Varsity football vs Marysville

The undefeated Marysville-Pilchuck Tomahawks came into Wildcat Memorial Stadium looking to lock up the WESCO North title. The Tommies were the highest-scoring team, averaging over 35 points per game and allowing an average of only 10, shutting out both Lake Stevens and Monroe along the way. Oak Harbor had the lowest point total of any WESCO North team, scoring only 113 points for an average of just over 14 points per game. The 'Cats were, however, the 2nd stingiest team in allowing points, behind only M-P. The Wildcats had allowed 153 points for a 19.1 average per game. Oak Harbor was itching to play the spoiler, and put that one blemish on Marysville's record, much as Lake Stevens did 2 years ago on our way to a state championship. Overall, the defense played excellent football - with 3 exceptions, all long runs by M-P. The offense, however, just couldn't get on track. The game started out with OH kicking off to MP. The Tommies started on their own 33, and it only took a single play for them to take a 7-0 lead. Their runner burst through our line and zipped down the sideline untouched. After the kickoff, OH had the ball on the 30, an on the first play, a reverse, the ball was fumbled and MP recovered. At this point the crowd was hushed and many in the stands were thinking that things were going badly early. Now, with the ball at the OH 28, the Tomahawks moved the ball down to the OH 5, but two back-to-back false start penalties made it 3rd & 13 at the OH 15. M-P attempted a rare pass, which was thrown high and short, allowing Derrick Clarit to step in front of the receiver and snag the ball at the OH 1 yard line. OH was only able to move the ball out to the 10 before being forced to punt on 4th & 1. Our defense kept Marysville's run game in check for the series, forcing MP into a 3-and-out. Taking the ball at the OH 29 with 4:29 left in the 1st quarter, the 'Cats used a series of runs out of the shotgun, including a 35-yard run by James Jordan to get the ball to the MP 13. There, a Jordan sack led to a Kevin Flavin field goal with just 13 seconds left in the 1st quarter to close the score to 7-3. After the kickoff, which resulted in a touchback, the Oak Harbor defense bent, letting MP move from their own 20 down to the OH 18, stopping the option pitch and forcing a field goal attempt by MP. The kick was blocked and was picked up by Clarit at the OH 1 and returned to the 10. On their next series, the OH offense again sputtered, with Jordan overthrowing Rashaad Smith, a fumble on a run play, and another run play that went for -4 yards. Stephen Lewis' punt from the OH 8 bounced at the OH 39 and rolled OOB at the MP 47. The OH defense again stepped up, stopping the MP quarterback on a 4th & 2 sneak at the OH 20. Again, the offense did nothing but lose 4 yards and punt. Marysville took over on the OH 43, but were backed up due to a holding penalty, and our defense was able to hold MP to short gains, forcing a 4th & 14 with just 21 seconds left in the half. After the punt, Jordan took a knee to end the half with MP still in the lead 7-3. Coming out of the half, MP attempted an onside kick, kicking the ball high into the air, but OH signaled a fair catch and was interfered with, so MP backed up to the 25 and kicked again, with Lewis getting the ball at the 44 and returning it to the MP 49. On the first play, the ball was stripped out of Lewis' hands, but Chris Neumiller was there to pick it up and continue the play, but the whole thing was brought back due to an illegal procedure penalty on OH. On the next play, MP jumped offside, and the nose guard gave our center a hard shove. It was hard enough that the officials called MP for a personal foul and gave OH a first down at the MP 39. Donovan Hunt ran the ball on the next play, and MP was flagged again for another personal foul, moving the ball to the MP 19. From there, the offense gained only 1 yard in 3 plays. Flavin attempted another field goal, but it was blocked, giving MP the ball at their own 26 with just over 10 minutes left in the 3rd. MP started to march towards the OH goal, moving the ball down to the OH 32. At that point, the defense, led by Brian Howard and Stephen Lewis sniffed out the option pitch, tackling the runner for a 7-yard loss, forcing the MP punt. The OH offense went 3-and-out again, gaining 6 yards on the series before punting. The next MP series lasted only 3 plays when Clarence LaMont recovered a fumble at the MP 39. A reception by Hunt moved the ball to the 27, and on a 3rd & 7 on the MP 24, Jordan got free and ran to the MP 8. Hunt moved to the 3, and Jordan to the 3 before time expired in the 3rd. The Wildcats started the final period looking at a 3rd & goal at the 3. Instead of using big Stephen Lewis or even bigger Brad Farnum to blow through the middle, Jordan kept the ball to get to the 2, but was stopped short of the goal line on the 4th down play. Marysville had the ball on the OH 2, then moved it to the 6 on a QB sneak, then their runner got through the OH line, evaded a tackler at the OH 20, and high-stepped to the TD. OH was able to block the PAT kick, leaving the score 13-3 with 10:21 left in the game. Josh Higbee caught the kickoff at the 5 and returned it out to the 17, but the offense gained 0 yards on 2 incomplete passes and a Jordan scramble, and to add to the OH woes, the Tomahawks were able to get a hand on the Lewis punt, and downed it at the OH 23. Again, the defense bent but didn't break, letting Marysville get down to the 10, then blocked another field goal attempt, taking over the ball at the 23. After an incomplete pass and a fumbled snap and sack, Jordan was able to complete a long pass to Clarit on a 3rd & 21, getting the ball out to the OH 48, then completed two more to Higbee and Lewis down to the 18 yard line. Then, with just 3:50 left in the game, Marysville intercepted Jordan's pass at the 18. Marysville broke their 3rd long run of the game, a 69-yard scamper that was stopped at the OH 13. Marysville then moved the ball to the 9, and with less than 40 seconds left, elected to not take a knee, but run for their 3rd TD of the night, scoring with only 31 seconds on the clock. The final score - M-P 20, OH 3. In other WESCO North games, all high-scoring affairs, Stanwood surprised Arlington to win the Stilly Cup 48-39; Mariner was all over Monroe 58-21, and Lake Stevens failed to convert a 2-point PAT attempt and lost to Snohomish 49-48. MP wins the WESCO North and will host a playoff game next week. Snohomish finished in 2nd and will play their first game at home, and Lake Stevens will go on the road for their playoff game. Oak Harbor finished the regular season with a 2-4 league record and an overall record of 3-6. The Wildcats will have one more football game, a North-South crossover game against a team to be determined. The game will be at Wildcat Memorial Stadium next weekend.

