By Jeremy McDonald

jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

STAYTON, Ore.–  There was excitement in the air in Stayton Tuesday night as the Eagles hosted Newport on Senior Night in front of a packed crowd of both Newport and Stayton Eagle fans.

That excitement carried over into the game itself as Courage Minten scored the first goal of the game within seconds of the first whistle to give Stayton a quick 1-nil lead.

For much of the next 79 minutes, the game could’ve gone really either way as both teams were throwing elbows, tackling one another, making drives to be stop by the other’s goalie before scoring.

Levi Summers described the physicality of the game as that to the OSAA 4A State Title game last season versus Sisters.

“This game, I believe, was as intense as our State Final match last year,” he said.  “And depending what was at stake, is we won, get league championship; if they win, they get it.  It was very intense in that factor.”

Halftime was the only time these to hard-fighting teams had a breather as the fight continued, Jose Navarro was saving everything, making plays and playing like a senior and not a sophomore.

Up front, David Ramirez, Minten and Alex Cramer was driving looking to increase their lead, but to no avail as the Cubs backline refused to allow one to get in.

The half roared on like a storm, and the fighting and battling didn’t let up as the time wind down to 10.

That’s when Newport managed to somehow squeeze a goal in as the upperclassmen heavy team jolted the young Eagles by tying the score.

But that didn’t slow them down as Cramer and Ramirez had opportunities in the final 10 minutes, trying to break the tie.

They weren’t able to break it as time expired and the Cubs fans ran onto the field in celebration.

On the other side of the field, as they walked to their bench, the Eagles were greeted by their own celebration by their fans as they sang the Stayton fight song and celebrated a great season.

“It was one of our complete games,” said Cramer.  “We definitely pushed it, that was some top quality soccer we were playing out there.  And it’s definitely exciting, skies the limits basically cause we’re on the rise up, (but) we usually do this at the end of the season anyway.”

With the playoffs coming, a game like this will definitely fire them up seeing another team winning on their field.

“Everyone is going to be really excited and really going to push through since everyone really disappointed, and we’re just very disappointed in this game and actually taste of defeat really,” said Summers.  “So everyone is just really ready to get to practice tomorrow and start getting ready for our play-in/playoff game that we have.”

Head Coach Chris Shields admitted that yeah he would’ve liked to see the streak continue to seven this year, but he knew it had to come to an end eventually.

He was proud of how his team played against a Cubs team that had more ‘experience’ on paper than his team, but he was happy with how his team stepped up to Newport’s level.

“It was good considering, Newport and the fact that they’re a very strong squad, very strong team and I don’t know how many seniors within his entire program.  We have four,” said Shields.

“So to see that and for us to play with some effort, played like it mattered is always fun to watch.  It’s always good to see.  But I’m happy, I’m happy with kids playing above their level and really playing with a lot of energy and a lot of desire.  It’s good to see.”

This proud, excited feeling will help fuel the Stayton team into the playoffs, knowing that they can play a full 80 minutes and compete throughout it at a level that’s Playoff-Caliber and State-Winning Caliber as well.

With their play-in opponent yet to be determined, they will go to practice Wednesday knowing that they’ll be ready to go by playoff time.

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Photos By Jeremy McDonald