Karinna Leonard (right) races Central Linn’s Mya Rowland to the ball during Creswell’s Senior Night game. GINI DAVIS/THE CHRONICLE
FOOTBALL
Game: CHS shut out Jefferson 35-0 on Nov. 1
Recap: The Bulldogs started four seniors on Friday when Creswell turned up the lights and the score on Senior Night – their last game of the season. After a scoreless first quarter, senior QB Dallton Dewey took matters into his own hands and ran in two TDs at 12 and nine yards. In the third quarter, Dewey ran 3 yards for a third touchdown, giving the Dawgs a 21-0 lead. In the fourth quarter, Dewey threw the ball 12 yards to Caleb Wilson. ”I think it says a lot about our defense that we were able to shut out a team we lost to only last season,” said coach Scott Worsham. In the fourth quarter, Nano Giffen ran five yards for the team’s last TD of the season, giving the seniors one last taste of a victory.
”Caleb really led our defense this game, making big and crucial hits on the defensive line. He had over 100 tackles this year, which really kept up our momentum on that side of the ball this season,” Worsham said. Tyler Nicol, Logan Johnson and Tyler Atwood also build up Creswell’s growing defense, and all will be returning next season for the Bulldogs.
Reflections: ”We wanted to end our season with a winning record, plus we finished third in our league. Going 1-8 last year, that’s definitely the progress we want to see,” Worsham said. ”We have a lot of guys coming back next year, with a young but maturing defense, so we’ll just have to see what happens next year.” A new starting QB will also be developed in the offseason, with Dewey set to graduate in the spring. Worsham said of Dewey, ”The last practice was pretty hard knowing that it was the last practice I’d have him there for. He’s such a great kid, great football player and amazing athlete in general. I’m glad we could get the ‘w’ for the seniors to end our season on such a high note.”
VOLLEYBALL
Match: vs. Harrisburg, Oct. 29.
Results: Creswell won 3-0: 25-10, 25-9, 25-20.
Recap: The Lady Dawgs swept Harrisburg in their league playoff game, clinching second place in the Mountain Valley Conference and their spot in the state championships.
Creswell stats: Sarah Lanz led the ”ace race” with 12 aces, as Creswell upheld their reputation for superior serving. ”We’ve always been a really strong serving team, but 12 aces for one player in a game is outstanding,” said coach Anna Baltrusch. ”We missed a couple of serves in the last set that allowed them (Harrisburg) to get a little closer to us but we had limited errors throughout the match and it was a fun game for us overall.”
Breanna Dapron had 17 kills and 15 digs, Jane Marquess had 17 digs and Janessa Mallory had 21 assists for Creswell.
Reflections: ”This is always the most stressful game of the season. The first playoff game, right after the regular season, tensions are high for everyone. The girls came out ready to play and did a great job executing our game plan,” Baltrusch said.
Game: vs. Scio, Nov. 2.
Results: Creswell swept Scio 3-0: 25-13, 25-17, 25-16 at home in round one of the state playoffs, punching their ticket to the quarterfinals at Forest Grove HS.
Recap: ”Serving is the key to any game. Every game comes down to serve and serve receive. We committed to a good attack at serve receive and saw the results from that,” Baltrusch said.
Creswell stats: Marquess had 15 digs, Mallory had 14 assists, and 4 aces, Bryndal Olson had 15 assists and senior captain Kylee Whitson had 10 kills and 3 aces for the Bulldogs.
Reflections: ”Breanna, Kylie and Sarah are all amazing hitters that bring good leadership to our team too. Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve really seen the girls glue together and become more like family, rather than just teammates. You can see it on the court and in how they’re playing that they’re bonding off the court and becoming stronger as a unit,” Baltrusch said. ”You get to know who is friends with whom as you go through the season and last week saw two of my girls hugging each other that maybe don’t run in the same circles, but volleyball brought them together.”
BOYS’ SOCCER
Games: CHS beat Elmira at home 2-0 on Oct. 28; the Bulldogs won at Central Linn 4-2 on Oct. 29; and then Creswell went back to Central Linn for a state playoff game on Saturday, Nov. 2, which the Dawgs lost 2-1.
Recap: Before the playoff loss, the Bulldogs hadn’t lost a game since Oct. 3, winning or playing to a tie in their remaining games to close out the regular season. ”Brandi (Wittenborn) has done such an amazing job of building up the Creswell Soccer program in such a short period of time. We’ve come so far with these kids and she’s really worked hard and done an amazing job,” said Creswell girls’ soccer coach Dan Smathers. Creswell’s playoff loss left them at third in the league, ending their season for 2019.
GIRLS’ SOCCER
Game: at Elmira, Oct. 28.
Results: CHS lost 3-0.
Recap: Elmira finished third in the 4A Sky-Em league and ”was a good team; they constantly had us under assault and we had a hard time getting some offense going,” coach Dan Smathers said.
Reflections: ”This year was a big rebuilding year for us. We lost a First Team All-State player and only had three returning starters,” Smathers said, adding that ”even though we have six seniors graduating, we have some great lowerclassmen that will make up a really great, young offense next year.”
Game: vs. Central Linn, Oct. 29,.
Results: Creswell lost 2-0.
Recap: CHS has six seniors on this year’s team – Guinevere DeVore, Jillian Greenfield, Riley Lamm, Shelby Lamm, Nicole Wood, and Carley Wilkerson – and all got the start on Senior Night. ”Scores really don’t indicate just how good we were on defense. It was a struggle at times because when you spend 90% of your time on defense, it doesn’t shine through the way it should,” Smathers said. ”We were hoping the momentum of getting our first win would maybe generate some offense, but we have to keep building with our fundamentals.”
Reflections: The last time the Bulldogs met Central Linn, they lost 5-0. ”I think it says a lot about our defense if you look at this year’s final and last year’s final. Our biggest leap this year was our growth with our defense,” Smathers said. ”This group of girls made it so easy to want to come and coach them. They’re such outstanding and quality individuals. They never missed practice and they worked so hard to make huge strides forward, individually and as a team.”
CROSS COUNTRY
Meet: Special District 4 Championships, LCC, Oct. 29.
Team results: The Creswell boys finished second overall at districts this year with 60 points, behind Brookings. Clinching second place ensured the entire Bulldog boys’ team will be competing at the OSAA 3A State Championships at LCC on Saturday, Nov. 9.
Individual results: Creswell had two finishing in the top five to help its team win a spot in the championships. Brandon Moehlmann finished second overall in the boys’ 5,000m with a time of 17:14.90 and teammate Josiah Lee finished fifth overall in 18:10.10.
Quoteable: ”They work really hard and have improved a lot because of it. I don’t have to ask them to run harder because I know they always give me their best,” coach Jonathan Ferguson said.
– Compiled by Jordan Lampe