Football and Volleyball video clips posted

Sorry for the delay on football, but the football clips from the Lake Stevens game and clips from Wednesday's volleyball match at Snohomish are now posted.

You can find all the clips by clicking HERE.

Timeout with...Regina Carter - Freshman Volleyball

Regina Joyce Carter was born on December 2nd in Fairfield, CA to Reginald and Ligaya Carter. Her dad works at Costco and her mom is a medical aide at the Naval Hospital. The 5- 5 3/4 tall freshman moved to Oak Harbor when she was just a few months old and has lived there ever since.

She attended North Whidbey Middle School, where she really enjoyed Miss Brockett's English class, as she made the class interesting and fun, and Regina actually enjoyed going to learn English. She also likes her science classes, as they are very "hands-on", and "you actually get to do stuff in them".

She chose volleyball over other fall sports because she doesn't like to run a lot, and volleyball has the least running of the fall sports for girls. She is thinking of trying out for basketball this winter, and in the spring will probably play golf, as she and her dad go golfing often, but she has not ruled out track and field, with the emphasis on 'field'. Last year, in 8th grade, she had her most memorable sports moment when she threw the discus 72 feet her first time throwing, and finished 3rd overall in the 8th grade finals.

When not playing sports, Regina likes to watch football and basketball, and she's into music. She plays the piano and sings in the OHHS treble choir. Occasionally she has some time to herself, and will watch re-runs of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" on TV, or will watch "The Parent Trap" with Lindsay Lohan. More than likely, she'll be doing these things with best bud Jessica Taylor.

Regina set some goals for herself at the beginning of the year both in the classroom and on the court. In the classroom, her goal is to keep her grades high, and she is meeting that goal, having nothing lower than a 'B' so far. On the volleyball court, her goal is to better anticipate the ball, and on this goal, Regina marks herself as 'progressing'.

After high school, Regina thinks she would like to become a dentist, and once she is a dentist, wants to live "somewhere warm"!

When asked to tell us something about herself that was odd or quirky, Regina said that sometimes she will burst into song for no reason. She says the trigger is usually a word or phrase she'll see when reading or hear on TV, but it happens quite often.

We expect to see some good things out of Regina both scholastically and athletically in the coming years.

Girls Soccer from Thursday

On what turned out to be a pleasant night for soccer, the Oak Harbor Wildcats honored their senior players before their last game of the year, against Snohomish. Each girl was introduced individually before the game, along with their parents, and quite a few tears were shed. The departing seniors are Kathy Silveira, Jamie Turnek, Carson McKole, Claire Trepanier, Roni Tomlin, Hope Thompson, Shelbie Peddie and Kirsten Roof.

Kathy Silveira had been injured and unable to play most of the year, so what the refs and Snohomish agreed to was to let Kathy on the field for the opening kick, and the Wildcats would kick the ball out of bounds, allowing Coach Barker to sub in a player for Kathy. What wound up happening is that when the Wildcats kicked the ball towards the side line, it didn't go OOB, so instead of kicking the ball around, a Panther player called out to her teammate who was on the ball and told her to just kick it out, which she did. It was some good sportsmanship on the part of the Snohomish Panthers soccer team.

Once the game got going, everyone could tell the girls were energized and motiviated to play. The ball spent a majority of the time in the Panther side of the field, and our girls had at least 4-5 good shots on the goal just in the first half. One of these, by Hope Thompson, went in with just over 2 minutes left to give the 'Cats a 1-0 halftime lead.

