Video clips posted

Video clips from the OH vs Kamiak volleyball match and the OHYFL Lynx at Arlington football game are now posted at http://www.youtube.com/user/OakHarborSportsReport

Girls Basketball - fall league

The Oak Harbor High School girls basketball team is fielding both a JV and Varsity team in the fall league through the Skagit County Parks & Recreation department, and both teams had games on Sunday, Sep 21st.

The JV team is made up primarily of freshmen, with sophomores and juniors used as needed to fill the roster. The JV squad is coached by Keely Smollack and the varsity by long-time youth basketball coach Gary Brundidge.

The varsity game was first, against Arlington. It looked good for the 'Cats, as the held a 25-13 halftime lead, but after that, Arlington took over on both ends of the court. The 2nd half was very physical, and OH wasn't able to get their offense in gear, scoring only 8 points to Arlington's 26, and the girls wound up on the short end of a 39-33 score.

The JV game was similar, in that the girls held a 17-14 halftime lead over Mt. Vernon, but the our girls had a hard time getting rebounds on both ends of the court while Mt. Vernon was able to get 2 and even 3 shots off during each possession. By the end of the game Mt. Vernon turned their deficit into a 34-25 victory.

Photos from both JV and Varsity can be seen HERE.

Youth football - Lynx @ Arlington

The Oak Harbor Lynx peewee football team went to Arlington for a game against the Eagle Gold team and came away with a win.

The game started out well for the Lynx. OH kicked the ball just over 10 yards, and Arlington could not get to it in time and the Lynx recovered for a 1st & 10 on the Arlington 49. On the very first play from scrimmage, a nice run resulted in the Oak Harbor TD. The run was good, so with just 21 seconds used up in the 1st quarter, it was Lynx 7, Eagle Gold 0. On the next OH kickoff, there was the same result - Arlington erred and OH recovered, again at the Arlington 49. Arlington caught a break as OH fumbled the snap and the Eagles recovered. However on THEIR first snap, Arlington fumbled with OH recovering and a 1st & 10 on the Arlington 44. 3 plays later the score was Lynx 14, Eagles 0.

Arlington was able to down the next OH kickoff, but the drive lasted only 5 plays before failing to convert a 4th & 8. On the next Lynx drive, it took only 2 plays for another score, this one a beautiful pass from the Arlington 45 that was caught at the 34 and run in for the score. The PAT failed, but it was now Lynx 20, Eagles 0 with 3:56 left in the 1st.

The Lynx continued their domination of the Eagles by scoring another TD on a 27 yard run with 7:59 left in the half pushing the score to 26-0. Arlington finally got on the board with 9:44 left in the 3rd with a 45-yard run on the first play after the 2nd half kickoff.

When next on offense, OH shifted to a wishbone offense, but a 5-play drive ended with a fumble, but an Arlington fumble 2 plays later gave the ball back to Oak Harbor, who then needed 5 plays to score on a run from the Arlington 25, increasing the score to 32-7. With the OH defense made up with at least 50% non-starters, in accordance to league policy, the Eagles were able to move the ball down inside the OH 10, and on a 4th-and-goal, was able to run for a score with 9:51 in the 4th.

Oak Harbor fumbled on their next possession, but the defense forced Arlington into a 4th & 23 situation, and was able to stop the run attempt. 5 plays later, it was another Oak Harbor touchdown. The score is now 38-14 for the Lynx.

Arlington covered the OH kickoff (made from the 20 due to the score) at the OH 29, and with a 3rd & 13 from the Lynx 32, ran it all the way to the Lynx 4. The Lynx defense stiffened, and forced a fumble on the 1st & goal play, recovering in the end zone for a touchback. The Lynx were able from there to run the clock out and win by a final score of 38-14 and extend their record to 3-1.

Look for some video highlight clips to be posted by Monday morning.

Youth soccer at Ft. Nugent Park

The Oak Harbor Sports Report went to see two youth soccer game held at a wet Ft. Nugent Park this past Saturday, Sept. 20th. There were 15 games in total Saturday morning, ranging from 6 to 10 years old.

The first game covered was a Boys U-8 game between the Blue Bullets and a team sponsored by Martin Electric. At that age, the game is played on a short field, and only 3 players on each side, plus goalies. From my viewpoint, the Blue Bullets were in control of the game, making shot after shot on the Martin Electric goal. However, due to the extraordinary efforts of the Martin Electric goalie, most of the shots did not get into the goal. After the game, I talked with coach Eric Johnston of the Blue Bullets. He said his boys "hustled hard and had good passing", and that there was great improvement from the beginning of the season.
34 photos of the two teams are posted HERE

The other game was a U-6 girls game featuring the Bluebirds and the Red Roses, sponsored by Best Friends Veterinary Clinic and Jane Koetje of Re/Max Real Estate. At the U-6 level, both teams have only 3 players on the field and there is no goalie, but that is countered by a smaller goal net. This game was also fun to watch as you could easily see that not only were the girls working hard, but having fun. Coaches Edgar and Crystal Nunez of the Red Roses said his team "did an awesome job", and "played as a team". Coach Sean Merrill of the Blubirds said that "everyone played better", and it was "great watching the girls grow". I got the distinct impression that all the coaches were very proud of their girls.

