Irish total 430 yards in shootout win

LINCOLN CITY — A big night of offense was just enough Saturday to push the Waldport High School football team to its second consecutive victory.

The Irish gobbled up 304 rushing yards, and the Waldport defense held on to post a 68-54 non-league victory over Lincoln County School District-rival Taft in an 8-player contest.

 “The football program at Waldport has turned around after many years,” Waldport assistant coach George Leonnig wrote in his media report. “Winning a game against a very talented school like Taft shows the commitment to the program by its athletes and coaching staff.”

Junior quarterback Zak Holsey, a three-year starter for the Irish, threw for 126 yards as Waldport racked up 430 yards of offense in improving to 2-1 in scored contests this campaign. 

After hosting a 7-on-7 March 5 contest against Newport in which score wasn’t kept, Waldport fell 54-22 at home to Toledo before starting its current winning steak on March 18 with a 74-34 win at Mapleton. The Irish collected 879 yards of total offense combined during its two wins.

Junior tight end Levi Schrock had 52 receiving yards for Waldport, and junior Ryan Pettyjohn returned a kick 77 yards on special teams.

Third-year head coach Jeff Skirvin’s Irish are scheduled to return to action at 7 p.m. Friday when they host Neah-Kah-Nie High School (0-2) from Rockaway Beach.

March 27

Waldport

14 24 8 22 — 68

Taft

14 20 6 14 — 54

Elsewhere:

Toledo 36, Newport 33

At Toledo, the 2A Boomers earned a Thursday night, March 25 win over 4A Newport.

With the win, Toledo inched above .500 and improved to 2-1, while the Cubs dropped to 1-1 in games in which score was kept. Aside from the final score, no game information was provided to the media prior to the News-Times’ deadline.

Newport is slated to host Taft at 7 p.m. Friday, and the Boomers are scheduled for a 1 p.m. Saturday contest against undefeated Heppner  at Redmond High School.

Boys soccer

At Lincoln City, a three-goal second half on March 26 lifted the Dayton Pirates over Taft, handing the Tigers their first defeat of the season.

Senior midfielder William Calderon scored both goals for Taft, which entered the contest on a four-match winning streak after forging a 2-2 draw March 2 with Tillamook in the Tigers’ opening match of the season.

“These boys give their everything every game,” Taft head coach Ryan Ulicni wrote in the post-match media report. “Our team was better than the final score. No shortage of effort by anyone.”

Calderon’s tally early in the second half gave the Tigers the lead, but Dayton (5-2-0) scored three unanswered goals to produce the final margin.

“Being tied at the half, we went in with confidence and gained an early lead,” Ulicni wrote about the early going in the second half. “Dayton’s persistent attacks and solid defense earned them a goal to tie. Then they managed to get a goal to take the lead late in the game. We never fully recovered from getting behind a second time.”

The Tigers slipped to 4-1-1 and were slated to travel Monday to face Sweet Home.

March 26

Dayton

1 3 — 4

Taft

1 1 — 2