Avery Nightingale (12) leads the way for the Taft girls soccer team (File photos by Lon French)
Junior Avery Nightingale scored her first three goals of the season Monday to lead the Taft High girls soccer team to a 5-1 victory at Gervais that snapped a four-game league losing streak.
“The game was our best of the season with the bench getting heavy playing time,” Taft coach Joey Arce-Torres said. “Our communication and passing had the largest impact on the lopsided score. Our offense was patient and moved the ball from side to side.”
Chloe Peterson
Senior striker Sammy Halferty, the Tigers’ leading scorer, and sophomore Chloe Peterson added goals for Taft with Halferty, senior Autumn Ellis and sophomore Nicole Reyes posting assists.
The Class 3A Tigers built a 3-1 halftime lead en route to evening their Special District 2 record to 3-3 and overall mark to 3-4. Gercais fell to 0-5-1.
“The Gervais keeper blocked many of our shots and showed great skill, but we kept at it,” Arce-Torres said. “Our defense kept the ball out of our side and controlled the pace of the match.”
Sammy Halferty
Arce-Torres credited Halferty and sophomore Saige Ulrich for providing several key minutes by directing traffic and keeping Gervais scrambling for most of the match.
“It was very much a team win and one we needed for our confidence.” he said. “We had a few swingers [junior varsity players] who showed some great improvement, especially Olivia Coulter.
“The offense was patient and passed the ball well. The defense was consistent and calm, never panicked and kept the ball wide. We played deep into our bench and gave heavy minutes to our less-experienced members.”
Taft returns to action at 4:15 p.m. Thursday at Amity (1-3-2).
Coast Guard officials are calling off the search for a man aboard the overdue sailing vessel Kiwanda, after finding floating debris Sunday near Whale Cove near Depoe Bay.
Coast Guard watchstanders at Sector North Bend received a report at 11:42 a.m. Sunday from a source on land who sighted vessel debris in the vicinity of Whale Cove, approximately one-mile south of Depoe Bay.
The Coast Guard coordinated eight combined searches totaling 11 hours near Whale Cove, deploying an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter and 47 foot Motor Lifeboat. Rescuers used a drone to confirm the identity of the Kiwanda.
The Kiwanda was last sighted by a bar tower watchstander at Coast Guard Station Yaquina Bay at approximately 7 p.m. Saturday in the vicinity of Cape Foulweather, with a northerly heading.
Coast Guard crew members recovered several items from the area including: wood, a life jacket, part of a marine sanitation device and a strobe light with the name of the vessel on it.
Finnish foreign exchange student Matias Vesma led the Taft High varsity boys with a fourth-place finish in 17:29, and Zander Hryczyk, Eli Jones, Angelo Cruz Garcia, Cooper Fitch and Brayan Mateo posted personal-best times Saturday in the Toledo XC Challenge.
Newcomer Joseph Cruz ran 23:15 in the boys JV race.
“Times today have situated our team in a great spot for Districts with Athletic.net giving our team a hypothetical first placing,” said Taft coach Eva Ahumada, whose Tigers placed third in the boys varsity 5,000-meter race.
Finnish pioneer Nels Nelson (Terry Smith) tells of his time in the mines and the “black lung” that led to his early grave
Friday, Sept. 27 was opening day for the fourth year of A Tour To Die For, an interactive Lincoln City history experience with live actors portraying cemetery residents who tell their stories from the beyond.
John Bones (Bryan Kirsch)
The event starts off at Lincoln City Cultural Center, where John Bones (Bryan Kirsch), tells of his travel west for a “homestead opportunity” in which he claims over 100 acres and is instrumental in the naming of Taft (after William Howard Taft) and creation of the first post office in the area. Bones lived to the ripe old age of 99.
Linda Wagner
Participants are then loaded onto a shuttle bus and driven to Pioneer Cemetery or the North Lincoln County Historical Museum depending on weather. The bus ride is narrated with stories from the past by tour guide and Taft Pioneer Cemetery board member, Linda Wagner, as she touches on Lincoln City’s rich history, featuring people such as, Dale Omsburg, the mortician whose mistreated corpses haunted survivors, changed the law and ended in suicide.
Upon arrival at their destination (due to rain this tour went to the museum), attendees are ushered through a series of live actors portraying residents of Taft’s Pioneer Cemetery, including Nels Nelson (Terry Smith), a Finnish pioneer who’s time in the mines led to an early grave. His story is one of hardship, but ends on a bright note as he seems “happy” having created a brighter future for his many offspring.
As the tour continues, the sounds of an accordion and saxophone fill the air as two musicians harmonize during the interludes.
