BB Lady Celtics Split

LADY CELTICS SPLIT WITH LAFAYETTE AND HICKMAN MILLS The O'Hara girls basketball team beat Lafayette 38-49 but lost a close 42-41 game to Hickman Mills during the last week of 2008. Lafayette held the Celtics to five points in the first quarter and had a three point lead as the two teams struggled to produce much offense. O'Hara applied defensive pressure and it paid off as the Celtics built up a 19-16 halftime score. Alex Smith and Hailey Houser combined for 23 of O'Hara's points. The heartbreaker at Hickman Mills was a see-saw game that left the Lady Celtics just short. Ashley Clark was O'Hara's top point producer with 11 and she was backed up by Hailey Houser's 8 but it wasn't enough. O'Hara outscored their opponents in every quarter except the second in which the Celtics were outdone by 12-5. Hickman Mills benefitted from 13 free throws while O'Hara had only 7.

BASKETBALL AT WM JEWELL

WHITE AND BRADEN LEAD CELTICS IN WIN FOR THIRD PLACE At the Bank Midwest Holiday Basketball Classic played at William Jewell College, the O’Hara Celtics defeated the Kearney Bulldogs 55-46 for the Third Place trophy. TJ White was the top scorer in the game with 26 points and was followed by Mark Braden who had 16. Except for a lull at the end of the second quarter and the start of the second half, the fast and aggressive O’Hara team coped well with the Bulldogs’ inside game. Making the most of 6’9” Dillon Starsl, the Bulldogs were able to tie the game three times at 28-28, 30-30, and 40-40, but the Celtics never trailed after TJ White put them ahead midway through the first quarter. When the scored reached 27-18 just before the halftime, it appeared the game would be a runaway, but the game slowed down and the Bulldogs eventually was able to tie it up but never able to pull ahead. The O’Hara defense held Kearney to only two baskets in the second quarter, but free throws assisted the Bulldogs in whittling away at the lead. Kearney was helped by three consecutive three-pointers during the brief time the Bulldogs held the lead. The Celtics pumped in 21 fourth quarter points, 12 of which were by Mark Braden.O’HARA MAKES FINAL FOUR AT WILLIAM JEWELL BUT LOSES TO ROCK BRIDGE IN SEMIFINALS On Saturday, December 29th, the O’Hara boys basketball team joined Kearney, Rock Bridge, and Liberty in the winners’ bracket of the Nelson Division of the William Jewell Holiday Classic. Rock Bridge and O'Hara met on Monday with the Celtics at the short end of a 69-44 score. The O’Hara Celtics defeated the Truman Patriots 70-55 in the opening round while Rock Bridge had an easy time with Staley 75-40 to bring the two teams together for the semifinal game in their bracket. In the first game, the Celtics were held at bay throughout the first quarter when the Patriots used a 2-3 zone defense. But midway through the second quarter, Joe Pepple connected on a three-pointer to give the Celtics a 25-24 lead, and thanks to five unanswered points by JeVon Lyle, O’Hara went ahead and remained in the lead until the end of the game. The Patriots were able to bring the score to within one point by halftime 30-29, but the Celtics took charge early in the third quarter with a 10-4 spurt and built up a nine point advantage by the time the fourth quarter got under way. Mark Braden scored seven of his game high 15 points during the third quarter. JeVon Lyle scored 13 points in the game with Dominique Fields adding 10. The Patriots couldn’t keep pace with the fast breaking Celtics. On the following day, the Bruins from Columbia led all the way, outscoring the Celtics by 3 in the first quarter and then by 6 in the second quarter. O'Hara couldn't get things going in the third quarter and the game got out of reach when Rock Bridge poured in 19 points to O'Hara's 9. Mark Braden scored half of O'Hara's 16 fourth quarter points and ended up with 17 for the day. Dominique Fields was the only other O'Hara player to score more than six points and he got all seven of his in the second half.

Cross Country All-Metro: Max Storms

O'HARA'S MAX STORMS IS ALL-METRO IN CROSS COUNTRY Max Storms, Archbishop O'Hara High School's outstanding cross country runner for the past two years, was one of seven named to the All-Metro First Team. Having won the State Title in Class 2 during his junior year, he was challenged to compete in Class 3 for his senior year. In preparing for the State title, he succeeded in taking first places in seven meets among which were the West Central Conference Meet, the District Meet, the Helias Invitational, and two Invitationals sponsored by Saint Mary's. Competing with the larger schools in the Class 3 State run he came in seventh with a time of 16:32. He was coached by Mike Martin at O'Hara.

W R E S T L I N G

THREE CELTICS DO WELL IN WRESTLING TOURNAMENT IN SAINT JOSEPH Travis Peter, Louis Golden, and Zach Taylor won their final matches at the 10-team Wrestling Tournament held on Saturday in Saint Joseph, Missouri. Peter wrestling at the 125 weight class won all five of his matches for first place and Golden and Taylor won 3 and dropped 2 for third places at 189 lb and 152 lb.

VY-VEE Basketball

On Saturday December 20, O'Hara was in the Hy-Vee Shootout and played against the Miege Stags. O'Hara lost 72-66. but the game was closer than that indicates. Mark Braden had one of his best performances and put in 24 points. The Celtics held a four point lead after the first quarter and outscored the Stags in the fourth quarter, but had a bad second period that made the difference in the game.

200th Blood Donation

ON DECEMBER 20, 2008, BROTHER RICHARD MADE HIS 200TH BLOOD DONATION THAT BE BEGAN BACK IN 1956.

BASKETBALL

RAY-PEC AND SAINT PIUS FALL TO SPEEDY CELTICS Having two basketball games postponed due to weather conditions with Smith-Cotton and Center, the O’Hara boys varsity team won handily against Raymore-Peculiar 55-51 and Saint Pius 72-49 last week. The Ray-Pec Panthers scored only three points in the first quarter of their game while the Celtics poured in 20 leading by halftime by the score of 36-11. The Celtics with such a large advantage eased up in the second half but it was much too big of a margin for the Panthers who eventually came as close as four points. None of the Celtics scored in double figures, but it wasn’t necessary with the score so one-sided for most of the game. The Saint Pius Warriors fared well for one quarter, behind by a single point, before the Celtics executed a 23-11 second period to put that game out of range. Four O’Hara players made double figures with TJ White and DJ Jackson each contributing 12 points. Dominique Fields and Mark Braden also had at least ten points. O’HARA GIRLS WIN THREE GAMES BY LARGE MARGINS The O’Hara girls varsity won three games against three West Central Conference opponents last week, all by convincing scores. Center fell to the Lady Celtics 63-33, Smith-Cotton followed suit with an identical score, and Clinton was overwhelmed 83-25. Patrice Jackson paced the Celtics in the Center game with 15 points while Hailey Houser tagged on 10 more. After the Celtics were up by a 22-9 score in the first period, the tempo slowed down a bit but the Yellowjackets were unable to score more than nine points in any of the quarters. The Smith-Cotton Tigers played a closer game for three quarters, but in the fourth period the Lady Celtics put together a 23-5 quarter to complete the romp. Hailey Hauser and Ashley Clark led O’Hara with a combination of 26 points and Paulina Pengelley was good for 9 more. The Clinton Cardinals were completely outmatched in the next game. The 43-14 halftime score made that overly obvious. Not only did five Celtics emerge in double figures, the team as a whole only missed on two of their free throws. Players that could boast of double figures were Cameron Randle, Alex Smith, Paulina Pengelley, Tori Hurtt, and Hailey Houser.

Volleyball All-Metro

THREE O’HARA SOPHOMORES CONSIDERED FOR ALL-METRO VOLLEYBALL Archbishop O’Hara High School, the Missouri Class 3 State Champions in volleyball, was honored by the recognition of three sophomores in the All-Metro Team for 2008. Making the First Team was Tori Hurtt who led the scoring for the Celtics as a middle hitter. She had a.441 kill efficiency as a middle hitter, recording 498 kills along with 135 blocks. Hurtt had already been selected as First Team All Conference, All-District, All-Region, and All-State. Two other members of the team were given All-Metro Honorable Mentions. The setter for the team, Lindsey Hanaway, daughter of the Head Volleyball Coach Lori Hanaway at O’Hara, and Michala Boehm, another middle hitter with commendable stats were both hoping for Second Team recognition but will wait until next year to try again. In bringing the championship to O’Hara for the second year in a row, these two Honorable Mention players contributed in a very meaningful way. As a setter, Hanaway ran the offense and had many assists for the kills by Hurtt and Boehm. Having two middle hitters of such a caliber paid off as opponents to the Celtics could not focus in on just one offensive standout.

O'HARA STUDENTS IN DISCUSSION

Students from three Kansas City schools recently joined to discuss the Hickman Mills community. The students were from Hickman Mills High School, Ruskin High School and Archbishop O’Hara High School. They joined community organizations such as Carter Broadcasting Group, Campfire U.S.A., the Jackson County prosecutor’s office and Kansas City Spartans for a two-day retreat. During the retreat, the groups and students brainstormed ways to make Hickman Mills a better place in which to live. The following students participated in the retreat. From O’Hara: Bria Anderson, Keenan Wilkins and Alexandria Moran.

