On Tuesday, Oct 13th, the Lady Devils took to the road down to Cascade Christian and lost to them in three straight sets. As Coach McKinley stated, “The team that took Cascade to 5 (sets), was nowhere to be seen tonight.” The Lady Devils lost 9- 25, 20-25, and 10-25 in a dominating display of the Challengers’ power in the 3A Sunset Conference. The latter team stands 9-0 within the Sunset league and is dominating all of the league teams.

 The Challengers are moving up into the 4A ranks next year, so this will most likely be the last game our Lady Devils will have to compete with them in the league. Although the Lady Devils had their evening low on Tuesday, the girls continued their roller coaster ride to great highs when they hosted the Gold Beach Panthers on Thursday, Oct 16th. In Thursday’s match, the Lady Devils swept visiting Gold Beach Panthers in three straight sets, 25-12, 25-13 and 25-21, to climb back into a tie for fourth place in the Sunset standings. Coach McKinley stated, “It was nice to win in three games.”

The Lady Devils, who have won five of their past seven matches, finally got their first three set sweep of the season. The next four matches will all be vital for the Lady Devils, for in these matches, they will be contending for the league’s playoff berths. The Lady Devils will be participating in two nonleague tournaments in the next couple of weeks. They will be traveling to Douglas on Saturday, October 17th, to participate in the Douglas Tournament, and then they will be participating in the Marshfield tournament on October 24th, which five of the Sunset league contenders will also be attending. The more playing time the Lady Devils get, the better prepared they will be for these final matches. The Lady Devils will be traveling to Reedsport on Tuesday, October 20th and then will be hosting the rival Myrtle Point LadyCats on Thursday, October 19th at 6:00pm, a match the whole town should not miss.

Go Big Red!!!

This past couple of weeks, the boys and coaches of the Coquille/Myrtle Point Red Devils Soccer team have had to learn that integrity in sports is not something that can be taken for granted.

What I am talking about is how the outcome of the Varsity Soccer matchup between our Coquille/MP and the Brookings/Harbor unfolded on October 5, 2009. I have seen a copy of the letter sent to Oregon School Athletic Activities (OSAA), the ruling body over all high school sporting events in the state of Oregon, by the Boys Soccer coaching staff relating to their selfreporting of an OSAA rule violation and their explanation of the events, in the hopes of demonstrating their intent and providing the background to why the violation on their part occurred. It is a very revealing letter on what occurred and how our coaching staff, within the best of their abilities and intentions, were attempting to do everything open and with all integrity for the sake of the players, and how an opposing coach waited for the outcome of the Varsity game before setting the hook of the trap he set.


On October 10, 2009, Coquille High School student Tryon Miller took 1st place
and Jordon Peak placed 3rd in the 3,000 meter Cross County Race in the Open
Division at the Sunset Invitational in Coos Bay. Coquille Valley Middle School
student Serena Erler placed 3rd out of the 7th grade runners and 12th overall
(out of 47 runners) in the 3,000 meter Girls Middle School Division. At the
awards ceremony, Tyron Miller received a piece of history with his 1st place
metal, made from a piece of the New Carissa, a commemorative of the 10th
anniversary of the New Carissa shipwreck.

Without going into ALL the details, I will try to share enough so we all can see what a great staff who lead our young people really are. This is the first year the soccer team has had enough members to field both JV and Varsity teams, but on October 5th, due to illnesses and injuries, the JV team for the Red Devils was short by two players against the Brookings/Harbor Bruins JV team. In completely open conversations with the coaching staff of the Bruins, including their Soccer Head Coach Garcia, the on-site OSAA game officials and Coquille coaching staff, it was the desire of all not to forfeit the JV game due to lack of players.

 It was suggested that one of the Varsity players of Coquille play on the JV team so they could compete with a team of 10 players versus 11 of the Bruins. To quote the letter, “Coach Garcia from Brookings/Harbor advised us that he did not care and not to worry about it.” The OSAA Officials also agreed with this, and the boys were allowed to play the JV game. Following the JV game, in which the Bruins won 11-0, the Varsity game started at 5pm. At the end of regulation play, the Red Devils defeated the Bruins 3-1. What happened following the game, during the team handshakes, is tragic, because Coach Garcia approached Red Devils Coach Mark Dannels and said he was going to “teach him the politics of soccer.” In accordance with the OSAA rules, a player can only play 2 halves of a soccer game in one day. The Varsity player that dropped down to the JV game did play in both halves of the game, but he also was used as a substitute (a non-starter) in the Varsity game. Since he was subbed into the Varsity game, the personal playing time rule had in fact been violated, yet all knew that this was a possibility, and our coaching staff thought it would be allowable because of the knowledge and consent of the Bruins’ coaching staff and the OSAA Officials.