32 photos of the Bluebirds-Red Roses game are posted HERE

Boys Tennis

The tennis team, short the #1 and #3 singles players, Derek Thomas and Jordan Kingma went to then 3-1 Marysville for a WESCO North conference match.

With the loss of two top players, the Wildcats were unable to put much pressure on the Tomahawks, and went down 6-1. The lone OH winner was Sophomore Josh Evans over M-P Senior Barry Jacobsen, 6-4, 7-6(3)

Paul Jewell and Joel Valles moved from their #1 doubles spot to the #3 and #4 singles, and both lost by identical 6-3, 6-2 scores. Moving Jewell and Valles up bumped the team of Rick Baleros and Max O'Dell to #1 doubles and put sophomore Geoff Worley and Freshman Tyler Dodge in at the #3 doubles spot against a junior and senior.

The tennis team travels to Cascade next Wednesday and hosts Stanwood on Friday.

Ugly - that's the only word for it

The Oak Harbor Wildcat football team traveled to Everett Memorial Stadium for a non-conference game against the WESCO 3A Everett Seagulls, and came away with their second loss on the season. The 22-0 loss was the Wildcat's first shutout since losing to Mountain View 49-0 in November of 2002.

The game started out looking good, with Brad Farnum moving the ball up the middle, but the drive stalled and OH could not convert on the 4th down play.

From then on, Everett seemed to be able to move the ball at will, both on the ground and through the air, and broke several long plays for scores.

Oak Harbor was never able to get the offense really going, but twice had the ball inside the Everett 10, but fumbled on both attempts at scoring. The 'Cats faced several 4th down attempts but could not convert any of them.

There were some positives in the game, among them two sacks and a fumble recovery by Chris Neumiller, some nice kickoff returns, all going out past the 20, and a tackle for loss late in the game by Greg Goebel and Michael Repose.

There is some great video of Neumiller's sacks, and shots of Farnum early in the game. Look for video clips on Monday.

Next up for the Wildcats is 2-1 Mt. Vernon at home next Friday.

Other scores of note from Friday:
Mt. Vernon 34, Sehome 31
King's 23, Coupeville 12
Archbishop Murphy 42, Granite Falls 6
South Whidbey 42, Lakewood 21
Arlington 28, Jackson 22 (OT)
Lake Stevens 35, Stanwood 0
Marysville 20, Glacier Peak 17
Monroe 39, Sedro-Woolley 27
Shorecrest 28, Snohomish 14

Player Profile - Geoff Worley - Sophomore - Tennis

A visit with…. Geoff Worley

Geoff Worley would be one of this year’s top JV tennis players, if we had a JV team. He was born in California on October 27th to Kyle and Mary Worley, and moved to Oak Harbor when he was only 1 year old. He has one older brother, Keath. Geoff attended Broadview Elementary, North Whidbey Middle, and is now a sophomore at OHHS.

This is his first year on the OHHS tennis team, although he has been playing recreationally with his father for some time. He really enjoys playing tennis, and it’s his only sport. He doesn’t really know why he likes it or why he chose tennis. It’s sort of like he just fell into it for something to do and found that he liked it. To date his most memorable tennis moment has been in a match where he hit the ball across the net softly, but with a lot of backspin. After crossing the net and hitting the opposite court, the backspin caused it ball to bounce back across the net and into Geoff’s court. It cost him a point, as he was near his baseline and couldn’t get to the ball.

He likes watching football the Everett Silvertips hockey team, and went to a ‘Tips game just a couple of weeks ago. His real love, however, when not playing tennis or doing his homework (he’s an A/B student), is playing video games. His preferred platform is the Xbox 360, and his preferred game is the Legend of Zelda series. After graduating, Geoff is looking at a career in the computer industry, as perhaps a graphic designer, software engineer, or game programmer. Geoff says his most memorable life moment so far was his first trip to Disneyland, when he was in 3rd grade.

At school his favorite subject is 10th Honors English, and his favorite teacher is Mr. Wesley, who he had for geometry as a freshman.

Other activities that Geoff has interest in are listening to ska music and tuning his radio to 107.7. He’s also a budding actor, participating in a number of plays at the Whidbey Playhouse. You may also see Geoff in the company of his girlfriend Laurin Rico, and you may find them watching the 80’s movie “Tron”.

When asked if there was anyplace in the world he would like to live, Geoff responded “Florida, in an area that doesn’t get hurricanes”. Good luck on that one, Geoff!

Thursday was a busy day for Wildcat teams

Let's start with the events I was not at.

Freshman Football
I don't have a final score, but the freshman football team lost a tough road game in Monroe against the Bearcats. Sorry, but I don't have any details. The freshman team next plays at home vs Everett next Wednesday.

Girls Swimming
The opening swim meet of the year was originally scheduled for OH, but was moved to Kamiak. It was a close meet, with the Wildcats falling to the Knights 96-87. The 'Cats did win several events, including the marquee event, the 400 meter freestyle relay, won by the team of Rachel Weinstein, Tori Nickerson, Amanda Streubel, and Karina Concepcion, swimming in a time of 4:00.43. Other events won by Oak Harbor girls were the 200m freestyle, 100 butterfly, 500 freestyle and 100 backstroke. The swimmers hit the water next on Tuesday at the Lynnwood Pool.