FORENSIC TEAM UPDATE

The Archbishop O'Hara High School Forensic Team competed at the Raytown South Varsity Speech Tournament in which twenty schools participated. Terray Doakes won a 4th place medal in Prose Interpretation. Not bad inasmuch as there were 55 entries! Gabby Williams advanced to the semi-finals in Poetry Interpretation. She is a novice member competing on the varsity level. Among the 45 entries, she placed 11th. Some excellent ballets were also earned by Alec Robb, Rocky Chael, and Tim Barris. The competition was on December 13th.

Wrestling at Camdenton

FIVE CELTIC WRESTLERS COMPETE The O'Hara wrestling team competed on December 13th with ten schools, fielding only five athletes. Winning all four of his matches, Zach Taylor took the championship in his weight class. With a 4-1 record, Travis Peter won a second place and Trevor Gudde at 3-2 had to settle for a third place. The other two wrestlers were Louis Golden 3-2 taking 5th place and Jake Fortin 2-2 coming in seventh. The JV team meanwhile competed in Warrensburg with Sam Janet and Chase Scott coming in second. Danijo Adams and Matt McInerny earned third place medals.

Missouri Football Coaches Association Class 3 All-State

Danny Hernandez was named to the Missouri All-State SECOND TEAM DEFENSE as a returner and THIRD TEAM OFFENSE wide receiver. On offense this season, he had 34 receptions for 746 yards and averaged 21.9 yards per catch, scoring six of O'Hara's TD's. For his career stats at O'Hara he has 972 yards on 47 catches and is second on the Celtics' all-time top ten receivers.

Grain Valley Wrestling Tournament

O'HARA WRESTLERS ARE FIFTH AT GRAIN VALLEY TOURNAMENT At 125 lb Travis Peter won first place with a 4-0 record and at 160 lb Zach Taylor took first place with a 4-1 record to pasace the O'Hara Celtics wrestling team to a fifth place team finish among ten teams. Mexico was the overall champs. Both Peter and Taylor won two of their matches with pins. Jake Fortin wrestling at 112 lb and Louis Golden at 189 lb won second places. Fortin had a 4-1 record in his runner-up spot, all won on pins. Golden's record was 3-2 with his three wins with pins. Trevor Gudde at 171 lb and Chase Scott at 119 lb both came in third. Gudde had three pins along the way. HERE IS A SUMMARY OF THE DAY: Wrestling at the Grain Valley Tournament: 112 lb: Jake Fortin (Frosh) 2nd place with 4-1 record and 4 pins 119 lb Chase Scott (Frosh) 3rd place with 3-2 record 125 lb Travis Peter (Jr) 1st place with 4-0 record and 2 pins 135 lb Matt McInerny (Soph) with 1-4 record and 1 pin 160 lb Zach Taylor (Sr) 1st place with 4-1 record and 2 pins 171 lb Trevor Gudde (Sr) 3rd place with a 3-1 record and 3 pins 189 lb Louis Golden (Jr) 2nd place with a 3-2 record and 3 pins

FOOTBALL BANQUET

SEVEN SENIORS HONORED The Celtics bid farewell to seven seniors at the football banquet on December 7th in the O'Hara Commons. After Head Coach Jim DeMarea acknowledged all who contributed to the 8-3 season making the playoffs and the Runner-Up 4-1 team in the West Central Conference, he singled out the seniors and thanked them for their leadership. Three of the honorees have career records among O'Hara's top ten: kicker Bryce Scovall and pass receivers Joe Pepple and Danny Hernandez. Also recognized was running back Don Criswell, punter Larry Liggett, and defensive players Alex Rogers and Joey Tucker.

Letter of Intent

STANDOUT SOFTBALL PLAYER SIGNS LETTER OF INTENT TO UMKC Linsey Davis, an outstanding four-year softball player for the Archbishop O'Hara High School Celtics, signed a letter of intent to UMKC on December 5th. A candidate for the Scholar-Athlete Award later in the year, Lindsey was one of O'Hara's most proficient batters in the O'Hara lineup. "She rarely ever struck out," Head Coach George Peter told the crowd on hand to witness the signing. On the field, her most played position was second base, but when it became necessary, she did an excellent job taking over the catching in her senior year, and occasionally over the years performed well as a pitcher.

BASKETBALL OPENS SEASON

CELTICS ROLL OVER RAIDERS Led by TJ White’s 20 points scored within the first and third quarters, the Archbishop O’Hara High School basketball team crushed the Pembroke Hill Raiders 81-45 on December 5th to open the new season. The Celtics never trailed in the game picking up six quick points by TJ White before the Raiders got on the scoreboard. After that, the closest the Raiders came was 10-9 when freshman Michael Vaughn scored a basket and free throw. The fast paced O’Hara team then took off to lead 18-12 by the time the first quarter ended and outscored their opponents 23-14 in the second quarter for a 15 point halftime advantage. Tyler Houser and Josh Rupprecht scored the bulk of the second period points. Had there been any doubt whether the Raiders would turn the game around in the third quarter, it was soon put to rest as the Celtics came roaring forth with a 17-4 burst, and eventually outpointed the Raiders 34-13 in the third quarter alone. With a running clock, both teams cooled down throughout the final quarter content with just six points apiece. In all, thirteen players from O’Hara scored. With such a spread of scoring, it was not surprising that in addition to TJ White’s output, only DJ Jackson reached double figures for O’Hara. For the Raiders, Emmo Jenkins was the only player in double figures with 11 points. FRESHMAN CELTICS WIN EASILY TOO Not to be outdone by the fast paced varsity, the freshman team trounced the Raiders 55-31 with a dominating quickness of their own. 19 first period points were scored by the young Celtic squad while the Raiders were held to two baskets and two free throws for only 6 points. In this game, Ryan McDowell displayed great stealing and scoring ability and ended up as the game’s top scorer with 14 points. Like the varsity team, twelve different members of the team made the scoreboard with Curtis McClintock and Ryan Wald combining for 13 points. The Raiders were outscored in each of the four quarters.

SOCCER ALL-CONFERENCE

FOUR O’HARA SOCCER PLAYERS NAMED TO ALL-CONFERENCE Three O’Hara Seniors and a junior were selected to the All West Central Conference Soccer Team. Patrick Hogan and Bryce Scovill, both seniors, were selected to the First Team as forwards although Scovill also was the team’s goalkeeper for some of the games. Senior midfielder Andy Parks made the Second Team and junior defender Jack Parres was included in the Second Team listings. In addition to Archbishop O’Hara High School, the Conference is made up of teams from Clinton, Warrensburg, Saint Pius, Center, and Smith-Cotton.

O'HARA WRESTLING

CLINTON EDGES O’HARA IN WRESTLING O’Hara opened the wrestling season with a close 36-42 loss to Clinton on December 4th at O’Hara. Of the Celtics’ 36 points, half came from open weights and half from winning pins. Zach Taylor won by pinning Casey Mothernaugh in the first period, Louis Golden had a second period win by pin of Dillion Humphreys, and Trevor Gudde accomplished his pin well into the third period against Sam Glasscock. Clinton did not have wrestlers for the weight classes involving Jake Fortin, Chase Scott, and Miles Womack. The only match not decided by a pin was an overtime contest between O’Hara’s Travis Peter and Andy Skaggs. Off to an early start, Peter picked up five points on two near falls before yielding two points on a reversal. Skaggs tied up the score at 8-8 in the second period when he gained points from a reversal, a take down, and a near fall. His take down in the overtime decided the outcome: a 10-8 decision.

Preseason Celtic Wrestling

O'HARA TO BEGIN WRESTLING SEASON WITH A DOZEN Twelve potential wrestlers will start off the Archbishop O'Hara High School season with two seniors and three freshmen in the mix. Depending on whether the athletes can maintain their weight classes, the team could lessen the number of open weights this year. The two seniors are Zach Taylor at 160 and Trevor Gudde at 171. The three freshmen that will begin their high school experience are Chase Scott and Jake Fortin both at 112 and Blake Hughes at 145. Returning from taking second in State at 103 last year is junior Travis Peter who will be wrestling at 130 this year. Louis Golden is the only other junior at 189. The remaining five are sophomores. They consist of Dan Adams at 103, Josh Bonello at 119, Sam Janet at 152, Matt McInerny at 135, and Dontae Obie at 215.

Preseason Celtic Boys Basketball

O'HARA BASKETBALL IS YOUNG AND TALENTED Led by two seniors and a nucleus of talented juniors, the Archbishop O'Hara High School basketball team is getting ready for their opening game with Pembroke Hill on December 5th. Joe Pepple and Trevor Krasowsky are the only two players returning for their fourth and final year on the O'Hara team. Great expectations are anticipated from juniors TJ White, Mark Braden, Aaron Stubblefield, Dominique Fields, and tall Tyler Houser. Others from the junior class that will be challenging for playing time are Keenen Wilkins-Hemphill, Larkin Garrison, Emanuel Moore, and Ronnie Miller. Seven sophomores will display their talents in JV games and occasionally pop up in varsity games. They are Jevon Lyle, Josh Rupprecht, Kenton Echterling, Andre Jordan, Lowell Thomas, DJ Jackson, and Bryce Foster. Suiting up for JV or varsity play are freshmen Daniel Hurtt and Rayshawn McDonald. The Celtics bring a lot of experience from last year when they came in second in District play, nearly won the William Jewell Classic, and won the West Central Conference Championship with an 8-2 record. The Celtics were 17-7 for their regular season.

