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The cheerleading squad for Silverton High, which has returned to competitions for the first time in a decade. Submitted photo

Sports roundup – Silverton cheer returns to competitions

By James Day Silverton High has returned to competitive cheerleading. The Foxes took second at a meet at Lakeridge, the first such participation by the school in approximately a decade. Stacey Spears, who has more than a decade of experience with the Future Foxes, is coaching the squad, which continues to have a cheer presence on the sidelines at football […]

James Day

Foxes football: 11-1 year shows continuing strength of program

The Silverton High football program wound up another superlative season on Nov. 17 when the Foxes fell 43-19 to Mountain View of Bend in the Class 5A semifinals. Silverton finished 11-1 and downed long-time rival West Albany twice by a composite 90-42 score The Foxes, now in their second year under coach Dan Lever, have made the playoffs every season […]

James Day

Football memories – Top 10 moments from ten years on the beat

This is the 10th anniversary of my sports column in Our Town. Well, actually, it’s the 11th, but I’m not counting the COVID year. With football season almost upon us I thought it was a good time to look back on those ten-plus years and note the top moments from our two teams, Silverton and Kennedy. During that stretch both […]

Spring update: Softball, baseball prospects… plus Mannion retires

Last season veteran Silverton softball coach Ralph Cortez sent out one of the younger squads in the state. The Foxes featured only four seniors on the roster and included a cadre of talented freshmen. As one might expect, Silverton took its lumps early, at one point losing four consecutive Mid-Willamette Conference games. But the team gelled, closed on a 9-2 […]

Coaching lifer – Don von Weller marks 50 years in football

Fifty years. That’s a long time to be out on torn up fields trying to teach kids about football. But that’s what Don von Weller (Silverton High Class of 1969) has been doing since 1973 when he was asked to coach fifth-graders. And von Weller, 71, a graduate of Western Oregon University (then-Oregon College of Education) who earned his master’s […]

New coach – Dan Lever chats about Silverton Fox football

I sat down with new Silverton football coach Dan Lever the other day after a morning workout. The setting was informal. His two kids, Hudson and Jade, were on hand, with swimming lessons next on the family’s summer schedule. Lever, 36, who led Tualatin to the Class 6A championship game a year ago, takes over a Foxes program that has […]

Craig steps down – Foxes looking for new football coach

Silverton High football coach Josh Craig, who led the Foxes to the Class 5A state title this past season, has announced his resignation. Craig, 31, is stepping down because of family considerations. “My wife gave birth to our second daughter (Colby on Jan. 4), and now we have a 19-month-old (Murphy) and a newborn,” Craig said. “When I got the […]

Sports update: Memorable season

By James Day Was Nov. 29 a bad day for the Mannion family? One might think so. The Silverton High football team, coached by John Mannion, lost 34-12 to Hermiston in the Class 5A state title game. Later that day Oregon State, quarterbacked by his son Sean Mannion, lost 47-19 to rival the University of Oregon in the annual Civil […]

Seasoned and ready: Fox football team sets sights on state title

By James Day The Silverton High School football team has lost three games in the past two seasons, all of them to the eventual OSAA Class 5A state champions, and momentum seems to be riding the Foxes’ way in year five of coach John Mannion’s tenure. “I like where the program is at now,” Mannion told Our Town. “The kids […]