Cross Country
The OH runners also opened their season today with a meet at the Wirth Farm off of Boon road against Everett and Stanwood. The event started with the boys JV, with the winner being an Oak Harbor runner whose name escapes me, finishing the 3-mile course in just over 20 minutes. Every Oak Harbor JV runner finished the race, which is not always the case.

In Girls Varsity, it's hard to assess the girls, as they were told not to run too hard by the coach as they are going to Oregon for an elite invitational this weekend. The 5 top runners, senior Kathryn Fisken along with teammates Alison Duvenez, Adrianna Royal, Jessica Denmon and Kimberly Kyle all ran the race together as a team. At the finish, the girls crossed the finish line together, punching a fist across the finish line and shouting "Wildcats" as they crossed. Even with their relaxed pace, they finished in 7th through 11th place. Even at the reduced pace, the girls beat all but one of the Everett runners. As a team, OH scored 45 points to land 2nd place in the meet.

The Boys Varsity race was similar, but different. The top boys were also going to Oregon and were told to hold back a little. Tyler King held back for about half the race, then he kicked it up a little, taking the lead before the 2-mile mark and keeping it to the end, finishing with a 1st place time of 16:47. Other top OH runners were Josh Duhrkopf, Cody Klauer, Michael Wright, and Matt Bolte, all of whom finished in the top 15. XC is in Seaside, Oregon for the weekend, and then is at Kamiak next Thursday.
Cross Country photos (149 of them) are posted here.

Girls Soccer
In Soccer, the JV girls played to a 0-0 tie with Stanwood. While it wasn't a win, the girls played hard. Coach Thompson was most impressed by the team defense, which did a good job in keeping the ball away from the Oak Harbor goal. On the Varsity side, the Wildcats lost 1-0 to 2-1 Stanwood- their 3rd 1-goal loss this year. Coach Barker had good things to say about his girls after the game, among them are "they didn't give up", and "they are a great group of girls...fun to coach". During the game, Coach said he discovered that he had two great bench players who went in and spurred the team. The lone Stanwood goal was a sloppy shot that happened to go in with less than a minute remaining in the 1st half. Next up for the soccer girls is at Everett on Tuesday the 23rd.

Volleyball
The Wildcats hosted Kamiak on Thursday at OHHS. In the Field House, the freshman team fought hard, but dropped all 3 game 5-25, 19-25 and 22-25. Coach Bjork said that despite the score, the first game was when her freshmen played best. The lopsided 1st game score was mostly due to Kamiak being able to get the ball to where our girls weren't. Games 2 and 3 were very close, aided by some good serving by Leah Pantoleon.

JV dropped 2 of their 3 games, 16-25, 25-18 and 23-25. The JV girls were in all 3 games, and according to Sophomore Janesa Ramos "we didn't give up". Sophomore Jordan Faralan added that she felt the team moved well on the court and played very good volleyball.

On Varsity, the Wildcats had their hand full against #5 ranked Kamiak of Mukilteo. Game one was close, with the Wildcats starting off 0-3, but knotting the score at 7 after some good volleyball. From there, though, Kamiak steadily opened a lead until at one point the score was 21-10 Kamiak. The 'Cats dug in, though, and some key kills by Senior Jennifer Jansen pulled Oak Harbor to within 5. From there, the teams traded points; neither gaining ground until the Wildcats simply ran out of points to give, falling 20-25 in the first. In the second, the girls came out fired up and ran to an early 3-1 lead. The game was extremely close, with neither team having more than a 3-point lead. The game continued past the normal 25 limit as in high school volleyball, a team has to win by 2 points. OH usually had the advantage during the extra points, but could not get that last point to end the game until Kamiak had a kill to take a one-point advantage, 27-26. A hitting error by the Knights tied it back up at 27, then a timely ace by Junior Emily Meagher followed by a Jansen kill won game 2 for the Wildcats 29-27. Game 3 was eerily similar, with both teams trading kills and hitting errors, keeping the game to within 2 points. With the score tied at 20, Kamiak went on a run of 5 straight points, including 2 service aces to win 25-20. Game 4 was just plain ugly for Oak Harbor as Kamiak showed why they held a state ranking. By the time the 'Cats got their first point, on a net violation by Kamiak, the Knights had scored 13. Even with kills by Jessica Muzzall, Devin Tanner, Kim Mowbray and Marisa Sutherland (back for her 1st game after an emergency appendectomy), Kamiak was able to place the ball well, earning numerous kills. In this game, it's not that the Wildcats were playing badly, it's that Kamiak stepped up and used ball placement to get through the Wildcat defense. Although the Wildcats lost the match, I think they showed they can play great volleyball against good teams, and should have a successful regular season. Look for some YouTube clips over the weekend. The volleyball girls get a week off from competition before facing 1-2 Jackson at home next Thursday.

Changes in the photo galleries

In order to reduce clutter, the photo galleries have been rearranged. All of the spring and summer photos have been moved into their own galleries, leaving the main galleries for current photos.

Right now, the youth sports galleries contains only soccer and football, the middle school gallery is empty (look for cross country and AAU girls basketball soon), and the high school gallery has only the fall sports, which will include fall league basketball.