The aggression continued in the 2nd, with Carson McKole adding another goal to make it 2-0. However, Snohomish lit a fire of their own and scored two goal of their own in the last 4 minutes of the game, sending it into overtime.

Neither team was able to score in OT, and since it's not a playoff game, it was allowed to end a tie.

The JV team didn't do as well, posting a 4-0 loss.

52 photos of senior night activities are posted HERE.

76 game photos, both JV and Varsity are HERE.

OHYFL - Lynx still in playoff

In the Oak Harbor Youth Football League, all but a single Oak Harbor team lost last Saturday. The lone remaining Oak Harbor representative is the Pee Wee Oak Harbor Lynx.

The Lynx will be playing Sunday, November 2nd at Wildcat Memorial Stadium at 9am.

The #1 seeded Lynx will play against 3rd-seeded Burlington, and after they win that game, will be Conference champions, and will go on to play either Anacortes or Arlington Blue for the League Championship. The Lynx will know going into their game which team they will play, as the Anacortes/Arlington game will be on Saturday at Mt. Vernon at 12:30.

There is no admission fee, so come one down and cheer on the future of Oak Harbor Football!

Wildcat Memorial Stadium will be hosting 4 other game on Sunday

11:15am - Juniors - Arlington vs Lakewood
1:30pm - Juniors - Friday Harbor vs Sedro Woolley
3:45pm - Juniors - Arlington vs Bellingham
6:00pm - Seniors - Bellingham vs Burlington

There should be some great football in the Stadium on Sunday.

Wednesday sports - Volleyball & Boys Tennis

Starting with tennis, Junior Derek Thomas was back at Stanwood High School, playing for the WESCO District tennis championship.

Unfortunately, he lost in 1st-round action to #2 seed from Edmonds-Woodway HS 6-2, 6-0. In the consolation round he played better, but still fell to his Kamiak opponent 6-2, 6-4, ending this years' tennis season.

In volleyball the Freshman, JV and Varsity teams were all at Snohomish High School. The Snohomish Varsity came into the match with a record of 5-1 in league and 10-2 overall, while Oak Harbor is 1-5, 3-9, but we'll get to the Varsity match later.

The Freshman and JV teams played at the same time in the same gym, on side-to-side courts. The first game for the freshmen was bad. The game was tied 2-2 early; with both OH points coming off Snohomish service errors, then the Panthers went on an 18-0 run on their way to a 25-4 game one victory. All the OH points were unearned, coming off Snoho errors.

Freshman game 2 was a loss, but our girl started to play some volleyball, although it took a while. Snohomish sprinted to a 12-4 lead, but 3 of the 4 Wildcat points were earned: a kill by Regina Carter and service aces by Leah Pantoleon and Carlie Olson. A pair of kills by Carter later in the game closed the gap to 4 at 13-17, but a series of unforced errors by Oak Harbor let Snoho build their lead to 7 as the cruised to a 25-17 final.

In game 3, the 'Cats stayed close for the first half of the game, even holding a 10-8 lead at one point after an ace by Pantoleon. An overpass kill by Abi Cone kept the score close at 15-16, but the Wildcats were able to score only 2 more points the entire game on an overpass kill by Cone and a service ace by Carter, leaving the final at 25-18 in favor of Snoho.

Game 1 of the JV match was very close, with numerous ties, but in the end, the Wildcats were able to pull out a 26-24 victory, however game 3 went badly for the girls, as they fell 9-25.

Game 3 was closer, but the Wildcats were on the short end of the score throughout. There was some nice play both at the net and in the back row, including a great solo block to go with a couple of kill by Amanda Blau. Jordan Faralan and Janine DeGuzman also had kills for the Wildcats, and Lizzy Chase, recently moved up from the Freshman team, scored a service ace. The final score in game 3 was 25-16 for the Panthers.

Varsity game 1 had some of the best blocking we've seen all year by the Wildcats. At least 3 times by our unofficial count, 4 Wildcat points were earned by blocks. At the net were Jessica Muzzall, Jennifer Jansen, Kim Mowbray and Marisa Sutherland. In addition to the blocks that earned points, the Wildcats blocked numerous other Panther hitting attempts, but those blocks either remained in play or went OOB. Even though the Wildcats lost game 1 25-19, it was an exciting game to watch.

Game 2 wasn't as close, and the girls didn't play as well. The final was 25-12 for Snohomish, and only 3 points were earned - a kill each by Jansen, Janessa Ramos and Kim Mowbray. The rest were errors by Snohomish. The Wildcats were a little more active in game 3, but the result was similar, a 25-14 Snohomish win. Jansen and Muzzall both got a couple of kills, and Sutherland tapped a Snohomish overpass to the floor for a point.