Julia Bones (Elizabeth Chandler)
Julia Bones (Elizabeth Chandler) is a mother and farmer that speaks with authority. She tells of her time canning, falling in love and her constant battles with Jehovah Witness’. A very animated lady who’s story of cherry picking season and how she would not write a man who picked cherries with her because her mother would “tan my hide for writing a man”, was a unique glimpse into turn-of-the-century life.
Sissie Johnson (Alice Luchau)
Sissie Johnson (Alice Luchau), told of how there were no bridges or roads in the early days. If you wanted to get to Newport, you had to go across the bay and you needed her husband Jake to swim your horses. This was a difficult task that took great expertise, and Jake would make sure everyone trying to get to Newport was safe and would even wait for them to come back and swim their horses across once more.
Ben Bartow (Lewis Smith)
Ben Bartow (Lewis Smith) brings the past to life as he speaks about his many jobs and how some of them were not one’s he’d like to remember but they add to his story nonetheless. Bartow speaks of prohibition and tells a first-hand account of the bribery of a Tillamook deputy to allow the safe passage of bootleg alcohol into Lincoln City. Bartow said he sent all kinds of letters to public officials, such as the President of the United States and said “in those days, it was likely you got a response.” He used a letter from Harry Truman to get across the Canadian border in one instance.
Dan Rees (Matt Blakeman)
Dan Rees (Matt Blakeman), a German immigrant pioneer, regales the audience of his coming to America and spending time in New York as a cheesemaker, where he found the people loved his cheese. His real dream was to own “a bit of land of my own,” so he headed west by “riding the rails” and landed in Colorado. After farming difficulties made life in Colorado impossible, he moved further west to Lincoln City. Rees made a name for himself trapping bears, “mountain cats,” and muskrats. He learned logging and enjoyed finding agates. Rees’s ending tale is one of a grim fate for his caretaker as he “hurt” her with an axe and was subsequently committed by authorities.
George Parmele (Dave Jones)
A Tour To Die For concludes with George Parmele (Dave Jones) spewing interesting tales of his past in Lincoln City but we don’t want to give away everything.
Playing without injured two-way starter JJ French, the Taft High football team couldn’t get much going on either side of the ball Friday night in a 37-6 league loss at undefeated Yamhill-Carlton.
Antonio Saurez
The Tigers, down 30-0 at halftime, scored their only points in the third quarter on a 24-yard pass from junior quarterback Antonio Saurez to senior wide receiver Trenton Fisher.
Yamhill-Carlton senior quarterback Jaime Garcia threw two touchdown passes to junior wide receiver Mikel Rivas, and sophomore running back Jacob Preston ran for two scores in the lopsided home win.
Trenton Fisher
French, a junior running back and linebacker who accounted for nearly 150 yards offense in leading the Tigers to victory last week, was lost for the game with bursitis in his left leg on Thursday.
Taft fell to 2-2, while Yamhill-Carlton improved to 4-0.
The Class 3A Tigers return to action for their Special District 1 West Division opener Friday, Oct. 4, at third-ranked Amity.
The ninth-ranked Taft High boys soccer team rebounded from its first loss of the season Wednesday by scoring five unanswered goals in the first half Friday for a 5-1 league home victory over Western Christian/Perrydale.
“We came out ready to play,” Taft coach Ryan Ulicni said following a 2-0 road defeat two days earlier at Dayton. “We had some work to do and a short time to do it with only a day in between games. These boys showed they could bounce back from anything and make a statement.”
Senior forward Edson Fuentes scored three goals, the first on an assist from Sammy Vasquez.
Midfielders William Calderon and Jose Flores also scored on assists from “hard-working wingers” Mauricio Rivas and Alex Del Valle, along with fellow juniors Adrian Moreno, Adam Lascano and Ivan Cortez, “who played the whole game wonderfully.”
“Having both forwards moving the ball that close to the goal is simply excellent,” Ulicni said.
Photos by Lon French
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“Defensively, we stayed strong with great leadership and effort by Ethan Thomas to hold down our back line,” Ulicni said as the Class 3A Tigers improved to 5-1 with the win and notched a share of first place with Dayton. The Pioneers fell to 4-2.
Sam Cortes
Sophomore goalie Sam Cortes “came up big multiple times” with 10 saves, Ulicni said.
“All in all, this was a showing of how far this team can go and how much they want the next game,” he said.
Taft returns to action Wednesday in another conference game at Gervais (0-6).
Lincoln City Police detectives arrested a juvenile Friday over social media posts concerning a threat to Taft High 7-12 after the school reported the posts to law enforcement.