Click here to get to the spring sports gallery. The spring sports gallery had all the high school spring sports, middle school track and little league baseball, as well as AAU and high school spring league basketball.

Click here to get to the summer sports gallery. The summer gallery is mostly girls basketball, but there is also boys basketball and volleyball.

In all galleries the photos are listed alphabetically by sport, then by date.

Hopefully this will reduce confusion and let you get to the photos you want a little faster.

Friday's varsity football game & new features

Don't forget, the varsity football game at Everett Stadium this Friday doesn't start until 8pm, as it's the nightcap of a double header. First up is Cascade against Mariner, which should be a pretty good game.

Also, Thursday will be a big sports day, with all 5 fall sports in action.
Football - the freshman team travels to Monroe to complete the football sweep of the Bearcats
Cross Country - the first meet of the year will be at the Wirth Farm on Boon Rd.
Girl's Swim - at the Vanderzicht Pool against 0-0Kamiak
Girls Soccer - at home vs 1-1 Stanwood
Volleyball - at home against 2-0 Kamiak

Pick a sport (or 2) and cheer on the Wildcats!

The Oak Harbor Sports report is adding a couple of new features.

First, there will be some sort of poll posted each weekend. The poll can be found at the top of the right hand column. Take 10 seconds and add your opinion.

Second, we're going to be adding player profiles. Each Friday, look for a profile of a JV player, and each Monday a varsity profile. If there is a player YOU would like to see profiled, either leave a comment or send an email to oakharborsportsreport@comcast.net.

First up for Friday is tennis player Geoff Worley.

Finally, don't forget to leave your comments! Feel free to get a discussion going in the comments or rate the video clips.

Tuesday's sports results

It wasn't a good day for Oak Harbor sports on Tuesday.

The Girl's Soccer team traveled to Arlington to face the 2-1 Eagles. The Eagles opened up their offense and two players scored two goals apiece to down the 'Cats 4-0. I don't have the JV results, so would someone help me out?

The Volleyball 'Cats went to to 2-1 Shorewood and took it all the way. OH started with a convincing 25-16 win in game one, and lost by only 2, 23-25 in game 2. The girls came back to take game 3 25-20, but let things get away in game 4, going down 17-25. In the final, 5th game, Shorewood showed poise and finished the match by winning 15-10. Even though the team lost, individual stats were helped by the 5-game match. Senior Kim Mowbray had 5 blocks and added 7 kills to her total, while setter Melany Cone tallied 5 service aces. In talking with Jen Jansen the next day, she couldn't really pin the loss on any one factor, but said hitting errors was the weak area for that match. She said the serving was great and the passing outstanding, but the team just didn't get the job done.

While I don't have game scores, the JV squad went 1-2 against Shorewood. They won the first, but couldn't keep the momentum up and lost the next two. The Freshman team was overpowered by Shorewood, losing all 3 games.

Next up for volleyball is a home match against Kamiak on Thursday, Sept 18th.

Boys Tennis - Monday and Wednesday

At Stanwood HS on Monday the 15th, the Wildcat tennis men fell in their first loss of the season, 4-3.

In the first 3 matches, OH did well in singles and not so well in doubles. It wasn't quite that way at Stanwood. The Wildcat #1, Derek Thomas fell in straight sets to Kyle Koetje, 6-2, 6-1. Stanwood #3 Nate Houde and #4 Kyle Kline gave their OH counterparts, Jordan Kingma and Josh Evans some stiff competition, but the OH men won in straight sets. Kingma won 6-3, 6-4 and Evans 6-4, 6-4. OH #2 Ryan Evans won easily, 6-1, 6-1.

In Double action, Wildcat #1 Paul Jewell and Joel Valles came THIS close to winning, but lost two sets to Stanwood. The scores were 7-6(3) for both sets. Just one more returned serve in each game could have seen the score the other way. OH doubled #2, Rick Baleros and David Marshal, and #3, Matthew Rice and Max O'Dell both lost by identical 6-0, 6-0 scores.

On Wednesday, undefeated Everett came to Oak Harbor, and they left still undefeated, but it was close.

Derek Thomas lost a close first set, 7-6(3), but in the second, with the score tied at 1-1, Thomas had to retired. He played with some forearm and shoulder pain in the first set, and in the second he started cramping in his leg and was forced to retire, forfeiting the second set. Ryan Evans lost his match 6-4, 7-6(3) while Jordan Kingma won his by the same scores. Josh Evans was the other OH singles winner with a 6-3, 6-2 victory.

In doubles, the Jewell/Valles won Oak Harbor's first doubles match of the season, defeating the Everett #1 6-4, 5-7, 6-2. The Baleros/Marshall team lost 6-2, 6-1 and the Rice/O'Dell team lost 6-2, 6-0.

Photos from Wednesday's match are now posted at http://www.shutterfly.com/pro/OakHarborSports/highschool/BTennis917Everett

Sorry, but I wasn't able to stay for the varsity doubles matches, so didn't get any photos.

Varsity football video clips posted

http://www.youtube.com/user/OakHarborSportsReport

JV Football vs Monroe on Sept 15th.

The Oak Harbor JV Football team faced off against the Monroe Bearcats at Wildcat Memorial Stadium on Monday, September 15th, and came away with the victory, 27-6.