Next up for volleyball is Senior night vs 6th-ranked Monroe. Come cheer our girls as they play their last volleyball game ever in a Wildcat uniform. JV and Freshman start at 5:15pm next Tuesday, November 4th, with Varsity following at 7-ish.

38 photos, mostly of the Freshman and JV teams have been posted HERE.

Volleyball video highlights

Video highlights from the JV and Varsity matches at OHHS vs Cascade are now posted.

You can access the videos by clicking HERE.

Volleyball vs Cascade 10-27-08

The Cascade Bruins traveled to Oak Harbor for the teams' 2nd meeting of the season. The two teams played each other in a non-league contest at Cascade back on September 9th.

In that first match, the Freshman team played 3 close games, winning one. Last night, the Freshmen again won only 1 game, a close 25-22 win, but did not play well at all in the other two games, losing by scores of 14-25 and 13-25.

The JV team was the bright spot of the night. In the first meeting, the JV lost the first game but won the next two for a match win. In Monday's match, the first two games were all Oak Harbor.

The JV girls started out by building a 6-0 lead on a nice kill by Heather Felps and a service ace by Jordan Faralan. With the score at 9-3, the 'Cats went on a run, scoring 7 unanswered points. Two were by kills by 6'1 sophomore Amanda Blau, and one Kristine Bouchard, and Mandy Kepner added a service ace. The Wildcats did let the Bruins creep back into the game, at one point narrowing the Oak Harbor lead to 9 points at 24-15. On the final play of the game, Amanda Blau hit the ball over the Bruin block and it looked like it was hit out, but the referee ruled a touch, giving game one to the Wildcats 25-15.

Game 2 started slower, as Cascade got an early 2-0 lead, but that was the last lead they had, as the 'Cats quickly built a 10-4 lead, including 3 straight service aces by Lauren Lewis. Kepner and Sydney Carlson both added service aces later in the game, and Blau added 3 late-game kills, including the game winner, as the JV team cruised to a 25-19 win in game 2.

Game 3 was close, and the end left a bad taste in everyone's mouth. The JV team lost Amanda Blau and setter Jordan Faralan to the varsity team for this game, and Cascade took advantage of that by jumping to an early 8-2 lead. The Wildcats didn't let it get to them, and closed the gap to just 3 point mid-game after a Janine DeGuzman ace, the score standing at 12-15. Kills by Bouchard and Lewis kept the Cascade lead at 3, then two hitting errors by the Bruins lowered their lead to a single point, then a service error tied the game at 21 each. For the remainer of the game, the score was either tied, or Cascade had a 1-point lead. The 'Cats tried hard, but just could not get that late-game lead. Blau got a kill to tie the game at 24, but a Wildcat hitting error made it 25-24 for Cascade. In Volleyball, a game is not won until one team has 25 points AND a 2-point lead, but in this case, the referee called the game at 25-24 and gave the game 3 win to Cascade. After the game, Coach Reed said she didn't understand why the ref stopped the game when the Wildcats still had a chance to win the 3rd game for the sweep.

In the first meeting, the Varsity team swept Cascade 3-0. In Monday's match, it was very close throughout most of game 1. The 'Cats were able to build a 4-point lead, 11-7, thanks to a kill by Melany Cone, a block by Jennifer Jansen, and 2 service aces by Emily Meagher. The Wildcats were finally able to tie things back up at 17, then took the lead on an error by Cascade. A kill by Jansen made it 22-19 OH, then 3 straight hitting errors by the Bruins gave the 25-19 win to Oak Harbor.

Game 2 started out with Oak Harbor building an early 4-0 lead, but Cascade picked away at it, taking advantage of OH errors to tie the game at 9, then take the lead 10-9 on a service ace. Both teams stayed withing a point or two for the remainder of the game, with 3 kills by Jessica Muzzall and a service ace by Kelsey Cooley keeping the 'Cats in the game. A late hitting error by Cascade gave OH game point, 24-22, but an OH service error and a tipped ball tied it at 24. Muzzall got another kill to give OH game point again, 25-24, but a net violation by OH and a Cascade kill gave the Bruins game point 26-25. The 'Cats were unable to handle the Cascade serve and lost game two 25-27.

The 'Cats came out slow in game 3, spotting Cascade a 8-5 lead, which was slowly built to 19-13. They kept the lead until late in the game, when two nice kills by Marisa Sutherland and a trio of service aces by Kim Mowbray tied the game at 20. The Wildcats still couldn't grab the lead, and Cascade had game point, 24-22. At this point, there was an excessive delay while both referees conferred, looking at the Cascade rotation. After almost 10 minutes, including some spirited arguing by the Cascade coach, the game was resumed with no changes. Oak Harbor got the next point when the overpass went across the net and Cascade let it go, thinking it was out, but the ball dropped right on the line, keeping OH in the game. A service ace by Cooley tied it at 24. Cascade scored the next point, but two Jansen kills gave the advantage back to OH. Cascade scored another point, knotting the game at 27, then an Oak Harbor hitting error put the advantage to Cascade. Jansen came though again, with a big kill to tie the game at 27. On the next play, Oak Harbor was called for being in the net, then the 'Cats hit the ball long, giving Cascade the 29-27 win in game 3.

