilson, who missed much of that loss with an injury. Wilson ripped off 37- and 39-yard touchdown runs on Silverton’s first two possessions against Mountain View and finished with 157 yards rushing and four touchdowns.
“Our coaches say we should be playing our best football at the end of the season, and that’s what we are doing,” Wilson said.
Kennedy’s football team, meanwhile, put together another one of its impressive seasons under Coach Randy Traeger. The Trojans finished 6-4 and took second in the Tri-River Conference with a 5-1 record. Kennedy reeled off five consecutive wins after losing its conference opener 33-25 to eventual champion Regis. The Trojans’ season ended Nov. 8 in a 33-7 Class 2A playoff loss to Oakland.
Volleyball: Kennedy took home fourth place in the OSAA Class 2A tournament on Nov. 9 at Ridgeview High in Redmond. The Trojans, who finished second in the Tri-River, lost their quarterfinal match against Weston-McEwen but battled back to beat Delphian in four sets and Portland Christian in five sets.
Cross country: The Kennedy boys team took seventh at the OSAA Class 3A-2A-1A state championships Nov. 2 at Lane Community College in Eugene. Leading the way for the Trojans were Dalton Susee, who finished 16th and Adrian Parra (18th). Lauren Stokley took 17th for the Kennedy girls.
Silverton’s Jonathan Sisley took 17th in the Class 5A boys race, while Maddie Fuhrman of the Foxes finished 20th in the girls competition.
Soccer: Silverton’s boys and girls teams both made nice runs in the playoffs. The boys squad, under first-year coach Kyle Calder, won its first two playoff games in at least a decade, downing Willamette of Eugene 1-0 in a Class 5A play-in game before stopping Wilson of Portland 2-1 in the first round. Silverton finally fell 3-0 to Wilsonville in the quarterfinals. The Foxes’ girls team, which has won eight matches apiece in the past four years under coach Fred George, downed Marist of Eugene in the play-in round before falling to Willamette 1-0.
The Silverton Dance team placed first with its Jazz dance, second with its Hip Hop dance and second with its contemporary dance in a categories competition at David Douglas High School on Nov. 9. All three dances now qualify for Categories championships.
Follow me on Twitter @jameshday.com/ Got a news tip? Email me at [email protected]