FORMER O'HARA BASKETBALL PLAYER LEADS HIS TEAM WITH 31 POINTS

Marcus Walker leads Colorado State over Northern Colorado 85-74 O’HARA ALUMNUS IN PLAYING FOR COLORADO STATE WAS WRITTEN UP WITH THE FOLLOWING REPORT: A worn-out Marcus Walker struggled to the sidelines with 5:19 left in the game. Having to play every second to that juncture had taken its toll on the Colorado State guard. But after a two-minute breather, Walker returned and took over the game. Walker had a 3-pointer and key steal in the last two minutes and scored 31 points to lead Colorado State to an 85-74 victory over Northern Colorado Tuesday night. "Any time you play 30-plus minutes, I don't care who you are, you are going to be tired" said Walker, who played all but two minutes of the game. "Just knowing that you're going to hit a brick wall, and that if I could get over the hump, pushed me through in the end." Walker was 9-for-18 shooting and added three assists, three rebounds and three steals. "Marcus started 3-for-12, but made his last shots," Colorado State coach Tim Miles said. "Pretty salty numbers for a guard at the end of the game and playing the point, which he's not accustomed to doing." Walker was forced to move to point guard when starter Willis Gardner sprained his left ankle in the first half and never returned. The win avenged a 72-59 loss for the Rams last year in Greeley. "I can't talk enough about our defensive effort," Northern Colorado coach Tad Boyle said. "We had no answers for Marcus Walker.. Walker's short jumper gave the Rams the lead, 54-53, and two free throws with 5:48 left completed a 15-4 run that put them ahead 67-57. Walker went gasping to the bench with 5:19 remaining and returned two minutes later to watch Northern Colorado storm back to get within 74-70 on a basket and free throw with 2:03 left. Walker followed with a 3-pointer. And after two free throws by Will Figures made it 77-72, Walker stole an errant pass and converted it into a layup with 43.6 seconds to go. The layup made it 79-72. "I'm just out there playing for my life," Walker said. "This is my last year, and I don't have any time to take off."

JOSH SNOW #1 RATING

Josh Snow scored a 1 rating (that’s the highest) at the State competition of the Missouri Music Teachers Association, held at Washington University in St. Louis. Josh played Beethoven’s Opus 10 Sonata #2 and Muczynski’s Preludes #4 and #6.

Swimmers Take Third at WCC Meet

FOUR O'HARA SWIMMERS EARN THIRD PLACE AT WCC MEET The O'Hara swimmers consisting of only four members took third place in the West Central Conference Meet at Sedalia Nov. 8 with 84 team points. Spencer Noyes won a big upset taking second place in the 100 yard freestyle with a time of 1:01.58. He was seeded fourth. Gabriel Pozos added eighth place points in the same event with a personal best time of 1:44.44. In the 50 yard freestyle, Spencer Noyes took fourth place with a time of 27.42. In the same event, Patrick Kelly took eighth place with a personal best time of 31.91, A.J. McCracken finished ninth at 33.71 (also a personal best), and Gabriel Pozos finished 10th at 44.50, each scoring points. In the 100 yard breaststroke, both Patrick Kelly and A.J. McCracken swam personal best times. Patrick took fifth place at 1:34.60, missing fourth place by two-tenths of a second. A.J. took sixth place at 1:35.04. In the 200 yard freestyle relay, the team of Patrick Kelly, A.J. McCracken, Gabriel Pozos and Spencer Noyes also put up their best time of the year, finishing in fourth place with a time of 2:16.31. On Nov. 5 and 6 at the Independent League Championships Small School Division Meet at Kansas City Central High School, Spencer Noyes and the 200 yard freestyle relay team all won medals. The relay team of Patrick Kelly, A.J. McCracken, Gabriel Pozos and Spencer Noyes finished third with a then-season best time of 2:17.46. It marked the first time the relay team had broken 2:20. In the 100 yard freestyle, Spencer Noyes took the sixth-place medal in extremely tough competition featuring some swimmers who had already qualified for the State Championships. Spencer put up his personal best time of 1:01.12. In preliminary competition on Nov. 5, the relay team finished third out of five teams to qualify for the finals with a time of 2:21.75. Spencer Noyes qualified for the finals in the 100 yard freestyle by finishing seventh out of 23 swimmers with a time of 1:01.86. In the same event but not reaching the finals, Gabriel Pozos had a time of 1:48.86. Not making the finals but still competing strongly, Spencer Noyes had a personal best time of 26.62 in the 50 yard freestyle, an event that featured three State Championship qualifiers. Patrick Kelly had a then-personal best time of 32.41, and A.J. McCracken had a time of 36.18, also a personal best at that time. Finally in the 100-yard breaststroke preliminaries, both Patrick Kelly and A.J. McCracken swam personal best times to date. A.J. swam a time of 1:35.05, and Patrick swam 1:37.63. It was the first time both swimmers had broken 1:40, but neither qualified for the finals.

VOLLEYBALL STATE CHAMPS AGAIN

The Celtics defeated Logan-Rogersville by two 25-19 scores to claim their second consecutive State Championship and their fifth State Title in the last seven years. In winning the Class 3 Championship. the Celtics were led on offense with 18 kills by Tori Hurtt and 15 by Michala Boehm, both of whom are sophomores. Another sophomore on the team, Lindsey Hanaway chipped in 34 assists as the team's setter. Junior Katie Huber had a passing efficiency rating of 98%. Tori Hurtt and Michala Boehm made the First Team All State while Lindsey Hanaway and Katie Huber were named to the Second Team. The Celtics' record for the year was 33-4-5.

O'Hara defeated Logan-Rogersville 25-19 and 25-19 on Saturday, November 8th to defend their State Championship in Class 3. The team of Tori Hurtt, Michala Boehm, Lindsey Hanaway, Jennifer Wulff, Maddie Rembold, Jordyn Wyatt, Janell Jordan, Katie Huber, and Emily Tyler were coached by Lori Hanaway. In both games the Celtics had a run of five and four consecutive points. In game #1, following a score of 13-12 O'Hara jumped to 17-12 with their five, and later jumped from 18-14 to 21-14 for four points in a row. In game #2, they duplicated the task going from a close 18-17 to 21-17 and from 21-19 to the end of the game. In the first game the last time O'Hara was behind was at 9-10 and in the second game it was at 10-11. On the previous day, the Celtics qualified for the Championship game by winning five of the six pool games. They won by scores of 25-12 & 25-15 over Saint Dominic and 25-12 & 25-9 over Saint Genevieve. However to make thing interesting, they split with Logan-Rogersville 25-29 & 24-26.

Max Storms 7th in Class 3 State Cross Country

Max Storms from Archbishop O'Hara High School, the Class 2 Cross County State Champion last year, came in seventh in the Class 3 State Meet on November 8th. He set a new course record for O'Hara with his 16:32 time.

FINAL REGULAR SEASON FOOTBALL STATE RANKINGS

A panel of twelve sportswriters and broadcasters announced their final regular season State rankings for Missouri high school football, placing Archbishop O'Hara High School in 8th place among the Class 3 teams. The first three teams were undefeated: Chillicothe, Monnett, and Holden. Supporting 9-1 records were the 4th, 5th, and 7th place schools: Mountain Grove, Sullivan, and Saint Genevieve. O'Hara had an 8-2 record for the regular season as did Pleasant Hill tied for 5th, and Potosi ranked 9th and Salem ranked 10th. Oak Grove and Smithville, two teams that eventually handed the Celtics defeats, just missed the top ten rankings.

The Game With Smithville

SMITHVILLE RALLIES TO BEAT O'HARA BY ONE POINT The Smithville Warriors football team patiently rallied from a 15 point halftime to force an overtime game with O'Hara and eventually pull out a 35-34 win in the first round of the Class 3 State playoffs. At no time did they hold the lead until the final play of the contest. O'Hara powered to a 20-6 first period bulge with three touchdowns. James Tillman, following a 20 yard pass reception by Joe Pepple from TJ White, rambled 54 yards for the Celtics' first score. Bryce Scovill's kick went wide however. It was to be his only miss of the day. A short four yard TD pass from Brent Hastings to Blake Fore tied up the score, but a two-point conversion attempt fell short. For O'Hara's second touchdown of the quarter, TJ White scored on a one yard plunge after the ball was brought to that location on an Aaron Stubblefield 26 yard pass reception. The Celtics got the ball back with an on-sides kick and were in the end zone in four plays. Danny Hernandez caught a pass for 29 yards before he was stopped, but Joe Pepple caught a scoring pass for 25 yards. Smithville got a touchdown in the second quarter on a quarterback sneak but once again the Warriors were unable to score on a two-point conversion attempt. Before the end of the second quarter, the Celtics scored on an 18 yard pass reception by Danny Hernandez to bring the halftime count to 27-12. The Smithville defense denied the Celtics any points in the third and fourth quarters. Meanwhile the Warriors were able to score a touchdown in each of those quarters along with a kicked extra point and a two point conversion that tied the scoree at 27-27. Their touchdowns materialized from an 8 yard pass from Brent Hastings to Blake Fore and an 11 yard run by Bryant Brant. Drew Sperry kicked the extra point for the first TD and Austin Baker ran in the two-pointer. O'Hara had the ball first in the overtime period, and wasted little time in scoring. Hernandez caught a 17 yard pass and Donnie Criswell ran the ball in the rest of the way. Smithville got their TD on just one 25 yard pass play from Brent Hastings to Andrew Townsend. The successful two-point convesion not only put Smithville ahead of the Celtics for the first time in the entire game, but was the winning play. TJ White who holds several all-time O'Hara passing records gained 274 yards on 16 completions. His main target was Danny Hernandez who caught seven for 138 yards and Joe Pepple who caught five for 82 yards. In O'Hara's eleven games of the year, James Tillman scored 96 points with Danny Hernandez and Bryce Scovill scoring 50 each.. Tillman gained 1,732 yards in the games placing him 7th in O'Hara's top career rushing yards. TJ White upped his career passing yards to 3,042 and is O'Hara's top passer; his closest competitor has 1,869 yards. White now also has the most passing yardage for a single season with 1,919 yards. Two seniors from this year's team moved to the top two spots in career passing receptions. Joe Pepple in his years at O'Hara caught 68 passes for 1,259 yards and Danny Hernandez caught 47 for 972 yards. Between the two of them, they scored 19 touchdowns. Finally senior Bryce Scovill finished his career extra points total with 128 points, far ahead of the number two place of 86..