Let me start by saying that I don’t know all the players’ names, and don’t have a roster to work from, so some names may be misspelled, or a player may be identified by number or misidentified. If an email is sent to me with the correct/first names and/or spelling, I will correct the article ASAP.

Going into the game, head coach Craig Nurvic’s plan was to run the ball effectively, which the team did, at first. Although it was a nice win, coach felt that penalties, especially on the offense, kept the score lower than it could have been. Coach did like what he saw from the defense, especially with tackling – wrapping up the ball carrier, but there were a couple of times the OH defense should have come up with interceptions rather than incompletions.

To start the game, the Wildcats kicked off deep, but Monroe was able to get a long return and started the game with the ball on the Oak Harbor 34. After two plays the Bearcats were down to the OH 22 with a first down, but a run attempt up the middle was stopped by #80. The next Monroe play was a sweep, but Aaron Boesch was able to slip in the backfield and tackle the runner for a 5 yard loss. Then, on a 4th & 18 play, a combined team of Boesch and Castillo sacked the Monroe QB while he was on a roll out for another 4 yard loss.

The Wildcats took over on their own 34, but went 3-and-out after quarterback Byrne was sacked for a 10 yard loss on a 3rd down play. On the bright side, the Wildcat punt from the OH 27 rolled all the way to the Monroe 20.

On Monroe’s next possession, the first 3 plays went nowhere, then on a 4th & 9, #80 tackled the runner short, and OH now had the ball on the Monroe 28. Nine plays later, 6 of them runs by Higbee, he ran in for the Wildcat touchdown, and with just 26 seconds left in the first, it was Oak Harbor 7, Monroe 0.

On the kickoff, #43 got downfield quickly and tacked the Monroe receiver at his own 25. A nice run by Monroe on the last play of the 1st quarter was stopped short of the first down by Sinchak with a solo tackle.

Starting the 2nd, Monroe had the ball on their own 33 with a 2nd & 2. After a false start flag and two incompletions, the Bearcats punted from their own 43. The kick was partially blocked but rolled to the OH 26. The ‘Cats were not able to move the ball, and after a holding call, were punting from their own 19, but it was solidly blocked giving Monroe the ball 1st & goal on the OH 5. In 4 plays the OH defense pushed the Monroe offense back 6 yards to the 11, and on a 4th down attempt, the Monroe QB was sacked by Ducken at the OH 17. On the first OH play after getting the ball on downs, Carbonne ran the ball out to midfield, but Monroe was able to strip the ball and recover it at the 50. The Wildcat defense again stopped Monroe in 3. On what otherwise was a great punt by Monroe, the downfield man, who was right on the ball, let it roll into the end zone instead of downing it, so OH got the ball on their own 20 rather than their own 1. The ‘Cats again could do nothing with the ball and punted from their own 11. This was just a bad punt, and the net was only 1 yard, so now Monroe had the ball on the OH 11. Monroe’s first play was a sweep to the left, but an OH player was flagged for helmet-to-helmet contact during the tackle, then OH got hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, which moved the ball to just outside the 2 yard line. It took 3 tries, but Monroe was able to punch it in on 3rd down for the score, but failed to make the 2-pt conversion. With 1:22 left in the half, it was OH 7, Monroe 6. The Wildcats were forced to punt on their next possession, and after the high, short punt was caught, the receiver was immediately tackled by Peterson. Monroe had just over 1 minute to get another score, starting from their own 47, but time ran out during a 4th down attempt from the Wildcat 24, and at halftime it was OH 7, Monroe 6.

OH got the kickoff to open the 2nd half, and Andy Haag caught a well-thrown pass for the TD in a drive that lasted 2 plays and 55 seconds. This TD increased the OH lead to 14-6.

After the OH kickoff, Monroe fumbled the snap on the first play and the Wildcats recovered at the Monroe 36. This drive featured 3 incomplete passes, including a 4th down attempt from the Monroe 35 that dropped at the Monroe 15. Monroe got the ball on their own 35 with 10:16 left in the 3rd, and after a 17 play drive that used up 6 minutes of clock, the Bearcats came away empty. The drive featured two really nice tackles by Peterson and a controversial reception by Monroe. The Monroe receiver caught the ball at the sideline and went out of bounds towards the Wildcat stands. Everyone in the stands except the referee could see that the ball was juggled, so a catch and 1st down was awarded. It didn’t matter, as Monroe, again, could do nothing with a 1st & goal except move backwards from the OH 9 to the OH 14. OH was able to move the ball across midfield before the 3rd quarter ended with the Wildcats leading 14-6.

Starting the final quarter, the JV ‘Cats got the ball down to the Monroe 23 before the drive stalled and turned the ball over on downs. Monroe’s offense was still sputtering, and after a sack by Duncan and a tackle for loss by #51, Monroe punted from their own 22. A high snap and pressure by the Wildcat defense caused the Monroe punter to shank the kick which went out of bounds at the Monroe 26.

Oak Harbor then put together another 2-play touchdown drive, this one lasting only 18 seconds. This drive featured a catch and run by Boesch to the 4, then some 2nd & 3rd effort running by Higbee for the score. OH 21, Monroe 6.