Lincoln City Police School Resource Officer Logan Smith and detectives opened an investigation into the social media posts and identified the juvenile responsible for their creation. The minor was taken into custody 1:30 a.m. Friday, charged with first-degree disorderly conduct and taken to Lincoln County Juvenile Detention facility.
According to LCPD, further investigation determined the juvenile involved was not a student at Taft 7-12 and there is no longer a concern for safety.
“This incident was not related to another social media threat located in another part of the state earlier,” a LCPD official said Friday.
The Taft High volleyball team won its second straight match and moved into second place in the Coastal Range League Thursday with a 3-0 home victory over Clatskanie.
The Tigers, who defeated Clatskanie last year for their first league volleyball victory in several seasons, won 25-13, 25-4, 25-7. Taft was coming off a 3-0 league victory Tuesday at Rainier.
Photos by Lon French
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Taft, which has also defeated Class 2A Waldport this season, improved to 3-8 overall and 2-1 in conference play.
The Tigers return to action Thursday, Oct. 3, at Willamina (5-8, 1-1).
The Taft High football team, fresh off its second home victory of the season, will get its final tune-up for league play Friday when it visits unbeaten Class 3A counterpart Yamhill-Carlton.
7 p.m., KBCH (1400-AM)
w/Eric Goss and Boone Marker
The Taft Tigers, of the Special District 1 West, have sandwiched a 33-18 road loss at Sutherlin between 14-6 and 24-6 home wins over Harrisburg and Knappa entering the 7 p.m. game against the Yamhill-Carlton Tigers of the SD 1 East.
Taft coaching staff
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Jake Tolan
Tracey Taylor
Damian Huff
Robb Ellis
“Every game is a new game,” Taft coach Jake Tolan said. “I am proud of our effort. Our kids are resilient and believe in our ability to get better day-in and day-out.”
Fifteenth-ranked Taft will open league play Friday, Oct. 4, at third-rated Amity (2-1).
Photos by Lon French
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“With our schedule, every game is a big game and must-win,” Tolan said of this week’s matchup against fifth-ranked Yamhill-Carlton. “League or not, we have a tough schedule with top-rated opponents.”
Yamhill-Carlton has scored at least 40 points in each of its three victories and outscored opponents by a combined score of 137-56 (46-19). It opened with 49-34 and 40-14 road wins at Warrenton and Jefferson before a 48-8 home win last week against Willamina.
Yamhill-Carlton coach Brennon Mossholder is expected to look to quarterback Jaime Garcia to target fellow senior and team captain Jakob Jarvis, while senior lineman and tri-captain Samuel Dixon will be counted on for protection up front and for pressure on the defensive line.
JJ French
Taft, which has outscored its opponents 56-46 (19-15) this year, is coming off an 18-point home victory over Knappa that featured nearly 150 yards of offense from junior receiver JJ French and the return of a healthy line.
“We had our full line in place and spent the week rebuilding our continuity on the line,” Tolan said. “JJ French had a great game, and I was equally impressed with Logan Gilleo’s play at linebacker.”
Fco Ramos
Tolan said Taft’s defensive line “pressured all night,” and that its special teams, led by junior Fco Ramos, converted twice on two-point conversions “with two athletic plays off the snap.”
French scored two touchdowns and senior wide receiver Jordan Hall added another in Taft’s victory last week over the Loggers (1-2).
“Every player, position and side of the ball will work to continue to get better every day,” Tolan said. “Yamhill-Carlton is a tough team, and we will spend this week preparing. It is nice to have a full JV squad to get a preview of the program.”
Dayton High broke open a scoreless game with two second-half goals Wednesday to hand the Taft boys soccer team its first defeat of the season despite 16 saves from sophomore goalie Sam Cortes.
“Sam had a fantastic game stopping a lot of shots,” Taft coach Ryan Ulicni said of the 2-0 defeat. “Losing our first game of the season is always tough.”
The Pirates, who moved into a share of first place with the Tigers and Western Christian/Perrydale in Class 3A Special District 2, seized control of the contest with the game’s first goal early in the second half, Ulicni said.
“With the score being 0-0 at the half, it was anybody’s game,” he said. “I don’t think we ever fully got into our game and play the way we know is most effective for us. Dayton grabbed a goal early on the second half and we just never seemed to get back on track.”
The seventh-ranked Tigers posed a difficult test for the Pirates, he said.
“Defensively, I could not ask for anything more. Our man-to-man coverage was better than I had seen previously,” he said. “We’ll learn from this game and be ready for the next one.”
Taft returns to play Friday at 4:15 p.m. at home against Western Christian/Perrydale in another key SD2 contest.