Game 4 started out close, and although Cascade had an early 4-1 lead, the Wildcats were able to tie it at 11 each. From there, though, Cascade was able creep away, earning 2 points to our 1, finishing game 4 with a 25-18 win and a 3-1 match victory.

34 images, mostly of the freshman and JV warmups, are posted HERE.

Athlete Profile - Carolyn Vasquez

by Michelle Sandstrom

Varsity swimmer Carolyn Vasquez, who

recently celebrated her seventeenth birthday, is a senior here at Oak Harbor High school and is enjoying her last year on the girls swim team.
Born in the hot sun down in San Diego California, she has lived here all of her adult life and has been swimming six years of it, including all four years of high school.
She got into swimming because of friends and her main event has been the 50 freestyle. Describing an average practice she said they swim about 2,000-4,000 meters including backstroke, the breast stroke, fly, and freestyle, and before they get wet they dry land activities they have to accomplish first. Just hearing about a practice makes me thankful I’m not a swimmer, and she proceeds to explain to my why swimming is the hardest sport; “runners use there legs, soccer players use there legs, swimmers use there whole body”, “oh and girls swim is definitely tougher then boys swim - look at our rockin’ swimmer shoulders” she adds on.
Despite all the hard workouts provided by Coach Erika Miller and the work that is put into swimming, she describes the girls as “awesome” and that they are “all pretty close, especially towards the end of the season”. “This is our largest group of girls yet, we have about twenty five”!
A meet for these ladies reminds me a track meet, where there are is a JV and Varsity race for each event, however swimmers have two individual, two relays, and our Oak Harbor High School swim team has divers, which not all schools have. These meets are held at any pool large enough and Carolyn hopes to make it to State this year for the 50 freestyle or relay, which is her favorite meet because her parents always go to it.
During her off season she tells me she continues to swim all throughout winter to stay in shape and as a plus she is a lifeguard at the local pool, and in spring she usually participates in track but this year is considering golf. Outside of school sports, she runs the Whidbey Triathlon and the Whidbey Half Marathon. She also added in that during the off season it is usually harder to keep her grades up, however this season it is just as much as a challenge as out of season because they only have four home meets this season and are always leaving between fourth and fifth period and it’s a lot of work to constantly have to make up.
Outside of school and homework it’s hard to believe this always on the go swimmer has a life, and here she shared a little of it with me. She talks about being single and she has two amazing best friends (Josh D. and Keri Anne W. who is also a swimmer), however homework does consume most of her life so she doesn’t see much of them or her parents who both happen to be dentists or her brother Henry who is away at Notre Dame. But when she does have spare time she likes to dance, kayak, snow board, and soon scuba dive!
When she graduates she plans on seeing the rest of the world and find some warm weather and while doing go into the field of nursing and work in South Africa, but while attending college she wants to try water polo!
A fun side note about Carolyn is that she often gets compared to a fish and people say “they don’t recognize her with her hair dry”.
Carolyn is on the fast track to success and hopefully we hear more from her near the end of the season along with the rest of these lady swimmers on there way to state.

Youth Soccer - GU-10 - Saturday

The Oak Harbor Sports Report was only able to get to a single youth soccer game on Saturday. It was a girls U-10 game featuring the Lightning Bolts, sponsored by Alaska USA Mortgage Company and coached by Greg & Amy Davis against the Red Hot Chili Peppers from South Whidbey.



It was about as lopsided a victory as you'll see in youth soccer. At halftime the Lightning Bolts were up 3-0, then added 7 goals in the 2nd half to secure a 10-1 victory. The lone SW goal came on a free kick near the penalty kick stripe.



83 images from the game have been posted HERE.

OHYFL - Saturday playoffs

Last Saturday, October 25th, the Oak Harbor Youth Football League started playoffs. Two games were played in Oak Harbor, and the Oak Harbor Sports Report was there.

First up: the Cougars. They came into the playoffs as the Midget "B" division #2 seed with a 6-1 record, their only loss was 14-0 vs #1 seed Sedro-Woolley. The Cougar's opponent was #3 seed Anacortes with a 5-2 record, losing 16-0 to Sedro and 32-22 to the Cougars in the first two games of the year.

Oak Harbor shut out two of their opponents and held two more to just a single score, but Anacortes scored more points against the Cougars than any other team in the regular season. Anacortes also recorded a pair of shutouts and held one more opponent to one TD. Things looked good for the Cougars, but once the game got started, it got bad quickly. Anacortes was able to move the ball, while the Cougars offense never got on track. If it wasn't a missed handoff it was a turnover. It just wasn't the Cougar's day, and in the end, Anacortes left with a 20-0 victory. Only 14 decent photos from this game, which are posted HERE.

