Former Philomath High standout Ty May plans to join the Oregon State football program next month once the team begins winter workouts. The Beavers are scheduled to play Notre Dame on Dec. 29 in the Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas.
May, who was a three-sport athlete at PHS in football, basketball and football, didn’t have a clear path to the Beavers after graduating this past June but in the end, everything aligned to give him a chance to keep his dreams of playing college football alive.
May, who played tight end with the Warriors, had an opportunity out of high school to play at Boise State but admits that he had his heart set on the Beavers. This past spring, OSU coaches told May that he could come in over the summer as part of a walk-on opportunity but those plans were disrupted by the Pac-12 Conference debacle.
With nothing set in stone, May had to change his way of thinking.
“I was like, ‘OK, I’m going to go recommit to Boise State’ … I was either going to do that or go play hoops at LBCC because I really want to get my civil engineering degree,” May said. “It’s the career that I want to have and so I was trying to balance football versus civil engineering.”
May found himself at a crossroads.
“I couldn’t decide what I was going to do and then literally, I prayed about it for a couple of weeks and I got a call from Oregon State about coming in and having a private workout with them for football,” he said.
May and another prospect then auditioned for the team.
“We worked out for probably 45 minutes and they pulled us into the weight room, got our sizes for everything and basically told me ‘Welcome to the Beavs,’” May said. “So I start officially in January after a bunch of seniors graduate and they start winter workouts.”
With those workouts now only a few weeks away, May said he’s been trying to get back into shape.
“It was just a blessing because if I didn’t have that opportunity to play football, I would have to hang up the dream of continuing in athletics because I really want to get my civil engineering degree still,” May said. “I’m ready to get back at it.”
Local soccer team competes in San Francisco
A girls soccer squad made up mostly of Philomath third and fourth graders barked their way through an unbeaten league season and tournament titles to advance all the way to an AYSO sectional tournament last weekend in San Francisco.
The term “barked” is used here because the team is called the Retrievers. And yes, they literally bark on the field.
“They do this cool cheer where they all take a bunch of steps back into a circle and they all just yell ‘Retrievers’ and they all come in screaming and barking and that’s how they start,” co-coach Andrew Woogen said. “In the game, they literally bark at each other and almost communicate with each other on the field like that. It’s pretty cool.”
The Retrievers swept through three pool play games Saturday and Sunday morning with shutout victories and advanced to the championship match Sunday afternoon against the Red Fire Panthers out of Hillsborough, California. The local team lost 4-0 to end what had been a magical run.
“It’s pretty impressive that we made it that far and with that many players,” Woogen said, referring to a roster that included just eight girls. “In the previous tournament at Albany, we won that one all the way through so they’re still champions locally and then got the silver medal for the whole Western state section.”
Corvallis AYSO shifted its team rosters this year by going to grade levels instead of ages, co-coach Bobby Taylor said. The Retrievers were made up of third and fourth graders and since all players were under age 10 — not the case with some teams — Philomath could compete in the U10 division in tournaments.
At this level, seven players are on the field and with only eight on the roster, that means the Retrievers had just one available as a substitute. The games have 20-minute halves with a running clock.
Players included Sarah Bumstead, Emma Dejmal, Mia Gevatosky, Sierra Hahn, Hollyn Juhl, Brooklyn Taylor, Haley Woogen and Lia Zymonas.
The Hillsborough team took a 1-0 lead into halftime of the sectional tournament’s championship game before putting it away with three goals in the second half.
“The girls hadn’t really been down all year in any tournament or in our league games and so I think that was tough on them and then we kind of fell apart in the second half,” Taylor said. “But you know, all in all, it was quite an experience and it was really cool to take home second place.”
Overall, the loss in the sectional tournament game was the only one this season for the Retrievers. The team also had a tie on its record out of the Albany tournament.
Woogen and Taylor both said the team played exceptional defense, which included Zymonas at goalkeeper and Brooklyn Taylor at center back. On offense, Emma Dejmal scored the team’s first four goals of the sectional tournament — the first three in a hat trick performance in the opener.
Haley Woogen earned a sportsmanship award for her performance in the championship game. Brooklyn Taylor also won a sportsmanship award during pool play.
Both coaches said traveling and playing in San Francisco was a special experience — both mentioned epic pool parties — and credited players’ parents with tremendous support all season.
Warriors set to play basketball in Coos Bay
Philomath High’s boys and girls basketball teams will make what has become a December tradition by participating Thursday through Saturday in the South Coast Les Schwab Tournament at Marshfield High School in Coos Bay.
The boys enter the tournament with a 2-2 record after falling on the road last weekend to what appears to be a pretty good 5A school in North Eugene. The Warriors will open in the tournament at 4 p.m. Thursday against Hidden Valley.
The Mustangs will likely be motivated to beat Philomath since the Warriors crushed Hidden Valley, 65-40, in the first round of last season’s 4A playoffs. Hidden Valley comes in at 3-3 with losses in its last two games to North Marion (94-57) and Junction City (74-62).
If PHS wins, the likely opponent in the semifinals at 8:30 p.m. Friday would be the host school. Marshfield (4-0) is matched up against Mazama (1-5) in the first round. If the Warriors fall to Hidden Valley, they would play at 10:15 a.m. Friday.
On the opposite side of the bracket, other teams competing include Junction City (5-0), Crook County (3-1), North Bend (4-2) and Redmond (3-2).
The trophy games are on Saturday with the championship showdown at 5:45 p.m.
Philomath’s girls are 2-1 on the season and will face Crook County in their tournament opener at 5:30 p.m. Thursday. The Cowboys enter the game with a 3-1 record although their wins have come against overmatched opponents. Their one loss came to a .500 Baker squad. Crook County lost by 20 points to Philomath in last season’s 4A tournament.
If the Warrior girls win, they would probably play Marshfield in the semifinals at 7 p.m. Friday. The host Pirates (3-2) are matched up against Mazama (1-4). If PHS loses, the next game would be at 1:45 p.m. Friday. As with the boys tournament, the trophy games are Saturday with the girls championship scheduled for 4 p.m.
The other four teams in the girls tournament are Coquille (5-0), Scappoose (3-0), Junction City (2-3) and Hidden Valley (1-5).
The tournament will feature a 3-point shooting contest. Philomath’s entries include Preston Kramer and Caleb Russell for the boys and Anneka Steen and Emily Taunisila for the girls.
(Brad Fuqua is publisher/editor of the Philomath News. He can be reached at News@PhilomathNews.com).
