By Jeremy McDonald

jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com

West Salem’s Brooks Ferguson (Football), North Salem’s Josiah Davis (Football), Sprague’s Riley Davis (Football), West Salem’s Emmi Marks (Volleyball), Sprague’s Nicky Williams (Volleyball) and North Salem’s Isa Swain (Cross Country) were honored by the Salem Sports and Breakfast Club for the Week of October 29.

Here’s the complete press release:

The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week, from West Salem Football, is Brooks Ferguson.  Brooks, a senior, is the starting quarterback for the 7-1 Titans who are currently 5-0, leading the Mountain Valley Conference, and ranked 8th in the state by the OSAA.  In the 34-28 win over McNary, Brooks completed 14 of 17 for 213 yards and a touchdown.  He also added 22 yards on the ground and two touchdowns. Congratulations Brooks from the Salem Sports and Breakfast Club!

The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week, from North Salem Football, is Josiah Davis.  Josiah, a junior, is a running back for the 5-3 Viks and 9th ranked Vikings who are currently #3 in their conference behind the #2 and #4 teams in the state at the 5A level.  In the 35-34 win over Scappoose Josiah had 31 carries for 325 yards and 4 TDs.  He also converted 5 PATs in the game.  In the win over Forest Grove the week prior, he had 5 TDs. Josiah has combined for 64 total points in the two weeks.  For the season he has 88 carries for 874 yards and 15 TDs, and is 10 for 10 on PATs. Congratulations Josiah from the Salem Sports and Breakfast Club!

The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week, from Sprague Football, is Riley Davis.  Riley, a junior, is a 2nd year starter at outside linebacker and a running back for the 6-2 and 14th ranked Olys.  In the 55-7 win over South Salem Riley had 203 yards rushing on 23 carries, scoring 4 touchdowns.  Playing in only 6 games this season, Riley has 1077 yards on 154 carries with 13 TDs.  Coach Jay Minyard added, “Riley is coming off of a state championship wrestling season in the spring as well…and is a great leader by example.  He has an outstanding work ethic and sets a tone every day in practice for everyone else to follow. Riley is a great kid and will have lots of options for schools and athletics once he graduates from high school.”  Congratulations Riley from the Salem Sports and Breakfast Club!

The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week, from West Salem Volleyball, is Emmi Marks.  Emmi, a senior, is an outside hitter for the 18-6 Titans.  Against Bend and McNary, Emmi tallied 27 kills on 73 attempts, with a .247 hitting average for the week while adding 5 blocks. She passed a 2.03 in serve receive on 36 attempts, while serving and keeping her opponents to a 1.57 serve receive rate. She accumulated 14 digs on the two games as well.  Coach Brittany Sweet added, “Her consistency, sense of urgency, and leadership helped us play tough against Bend, the #1 team in our league, and helped us win a 5 set thriller over McNary on Senior Night.”

The Titans finished the season as the 4th place team out of the Mountain Valley Conference and 14th ranked team in the state. They hosted a 1st round playoff match versus the 19th ranked Lakeridge Lakers, winning 3-0. The Titans will play a 4:00 p.m. match in the 2nd round at Jesuit tomorrow.

Congratulations to Emmi and the Titans from the Salem Sports and Breakfast Club!

The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week, from Sprague Girls Soccer, is Nicky Williams.  Nicky, a senior, is a midfielder for the 9-3-2 Olys. Nicky had a strong week last week that helped catapult Sprague into the playoffs after a six-year drought. Coach Kevin Plechl shared great summaries of last week’s two games and how Nicky came up big for the team.  

“On Tuesday versus the McKay Royal Scots [also a playoff team], Nicky finished the evening with a hat trick (3 goals) and an assist. For her first goal she made a run toward the top of the box, collected a pass from the left wing with a super 1st touch, and finished the shot into the lower right corner past the diving McKay keeper, which equalized the game at 1-1. Two minutes later Nicky worked herself free in the box and after a fake shot by her teammate the ball rolled through to her where she took a prep-touch and finished the opportunity in the lower left corner, beating the diving goalkeeper again. For the Olympians third goal Nicky received a pass back off a target, played a lovely weighted through ball in behind the Royal Scot’s back line where her teammate finished the opportunity, affording Nicky the assist. In the Olympians fifth and final goal, Nicky combined on a give and go to get in behind the Scot’s back line where she kept a cool head in the 1 vs 1 situation and passed the ball under the charging McKay goalkeeper. The Olys finished the evening with the 5-2 win, and Nicky played a huge role in the win.”

“With only one day of rest Nicky was back at it again Thursday evening versus the South Salem Saxons. In a must win, to secure the potential for a third place Mountain Valley Conference finish, Nicky brought her “A” game once again and added a brace (two goals) and an assist on the evening. After the Olys went down 0-1 early in the match, she equalized it at 1-1 ten minutes later. Her first of two goals were a dominant header off a corner kick. She made a run into the box, adjusted her run and backed up a couple of steps, and managed to get a massive amount of power into the header. It was an absolutely beautiful, dominant header goal! It was because of her quick thinking, that the Olys went up 2-1. She took a quick free kick and played a nice through ball in behind the Saxon’s defense. Her teammate made a great run in behind and slotted it in front of the goal where another teammate finished the opportunity. In the third and final goal, she received a pass back to the top of the box where she took a prep touch and struck a rocket shot to the far post past the standing Saxon keeper who knew she was beaten by that rocket coming off Nicky’s foot. The Olympians came away with the win, 3-1.”

Coach KP added, “to give us a chance of securing a 3rd place finish and guaranteeing our playoff appearance, we knew we needed two wins this week. We missed Nicky in the early part of the season due to an injury, but she has been recovering well and looks to be back to herself. I am so proud of the week she put in, as well as her teammates. We got the two wins and secured a third-place finish in league. With our ranking in the top 16,  it’s looking really good for hosting a home playoff match Saturday. Without the back-to-back outstanding performances by Nicky, we’d be sitting in a much different position. Of the eight goals scored this week, Nicky converted five of them. She had an outstanding week for the Olympians!”

The Olympians will in fact be hosting the Lakeridge Lakers tomorrow at 2:00 p.m.

Congratulations to Nicky and the Olys from the Salem Sports and Breakfast Club!

The Salem Sports and Breakfast Club Les Schwab Athlete of the Week, from North Salem Girls Cross Country, is Isa Swain.  Isa is a senior runner for the Viks.  Isa is currently ranked 2nd in the State for 5A.  Coach Hannah Clarizio shared, “She [Isa] has consistently been running the 5k in under 19 minutes and has a personal record of 18:26. She is an excellent team leader, treats all of her teammates kindly, and encourages them to love running.”  Congratulations Isa from the Salem Sports and Breakfast Club!

High school sports matter.