Monroe returned the ensuing kickoff from their own 23 to near midfield, but turned the ball over on 4 straight incompletions. OH punted from their own 45, and the defense kept up the pressure on the Monroe QB, forcing two incompletions and two sacks.

OH now had the ball on the Monroe 22. A really nice run on a broken play by Burgoyne went around the right side down to the 10. It was called back, as just as Burgoyne started running, the ref coughed into his whistle, and the play was ruled dead after a gain of only 1 yard. Runs by Higbee, Carbonne, & #84 moved the ball down to the Monroe 7, but a 4th down run failed to make it to the end zone, giving Monroe a chance to score with 1:52 left in the game.

Monroe ran the ball 5 yards up the middle and called a time out with 1:10 left. The pass by Monroe was snagged by Curles at the 19 and ran it to the end zone. The kick failed, setting the score at 27-6 in favor of OH.

After two runs from the Monroe 33 to the Oak Harbor 32, Monroe had their final pass attempt intercepted at the 15 by #84. OH took a single knee to end the game with the final score of Oak Harbor 27, Monroe 6.

38 photos have been posted HERE

13 Video clips are HERE

Girls Swimming - practice photos

42 photos from a practice on Sept 15th have been posted.

http://www.shutterfly.com/pro/OakHarborSports/highschool/GSwim915practice

Volleyball video clips

9 clips posted to YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/user/OakHarborSportsReport

Saturday at Ft. Nugent Park - football and soccer

It was a very busy day at Ft. Nugent Park in Oak Harbor this past Saturday, with 3 youth football games and a bunch of soccer games. Names of players will only be given for the Junior football game, as it is the policy of the Oak Harbor Sports Report to not use names of athletes who are below middle school age.

I'll start with the two soccer games that I know about. Coach Troy Cowan and his U-10 Blue Knights, sponsored by P&L Contractors played a team from Coupeville. The Knights sprinted to a 4-0 first half lead, helped by the outstanding play of the two goalies who stopped every shot on goal. In the second half, Coupeville got in the game with a pair of goals, but the Blue Knights answered with 3 goal of their own to take the game 7-2. Coach Cowan was particularly impressed with the play of the goalies, and with his forward that scored 3 of the team's 7 goals.

In U-12 action, the Oak Harbor Breakers, sponsored by the Oak Harbor Pizza Factory and the Northwest Training Academy, beat a tough Stanwood team 3-1 in a Skagit Valley Youth Soccer game. The two teams played to a 1-1 halftime tie, and shortly after starting 2nd half play, the Breakers avoided giving Stanwood the lead when a penalty kick went over the net. The Breakers went to to score 2 more goals for the victory. The Coach was proud of his girls, and noted that the win was a total team victory, and that good communication between the girls on the field was a key. 59 photos from this game have been posted HERE

Moving to the Oak Harbor Youth Football League, 3 games were played at Ft. Nugent Field. First up was the midget Cougars vs Everett. The game was all Oak Harbor from the beginning, and the team extended their undefeated record to 3-0 with a 47-6 win. The coach attributed much of the scoring gap to his defense, which shut down the Everett offense, keeping them off the field and giving the OH offense more opportunities to score. The win was a total team effort. The Cougars have a bye next week. A few photos have been posted HERE

The Junior Jaguar team played at 11 against the Bulldogs from Mt. Vernon, and again, Oak Harbor dominated both side of the ball. During the first half, the Jags scored 4 touchdowns on the way to a 27-0 lead. The first two were by Sheyenne Sams on run plays, then Zach Jones caught a pass from Sturdevant, and a run by Brent Mertens finished the first half scoring.

Opening the 2nd half Mt. Vernon got on the board first, but the kickoff was fielded by Jones and returned to the end zone and a 34-7 Oak Harbor lead. Mt. Vernon followed with another TD but didn't convert, leaving the score at 34-13. The Mt. Vernon defense stiffened, and on an Oak Harbor punt attempt, the snap went high and over the punter's head. MV capitalized on this error and scored again, closing the score to 34-20.

34 points was not enough for Sams, who scored again on the ground, moving the scoreboard to 40-20. The Bulldogs took the OH kickoff all the way down to the OH 32, and after a acouple of plays tried to pass it into the end zone, but it was picked off by Jones right at the goal line. He ran it back up the sideline to about the 30 where a Mt. Vernon player knocked the ball out of his hands. Raymond Quinday, a very large lineman, was right with Jones when the ball came out, picked it up off the ground and finished what Jones started. Time ran out during the play, leaving the final score at 46-20. Coack Skerjanec said it was a "wonderful, all-around performance by 1-35 on the team". In addition to the offensive output, cousins Troy and Jacob Sturdevant were a force on defense, along with Rhys Mattila and Blaine Coleman. We're looking forward to seeing these players on the high school team in the next few years. 44 game photos and 25 cheerleader photos are HERE.

Finally, the Pee-Wee Lynx team faced an inexperienced and very small, both in size and numbers, team from Darrington. The Lynx received the opening kickoff and #80 returned it straight to the end zone. When Darrington first got the ball, the went 3-and-out with a loss of 10 yards. Due to the penetration of the Lynx defensive line, Darrington wasn't even able to get the ball handed off. Other first-half scores were made by #22 on a 4th & 1 play, #29 on a nice run from the 40, and #37 who ran a sweep around the right from midfield.

