In the fall of 2019, Philomath High’s boys soccer program finished just one game over .500 and missed the state playoffs with a loss to Hidden Valley in a play-in game.
The varsity roster that season included a dozen juniors and seniors but also a number of talented freshmen and sophomores — a group that included Seth Arthurs, Noah Aynes, Dylan Bell, Teddy Benbow, Mateo Candanoza, Mark Grimmer, Ben Hernandez and Chase Ringwald.
PHS soccer enthusiasts will know all of those names as key contributors during the state championship season of 2021.
As this year’s Warriors get ready to embark on a new season, coach Dave Ellis again has a contingent of raw talent among his group of underclassmen. Philomath lost 13 seniors off the team that went 9-1-4 during the regular season and exited the playoffs in the first round with a 2-1 loss to Phoenix, the eventual 4A runner-up.
“I think the young players feel a lot of pressure based on the success that we’ve had,” Ellis said. “If we can get to the second half of the season and still have a chance to make the playoffs, I think we’ll grow up and mature and the players will be able to get to their level. And then the next year and the year after will be much better.”
Three returning starters are back on the PHS pitch — seniors Favian Aceves and Lukas Dunn and junior Silas Pittman.
“You can’t lose the players and the quality we lost and not have a drop,” Ellis said. “We’re not one of the big schools and just have kids every year, so we tend to cycle here at Philomath.”
Pittman, a second-team all-conference pick a year ago, returns to give Philomath a legitimate scoring threat and Ellis said sophomore Zach Grapoli will also be in the mix for scoring chances. On the other end, sophomore Jake McGaughy will take over in goal for Benbow, who was the Oregon West Player of the Year
“We just want to play well and let everything else take care of itself,” Ellis said. “We’ve got a lot of talent but we’re young. We’ve got two freshmen on varsity for the first time ever in Jai Braxton and Jacob Hernandez.”
In all, Ellis has 29 athletes in the program — carrying 13 of those on varsity.
The Warriors will open the season on the home field at 4 p.m. Thursday with Marist Catholic in town. The Spartans were unbeaten in the Sky-Em League last season and finished 8-6-1 overall, falling to North Marion in the first round of the playoffs. Marist will have a game under its belt when it takes the field against Philomath after a Tuesday evening matchup against Churchill.
The Warriors will then play Sept. 5 at Cottage Grove and Sept. 14 at Estacada before getting into league play.
“Marist, I think they were league champs last year, and then we’ve got Estacada, who’ve been really good for the last few years but graduated their best player. And Cottage Grove, they’re always tough,” Ellis said.
In the conference, Ellis said he’s not sure if Stayton’s up or down and added that Newport, which made an appearance at the Philomath jamboree, appears to be a good, strong team. As for Cascade and North Marion, like the Warriors, those teams graduated a lot of good players so it remains to be seen what they have, he said.
For what it’s worth, Stayton is ranked No. 2 in the OSAAtoday preseason poll with North Marion at No. 3, Philomath at No. 5 and Newport at No. 10. Sweet Home appears as though it may struggle again this season, losing 9-2 in the season Monday against Klamath Union.
“I think this year, I’d be happy with making the playoffs,” Ellis said. “If we get to the playoffs, it’ll give our players a chance to grow and mature. We’re definitely going to be better by the end of the season.”
