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Newberg boys
team to take aim on third straight state title
Strong NHS
girls team in need of players
St. Paul High School football preview
Bucks reload in 2007 |
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The St. Paul football team lost six all-league players to
graduation,
but hopes are high for the Bucks |
With just six upperclassmen on the squad
and a year removed from losing six all-league players due to
graduation, one might think the St. Paul High School football team
could be in for a long season this year.
Not so, says St. Paul coach Jay Phillips. Despite losing all-Casco
League players such as Cody Kirk, Josh Kelly, Derek Wolf, Elliot
Ramos, Chad King, Matt Anderson and Will Donaldson from a squad that
finished 11-1 last year before it fell 52-20 to Dufur in the state
tournament semifinals, Phillips is upbeat about his team this
season.
“We don’t look at it as rebuilding with this group, we look at it
as reloading,” Phillips said. “We have a good group of young kids.
It’s going to take us awhile, though. We’re going to work hard every
day and every week, but I think as the season progresses, we’re
going to be OK.”
A source of motivation might be the way St. Paul finished the
season last year. In the loss to Dufur, St. Paul’s potent offense,
which averaged 62 points in the squad’s first two playoff games,
struggled and was shutout in the second half.
“In the semifinal game, we turned the ball over early and got
outplayed,” Phillips, who is assisted by coaches Tony Smith and Pete
Popoff, said. “It was a disappointing loss. Any loss is a
disappointing loss. This group of kids, though, remembers that game.
We talk about it. It’s motivation for us.”
Junior quarterback Jeff Annen, a first-team Casco League pick last
season, remembered the season well.
“We didn’t get to where we wanted to get (the state title game),
but this year we’re working just as hard,” he said. “Even with
everybody we lost, I still think we can get there.”
Phillips said while the Bucks, who return Annen and senior
defensive back and offensive end Ruben Rivera (5-8, 160) as the
team’s only returning starters from last season, will not only be
quicker than they were last year, but the squad will adjust its
offense that was based on a strong running game to one that is based
on a passing attack. He said the increase in the number of passes
thrown each game will be “very noticeable” over what St. Paul has
done in the past.
“I know I say that every year, but we’re really going to pass it
this year,” Phillips said. “We have to utilize our speed. (Rivera)
has great hands and (Annen) has a great arm. We have to utilize
that. We haven’t had a kid that can throw the ball like (Annen) can
in a long time, plus with (sophomore Ryan Pierson’s) speed and
(Rivera’s) hands, it’ll be good for us.”
The Bucks will be tested all season in the Casco League, which will
likely have more parity in it than in seasons’ past where St. Paul
and Perrydale have dominated.
“We lost a lot of kids, Perrydale lost a lot of kids and Country
Christian brings back a lot of kids,” Phillips said. “But our goal
every year is to win the league championship.”
Before St. Paul even thinks about league play, it will contend with
perhaps its toughest nonleague schedule in years. The Bucks open the
season next Saturday against Wallowa at the 8-man Classic at Dufur.
The Bucks then play Ione before it hosts Dufur Sept. 14 in a rematch
of the state semifinals from last season. The Bucks then host Cove
the following week before opening Casco League play against
Perrydale, the state runner-up last season, Oct. 5.
Phillips said the tough preseason will not only get the Bucks
prepared for Perrydale, but the rest of the Casco League season.
“That’s big for us,” he said. “It’s also going to tell us where we
are. That’s going to be good for us.”
Annen said the Bucks will surprise teams this year.
“It’s going to be tough, but if we learn our new defense and new
offense, I think we’ll surprise some people because other people
won’t be expecting it because of everybody we lost,” he said.
“They’re not going to expect us to be as good as we’re going to be.”
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From
Aug. 25, 2007, Newberg Graphic
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