In the 2nd half, Darrington got on the board twice, both scored on runs by the QB. The Lynx scored one more touchdown when a pitch by the quarterback was fumbled, but he picked it up and ran around the right side to pay dirt. After the game, Coach Bell said "everyone gave everything all game", and the key to the game was the dominance of the Lynx defensive line. 38 game photos and 16 cheer photos have been posted HERE. The photos include team photos with the famous Lynxmobile.

OH Football, 9-12-08

The Oak Harbor Wildcats traveled to Monroe for their first league game of the season and came away with a 28-10 win.

This is the second year in a row the Wildcats have hit the road to Monroe. Last year the Wildcats pounded Monroe 47-21 in a pouring rain during Monroe's 0-10 season. This year the Bearcats started out with a new coach, and a win, beating Shorewood 20-6.

Monroe got the opening kick at their own 35, but after an 11 yard gain on the first play, wound up punting 4 plays later after two tackles for loss and a sack. OH mufffed the punt, but it looked to me like it was interference. In the end, OH got the ball on their own 35, but could do nothing with it, punting with a 4th and 9 on their own 36. Monroe brought the punt out to the 34, but backed up to the 25 due to an illegal block. 4 plays later they punted back to Oak Harbor, who returned the favor after 5 plays. With just over 3 minutes left in the first and Monroe on their own 34 with 2nd & 8, Clarence LaMont intercepted the Monroe pass at the 50, returning it to the Monroe 37. Runs by Brad Farnum, Donovan Hunt and Stephen Lewis, along with a Lewis reception had the ball down to the Monroe 10 and a 3rd & 1 when time ran out in the first with the score 0-0.

Starting the 2nd, Farnum ran the ball down to the 7 and Hunt took it into the end zone with 11:25 left in the half.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Monroe returner fielded the ball at his own 1, and was able to run the ball all the way to the Oak Harbor 37 before being tackled by kicker Kevin Flavin. It was a really nice solo tackle. Flavin wrapped him up and brought him down in a textbook manner.

Monroe then moved the ball down to the 22, and were facing a 4th & 4. Going for it, the Monroe QB through a pass that looked like it could be intercepted, but instead OH was called for Pass Interference and Monroe had a new set of downs at the OH 11 with 7:50 left in the half. Two plays later the Monroe running back went around the left and and dove across the corner of the end zone for the TD with 6:06 remaining.

OH took the short Monroe kick at the 32, running it out to the 41. After an incomplete pass, Lewis took the ball 59 yards for the score, making it 14-7 OH with 5:48 left.

Monroe retaliated with a a nice drive of 4 runs and 3 passes, including a 22-yard catch for a score, knotting the score at 14. OH was able to move the ball to the Monroe 45 before time ran out in the half.

OH received the opening kick of the 2nd half, but went 3-and-out. A rather poor punt gave Monroe great field position at the OH 48. Monroe, assisted by another Oak Harbor Pass Interference call, moved the ball to the Wildcat 15, but the defense stiffened, and a Monroe field goal attempt with about 6 minutes left in the 3rd was about a yard short.

OH took over on their own 20, and 8 plays and 3 flags later, Hunt ran in from the 19 to put OH in the lead for good. During the drive there was a nice run by QB James Jordan, and after what appeared to be two penalties, gave OH the ball at the 19 with a 1st down.

Monroe started their next possession with an illegal procedure penalty, then threw 3 straight incompletions before punting. The Wildcats started their drive with 2 minutes left in the 3rd and the ball on their own 43. After a run by Hunt and Lewis, two runs and a nice 15-yard reception by Farnum, the ball was on the 5. Jordan gave the ball to Lewis who slipped in the end zone to build a 28-14 OH lead.

Monroe muffed the kickoff and started from their own 18, ran one play, and started the 4th quarter with a 1st & 10 from theri own 31. After coming out of the quarter break, and before running a play, the Monroe coach called a timeout. Monroe then proceeded to move the ball across midfield. On one play the Wildcats were able to flush the Monroe quarterback, and he was tackled for a 2-yard loss by Javon Payne. The Wildcats held after that play and Monroe turned the ball over on downs after an incomplete pass with a 4th & 5 on the Wildcat 39. The 'Cats then only moved the ball 6 yards before punting themselves. Monroe moved the ball from their own 22 to the Oak Harbor end zone with 8 plays and in just under 2 minutes. OH was able to get a hand on the Monroe PAT kick, leaving the Wildcats with a 28-20 lead and 3:56 left in the game.

Monroe attempted the onside kick, but OH was able to recover at the 'Cat 43. After a couple of runs by Farnum and a Jordan run, OH faced a 3-1 (I thought) on the Monroe 47. The refs looked at the ball, which I thought was just under a yard short, and without measuring, awarded OH a first down. OH was able then to run the ball 3 times, gaining one more first down, allowing Jordan to take a knee with 0:47 left.

Video highlights will be coming either Monday or Tuesday.

