Chris Kinney of Myrtle Point breaks his first board during a recent testing cycle.

Several students recently tested at Coquille Martial Arts earned their new belts and the ability to learn new material and move up in rank. Part of this testing includes breaking a 1 inch thick pine board with a technique, usually a kick. Many jokes have been made both in the general media and within the martial arts community about how breaking a board doesn’t help one learn to defend oneself, except against rogue pine shelving.

 However, the martial arts are about far more than self defense. They are about improving oneself. The first break is generally the most important break. Students learn that they have power within themselves to overcome what looks like on the surface an impossible task. They learn that they need not be fearful in face of adversity, and that, in fact, fear will prevent them from achieving the task at hand. It is only when they relax and quit trying so hard, that the break becomes easy.

 Given that we have been taught to try hard all of our lives, and suddenly we learn that for this, we must let go, they also learn the lesson that they really don’t know anything at all. Humbleness and humility are very important aspects of the martial arts, especially in a day and age when so many people think that achievement is all. One cannot learn, without first having failed. But back to self defense. Recently a student in Bandon defended himself and another against a group of bullies who had sneaked behind him and tossed him to the ground. It seemed like the odds were against him, but he got back up anyway and defended both himself and their next victim. It pretty much boils down to the idea that if someone can break a one inch pine board, they can likely break anything, if the need is great enough. And once again, it is all about learning that anything is possible, and it is within ourselves to achieve.¤

The Coquille Red Devils football team closed out a winning season with 4 straight wins and finished solidly in fourth place in the 3A Sunset Conference with a 4-3 inter-conference record and 6-3 overall for the year. On Friday night, they traveled down to Rogue River to take on the Chieftains and defeated them 39-6. One of the fun surprises was one of the Coquille Alumni from the late 1940’s who came up from Ashland to see his alma mater play against the Chieftains, and he didn’t leave disappointed.

 Thanks for your warm comments about these articles, and glad you’re still a subscriber and that you enjoyed the game. In the 1st Quarter, Big Red kicked off the scoring after a strong defensive stand against the Chieftains’ number one rushing team in 3A Sunset, with Junior Joe Harris taking the handoff from Senior Heston Altenbach around the corner for a 52 yard touchdown. The point after by Senior Ryan Dannels was good. Coquille held the lead for the remainder of the quarter, 7-0. Continuing a good defensive strategy anchored by Senior John Binford, the Red Devils continued to shut down the Chieftains’ strong rushing attack through the first half of the second quarter.

 At 8:26 in the quarter, Altenbach handed the ball to Harris, and following solid offensive blocking by Seniors Josh Duke and Eddie Durkee, he broke through the defense by running 40 yards for his second touchdown of the evening. The point after was good. Following the kickoff, the Chieftains, with their strong offensive rushing attack, finally broke an off the left side, which turned into a 78 yard foot race between Chieftain player #21, Reyes, and Duke on his heels, yet unable to catch him, for the score. The point after was no good. During the huddle on the sideline with the Red Devils’ defense prior to re-taking the field, Coach Thomason rallied the team by saying, “I want one more touchdown before the half, one more touchdown!”

The team rallied and attacked hard during one of the defensive attacks, with Durkee and Junior Shawn Mattox breaking into the backfield of the Chieftains and causing a fumble. Mattox picked up the ball and ran 20 yards for the touchdown. The point after was no good, and the Red Devils went into the halftime locker room with the score 20-6. In the second half, both teams for the first 9 minutes traded possesions. With 2:56 left in the third quarter, Altenbach handed the ball off to Harris, following again some great downfield blocking by the whole offense, and Harris took off for another big run off the right side for a 44 yard touchdown. The point after was no good.

 This touchdown seemingly broke the Chieftains’ will, for in the fourth quarter, the Red Devils stopped the Chieftains cold and added two more touchdowns to their lead. One of them was Altenbach with a quarterback keeper rushing for 10 yards, and then he threw a 41 yard touchdown pass to Dannels with 7:02 left in the game to bring the score to the final of 39-6. Following the game, Coach Thomason stated, “This was a great game to finish the season with! We played very well tonight, especially the offense.” The team gained over 320 yards total offense. Harris led the offensive attack with 9 carries, 190 yards and 3 touchdowns.

 Remaining with his full team effort philosophy, which has been solid all season, Coach Thomason said, “Without the total team effort, linemen blocking, backs running hard and receivers running their routes, we would not have been as successful as we were tonight.” In his final comments concerning the season, Coach Thomason stated, “I can’t say enough about the players this year. What a tremendous group of guys! They have given great effort and commitment the whole season long. I am very proud of the whole team and consider it an honor and a privilege to be part of this team.

 Thanks to the players, especially the Seniors, as well as the coaching staff for making this season what it was, fun, exciting and successful.” Thank YOU, Coach, for all your hard work, leadership, dedication, and helping the Coquille Red Devils have a great year. Even though they missed the State Playoffs, it was a year the Seniors will look back upon as one of the best of their high school football career. We are all looking forward to a great 2010 season. Go Big Red!!!¤

The Boys Combined Coquille and Myrtle Point Red Devils entered on a high this past week by winning their 4A FarWest intraleague game against the visiting Sutherlin Bulldogs, 2-1 on Monday, November 2nd, to secure the No. 3 position for the post-season. The Red Devils hosted first-round match Saturday, November 7th, against the powerhouse team from Aurora, Oregon, the North Marion Huskies from the 4A Capital League, and were soundly defeated 6-0, Huskies.