In contrast, the Oak Harbor Lynx entered as the #1 seed from Pee Wee "A". They had the same record as #2 Sedro Woolley, but got the #1 on the head-to-head Lynx win in the first game of the season. The Lynx's only loss was to #3 Burlington 27-12. The Lynx recorded only a single shutout, against Sedro-Wooley, but in 6 wins outscored the opponents 178-42. The opponent, Arlington, entered the playoffs with a 4-3 record. The Eagles lost their first game of the season 38-14 to the Lynx, and were shutout by both Sedro Woolley and Burlington. In their 4 wins, the Eagle allowed only a single TD while scoring 81 points. This game was all Lynx. The Lynx scored 3 touchdowns in just the 1st quarter - one by run, one by pass, and one by punt return. They added another TD each in the other 3 quarters but only converted 1 PAT attempt to secure a 37-0 win. 50 images are posted HERE.

While we don't have specific results, it was reported that the Senior Wildcats team, the #6 seed, lost to #3 Burlington in Burlington.

Other Oak Harbor teams in action last Saturday:

Pee Wee - #4 Bobcats at #1 Anacortes
Junior - #7 Pumas at #2 Arlington
Junior - #6 Jaguars at #3 Bellingham

OHHS Cross Country - WESCO Divisional Championships.

At Lakewood HS near Arlington, both the boys and girls teams performed well, and even produced a first-place finisher!

In the girls JV, OH was represented by Taylor Von Greg, Kim Zachertz and Rebecca Honeycutt. The field of 77 runners was dominated by Jackson and Snohomish (the first 12 finishers were either Snoho or Jackson), but Von Greg completed the 5,000 meter run in 36th place and Zachertz was in 57th overall. Honeycutt came in 70th.

6 OH runners were in the boys JV race, and in finishing order they were Kellen Crebbin, Mitchell Jackson, Lucas Salmons, Thomas Honeycutt, Sidney Dawson and Josh Pervus. 216 runners finished the race, with Crebbin finishing 76th overall in a time of 20:23.96.

Moving to the girls varsity, 8 runners ran for the Wildcats out of a field of 68. First to cross the line for Oak Harbor was Sophomore Allison Duvenez in 6th, then Adrianna Royal in 9th. A minute and a half later, Kathryn Fisken crossed the line in 28th, followed by Kim Kyle and Heather Dale, just 7 seconds apart. Sheila Keyes, Emily Bain, and exchange student Kate Kapitonova rounded out the varsity team. Overall, the girls team finished 5th with 108 points, just 2 points behind 4th place Arlington and 38 points ahead of 6th place Lake Stevens.

Finally, the boys race started with 86 runners, and the first to cross the finish line was Soph. Tyler King (who actually attends Coupeville HS) in a time of 16:15.6. King was followed by Josh Duhrkopf in 12th, Cody Klauer in 21st, Michael Reith in 36th and Matt Reith in 39th. As a team the boys finished in 4th place, behind Lake Stevens, Snohomish and Cascade.

Also running for Oak Harbor in the varsity race were Nathan Miller, Matt Bolte, Connar Zimmerman, Jonathan Houk, Aaron Mitchell, Jake Daniel, Dan Klope, John Manni, Colton Elliot and Adam Goforth.

Late boys tennis result

From Coach Mells:

Derek Thomas, Oak Harbor's #1 player, won the consolation singles by defeating Rylan Herdt of Lake Stevens, 6-4, 6-3. Derek's only loss was to the tournament singles winner. He place 3rd in the tournament and advances to District Singles which start play Wednesday next week at Stanwood.

Varsity football - close, but no cigar

It was a Jekyll/Hyde night for the Oak Harbor defense. The "D" shut out Lake Stevens in the first half, then allowed 28 points in the 2nd. The offense scored just before the end of the 2nd quarter, then again halfway through the 4th quarter.

The first 3 possessions of the game were all 3-and outs, 2 by the Vikings (1 featuring a great solo sack by Stephen Lewis that was featured on KING 5 news that evening) and one by OH. Getting the ball for the 2nd time in the game with 10:11 on the clock in the first quarter, OH got a drive going. Starting at the OH 41, the 'Cats spread the ball around, with receptions by Brad Farnum, Stephen Lewis and Rashaad Smith, and runs by Lewis, James Jordan and Donovan Hunt. Unfortunately, Jordan, while running in from the 12, had the ball knocked away at the 7, and was covered by Lake Stevens at the 10.

The Lake Stevens QB ran out to the 21, and then completed a pass to the 29, but it was brought back to the LS 15 after a holding call, then with the ball on the LS 44, the Vikings were called for an illegal shift. With a 1st & 15 from the 39, the Lake Stevens QB threw the ball deep, where it was intercepted by Derrick Clarit at the OH 34. The 'Cats ran one play, a run by Jordan, and the quarter ended with the score 0-0. The OH drive only went another 3 plays before Lewis punted to the LS 36. The teams traded punts after short drives, and with the Vikings driving from the OH 33, another LS pass was picked off, this one by Hunt, this one at the OH 10 with 4:43 left in the half.