O'Hara Swimming

IT ONLY TOOK FOUR ************ In the finals of the INDEPENDANT LEAGUE CHAMPIONHIPS, the tiny swim team from Archbishop O'Hara High School came away with bronze medals for third place in a free style relay. The team only has four members. All four were needed for the competition. They were Pat Kelly, Spencer Noyes, Gabriel Pozos, and A. J. McCracken. The swimmers have their last meet this weekend in Sedalia, at the West Central Conference competition.

Football All-Conference

O’HARA IS WELL REPRESENTED IN ALL WEST CENTRAL CONFERENCE FOOTBALL TEAM The 2008 O’Hara football team came in second in the West Central Conference losing only to Smith-Cotton. Outside the Conference, their only losses were to Oak Grove by seven points and to Smithville by one point in overtime. As a result, the Celtics were ranked 8th at the end of the regular season in Class 3. The team was well represented in the All West Central Conference Team. On offense, making the First Team were return kicker DJ Jackson, quarterback DJ White, Offensive tackle Tyler Houser, wide receiver Danny Hernandez, tight end Joe Pepple, and both running backs James Tillman and Donnie Criswell. On defense, making the First Team were punter Larry Liggett, linebacker Chuck Preston, and defensive end Joe Pepple. Joe Pepple was also awarded the West Central Conferences Defensive Player of the Year Award. In addition to the First Team honors, six Celtics were selected to the Second Team All Conference. They were kicker Bryce Scovill, offensive guard Teddy Dujakovich, defensive lineman Louis Golden, and defensive backs Aaron Mitchell, Alex Rogers, and Joe Melchior,

OHara 34 Smithville 35 Overtime

SMITHVILLE OUTLASTS O’HARA IN OVERTIME ----------------- The Smithville Warriors never led in the first round of the State playoff game with the O’Hara Celtics but won the game on the last play of overtime 35-34. The two teams were tied at 27-27 at the end of regulation time and O’Hara scored first in the overtime period with a one-two punch. TJ White passed to Danny Hernandez for 17 yards and Donnie Criswell ran the ball in from 8 yards out. Bryce Scovill’s extra point conversion made the score 34-27. The Warriors answered with a 25 yard TD pass from Brent Hastings to Andrew Townsend and Bryant Blank successfully ran in a two-point conversion for the win and the only time O’Hara was behind in the entire game. Back in the first quarter, the Celtics used a one-two punch to score first. TJ White passed to Joe Pepple for 20 yards followed by a 54 yard TD run by James Tillman. The extra point kick went wide to the left and ultimately this was the margin of difference for O’Hara not winning in regulation time. The Warriors were able to tie the score at 6-6 with Brent Hastings completing a 4 yard pass to Blake Fore, but the try for a two-point conversion failed. The Celtics were able to put two more first quarter touchdowns on the scoreboard within the first quarter to take the lead and then boost their advantage to 20-6. The first of these came right after a 26 yard pass completion from TJ White to Aaron Stubblefield to set up a one yard plunge by TJ White. The Celtics got the ball back immediately on an on-side kick and proceeded to obtain their next TD. The one-two punch in this series was a 29 yard pass completion to Danny Hernandez plus a 25 yard scoring pass to Joe Pepple. Both teams scored a touchdown in the second quarter. The Warriors crossed the goal line first when Brent Hastings took it in from two yards out, but the Warriors once again failed to make their two-point conversion. With just over two minutes left in the first half, James Tillman sacked quarterback Brent Hasstings and forced a fumble recovered by O’Hara on the 29 yard line. TJ White and Danny Hernandez combined for two pass completions of 8 yards and 18 yards, the second of which was for the six points. The half time score was O’Hara 27 Smithville 12. To start the third quarter, the Smithville Warriors ground out small yardage gains and consumed much playing time which paid off with a 9 yard touchdown pass caught by Blake Fore. Drew Sperry kicked the extra point putting the Warriors down by only 8 points 27-19. The last scoring drive in regulation time occurred just as the third quarter was ending and the fourth quarter getting under way. The Warriors held possession of the ball for over ten plays and came away with a touchdown on a 2 yard run by Bryant Blank. To tie up the game, Austin Baker ran for a two-point conversion. O’Hara had one more good series which included a 16 yard pass to Danny Hernandez and a 19 yard pass to Joe Pepple, but Austin Baker was able to halt the drive with an interception on the 11 yard line to stop he threat. Smithville also had one more good series in regulation time getting as close as the 23 yard line before the Celtic defense stiffened. A long field goal attempt by Drew Sperry on fourth down was way short however. On the last play before overtime, the Celtics attempted their hook-and-ladder play. TJ White’s completion to Joe Pepple got off all right, but his lateral to speedy James Tillman was fumbled and the trick play fizzled.

O'Hara Softball

PATRICE JACKSON NAMED AGAIN TO MISSOURI ALL-STATE SOFTBALL TEAM ------------------------------------------------------- For a second year in a row, Patrice Jackson was named to the Missouri All State Softball team. Patrice had a batting average of .580, 24 runs scored, 50 RBI, 8 doubles, 6 triples, and 5 home runs. With the 5 homeruns, she had a 4-year total of 24 homeruns which places her 2nd in the state for career homeruns. Defensively, she only had 3 errors for a fielding percentage of .984.

LIGHTNING!

The game between O'HARA and SMITHVILLE had to be posponed to the following day due to LIGHTNING in the area!

Soccer District Results

CELTICS FALL TO PEMBROKE HILL 5-1 Ross Payne scored three times and Ryan Buck scored twice as the Pembroke Raiders eliminated the O'Hara Celtics in their District semi-final game played at Center High. O'Hara was only down 1-0 at the halfway mark on a goal scored within the final four minutes of the first half. After the Raiders were up by five goals, Andy Park connected for O'Hara's lone point near the completion of the game. Pembroke Hill went on to play Harrisonville for the District Championship. Harrisonville won its semi-final game by toppong East 6-2. ********************************************************* O'HARA REACHES SEMI-FINALS IN SOCCER BY DEFEATING CLINTON Thanks to a four-goal performance by Bryce Scovill, the O'Hara soccer team beat Clinton 4-1 to boost them to the semi-final District game in soccer. Three O'Hara players had assists. They were Taylor Mathews, Trevor Gudde, and Patrick Hogan. The win qualified the 3rd seeded Celtics to play Pembroke Hill on November 3rd at 7 PM.

WHO SWIMS FOR O'HARA?

Archbishop O'Hara High School is represented this year by FOUR persevering swimmers: The are PATRICK KELLY, SPENCE NOYES, A. J. McCRACKEN, and GABRIEL POZOS. On November 8th, they will be competing in the WEST CENTRAL CONFERENCE meet in Sedalia.

