McKenzie Sports Report

McKenzie Varsity Sports Schedule This Week

The McKenzie Cross Country teams travel to Stewart Park in Roseburg next Wednesday, October 19, to participate in the Umpqua Invite. Boys and Girls races start at 3:00 pm.

The McKenzie Varsity Six-man football team hosts Eddyville Charter on Thursday, October 20. The McKenzie 2022 Homecoming is also scheduled for the night. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 pm.

Eagles Tangle On Senior Night

The McKenzie Eagle Varsity Volleyball team welcomed the Eddyville Charter Eagle Varsity team to Finn Rock last Thursday, October 13, for the last regular season Mt. West League match for both teams. The event was also McKenzie Senior Night, where McKenzie seniors Spencer Hayes, Haley Prater, Anna Reidman, and Taylor Wickizer and their families were honored for their past four-year contributions. McKenzie also honored the visiting seniors of Eddyville Charter.

Eddyville (12-2, 13-5) cemented its second place standing behind MWL regular season Champion Mohawk (14-0, 16-7) with a three-straight set win over host McKenzie. Eddyville won the first set 25-18; easily won the second set 25-6, and wrapped up the match victory with a deciding third set win 25-11.

McKenzie (0-14, 0-14), fielding a Varsity Volleyball team for the first time since the 2019 season, cut off by the Covid and Holiday Farm Fire double-whammy, made great strides under rookie Head Coach Rachelle Mark's direction this Fall. Mark is a 2011 McKenzie alum and past standout multi-sport Eagle athlete.

Eagles Run Hard In Harrisburg Gatorade Challenge

McKenzie Varsity Cross Country runners traveled to Harrisburg this past Wednesday, October 12, to participate in the Harrisburg Gatorade Challenge. Eagle freshman Myra Dion, running in the Girls' 5,000-meter Varsity race, placed 29th, with a finish time of 25:00.6 minutes. Forty-five athletes representing twenty-five high schools ran the race with Dion and the Eagle athlete earned the best finish of the four small 1A teams competing. McKenzie freshman Will Meister finished 72nd in the Boys 5K race and teammate, sophomore Devon Lawson, took home 82nd. Meister's race was timed in 23:35.9 min. and Lawson finished in 32:05.2 min.

Elk Stampede On The McKenzie

Elkton 62, McKenzie 7

Have you ever witnessed an elk stampede? An elk herd running full tilt leaves a lasting impression, both to the lucky witness and the trampled environment. One might compare the large ungulate to a Sherman Tank, in that, where said beast desires to travel, it generally does so, going over, or through, any obstacle in its path. That's how elk think works.

Last Friday night, the Eagles hosted an Elk stampede! Elkton made its way North and East from down on the Umpqua River to Wade Thomas Field on the campus of McKenzie to lock horns and talons with the Eagles in a non-league six-man football clash. The Elks (4-1, 5-2, 5th ranked) represented the Special District 2 South League and currently sit in second place, one game behind Powers (4-0, 7-0, 2nd ranked) with one game remaining in the regular season. Elkton travels with fourteen athletes, four of which are seniors and five juniors.

The Elks, both with size and experience, showed the Friday night fans how well they understand the game of six-man football. Elkton took the opening kickoff to pay dirt and never looked back. This night would be another object lesson for the young, resurgent Eagle team.

You can bet McKenzie Head Coach Neil Barrett and staff were taking note of Eagle blocking and tackling techniques. Twisting, spinning, juking, and as elk occasion to do, plowing over, the Elkton offense caromed to a 30-0 first-quarter advantage and led 49-0 at the half. Following the first Elkton TD of the second half, the 40-point mercy rule took effect and a running clock remained for the rest of the game.

Eagle freshman running back Allen Acevedo scored McKenzie's lone TD of the game with 0.04 minutes remaining in the contest, on a pass reception from senior QB Trent Peek. Junior Levi Lockard added the extra point. Peek was 5-11 passing on the evening for a total of 40 yards in the air.

The Eagles rushed as a team for a total of 116 yards. Allen Acevedo carried 12 times for 58 yards and teammate, junior Solomon Acevedo had 10 carries and 57 yards gained. Lockard rushed once for 3 yards and quarterback Peek finished with 12 carries and minus 2 yards. Solomon Acevedo caught two passes for 27 yards and Allen Acevedo hauled in three receptions for 13 yards.

Defensively, the Eagles were led by A. Acevedo with 6 total tackles (3 solos), sophomore Jamie LeClair with 3 total (2 solos), sophomore Jovial Jordan with 3 total (1 solo), Lockard had 1 solo tackle, Peek with 2 tackle assists, and S. Acevedo and junior Thomas Hayes finished with 1 tackle assist apiece.

This week McKenzie will host its Homecoming Activities and the visiting Eddyville Charter Eagles. Eddyville (3-2, 3-3) has some size and 17 athletes on the roster. But if the Eagles can block well offensively and get their backs around the corner for some clear ground and if defensively, they can wrap up their tackles, then the opportunity is there for an upset win. And that would sure make for a lot of good fun twisting, spinning, and juking at the Homecoming Dance later on!

Mt. West League Volleyball Playoffs Set

The 2022 Mt. West League Regular Season has concluded and the MWL Championship Tournament is set and ready to commence. At stake is the crowning of the MWL Tournament Champion and the awarding of the three seeded berths to the 2022 OSAA State Volleyball playoffs. Mohawk is the 2022 MWL Regular Season Champion and is the number one seed in the MWL Tournament. The Mustangs have earned a bye, until the MWL Tournament Championship match. The rest of the field, based on their finishes in the Regular Season are Eddyville Charter (2), Triangle Lake (3), Alsea (4), Crow (5), and Mapleton (6). Siletz Valley and McKenzie finished 7th and 8th in the final Regular Season standings and did not qualify for the MWL Tournament. The two lowest seeds, Mapleton and Crow, kick-off Tournament play on Thursday, Oct. 20, at Crow. The winner advances to Saturday's (Oct. 22) Tournament Day to be held at Junction City High School. The losing team is done for the season. On Saturday, the first match of the day begins with #3 Triangle Lake versus #2 Eddyville Charter at 9:00 am. The second match, starting at 11:00 am, will feature #4 Alsea versus Thursday's winning team (Mapleton or Crow). Starting at 1:00 pm., the losing team of the previous match (Alsea/Crow or Mapleton) will play the losing team of the earlier Triangle Lake/Eddyville match. The winning team of this match will represent the MWL as the #3 seed in the OSAA State playoffs and the losing team will earn the #4 seed. The winning team of the 1:00 pm match will meet Regular Season Champion Mohawk in the MWL Tournament Championship match, held at 3:00 pm. The winner of this match will represent the MWL as the top seed in the OSAA State playoffs and the losing team will earn a second seed. This is the first season the OSAA is allowing four seeded teams from each Class 1A League in the State to qualify for the State Tournament. Thus, 32 teams will qualify for the 2022 State Tournament. The OSAA Class 1A State Finals, featuring the Final Eight teams left standing, will be held at Ridgeview High School, in Redmond, on November 4th and 5th.