Football:
The varsity football squad’s campaign ended Nov. 17 in the quarterfinals of the OSAA state playoffs, the furthest a Pirate team has gone into postseason in many years.
After a long and successful season, they were taken down in an elimination game against Scappoose, who went on to lose in the state championship game.
Head coach Josh Line reflected positively on the season.
“Looking at it in a big picture, I really think this season was a big success, and I hope to capitalize on it next season,” Line said.
League awards came in plenty for the Pirates.
Senior running back Matt McAllister won the Far West League offensive MVP award and there were many other offensive and defensive first-team awardees. McAllister was chosen at running back, senior Ben Martin was first-team wide receiver, senior Corey Shaffer was chosen as the center and junior Mason Jussila was chosen as a first-team offensive lineman.
The Pirate’s defense also received top honors for many seniors including seniors Isaac Smith as a defensive lineman, Justin Cooper and Ben Martin as defensive backs and DJ Herrington as a linebacker.
There were plenty of other players who received second-team or honorable mention, including seniors Gary Jantzer and Rylee Trendell, juniors Andrew Post, Cesar Castro and Ian Emlet and sophomore Tyler Post.
Line said he appreciated the seniors and what they have done for the program.
“I think we owe the seniors a lot, having established a culture of winning here,” Line said.
Volleyball:
A Far West League championship, the league MVP, first-team and second-team all-state honors and a fifth place finish at the OSAA 4A volleyball state tournament wrapped up a strong season.
Led by Far West League Coach of the Year Tammie Montiel, varsity volleyball finished 10-0 in the league and 22-3 overall.
The season began with two weeks of volleyball camp. One week was open to any MHS students interested in volleyball, while the other was a team camp shared with 14 other schools. The team also played several non-league games early on and throughout the season.
“That preseason we just kind of use as a means of working out our rotations and figuring out what the best line-up will be for the rest of the season,” Montiel said.
Marshfield won its first playoff game at home against Junction City. A week later, the team traveled to Forest Grove and won a quarterfinal game before losing to Sisters in the semifinals.
Montiel said although her team did not place as well as it wanted, they had a successful season which included a league title and several individual player awards. McKenzie Allison received first-team all-state honors and Hailee Woolsey received second-team all-state honors.
“Mallory Heyer and Alex Locati were honorable mention all-league, Kelsey Jackson was second-team, and then Shaylynn Jensen, Carli Clarkson, Hailee Woolsey and McKenzie Allison were on first-team, and McKenzie was the league MVP,” Montiel said.
Cross Country:
Three runners advanced to the OSAA 4A state cross country championships on Oct. 31 after strong running at the Far West League Championships a week earlier.
The team had new leadership this year with Coach Steve Delgado, who took over after Doug Landrum retired from coaching last year.
“Overall the season went well. We’re a relatively young team, we’re also relatively small for our student size, so there’s a big focus on getting more kids to come out so that we can grow the program,” Delgado said. “That will allow us to compete with some of the larger and more established programs.”
During the state meet, on the boys side, senior Sawyer Heckard placed eighth and junior Ian Emlet placed 28th.
On the girls side, freshman Jazmin Chavez placed ninth.
Heckard and Chavez both earned second-team all-state honors for their efforts.
Prior to the district meet, Emlet said the county fair meet was a good tune-up race.
“The County Fair was a big meet for all of us, we all had big PRs [personal records], I ran my fastest time of 16:45 and Sawyer had a big PR. That was a critical meet for the team,” Emlet said.
This success motivated Emlet and other teammates for upcoming meets.
“I just realized that we had the potential to do a lot of big things this year and that I had to start working hard to get back in it,” Emlet said.
Soccer:
Boys soccer advanced to the state playoffs while both finished in the top four in the Far West League (FWL).
The girls team finished fourth in the FWL, with a record of four wins, nine losses and one tie.
The boys finished third in league play, with an overall record of six wins, eight losses and one tie. The Pirates beat out Douglas for the third place spot, as they had five wins and four losses within the league.
The boys state playoff berth was a feat they were not able to achieve last year.
The two teams had standout players on the field who received honors for performing well throughout the season.
Seniors Juan Millan Figueroa and Hunter Drops made FWL first-team all-league. Junior Jaime Flores and sophomore Cody Eastwood made second team all-league, while honorable mention all-league players included senior Lucca Magdaleno and junior James Crompton.
On the girls side, there were no first-team selections, but there were many second-team and honorable mentions. Of those, the second-team selections from Marshfield included seniors Katie Whitty, Kiannah Emery and Asha Huffman. Huffman was chosen as the goalkeeper.
From the honorable mentions list, there were three awardees, including seniors Nicole Cowan and Bridget Thurman and junior Dianna Chavez.
Both teams had many seniors, including eleven on the girls team and four on the boys team, (who had a small team of thirteen), which will be a loss of experience, but opens the door for new players to lead the Pirates next year.