Rankings for Football & Volleyball

CLASS 3TEAM (Overall record) Last week's ranking Football Rankings: 1. Chillicothe (6) 9-0, 114, 1tie; 2. Monett (6) 9-0, 113, 1tie; 3. Holden 9-0, 95, 4; 4. Mountain Grove 8-1, 78, 5; 5. Sullivan 8-1, 71, 6; 6. Pleasant Hill 7-2, 69, 3; 7. Ste. Genevieve 8-1, 37, 9; 8. O'Hara 7-2, 36, 8; 9. Oak Grove 7-2, 25, 10; 10. Smithville 7-2, 11, NR ************************************************* Volleyball Rankings: 1. O'Hara (23-3-4) 1, 2. Logan-Rogersville (21-5-3) 2, 3. DeSoto (26-4-1) 5, 4. St. Francis Borgia (18-9-3) 3, 5. Platte County (26-4) 4, 6. Holden (23-5-1) 8, 7. St. Pius X (Kansas City) (22-5-3) NR, 8. Reeds Spring (18-6-3) 6, 9. Notre Dame (Cape Girardeau) (22-5-2) NR, 10. Ste. Genevive (17-5-4) 9, DROPPED OUT: Republic, Dexter

O'HARA DISTRICT: VOLLEYBALL AND CROSS COUNTRY

O’HARA ADVANCES IN VOLLEYBALL The Archbishop O’Hara High School defending Class 3 State Champs in volleyball zipped through Sectional play on Saturday and will go on to retain its top position. Played at Excelsior Springs, the Celtics faced Platte County to start the Sectional competition and won the best of three, losing the first by a close 23-25 score and then going on to 25-18 and 25-12 wins. Holden also made the quarterfinals with a 25-18 and 25-17 decision over Excelsior Springs. Coach Lori Hanaway’s Celtics then went on to 25-20 and 25-17 games for the Sectional victory. The 30-4-4 O’Hara squad will meet Logan-Rogersville on Friday for the State semifinals. Saint Genevieve and Saint Dominic are the other two teams making up the final four. ********************************************************* MAX STORMS IS #1 IN DISTRICT CROSS COUNTRY Challenged by just one other runner, O’Hara’s Max Storms won first place in the Class 3 District 7 cross country completion in which twelve schools were involved. His time was 16:09.52 with his closest competitor, Maksim Korolev of Harrisonville, coming in at 16:13.81 in the 5K race. O’Hara finished sixth while the top team was Pleasant Hill, followed by Clinton, Webb City, Ruskin, and Carl Junction. Max Storms was the only senior on the O’Hara team. Others running for the Celtics were junior Jerry Rellihan, sophomores Andy Meyer and Thomas Armenta, and freshmen Colin McKinney and Sam Baird. None of the Lady Celtics’ team finished in the top fifteen for medals, but running “as a team” the squad was able to reach 4th place. All five team member were bunched between 20th and 26th places. The one’s earning team points were Aliyah Jones, Paige Bush, Claire Becker, Amy Gaston, and Katelyn Gutteridge. In addition to the five who score team points, Kristina Snyder and Erin Scott also competed for O’Hara.

The football game with Saint Pius

O’HARA WINS 41-23 OVER SAINT PIUS In their final game of the regular season and of their District, the O’Hara Celtics defeated the Saint Pius X Warriors by a score of 41-23. With the victory, O’Hara earned the possession of the Crystal Cup which goes to the winner of the O’Hara-Saint Pius game each year sponsored by the Ancient Order of Hibernia. As for the District standings, the game had no bearing inasmuch as Saint Pius had already dropped games to Lincoln Prep and Pembroke Hill. O’Hara had won the District Title the previous weekend and go on to play Smithville at O’Hara on Wednesday for their first postseason game. The Saint Pius Warriors had the right idea throughout the first quarter of play. Except for a three-and-out series for the O’Hara Celtics, they maintained possession until the 2:28 mark while pulling ahead 10-0. Beginning play at the O’Hara 42 yard line, they held on to the ball for fourteen time-consuming plays until the Celtic defense stiffened. They settled for a 23 yard field goal. When they got the ball back on their own 16 yard line, they marched down for their only touchdown of the first half and the only one earned via rushing. Anthony Zicarelli carried the ball in for the score from 23 yards away. Josh Baker who had kicked the earlier field goal added on the extra point. Larry Liggett recovered a fumble near the goal line to give the Celtics an excellent chance to get back into the game, and TJ White plunged in for the score putting O’Hara down by only three points. Joe Melchior got the ball back for the Celtics on the next series by intercepting Bryon Petcoff and returning the ball to the 12 yard line. Unfortunately Ben Wilson returned the favor with an interception for Saint Pius, so the Celtics lost a golden opportunity. However, the next time O’Hara did regain possession, Donnie Criswell was able to ramble in for a 14 yard score to put O’Hara on top for the first time in the game. The halftime score was 13-10. On the opening kickoff of the second half, Donnie Criswell fielded the ball around the 15 yard line and went the distance to boost the score to 20-10. Unable to make a first down in the Warriors’ next series, the Celtics went for another touchdown. Following a 16 yard pass completion from TJ White to Danny Hernandez, James Tillman showed great down field running in covering 43 yards, making the score 27-10. Saint Pius demonstrated a spark of life when Blake Brown got behind the O’Hara defense and gathered in a pass from Bryan Petcoff for a TD that covered half the playing field.. With the score 27-17, O’Hara reached the scoreboard again. To bring the ball close to the goal both TJ White with a 15 yarder and James Tillman with a nifty 29 yard run placed the ball on the 18 yard line. The one-two punch of Chuck Preston for 7 yards and TJ White for the rest stretched the score to 33-17. Before the third quarter drew to a close, Alex Rogers intercepted a pass thrown by Saint Pius’ new quarterback, Ben Wilson. With game pretty much decided, both squads scored in the final quarter of play. O’Hara scored theirs on a long 49 yard run by James Tillman, and Saint Pius got theirs on a Ben Wilson to Blake Brown 49 yard pass. Both teams attempted two-point conversions. O’Hara was successful when TJ White passed to Joe Pepple, but Ben Wilson’s pass attempt was intercepted By Alex Rogers.

O'HARA 41 SAINT PIUS 23

O’HARA HANDS SAINT PIUS A 41-23 LOSS O’Hara scored 33 points in the second and third quarters of their District football game with Saint Pius X which was enough to win 41-23 in Friday night’s game. Saint Pius began the scoring with a first quarter field goal by Caleb Baker and a touchdown on a 23 yard run by Anthony Zicarelli. They also scored late in the game after the O’Hara team had their burst of points, adding two touchdown passes to Blake Brown for 49 yards and 10 yards But that was all the offense they could offer as the Celtics picked up 13 second quarter points on a one yard plunge by TJ White and a 14 yard run by Donnie Criswell which provided O’Hara with a slim 13-10 halftime bulge. Donnie Criswell brought the crowd to their feet with a remarkable 85 yard kickoff return to start the second half. Then after a three-and-out by the Warriors, James Tillman ran a 43 yarder for a TD. This was followed by an 11 yard run for TJ White’s second touchdown of the day. In the fourth quarter, O’Hara finished its scoring with a 49 yarder by James Tillman and a two-point conversion by Joe Pepple on a pass from TJ White. On defense Larry Liggett recovered a fumble very deep in Saint Pius’ territory, and Joe Melchior and Alex Rogers made key interceptions. The game had little consequence in the District playoffs inasmuch as O’Hara had already won the District Title in their previous game. However the Crystal Cup sponsored by the Ancient Order of Hibernia which is kept each year by the winner of the two schools this year went to O’Hara.

VOLLEYBALL DISTRICT

O’HARA WINS DISTRICT AND PLACES FIVE ON ALL-DISTRICT TEAM The volleyball team from Archbishop O’Hara High School won the Class 3 District 14 championship game on October 29th, defeating Pembroke Hill 25-13 & 25-12, played at Center High School. Powered by seven kills by Tori Hurtt, six by Michela Boehm, and four by Janelle Jordan, the Lady Celtics easily dominated on the offense. On defense, Hurtt and Boehm combined for eleven stuffs. Three players from the team were named to the First Team All-Distict and two were named to the Second Team. The First Team selectees were Tori Hurtt, Michela Boehm, and setter Lindsey Hanaway. Janelle Jordan and Katie Huber made the Second Team. In the District semi-final games O’Hara beat East and Pembroke Hill beat Lincoln Prep with all of the games having identical scores of 25-12. The District Championship moved O’Hara to the Sectionals on Saturday in games played at Excelsior Springs.

STATISTICS FOR THE YEAR: Tori Hurtt: most kills 398, Michala Boehm: runner-up in kills: 223, Lindsey Hanaway: most assists 684, Katie Huber: most digs 289, Janelle Jordan: most service aces 54.

SOCCER: OHARA 4 CENTER 1

SENIORS HONORED IN 4-1 SOCCER WIN At the halftime of the O’Hara-Center soccer game on October 28th, nine seniors from Archbishop O’Hara High School were honored in their final home game of the 2008 season. They were Pat Hogan, Bryce Scovill, Trevor Gudde, Andy Park, Chance Norton, Zach Taylor, Kevin Huber, Mike Burkhart, and Paul Burkhart. For the first 25 minutes of the game, the teams played to a scoreless tie until a goal by Center put the Yellowjackets on top 1-0. With 9 minutes left to the half, Trevor Gudde tied up the score with a goal. Within the next three minutes Bryce Scovill scored to provide the O’Hara Celtics with a 2-1 halftime lead. Then the Hogan brothers took over to seal the victory. Midway through the second half Kevin Hogan scored and Pat Hogan added another on a rebounded ball kicked by Bryce Scovill that bounced back from the goal post.

DID YOU KNOW THAT

For Archbishop O'Hara High School, Joe Pepple holds the football school record for both the most passes caught and most yards gained as a receiver? His 1,177 yards far outdistances Tokie Aromona's 940 yards, and his 63 catches surpasses Tokie's 43 receptions. DID YOU KNOW THAT DANNY Hernandez is fourth in both categories with 798 yards on 37 catches? Coach Jim DeMarea also had 37 receptions in his playing years for O'Hara for 593 yards. Both Pepple and Hernandez are seniors. DID YOU KNOW THAT junior TJ White holds the O'Hara career records for most yards gained by passing (2,723 yards), most passes completed (132), and most touchdowns passes (24)? Among O'Hara's top passers through the years, he is the only one that has completed over 50% of his pass attempts. Already this year in just nine games, he has established himself as the top gainer of yardage by passing for a single season with 1,600 yards and is only five passes behind Ryan McNamara '98 for the most pass completions for a season. DID YOU KNOW THAT senior Bryce Scovill holds the O'Hara record for the most career extra points with 121?