The first two plays were runs by Hunt, one for a loss, setting up a 3rd & 10 pass reception by Josh Higbee at the 25, and then a long pass reception by Hunt moved the ball from the OH 27 to the LS 23. From there, Hunt caught another pass and ran it into the end zone for the first score of the game. Kevin Flavin's kick was blocked, so with 1:48 left in the half it was Oak Harbor 6, Lake Stevens 0, and that score stood as the clock ran out.

Oak Harbor received the 2nd half opening kickoff, with Hunt catching it at the 15 and returning it to the Viking 46. But after gaining only 2 yards in 3 plays, the 'Cats punted away again. This is when the Viking offense kicked into high gear. Using just over 4 minutes, the Vikings moved the ball 83 yards, capping the drive with a pass into the end zone.

Hunt again had a decent return on the kickoff, setting up the offense on the OH 25, but the 2nd play of that drive was intercepted at the OH 26, and 4 plays later Lake Stevens scored again, moving the score to 14-6 with 3:04 left in the 3rd.

The Lake Stevens kickoff was short, and was covered by Greg Goebel at the 40, but after a loss of 4 on 1st down, and a sack on 3rd down, the Wildcats punted on 4th & 22 from the 27 that was returned back to the OH 41, and again the Vikings made short work of it and scored on a pass play in just 5 plays. With the clock showing 11:48 left in the game it was LS 21 OH 6.

OH started their next drive on their own 38, and slowly started to work their way upfield. There were a couple of heart-gripping moments, such as when Jordan got sacked at midfield, but Hunt got it back setting up a 3rd & 10 at the LS 38. A scramble run by Jordan brought the ball to the 14, another run by Jordan took it to the 6, and then Jordan kept it one more time to score with 5:58 left in the game to make it LS 21, OH 13.

Lake Stevens' efficient offense went to work again, starting at their own 19, and again only used 5 plays to score once more with 3:54 left in the game. The Viking win was sealed when a Jordan pass was intercepted with just 3:09 remaining, and the Vikings were able to run the clock out.

Look for video highlights on Tuesday.

Another photo site of OH in action

This site mainly had Freshman football photos, but also some tennis video.

You can get there by clicking HERE.

Girls swim

And it's another 1st-place sweep and lopsided victory for the Oak Harbor girls swim team.

At Forest Park Pool in Everett, the Wildcats faced off against the Cascade Bruins and came away with a 142-44 win.

Leading off was the 200 medley relay made up of Amanda Streubel, Rachel Weinstein, Ciara Hu and Carolyn Vasquez. Tori Nickerson won the 200 IM, and Abby Rankin again was the top diver, scoring 107.08 points. Lily Doyle came in first in the 100 back, and in the final event of the day, the 400 meter freestyle relay team made of Weinstein, Nickerson, Hu and Karina Concepcion won in a time of 4:16.30.

Great job by the swimmers!

Boys Tennis - WESCO Tournament at Stanwood - day 2

We received the following communication from Coach Horace Mells from the WESCO Tourney in Stanwood:

The North Division Tournament is singles and doubles with a draw of 16 entries, 2 singles players and 2 doubles teams from each of the 8 schools in the North Division. Players losing in the first round are eliminated from tournament play. All winners advance to quarter finals which starts double elimination.

Jordan Kingma & Josh Even lost in the first round and finished 9th in doubles.

Paul Jewell & Joel Valles II won a close first round match, lost to the #1 seeded team in the quarters and again in the consolation and finished 7th in doubles.

Ryan Evans won his first round match in singles, then lost to the #2 seeded players in the quarters and lost again in the consolation with a 7th place finish in singles.

Derek Thomas is still active. He is seeded 4th in singles and advanced to the semi finals before losing to the #1 seeded player and tournament singles winner. Derek has advanced to the finals of the singles consolation and will be playing for 3rd or 4th place tomorrow.

Junior Varsity season ended on the 16th with the last league match and do not participate in post season play.

WESCO North tennis tournament

Oak Harbor Wildcats Derek Thomas, Ryan Evans, Paul Jewell, Joel Valles, Jordan Kingma and Josh Evans all participated in the 1st round of the tournament at Stanwood High School Wednesday afternoon.

In single action, Derek Thomas defeated his opponent from Snohomish 6-2, 6-4 to advance to the 2nd round, and Ryan Evans beat his opponent, also from Snohomish, 6-1, 6-3.

Thomas advanced to Thursday's semifinals by dispatching his Arlington opponent 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, but Ryan Evans lost 6-0, 6-0 to Monroe.

In doubles, Paul Jewell and Joel Valles beat their Stanwood opponent 6-4, 6-4, but the other Stanwood doubles team beat the newly-formed doubles team of Jordan Kingma and Josh Evans 6-3, 7-6.