Some impressions from the game (I was on the Monroe side taping the game). It was REALLY noisy in the home stands. Even after an 0-10 season, the fans, especially the students, were out in force and were loud and proud. Second, Jordan showed a lot more poise and patience behind the line. Finally, Monroe football is back. They played hard and looked good. Their QB had a nice arm and completed (as far as our defense is concerned) way too many passes.

Next up for football is the JV squad vs Monroe at Wildcat Memorial Stadium on Monday, then Freshmen at Monroe on Thursday, finally Varsity vs Everett at Everett Stadium next Friday.

See you there!

Boys Tennis now 3-0 on season

In what was a near repeat of Wednesday's match against Lake Stevens, the Wildcats hosted Arlington and won 4-3. All 4 singles players won thier matches while the doubles teams lost.

One significant difference is that the match between #2 Ryan Evans and Ari Fernando went to 3 sets. Evans won the first 6-4, lost the 2nd 3-6, but pulled out a 6-4 win in the third.

#1 Derek Thomas won 6-4, 6-2, Jordan Kingma 6-1, 6-1, and Josh Evans 6-1, 6-0.

In doubles action, #1 Paul Jewell/Max O'Dell lost 6-1, 6-2, Baleros and Marshall 6-3, 6-2, and Rice/Holbrook 6-0, 6-1.

Sorry, no photos as I was in Monroe for the football game.

Volleyball from Sep. 11th

The Wildcats hosted Burlington-Edison in a non-league match this past Thursday with mixed results.

In the field house, the freshman team won all three games, and from what I saw, serving was again a large part of their success.

The JV team also won their match, posting 25-10, 25-14, and 25-14 game scores. The JV girls opened game one by building a 3-0 lead before a service error and hitting error made it 3-2 for the 'Cats. The girls dug in, and behind 2 aces each by Kelly Pantoleon and Lauren Lewis, built the lead to 17-4. The girls got a little flat after that, letting B-E creep up a little, mostly again through hitting and service errors. With the score 20-10 OH, two kills by Lewis and two more aces by Pantoleon finished off game 1.

Game 2 started with a Heather Felps kill, but the early parts of this game were back and forth, and B-E stayed close, with the score 10-8 OH at one point. From there, the Wildcats tallied 5 straight points, including 3 aces. OH then let B-E back in the game with a service error and some mishandled B-E serves until the score was 15-12. The next 3 points all belonged to Jordan Faralan, the setter, who got a nice tap for a kill then two straight aces, then Felps had a nice block at the net to make the score 19-12 OH. The match ended with 4 straight OH points, 2 kills by Lewis, one by Janesa Ramos, and a tap across the net by Felps.

In game 3, B-E played hard in the beginning, holding a 6-4 lead at one point, and still holding close at mid-game, down 10-8. From there, B-E served OOB for a Wildcat point, Felps earned a point, and Kristine Bouchard added a nice kill to build a 13-8 Wildcat lead. With the score 17-12, OH went on another multi-point run, building the lead to 21-12 before another service error gave a point and sideout to the Tigers, but it wasn't enough as a final Lewis kill ended the match in favor of Oak Harbor.

Varsity was a hard-fought battle and exposed some weaknesses in the Wildcats. Starting game one, B-E, showing poise and teamwork, built a 6-0 lead before letting OH on the board with a hitting error. A flurry of kills, hitting errors let B-E maintain their lead, but following a service error by the Tigers, Jen Jansen had 2 nice back-to-back kills to close the score to 12-10 Burlington. Then a Jessica Muzzall kill and hitting errors by Burlington allowed the Wildcats to tie the game at 14. Kim Mowbray brought the 'Cats their first lead with a solo block in the center of the net, but B-E tied things back up with a dump set. The game continued in this back and forth manner until the score was tied at 25. Remember in high school volleyball, the first team to 25 wins, provided they are ahead by 2 points. The last two points were a Jansen kill and a really nice Devin Tanner ace, leaving OH with the 27-25 win.

Game 2 started out well, with a hard serve by setter Melany Cone falling untouched, but it was going to be Oak Harbor's only lead of the game. In what seemed like a continual stream of hitting and service errors by Oak Harbor let B-E build a lead of 7 at 19-12. The Wildcats were never really able to recover and went on to drop the game 25-20.

Unfortunately, it was downhill from there. In game 3, although Oak Harbor had a 1 or 2 point lead for most of the first half of the game, B-E tied it at 18, and allowed only 1 more OH point during the game, winning 25-19. At the end of game 3, the Burlington team looked strong, but hard as it is to say, our girls looked like a team that had already lost. They switched side of the net in a dispirited manner hanging their heads down.

Coach Molitor worked some of her magic, and in game 4, the girls built an early 3-0 lead, but again service and hitting errors, along with strong B-E play proved costly. B-E found a hole in the middle of the OH court, and on several occasions, instead of hitting the ball hard, 'dinked' it just over the defender's heads where it fell in an open spot for points.

Even with the loss, there were several high points. Jen Jansen scored 13 kills and 3 aces, Emily Meagher added two aces of her own, and Muzzall was a force at the net both offensively and defensively.

The volleyball team is in Yakima this weekend for a tournament at the Sun Dome.

Photos of Thursday's match can be found at http://www.shutterfly.com/pro/OakHarborSports/highschool/VB911BE

Video clips will be posted in the next day or two HERE