Latest in Cross Country

O'Hara is First in Girls and Second in Boys Cross Country Meet In the 5,000 Meters Varsity division of the Saint Mary's Invitational, O'Hara's Max Storms was well ahead of the pack with 16:58 for his time. EthanPace for Saint Mary's at 18:20 was a distant second. Team members from O'Hara making up the remainder of the second place total were Andy Meyer (3rd), Jerry Rellihan (9th), Trevor Gudde (14th), and Kyle Van Hecke (28th). Also running for O'Hara were Armenta Thomas and Colin McKinney. In the 5,000 Meters Girls division, the O'Hara team took first place. The runners for the Lady Celtics were Aliyah Jones, Paige Bush, Amy Gaston, Claire Becker, and Katelyn Gutteridge who scored in succession for the 4th through 8th places. Also running for O'Hara were Kristina Snyder and Erin Scott.

O'Hara Wins 2nd District Game

O'HARA WINS DISTRICT GAME 34-6 O'Hara took a 6-0 early lead in their game with Pembroke Hill and went on to a 34-6 victory. It was their second District victory and will travel to Saint Pius for their final game of the regular season. TJ White passed to Aaron Stubblefield for a 32 yard TD for the only first quarter scoring as the extra point attempt was blocked. James Tillman began the second quarter scoring with an 8 yard run. For a two-point conversion, TJ White passed to Danny Hernandez. A 27 yard pass from White to Joe Pepple along with Bryce Scovill's extra point kick made the score 21-0. With less than three minutes to the half, O'Hara scored again on a 6 yard run by James Tillman, and shortly into the third quarter, Tillman ran in another score from 5 yards out. In the fourth quarter with the game pretty much under wraps, Pembroke Hill got on the scoreboard on a run by Dexter Pearson.

O'HARA 34 PEMBROKE HILL 6

Seven seniors were honored on senior night at Paul Monteil Stadium as the O’Hara Celtics hosted the Pembroke Hill Raiders in the second round of District play. First Quarter: O’Hara scored on a 32 yard pass from T.J. White to Aaron Stubblefield at 5:01 in the 1st Qt. The kick was blocked. O’Hara 6 Pembroke 0 Second Quarter: O’Hara scored on an 8 yard run by James Tillman. Two point conversion T.J. White pass to Danny Hernandez (9:40) O’Hara 14 Pembroke 0 : At 6:03 T.J. White completed at 27 yard pass to Joe Pepple and Bryce Scovill added the extra point. O’Hara 21 Pembroke 0 : At 2:48 James Tillman 6 yard run and Bryce Scovill added the extra point. O’Hara 28 Pembroke 0 Third Quarter: James Tillman scored on a 5 yard run and the kick was no good (6:24) O’Hara 34 Pembroke 0 Fourth Quarter: Dexter Pearson scores for Pembroke Hill and the 2-pt. attempt failed (2:38) O’Hara 34 Pembroke 6 Final Score: O’Hara 34 and Pembroke 6.

Patrice and Andi Tribute

This was published a while back: O’Hara softball players Patrice Jackson and Andi Davis are quickly becoming a thunder and lightning combination. Jackson, a power-hitting senior first baseman, stroked 11 home runs last season and is near the top of career home runs in Missouri. Davis, a freshman, is a quick utility player who has used slap hitting and speed to improve her batting average to above .700. One night, it was the thunder that prevailed. Jackson, who has verbally committed to San Diego State, drove in four runs in the Celtics’ 5-4 victory over Harrisonville. “It’s always been a good rivalry with O’Hara and Harrisonville,” O’Hara coach George Peter said. “Last year we beat them in the district finals 1-0. It’s always a close game.”

Football Hightlights from O'Hara vs Lincoln Academy

If you haven't had a chance to see them, here's a link to highlights from The High School Showcase. All Star Sports Highlights

Soccer Team Won

With goals scored by Taylor Mathews and Patrick Hogan, the O'Hara soccer team defeated Lee's Summit Community Christian School by a score of 2-1 on October 20th.

J V FOOTBALL GAME:

JV FOOTBALL: O’Hara 32 Lincoln 24 On October 20th, The O’Hara Junior Varsity team rallied from a 24-10 deficit to defeat Lincoln Prep by scoring 22 unanswered points and pull out a 32-24 victory. The first ten points were O’Hara’s with Josh Stazen passing to Brett Coatney for a 37 yard TD. Stazen ran for a two point conversion. With Lincoln deep in their own territory, a bad snap into the endzone appeared to be recovered by Ronnie Jackson for a TD, but it was ruled a two-point safety. The next three touchdowns were scored by Lincoln and in three different ways. They came from a 35 yard pass play and a returned punt in the second quarter, and a returned kick-off at the start of the second half. Then O’Hara came within eight points by way of a 4 yard pass to DJ Griffin by Josh Stazen along with a two-point conversion on a run by Rayshaun McDonald. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that the Celtics tied up the score at 24-24. Dontea Obie plunged for a one-yard score but Stazen’s pass for a two-point conversion failed. DJ Griffin set up the deciding touchdown with an interception. A 26 yard run by Rayshaun McDonald advanced the ball to the one yard line from which Josh Stazen snuck it in. Stazen passed to Rayshaun McDonald for the extra points and the defense took over from that point on.

R I P Brother Norman McCarthy

FORMER TEACHER AT O'HARA HIGH SCHOOL DIES IN TULSA Brother Norman McCarthy, 70, a Christian Brother who taught at Archbishop O'Hara High School from 1986 to 1991, passed away from a stroke in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Brother Norman was a teacher of seniors in the school's Theology Department while at O'Hara. He had taught in a number of Christian Brothers schools, had been a recruiter for the Brothers in the Midwest, and had served in the Brothers' overseas programs in Rome. He specialized in a prayer program entitled "Centering" and had given annual programs during the summer months. After leaving O'Hara in 1991, he had taught at Bishop Kelley High School until he had a stroke that limited his activity. He eventually suffered a second stroke from which he failed to recover. Born in Chicago, he attended De La Salle High School in Chicago and received his teaching degree at Saint Mary's College in Minnesota.

SILVER MEDALS IN TENNIS

Four O'Hara tennis players won Silver Medals at the West Central Conference Meet held on October 3rd. Bri Rainey and Megan Billings accomplished this in the #1 doubles while Alyssa Kerfeld with Meaghan Kimbrell did it in the #2 doubles. In singles competition Alyssa Kerfeld won the Silver in #3 and Taylor Fennesy did the same in #5. In O'Hara's Conference matches, the Celtics completed their season with a 7-3 record. Overall for the season, the team was 9-5.

O'Hara Wins First District Game

BIG SECOND QUARTER BOOSTS O’HARA OVER LINCOLN . The O’Hara Celtics football team came up with 28 second quarter points to upend the Lincoln Prep Tigers 48-12 in last Friday night’s game played at East High. Lincoln elected to receive at the start of the game and marched the ball from their 31 yard line all the way to the O’Hara 2o yard line where they gave up the ball on downs. The Celtics used three plays to score the first of seven touchdowns. The big gainer was a 77 yard pass play from TJ White to James Tillman. Chuck Preston scored from 8 yards out. Joe Melchior intercepted Tyler Smith’s pass around midfield before the first quarter drew to a close. However as the second quarter got under way, Kyle Murray returned an O’Hara punt to the 22 yard line for the Tigers. Johnny Hall ran the ball in to the end zone from there. The Tigers missed the extra point and the score was 7-6. That did not last long. TJ White completed a pass from the 35 yard line to Danny Hernandez and he ran the remaining 65 yards for O’Hara’s second score of the game. Following another Tiger short punt, O’Hara scored in two plays. Raphael Spencer shot right up the middle for a 28 yard TD. Joe Melchior got his second interception of the game in the next series but it cost the Celtics some yardage. On Fourth down, Tyler Smith let loose on a long pass caught by Melchoir. Since it was fourth down, O’Hara got possession on the 20 yard line instead of the original line of scrimmage near mid field. Nonetheless the Celtics managed to score again in three plays. Joe Pepple was on the receiving end of a TJ White pass for a 65 yard TD reception. When the Tigers began their next series there was just a little over a minute of playing time before halftime. They went to the passing game. Aaron Mitchell intercepted and ran the ball for 35 yards and O’Hara’s 34th point of the game. Receiving the ball at the start of the third period after Lincoln Prep completed their halftime homecoming festivities, TJ White passed to Danny Hernandez for his second touchdown of the day. Even though O’Hara was unsuccessful in their extra point attempt, they had a 35 point margin 41-6, and the game went the rest of the way with a running clock. O’Hara’s last points came after Aaron Mitchell made his second interception of the contest at midfield. Joe Pepple scored the points on a 14 yard pas from TJ White. The fans got to see a number of junior varsity players compete in the fourth quarter. The only scoring for either team was a short 5 yard run by Damay Sessions for Lincoln Prep. O’Hara’s three all-time record holders improved their stats in the game. Bryce Scovill upped his extra point production to 119, Joe Pepple increased his total yards gain on pass receptions to 1089 yards and total passes caught to 60, and TJ White increased his total yards gain by passing to 2564 yards. White has 124 career completions, just two shy of the school record of 126 by Joe Holder back in 1978. Danny Hernandez with 35 pass receptions is now in 5th place; he is immediately behind the player in fourth place who is none other than O’Hara’s head football coach Jim DeMarea who had 37 career receptions back in 1972.