The remaining OH doubles partners lost in the 2nd round. Jewell-Valles fell to Snohomish 6-1, 6-0 to end their run in the winner's bracket.

Video highlight clips posted

A total of 17 video clips from Friday's Homecoming football game against Arlington, Tuesday's JV and Varsity volleyball match against Marysville, and Wednesday's Freshman football game against an unsporting Arlington team are now posted.

Click HERE to get to the video clips.

Freshman football vs Arlington

It was a clear, crisp fall evening - an almost perfect night for football. Unfortunately, the Arlington Eagles were in town and were determined to not only beat the 'Cats, but to rub dirt in their faces. Even more unfortunately, they were helped towards their goal in almost every facet of the game by the Oak Harbor team.

Starting early in the game, things went sour. On the 2nd play of the game, a Matt Burgoyne pass was tipped and intercepted by Arlington at the OH 40 and returned to the 8. 2 plays later, and after a trick 2-point conversion, it was Arlington 8, OH 0 at the 8:31 mark in the 1st quarter.

Edward Denmon took the kickoff at his own 13 and returned it to the 33. 11 plays later the ball was only on the OH 47, due to a holding penalty and a false start call, both against the Wildcats. A hurried punt only netted 8 yards, giving Arlington a 1st down on their own 47.

Arlington used a combination of run and pass to move the ball to the OH 36 when time expired in the 1st quarter. Arlington scored on a pass just 4 plays and 2 minutes later to boost the lead to 14-0.

The Eagles then kicked the ball high and short, and it dropped in a sort of 'no-man's land' behind the upbacks, and Arlington was able to cover the ball at the OH 37. The first play was a long pass that went for a score and a 20-0 lead.

Oak Harbor started their next possession at the 43. Justin Everett got the ball, but it slipped from his hands and he was able to cover it. After he secured the ball, an Arlington player came in and hit Justin, leading with his head. The 15-yard personal foul penalty gave OH a 1st down in Eagle territory. The 'Cats were able to work the ball down to the 39 and were looking at a 4th & 3. The answer to that was to give the ball to Denmon, who gained 4 yards. However, on the very next play, the ball was stripped and Arlington recovered on the 36. Arlington attempted a reverse, but it was sniffed out and stuffed at midfield. Later in the series, though, Arlington ran a double reverse with a pass downfield that resulted in yet another touchdown.

The Arlington kickoff bounced into the end zone. On the 1st down play, the center/quarterback exchange was fumbled and Arlington was able to cover the ball at the 19. Arlington scored again on a pass play from the OH 5, and the score stood at 34-0 as the teams broke for halftime.

The Eagle received the 2nd half kickoff at their own 41, and even though there was a nice QB sack by Colin Higginbotham and Brent Ryan, Arlington was able to score yet again, pushing the lead to 40-0.

The Wildcats finally started to get on track, taking the ball from their own 37 to the Arlington 25 on alternating Everett and Denmon runs. On a 4th & 3 play, Burgoyne handed off to Gabe Dye who started running to the right, stopped and passed back to Burgoyne who ran to the end zone untouched. Burgoyne kept the ball and score a 2-point PAT to make the score 40-8.

Arlington ran 3 plays on offense before fumbling the snap, which OH recovered on the 49. A great pass reception by Peter Franssen and a run by Everett moved the ball to the 25. At that point, Burgoyne dropped back and threw a long pass that looked like a sure interception. However, the defender let the ball bounce off his fingertips and it went straight into Denmon's hands at the 7, and he took it in. Justin Everett caught a pass for 2 more points, and with 6:58 left in the game it was Arlington 40, OH 16.

This is when Arlington started to show their true colors. Facing a 4th & 14 at midfield and around 4 minutes left in the game, most people would expect a team leading 40-16 to punt. Not Arlington. The lined up to punt and threw deep. The ball was intercepted by Franssen and returned to the 40, but the refs called defensive pass interference and gave Arlington a 1st down at the OH 36. With less that 3 1/2 minutes left and a 4th and 10, still at the 36, Arlington didn't punt, but ran another reverse that appeared to go for a TD, but it was called back for an illegal block. Now with a 4th & 23 at the 49 and 2 1/2 minutes left, Arlington STILL didn't punt, but threw a deep pass that was incomplete at the OH 20.

Oak Harbor took the ball down to the 35, but Arlington intercepted another OH pass at the 12, returning it to the 19. Now, with only 1:45 left in the game and still holding a 40-16 lead, most teams would run up the middle, or even start taking a knee. Not Arlington. They ran the ball around the end up to the OH 48. 2 plays later, with only 7 seconds left at the OH 44, Arlington STILL didn't take a knee, but rushed back to the line to get off one last play, which they threw downfield but was incomplete at the OH 10.

Most of the 4th quarter showed everyone in the stands what a totally classless act the Arlington Eagles Freshman team was in that game.