Due to the comments of the opposing coach following the game to Coach Dannels, the latter spoke to the Coquille Athletic Director, Dan Cumberland. In the spirit of sportsmanship, Mr. Cumberland contacted the Bruins’ Athletic Director and forfeited the game, giving the Red Devils their only loss this season. Here is the Bottom Line: Although our coaches attempted to do everything they could for the well being of the players, so they all could play, partnered with being fully open and in consultation with the opposing team’s coaching staff and the OSAA officials, their integrity and honor shine forth.

In contrast, one has to question the integrity of an opposing team coach who said they “did not care” until they lost the Varsity game. It was at this time it became quite apparent he cared a lot. Isn’t it tragic that there are some whose integrity is based upon the outcome and who do not honor their word regardless of the outcome? One has to wonder if once the OSAA ruling body, who has zero tolerance for rule violations, gets the full story here how they will respond.

For if the opposing coach and OSAA officiating staff gave their consent, how can there truly be a forfeit required? For now, let’s just wait and see.

This past Friday night, October 16th, the Coquille Red Devils Football team hosted the Reedsport Braves in their 3A Sunset matchup. It was the game to determine which team was going to start climbing back into the running for the coveted third slot for the OSAA 3A State Playoffs, now just three games away.  The Red Devils, who came out a bit flat in the first half, turned up the heat in the second half to take the win with the score of 34-8. Although the Red Devils will need help to make the third slot for the playoffs, it is still within reach if the Red Devils play the remainder of the season with the intensity they showed in the second half of the game. Late in first quarter, Senior Nathan Thurman broke a couple of tackles and ran 50 yards for the first score of the matchup, but the point after was no good. In the early part of the second quarter, the Braves came back with their own sustained drive and pushed in a six-yard rush to score, with their two-point coversion good to take the score to 6-8, Reedsport. At the end of the second quarter, Reedsport sustained yet another good offensive drive down the field and came into the Coquille five-yard line with nearly 1:30 left on the clock. Coach Thomason called a timeout to talk to the team. When play resumed, the Red Devils’ defensive team held the Braves scoreless with three attempts at the touchdown, when time ran out for the half, leaving the score 6-8, Reedsport, at the half. In the third quarter, things began to heat up for the Red Devils with some additional strong defensive play like at the end of the first half and then their own good sustained offensive drive. Senior Heston Altenbach threw a 10 yard pass to Junior Joe Harris, who made a great one-handed catch in the back of the end zone for the touchdown, but the two-point conversion was no good. With the score now 12-8, Red Devils, it was still anyone’s game to win. At this point in the game, it came down to who was going to rise up to take over the game. The Red Devils poured on the flames with three scorching touchdowns in the fourth quarter and then with two more touchdown passes from Altenbach to Harris, one for 48 yards and the other for 28 yards, and then a handoff from backup quarterback Junior Tyler Martin to Harris, who ran 65 yards for the score, with less than 2 minutes left on the clock. With two of the twopoint conversions being good and the final attempt of a field goal being no good, this brought the final score to 34-8, Red Devils. Quarterback Altenbach stated, “It is great to get this win tonight. Our offensive front line did a great job; they deserve a lot of the credit tonight, and with Joe’s (Harris) explosiveness, it really turned things around for us; this is great.” Coach Thomason stated, “We came out strong in the second half and didn’t let up until the end. This is a big Team win for us. This win gives us great momentum going into the second half of our league schedule.” The next team on the schedule is the Myrtle Point Bobcats, in Myrtle Point, next Friday night, 7:00 p.m. Coach Thomason went on to say, “Hopefully, we can keep that momentum and use it against a good Myrtle Point team next week. If we want to even sniff the playoffs, we have to win out (the season), and tonight’s win is a good step in that direction!” With only three games left in the season, the team does have a chance to sneak into the playoffs, but it is going to take some help from losses by Glide and Rogue River. The upcoming schedule looks like this: Myrtle Point, this coming Friday night, in Myrtle Point; then the Bandon Tigers for the Homecoming Game and Senior Night on October 30th; and to wrap up the regular season, the Red Devils take to the road on November 6th against the Rogue River Chieftains. Go Big Red!!!

Thursday night’s game against the Gold Beach Panthers was a hard fought game in which the Panthers turned out on top on the scoreboard, but the Red Devils found themselves as a team and pulled together to fight hard against a very good team. Besides the Panthers’ loss to North Valley in a non-league game, no other team has played them as tough and held them to just a one touchdown lead, like the Red Devils did in this game.

 The final score was 22-15 Panthers; yet the Red Devils came out in the second half determined to close the halftime lead and did everything they could to win. In the 1st Quarter, Gold Beach drove down the field on their first possession of the game to put up their first touchdown, but the point after was no good, making the score 0-6 for Gold Beach. The Red Devils tried many different offensive looks to, but could not sustain any drives.