O'HARA 48 LINCOLN PREP 12

SECOND QUARTER BURST PROPELS O’HARA OVER LINCOLN With the score 7-6 early in the second quarter, the O’Hara Celtics exploded with 28 points in downing Lincoln Prep 48-12 in Friday night’s game. The Celtics jumped to a seven point lead in the first quarter on an eight yard run by Chuck Preston. It came after a 77 yard pass play from TJ White to James Tillman who was caught from behind before he could reach the goal. For Lincoln, a 22 yard run by Johnny Hall brought the Tigers to within one point but the kick attempt for the extra point failed. After the Tiger TD, TJ White passed to Danny Hernandez for a 65 yard touchdown. Then following a Tiger punt, O’Hara scored again with Raphael Spencer running right up the middle for a 28 yard TD. An O’Hara interception of a long pass on a fourth down play gave the Celtics the ball on their own 20 yard line from which they scored their third touchdown in the quarter. The six points were realized via a 65 yard toss from TJ White to Joe Pepple. Finally, with just over a minute remaining in the half, Aaron Mitchell intercepted a Tyler Smith pass and ran the ball in from around 40 yards out. At halftime the scored bulged to 35-6. In O’Hara’s first series of the second half, Danny Hernandez and TJ White hooked up for a 48 yard pass play to run the margin large enough for a running clock for the rest of the game. Even with the missed extra point, O’Hara was ahead 41-6. Aaron Mitchell stopped the Tigers’ next drive with his second interception of the game. In seven plays O’Hara was on the scoreboard once again. Joe Pepple gathered in a 15 yard pass from TJ White in the end zone to round out the Celtic scoring for the evening. With two minutes remaining in the game, the Celtics gave up a five yard run for Lincoln’s second touchdown.

Soloists selected

Seven singers from the Archbishop O'Hara were selected for solos at the Liturgy Choir and Concert Choir High School Choral Fest at the Cathedral. They were Kaellen McDonald, Ethan Burke, Lily Hunder, Alicia Bertrand, Tonia Kiesov, Brianna Griffin and Amanda Keith.

ROBIN HOOD Cast

O’HARA HAS ITS CAST When November 14 comes around, the Archbishop O’Hara High School fine arts department will present a three day rendition of The Somewhat True Tale of Robin Hood. Auditions were held in the school with the following students taking the key roles. Ronandus Johnson and Liz Lowe have the leads of Robin Hood and Maid Marian. Jake Fortin is cast as Allan Adale, Lenny Lippert as Will Scarlett, Nick Cobb as Friar Tuck, and Alex Stockard as Little John. Prince John is to be played by Emanuel Moore and the Sheriff of Nottingham by Joe Volz. Others who will be filling various roles are Jckie Bartholome, Katie Bartholome, Ashley Cadenhead, Lindsey Routledge, Dakota Waggerman, Melanie Williams, Mike Berney, Benny Lentes, Alex Ralph, Alyssa McKee, Kayla McDowell, Courtney Peterson, Kaitlyn Fennesy, Alex Keffer-Swaney, Kim Jones, Julia Jacobson, Johanna Kelly, and Cecilia Pozos.

Volleyball Team On Top

The Archbishop O'Hara High School volleyball team was ranked #1 in class 3 on October 16. To live up to their ranking, they won handily over Center High in a remarkable fashion. After the player from Center served out, Janelle Jordan served the next twenty-four serves for a 25-0 shutout! The second game eased up a bit with O'Hara on top 25-9. At the time of the ranking, O'Hara's record for the year was 18-2-4 (ties coming from splits in tournament play). Ranked #2 was Logan from Rogersville whose record stood at 19-5-1.

Former O'Hara Teacher Dies in Tulsa

For those of you who were here in 1990 and earlier, the Christian Brothers received the following message in regard to Brother Norman McCarthy who taught senior theology classes at Archbishop O’Hara High School: Brother Norman McCarthy died Monday, October 13, around 8:30 p.m. in Tulsa, OK. Please keep Brother Norman, his sister and brother, the Brothers and administrators, faculty, and staff at Bishop Kelley, and other friends and former students in your prayers. May he rest in peace. Brother Norman McCarthy of the Bishop Kelley Community. Norman had a stroke in February 2008 and, because he was having difficulty functioning in the Brothers’ community, he moved to the assisted living section of the Franciscan Villa in Broken Arrow, OK. It was there, on Tuesday, October 7, that he suffered another stroke, which unexpectedly and quite suddenly led to his death at St. John’s Hospital on October 13, 2008. He was 70 years old and in his 53rd year as a Christian Brother. . Norman is survived by a sister, Mrs. Kaye Diane Disch and a brother Mr. Fred McCarthy, both of Baltimore, and the community at Bishop Kelley High School, Tulsa. Arrangements are as follows: Visitation: Thursday, October 16, 2008 (throughout the day) Bishop Kelley Chapel, 3905 S. Hudson Ave., Tulsa, OK 74135 Rosary will be prayed at 7:00PM Funeral Liturgy: Friday, October 17, 2008 at 1:00PM Saint Mary’s Church 1347 E. 49th Place Tulsa, OK 74105 Interment: La Salle Institute, Glencoe, MO Letters of condolences may be sent to: Bishop Kelley H.S. Community Mrs. Kaye D. Disch 3905 S. Hudson Ave., 3214 Milford Ave., Tulsa, OK 74135 Baltimore, MD 21207 Please keep Brother Norman in your prayers.

All WCC in Softball

1st Team All West Central Conference in softball from Archbishop O'Hara High School: Caitlin Croker, Brittany Gallatin, Jesse Smith, Patrice Jackson, Lindsey Davis, and Andi Davis. 2nd Team All West Central Conference members are Alex Paulakovich, Melissa Batiz, and Kellie Bachkora. The Lady Celtics were second in the Conference.

Max Is First Again

Max Storms from Archbishop O’Hara High School, defending Class 2 State Champion in Cross Country, won the top place in the Helias Invitational at Binder Park in Jefferson City on Saturday, October 11th. His time was 16:14 for the 5000 meter race. With twelve schools represented, the O’Hara team came in fourth place with Helias in first followed by Mexico and Smith-Cotton. Jefferson City Hickman was fifth. The other four team members of the Celtic squad with their places were Andy Meyer (19:08 in 17th place), Jerry Rellihan (20:16 in 32nd place), Trevor Gudde (21:18 in 42nd place), and Kyle Van Hecke (22:45 in 56th place). Coach Mike Martin said, "Max Storms set a new course record at the Helias meet on Saturday in winning in 16:14. Andy Meyer also medaled by placing 17th and McKenzie Shelton placed 4th in the JV race and earned a medal. "

CELTICS SHUTOUT YELLOWJACKETS

O'HARA SHUTS OUT CENTER Even though neither the O'Hara Celtics nor the Center Yellowjackets were able to put points on the scoreboard in the first quarter of their game Friday night, the final score turned out to be a 32-0 rout. At the completion of the first quarter starting at their own 14 yard line, the Celtics launched the first of three drives that would result in a 20-0 halftime score. In this drive which was capped by a 12 yard TD run by Donnie Criswell, several long gains were made. A 22 yard run by Criswell, an 18 yard pass from TJ White to Danny Hernandez, and a 26 yard pass caught by Joe Pepple accounted for much of the yardage in the impressive drive. The Yellowjackets were able to advance the ball to the O'Hara 38 yard line before yielding on downs in the next series, and O'Hara scored their second TD in just two plays. First Aaron Stubblefield had a 43 yard reception and then James Tillman reached the endzone on a 15 yard carry. Again the Yellowjackets gave up the ball on downs, this time after getting as close as the 26 yard line. Taking eleven plays to obtain their third sixpointer, the Celtics cashed in on a 22 yard pass from TJ White to Aaron Stubblefield. Bryce Scovill's extra point was blocked following the touchdown, the first time this season he was unable to kick the extra point successfully. Neither team scored a third quarter touchdown. In one O'Hara drive however, Danny Hernandez caught three passes for 17, 20, and 16 yards before the ball was lost on a fumble. O'Hara did get on the scoreboard in the third quarter however. When the Celtic defense pushed the Yellowjackets all the way back to the one yard line, rather than kick from that deep of a hole, they centered the ball out of the endzone for a two-point safety and the privilege of kicking from the 20 yard line. In the fourth quarter, O'Hara brought the ball to the 18 yard line and running out of downs called upon Bryce Scovill to kick a 35 yard field goal. The final scoring of the game came with less than two and a half minutes of playing time. Following an exciting 38 yard run from scrimmage by Donnie Criswell, TJ White who had a total of 260 yards passing in the contest, passed to Aaron Stubblefield for 34 yards and the points. The game ended with Joe Melchior intercepting Harold Mabin's deep pass in the end zone. O'Hara had 475 total yards to Center's 105 yards. TJ White completed 15 passes. Donnie Criswell averaged 8.2 yards per carry. Danny Hernandez caught five passes for a total of 72 yards and Aaron Stubblefield caught three for 99 yards. James Tillman moved to tenth place in career rushing yards and TJ White with his excellent performance in this game moved to second place in total yardage for a single season. He already holds the school record for career passing yardage. Danny Hernandez's 19 catches this season ties him for tenth place in receiving for a single season. Joe Pepple is close behind with 18 receptions. Pepple aleady is the school leader for career reception yardage. Bryce Scovill now has 113 career extra points well ahead of his closest competitor. He has 26 for this season alone.

