It’s a bit of a rare sight in high school soccer — the goalkeeper 60 yards upfield from his usual spot in front of the net lining up to take a direct kick.
But it’s the norm so far this season for Philomath High’s boys. Senior goalkeeper Jake McGaughy has a powerful, accurate foot and coach Dave Ellis sees no reason why he shouldn’t take advantage of what is clearly an offensive weapon.
Gallery: PHS boys soccer vs. Marist Catholic (Sept. 11, 2025)
A collection of photos from Philomath High’s boys soccer win at home over Marist Catholic on Thursday.
“My goal, like coach says, is when I get up there to just hit it as hard as I can,” McGaughy said following Philomath’s 2-0 victory Thursday over visiting Marist Catholic. “If I can get it in the goal, good. If I get it over the goal, that gives me time to get back.”
McGaughy said senior teammate Caleb Babcock, who regularly plays at one of the center-back positions, can be lethal in the box with his headers.
In fact, the team’s “trees” — junior Jacob Hernandez, junior Esias Sapp and Babcock — can make it tough on opponents.
“My foot got a lot better — I don’t know what happened but I have more accuracy,” said McGaughy, who can’t be missed on the pitch because he’s covered in pink from head to toe. “I can consistently hit it at that distance.”
The Warriors faced a hungry Marist Catholic squad, a team that had been ranked No. 4 in the OSAAtoday preseason coaches poll but dropped out after an 0-2 start. Before going up against Philomath, the Spartans played North Marion to a scoreless tie.
McGaughy, who missed last year’s game vs. Marist with a concussion, knew that the record could be deceiving. Plus, the Spartans beat PHS a year ago, 3-0.
“They’re a good team … they know what they’re doing,” McGaughy said. “We won but they have good players and know what to do when we line up.”
Neither team could find the net for most of the first half. But just by appearances, Philomath seemed to have the more dynamic offense. However, the Warriors weren’t able to produce anything on three corner kicks and Jacob Hernandez just barely missed on chances about three minutes apart midway through the period — one on a header set up by senior Zach Grapoli and the other on a 1-on-1 opportunity that the keeper stopped.
Finally in the 33rd minute, Philomath scored during an impressive sequence of events that led to the lead. Babcock put the ball in play on a throw-in and both Jacob Hernandez and sophomore Sammy Hernandez converged on the goalkeeper. Sammy Hernandez crowded the goal area to disrupt the goalkeeper’s vision and movement — a positional tactic that is legal. While those two tangled, Jacob Hernandez stepped in to kick the ball into the net.
Sammy Hernandez was tasked with creating chaos in front of the net, which includes annoying the goalkeeper, Ellis said.
“Then we bring our runners from the backside so it’s difficult for them to mark and one of them’s supposed to go behind,” he added. “So, it’s designed to cause chaos. I feel like we’re more athletic and stronger than most of the teams we see so it’s just about making them uncomfortable and making them do things they don’t want. And if the ball drops in a good spot, we’ll get it.”
Philomath’s ability to capitalize on the loose ball was enough to hold up the rest of the way. The Warriors added a second goal with five minutes left in the second half when Sammy Hernandez made a perfect pass up to Jacob Hernandez.
Jacob Hernandez has scored six goals in two games.
“I think all the boys want to go as far as we can,” McGaughy said. “We’re putting in the work and feel comfortable. We lost a great player last year but we’ve managed to fill the gaps and we’re happy with where we’re at and pushing to get better every day.”
Marist, who has not scored a goal yet this season, is now 0-3-1.
Philomath will see its next action at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at Junction City. The Tigers are off to an 0-4 start this season.
Philomath 2, Marist Catholic 0
Thursday, Sept. 11, at Philomath HS
| Teams (Record) | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marist Catholic (0-3-1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Philomath (2-0) | 1 | 1 | 2 |
First Half — 1, Philomath, J. Hernandez, 33rd minute.
Second Half — 2, Philomath, J. Hernandez (S. Hernandez), 75th minute.