#9 Yarnell takes handoff from #22 Altenbach

 In the 2nd Quarter, Gold Beach put up a field goal and a touchdown to bring the score at half-time 0-15 for Gold Beach. In the beginning of the second half, the Red Devils came out on their first drive, and Sophomore Derrick Yarnell punched the ball in from 5 yards, and the point after was good by Senior Ryan Dannels, making the score 7-15. In the 4th Quarter, Gold Beach broke a run off to the left side for 45 yards for a touchdown, and the point after was good, making the score now 7-22 for Gold Beach. Most teams would have quit at this point, but not the Red Devils; they continued to fight hard, and Senior Heston Altenbach threw a 35 yard pass to Junior Joe Harris for a touchdown, then Altenbach punched in the two-point conversion on a quarterback sneek to bring the Red Devils to within 7 with just over 2 minutes left in the game, with the score now 15-22 for Gold Beach.

The Red Devils attempted an onside kickoff, and Nathan Huffman got his hands on the ball, but was hit very hard and lost it it out of bounds. The medical team came to assist Huffman, and when play resumed, the Panthers ran the clock out to finish the game. Coach Thomason stated, “It was a good game. We (Coquille) never gave up and came out fighting in the second half. Although we lost, I think we got better as a team tonight. We played as a team and started to put it together. I’m really looking forward to next week’s game versus Reedsport. It should be a good one!” The Red Devils host the Reedsport Braves this Friday night, October 16th, 7:00 pm at the Coquille High School Stadium. Reedsport and Coquille currently have the same 2-3 overall record, and this will be the opportunity for the Red Devils to break their current three-game losing streak and begin their trek to make the final cut for the 2009 OSAA State Finals Playoffs. It is still well within reach for the Red Devils, so come on out on Friday night, and let’s support our young men to a victory.


Go Big Red!!!

Junior Colby DeGeros and senior Tito Rangel providing strong defense

This week was a week of testing the character and fortitude of the Coquille/Myrtle Point Boys Soccer team when on Monday, Oct 5th, they took on the undefeated Brookings/Harbor Bruins and defeated them 3-1 in regulation play. The real test really came afterward when the coach of the Bruins made a call to the officials of OSAA and reported that the Red Devils played one of its players in too many quarters of both the JV game and Varsity game.

 Upon researching this claim, the Coquille Athletic Director and the coaching staff concluded that they did, in fact, make the mistake of allowing one of the players into the game and exceeded the OSAA rules concerning amount of playing time allowed. The Coquille Athletic Director contacted the Bruins and forfeited the game, giving the Bruins the win and bringing the Red Devils their first loss of the season. This loss was not about their playing ability, but a technical error, which is valid, for the rules are the rules.

The Coquille Athletic Director, Mr. Dan Cumberland, stated the young men are focused and have taken the ruling in stride and will continue to press toward the goal of making the OSAA State Playoffs. To show their fortitude, and not allowing this to cause them to lose their focus, the Red Devils took on the Pacific Pirates on Wednesday, Oct 7th, and defeated them 3-2 in regulation play. This brings the Coquille Red Devils firmly into second place in the 4A Far West standings, as they enter into the second half of the season with a record of 5-1-1. Their next game is scheduled for October 15th, Thursday, when they travel to take on the South Umpqua Lancers. The next home game will be against the Douglas Trojans on Monday, October 15th, Coquille High School at 4:30 pm.


Go Big Red!!!

This last Friday night, the Red Devils hosted Cascade Christian Challengers, who are in first place in the 3A Sunset Conference and are ranked number 2 in the State at the 3A level. The game opened up with the Red Devils drawing first blood with a miscue by a Challenger punt returner who accidently touched the bouncing football near the end zone; Junior Nathan Huffman fell on the ball in the end zone to take the score to 7-0. It didn’t last long with the Challengers taking the following kickoff and driving it all the way down the field for a touchdown, but missing the point after, bringing the score to 7-6, Coquille.

 From this point in the game, the Challengers took over and continued to score, using the powerhouse wing offense and applying a very tough defense which held the Coquille Red Devils scoreless for most of the game. The Red Devils were only able to mount one more scoring drive in the third quarter.

 The final score was 61 - 13 in favor of the Challengers. Next week will also be a tough game for the Red Devils as they travel to Gold Beach on Thursday, October 8th, at 7 p.m, to challenge the Panthers who are always a tough opponent in the 3A Sunset Conference and are ranked in the top 10 in the State. Currently, they are undefeated in Conference play and only have one loss this year, given to them by the 4A North Valley Knights from Grants Pass in a non-league game. The next home game for the Red Devils will be October 16th, against the Reedsport Braves at 7 p.m.