The Red Devils finished their season on Saturday with a final record of 7-2-3 in the league and 10-2-3 overall. The Red Devils scored 57 goals to 18 against for the season. The Red Devils led the Far West League for most of the season, but with the OSAA finally ruling on the forfeit to Brookings-Harbor for using a player in both the varsity and junior varsity matches in the same day, they were then taken from first to third in the standings, which left the Red Devils finishing the season with a third place seeding and needing to win the first round playoffs to advance, versus having a by this week to prepare for meeting the 6-3-1 Henley Hornets from Klamath Falls.

 Their defeat on Saturday ends their season, but they can hold their heads very high for being one of the top teams in 3A boys soccer in the State. Way to Go Big Red!!!¤

Since October 29th, the Lady Devils Volleyball team has been playing a lot of matches, with their final game of the regular season hosting the Rogue River Lady Chiefs. The Lady Devils won the match in three straight sets, with set scores of 26-24, 25-17 and 25-21. This match gave them the push they needed to get into the 3A Sunset Volleyball League playoffs by hosting the Myrtle Point LadyCats on Monday, November 2nd.

The Lady Devils ended their regular season play with a League record of 8-6 and 13-10-1 overall. On November 2nd, the Lady Devils won their first league playoff match against the Lady Cats in three straight sets, with set scores of 25-20, 25-21 and 25-21. The Lady Devils‘ offense was burning hot with Juniors Chelsy Forbes 34 assists, Nikki Hall blasting 12 kills and Allison Cook 8 kills; Sophomores Kelsey Hill 10 kills and 4 service aces, and Kaitlyn Altenbach with a strong defense digging up 19 balls; and Freshman Taylor GeDeros 9 kills. By winning this match, they then secured their opportunity to move up the seed rankings by traveling to Bandon to take on the Lady Tigers on Tuesday, November 3rd in the effort to secure the number 2 seed for the State Playoffs for the Sunset League. On November 3rd, the Lady Tigers defeated our Lady Devils in four sets, with the set scores of 25-16, 26-18, 20-25 and 25- 21. This defeat landed our Lady Devils in the number 3 seeding and put them into the first round of State playoffs on November 7th by having to travel to Portland to take on the Portland Adventist Lady Cougars.



 The Lady Cougars finished in second place in the 3A Lewis and Clark League with a league record of 12- 2-0 and an overall record of 18-2-0, with their only losses coming at the claws of the Catlin Gabel Eagles, the 4A Lewis and Clark League regular season champs. The Lady Cougars in their intraleague playoff match against the Eagles defeated them in three straight sets, resulting in the Lady Cougars being the number one seed for the Lewis and Clark League. On November 7th, the Lady Devils, after traveling up to Portland on Friday, November 6th, took on the Portland Adventist Lady Cougars in their first round of OSAA State Playoffs and played an incredible match against one of the toughest teams in the state. Our Lady Devils took it to the Lady Cougers, swapping sets and forcing two of the sets into overtime play, including the final set for the match. The Lady Devils lost the match but can hold their heads high. The final score was Lady Cougars 3 sets to 2, with the set scores being 25-21, 25-27, 25-20, 18-25 and 18-16.

 Congratulations, Lady Devils, for a great year. Great job, Coach McKinley, for your first year as head coach, and congratulations to you as well. We are looking forward to an incredible 2010 season when most of the players will return. Thank you, Seniors!!! Go Big Red!!!¤

The Far West League District Cross County Championship was held at Tugman State Park on Saturday, October 24, 2009. The Coquille Valley Middle School may have had only two team members as the season concluded, but Thom Hallmark and Serena Erler had strong finishes and did a great job representing the school. Thom Hallmark placed third over all (out of 62 runners) and third in District in the 8th grade boys division with a time of 11:22 minutes in the 3,000 meter race. Serena Erler placed ninth over all (out of 64 runners) and second in District in the 7th grade girls division with a time of 14:15 in the 3,000 meter race.

Coquille Coach Teresa Mather, Serena Erler, Thom Hallmark and Myrtle Point Coach Doug Veysey at
the District Meet on October 24, 2009.


 Their next race will be at the Junior Olympic Cross Country Meet in Sandy, Oregon on November 14, 2009. The Team would like to thank Coaches Teresa Mather and Debbie Erler for their support and dedication to the team. They would also like to thank the Coquille Safeway for their generous donation to the team; Bob Erler for his help with practices and support during the meets; and Myrtle Point Coach Doug Veysey for his constant encouragement, along with the Myrtle Point School District for providing transportation to all the races. Thom is looking forward to having a Cross Country Team at the High School next year and Serena plans to help build a strong Junior High team for next season.

The 2009 Coquille High School Homecoming Queen and King were crowned
during halftime of Friday night’s Homecoming football game. Heston
Altenbach, varsity quarterback, was crowned as King and Anna Gutzeit, foreign
exchange student from Germany, as Queen.