Football
Valdez vs. Monroe Football
Courtesy of VHS Coaches – The Buccaneers celebrated their senior players prior to Saturday’s game with the Monroe Rams. Seniors from this year’s team include Josh Baczuk, Tate Chadwick, Evan Clupper, Hunter Francis, Dennis Mott, and Wyatt Williams. Baczuk, Chadwick, Francis, and Mott have played all four years, with Clupper and Williams adding tremendous value to the team when more recently upon moving here. These seniors have shown tremendous leadership both off and on the field for some time now, their shared legacy leaves a well worn path of commitment, courage, hard work, and servant leadership for future players to follow.
Monroe came to the Saturday game with one previous loss this year to the Division III leading team of Redington. The stiff defense of the Rams made it difficult for Valdez to make big plays. Potential scoring drives were difficult to sustain at three yards a down, especially when penalties added distance to first down markers. A breakdown in pass blocking also made it difficult to connect through the air. Defensively, the Buccaneers played well with few big plays allowed, holding the Rams to 6 points in the first period. As the day progressed however, the superior size and strength of the Rams took its toll on the Buccaneers. The game ended with a score of 34-0 in favor of the Rams.
The end of the season is always a bittersweet time. While it is always fun to end with a win, half the teams don’t. In addition, all teams but one making it to the playoffs end with a loss. In the end, winning and losing by numbers on the scoreboard is only a part of the larger story. While winning is obviously a shared goal among team members, it is the journey together that constitutes the worth of what we do. Sharing this journey for the last 4 years with these Seniors has been a terrific privilege. Watching their courage and seeing their commitment to personal improvement has been inspiring. The trajectory of this group of seniors is high, I believe their impact will be felt by many as they move on. A hearty thanks to them.
I believe it is also important to recognize all that work so hard to help these young men. Stan Porritt gives more time, effort, and care into these young men than anyone I have ever known. You might thank him when you see him, but you’ll have to be persistent, he never stops. In fact, you’ll most likely see him when he’s coming to help you out as well. Tim Burns has also been indispensable in being willing to volunteer his time and efforts to help these young men this year. Finally, the whole Mom army that shows up every week to feed both our team and the visitors are terrific. I don’t really know who is in charge, but they all seem to pull equally hard in making certain everything is taken care
of. Finally, thanks to all you parents that encourage your boys to play football. They are better for it, our school is better for it, our community is better for it, and I’m convinced that someday the world will be better for it. Thanks.
Swimming
VHS Swimming @ Bartlett Invitational
- Valdez Buccaneer Swimming
- Valdez vs. 33 Alaska schools
- The Bartlett Invitational
Courtesy of VHS Coaches – The Valdez Buccaneer Swim Team had a tough time in the big city at the Bartlett Invite. This swim meet is basically a state invite before the schools swim their region meet to have a showing of potential athletes that will qualify for state. Placing in the Top 16 in an event for an Individual and Top 8 for a Relay lets us know that those swimmers have state potential. Though the Buccaneers had no Relays place in the top 8 we did however have a few swimmers that placed in the Top 16 individually. Liam Roosma has shown state potential by placing 12th in his 200 Individual Medley with a new best time of 2:25.89 dropping over 2 seconds. Fisher Mishmash who has been very strong in our region showed his state potential by placing 9th in his 500 Freestyle and 10th in his 50 Freestyle. Billi Lovell had some of the most competitive swims this meet, Placing 7th in her 100 Butterfly with a new best time of 1:05.34 and Placing 5th in her 100 Backstroke. All three swimmers have the potential to make state with continued hard work this season.
Other notable swims were Ginger Keller who had one of her best swims ever, dropping 5 seconds from her 100 Backstroke setting a new best time of 1:17.54. Also, Weston Clupper continues to improve every swim meet and was the only swimmer this meet to drop time in both events. He set a new best time of 39.57 in 50 Freestyle and dropped nearly 3 seconds in his 100 Freestyle setting a new best time of 1:36.39. With his continual hard work and improvements at meets Weston Clupper has earned the honor of this week’s Swimmer of the Meet.
Please wish our Swimming Buccaneers luck as we travel next weekend all the way to Unalaska to compete in a dual competition. This season has shown a lot of growth in our swimmers and I look forward to seeing them all finish this season strong.
Varsity Volleyball
Courtesy of VHS Coaches – The girls played their second weekend of conference games for the season. They played against the Delta Huskies. The team had a slow start but picked it up in the ending set. The girls have really improved their defense over the last few weeks. We won 3-1. The set scores were:
25-17, 25-17, 22-25, and 25-11.
Saturday was the first day I’ve seen the girls play so in sync with each other. They worked together so well on offense and we’re able to consistently execute their most complicated plays. We won again, 3-0. The set scores were: 25-20, 25-13, and 25-13.
J.V. Volleyball
October 1-2
Valdez vs. Delta Huskies
Courtesy of VHS Coaches – The Valdez Bucs came out on top of the match both Friday and Saturday in the conference competition against the Delta Huskies.
On both Friday night and Saturday morning Desi Woodgate led the team in serves and Aces with twenty-eight serves on Friday (four aces) and fifteen serves on Saturday (five aces), and no service errors. Other huge serving contributors were Jaimie Crisp (18 Friday, 14 Saturday), Lily Brown (15 Friday, 9 Saturday), and Marcedes Taylor (17 Friday, 5 Saturday).
Friday’s match was a ping-pong back and forth of wins. The Bucs came out strong in the first set, taking a 25-16 win, but then let the Huskies take Set 2 with a 19-25 loss. In Set 3 the teams battled back and forth for the lead, but the Bucs pulled ahead with a 25-21 victory, but yet again to give the next set away with a 17-25 loss. In the deciding set the Bucs sealed the game with a 15-6 win. Christina Wise was a lead attacker as an outside hitter with 10 hitting attempts. This aggressive offense, along with attacks by Taylor, Brown, and Woodgate, forced the Huskies to play defense and make their own errors. Way to be aggressive, Bucs! Marcedes Taylor and Caelyn Wise in particular stepped up as defensive specialists to allow our team to set up our offense.
The next day the Bucs decided to take control from the get-go and not allow the Huskies the chance to get back in the game. They won three straight sets (25-19, 25-16, 25-20). On the court they were calm, focused, and working as a team.
This weekend it was exciting to watch the team put into practice some of the skills that we have been working on all season like transitioning quickly between offense and defence, covering for tips and blocks, releasing quickly to set up the offense. Well done! I’m looking forward to seeing more and more!
Go Bucs!
