By Jeremy McDonald

jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

SALEM, Ore.–  It was an year of improvement for the Royal Scots Football team in 2016.

They were in games, they battled through the adversity of not just their opponent, but with injuries as well.

But they got through it, they came together as a team and improved no matter the circumstance en route to a 2-6 Greater Valley Conference, 2-7 overall record as they laid the foundation behind their seniors.

Entering their final game versus Sprague, the Olympians hosted a community fundraiser event in which 2,000 dollars were raised that went towards the McKay Turf Project.

Something that was cool to see said Matt Jarding.

“It’s amazing, I couldn’t never have asked another school to do that for us,” said Jarding.  “That kind of sportsmanship and that kind of class that they show is unparallel. I just want to thank them very much and hope to do a lot with them in the future.”

When the game started, the Scots had a 3-0 lead entering the second quarter before Sprague scored twice quickly with 3:38 left in the opening half.

Noah Tavera, led an inspiring last minute drive to close out the half however.

Tavera had back-to-back passes, followed by back-to-back runs.  The Olys slowed the offense down before two more completions by Tavera put them on the 3 with 11 second left.

Jarding pushed it up a yard before Adolfo Lua-Anaya hit a field goal with time expiring to cut Sprague’s lead to 14-6.

“We knew they were a good team, big school and if I didn’t come out there with my head up and some energy out of me.  I knew that we were going to struggle because without some positive motivation I know we’re going to struggle a little bit.”49

The Olympians were too strong however down the stretch, outscoring McKay 44-0 in the second half.

Despite that, you saw the effort that the Scots had in trying to find something to continue their momentum into the offseason, and it started by the seniors like Jarding, Tavera and the rest of the seniors.

“That’s one of the most important,” said Jarding. “Cause like I said, the old McKay Culture is, they’ll get up by one-, two-scores in past years, kids would give up so.

“Crazy stuff happens in football and you never know what’s going to happen so being able to fight through it was one of the most important parts of it.”101

And the younger guys took note as they did all season long, they wanted to not let the seniors down.  Yeah the scoreboard didn’t reflect them putting forth, but you knew they were taking notes to build forth on what the seniors provided them entering the next year.

For role players like Cyrus Mora, though they didn’t see much playing time his senior year, he knew it was important to be ready to go no matter the circumstance as he saw his team improved.

“Honestly, the dedication that we had for this team,” said Mora.  “The improvement kept on continuously improving and that’s what we wanted to see this whole season, and as seniors, I’m tremendously proud of my team.

“We accomplished so many things and throughout the season, we kept on improving which we all saw.  Even though we didn’t get much playing time, we knew if we would’ve stepped out, we would’ve made something happen.”

As the clock hit 0 and the scoreboard read what it read: Sprague 48, McKay 6, the Scots have a lot to rest their hats on how they’ve improved this season as they gather as a team for the final post-game talk.

Head Coach Josh Riddell and his staff shared some thoughts to them, and as they slowly moved to the locker room after the break and Olys Tyler Price making his way over to personally shake hands with Jarding; the future is now for McKay.

And now it’s time to build off that foundation.

“We just have to work hard in the offseason and just continue to get better and keep working,” said Khlyer Beach.

Follow Jeremy McDonald on Twitter at @J_McDonald81 or like jmcdonaldmedia on Facebook!

Photos By Jeremy McDonald