O'HARA 32 CENTER 0

YELLOWJACKETS SHUT OUT BY CELTICS 32-0 The O'Hara Celtics and the Center Yellowjackets played a scoreless first quarter Friday night, but O'Hara scored three touchdowns in the second on their way to a 32-0 win. A 26 yard pass completion from TJ White to Joe Pepple set up the game's first score. Donnie Criswell ran for the final five yards. A 43 yard pass completion from White to Aaron Stubblefield set up the next TD which was on a 15 yard run by James Tillman. With less than two minutes in the half the Celtics scored again. This time Stubblefield caught a 15 yard pass for the points. Bryce Scovill's attempt for a third kicked extra point was blocked so the halftime score was 22-0. The only scoring in the third quarter was a two-point safety. When the Yellowjackets were faced with a fourth down on their own one yard line, they elected to center the ball out of the endzone giving up the two points but being able to free kick from the 20 yard line. O'Hara was stopped on the 18 yard line in the fourth quarter and Bryce Scovill was called upon for a field goal. The last touchdown for O'Hara came in the final three minutes of play. Donnie Criswell broke loose for a 38 yard run, after which Aaron Stubblefield gathered in a 15 yard pass from TJ White.

All-District Softball 2008

CELTICS ON ALL-DISTICT SOFTBALL TEAM Three softball players made the First Team All District Softball squad and one was named to the Second Team. Leading the way, senior Patrice Jackson who played first base and was the team's top batter and home run hitter, was voted the Top Overall Infielder in the District. For the third year in a row, senior catcher Lindsey Davis made the First Team. Freshman Andi Davis made the First Team and got the top spot as the District's Best Outfielder. At shortstop, junior Jesse Smith was named to the District Second Team.

TENNIS DISTRICT 2008

O'HARA TENNIS TEAM IN MIDDLE OF THE PACK In District 6 Class 1, the O'Hara girls tennis team finsihed in 7th place among 12 teams. Notre Dame de Sion won the District with 33 points and were followed by Pembroke Hill and Barstow. O'Hara scored 7 team points which was higher than the schools from Ruskin, Hickman Mills, Center, Clinton, and Nevada. The three other schools scoring above the Celtics were Harrisonville, Bolivar, and Lamar. O'Hara's head girls tennis coach is Mr. James Allen.

V O L L E Y B A L L

O'HARA DEFEATS 9TH RANKED VOLLEYBALL TEAM On Monday, the O'Hara volleyball team defeated the KC Metro #9 ranked team from Notre Dame de Sion 25-20 and 25-23. Lindsey Hanaway led the team with 21 assists while Tori Hurtt had eleven kills. Emily Tyler, Janell Jordan, and Jordyn Wyatt each had three kills in the victory. The freshman team from O'Hara won First Place in the Raytown South 9th Grade Volleyball Tournament over the weekend.

Cross Country K C Metro

O'HARA'S MAX STORMS AMONG BEST IN METRO CROSS COUNTRY On Saturday, October 4th, at the Kansas City Metro Meet held at Raymore-Peculiar, the top cross country runners challenged each other for top honors. Present were the are's best competitors and are expected to vie for the All-State title later in the season. Maksim Korolev from Harrisonville, Kevin Colon from Lee's Summit West, and Max Storms came in in that order, but the times were very close. Korolev was timed at 15:36 for the 5K race. The other two runners came in just over 15:40, but he fourth place runner was a ways behind at 15:59. Max Storms is the defending 2-A State Champion but O'Hara High School has been moved up to the 3-A level for the present year. Harrisonville had been moved up a year ago. CIMG2051.JPG CIMG2055.JPG

Football: OHARA 51 CHRIST PREP 23

CELTICS OVER PATRIOTS 51-23 The O’Hara football team brought their record to 4-2 with a decisive 51-23 victory over Christ Preparatory Academy in a rare Saturday afternoon game. Seven times the Celtics scored touchdowns against the Patriots along with an early field goal. Of the three touchdowns scored against the Celtics, two were realized during the late fourth quarter while the O’Hara starters were on the side line. In the first quarter, the Celtics scored twice. A quick 47 yard pass play from TJ White to Aaron Stubblefield helped bring the ball close enough for a 27 yard field goal by Bryce Scovill. The next time O’Hara got the ball on a punt on the 15 yard line, TJ White lifted a pass to Danny Hernandez for an 82 yard gain! It was easy for James Tillman to score on a 3 yard run. In the second quarter, the Celtics scored three touchdowns and gave up one. From midfield, TJ White again found Danny Hernandez for a long gain of 36 yards. The TD was recorded by Donnie Criswell on a 10 yarder. The Patriots ran ten plays in their ensuing series and brought the score to 17-7 with Zach Hadley accounting for six points on a short line plunge and Christian Jones obtaining the extra point. In two plays, O’Hara answered with a touchdown. Joe Pepple caught a nine yard pass from TJ White and Raphael Spenser sped 51 yards for O’Hara’s second TD of the quarter. The third TD of the quarter was scored with less than 30 seconds on the clock. After the Patriots yielded possession on downs, TJ White connected with James Tillman for an electric 54 yard scoring pass. The halftime score was 31-7. O’Hara got the ball back on the third play of the second half on a fumble. Three plays later, Danny Hernandez caught a pass from TJ White for a touchdown that covered fifty yards. The Patriots had the ball for the next ten plays after which they failed on a fourth down attempt. In the Celtics’ first play, James Tillman outran the Patriots’ defense for a lengthy 82 yard score. Bryce Scovill kicked his seventh extra point of the game to make a score 45-7 and making the game one of a running clock since the margin was 38 points. O’Hara began to empty its bench to give other team members game experience. The Patriots took advantage of this and scored their first TD of the second half. Lenard Manuel plunged for the points and Evan Bauer ran a two-point conversion. With the margin of the score less than 35, the running clock was discontinued until O’Hara scored for their last points of the game. Quarterback Josh Stazen completed a ten yard pass to Larry Liggett for the TD. O’Hara elected to go for two points but was stopped short of the goal line, but the 51-15 score now had the necessary margin to return to the running clock. With time running out, Lenard Manuel gave the Patriot fans a thrill with a 46 yard scoring run and Colin Keedy scored the two-point conversion.

Softball Team Go into Final Week of Play

LADY CELTICS WIND DOWN THEIR SEASON with just the Helias-Jefferson City Tournament and games with Saint Pius (senior night) and Smith-Cotton remaining before the competition begins for District. O’HARA SOFTBALL TEAM’S SUCCESS AT THE HELIAS TOURNAMENT The Lady Celtics won 16-6 over Notre Dame de Sion, lost 4-5 to St. Joseph from Saint Louis, and defeated Saint Teresa 6-2 in the Helias Softball Tournament held in Jefferson City over the weekend. The tournament was won by the host team Helias. The Celtics scored in every inning in the game with Sion. Caitlin Croker and Andi Davis pounded out four hits apiece. Not far behind, Jesse Smith, Kellie Bachkora, and Alex Paulakovich each contributed three hits. The big blast came from Patrice Jackson, a triple with two base runners on. In their only loss, the Celtics got two first inning runs on a two run homer by Patrice Jackson, and pushed across two more runs in the fourth inning from doubles by Patrice Jackson and Kellie Bachkora along with a sacrifice fly by Alex Paulakovich. Unfortunately in the close contest, the Celtics gave up two first innings runs, two third inning runs, and a singleton run in the fifth. Errors in the first and third innings proved costly to the Celtics. O’Hara opened the scoring in the game with Saint Teresa with a first inning run behind singles by Jesse Smith, Andi Davis, and Patrice Jackson. They added a second inning run with a double by Alex Paulakovich and a single by Melissa Batiz. Both squads scored two fourth inning runs. Surprisingly O’Hara had six singles in their fourth Inning but came up with only two runs. Saint Teresa got their two tallies on three singles. Adding icing on the cake, the Celtics scored twice in the 6th inning.Jesse Smith and Andi Davis had consecutive singles and Lindsey Davis brought them both home with a double.

COACH ALLEN REPORT ON TENNIS

TWO BIG WINS: The girls’ varsity tennis team played Clinton on September 30th and won 8-1. Winners in singles and or doubles were Briana Rainey, Megan Billings, Alyssa Kerfeld, Meaghan Kimbrell, Taylor Fennesy, Kaitlyn White and Rachel Pembrooke. The girls’ tennis team played Center on October 2nd and the Varsity won 9-0. Winners in singles and/or doubles were Briana Rainey, Megan Billings, Alyssa Kerfeld, Meaghan Kimbrell, Taylor Fennesy, and Kaitlyn White. Also the JV won 3-1 with Rachel Pembrooke, Laura Hayes, and Anna German winning their matches. This information comes from Coach James Allen

O'HARA WINS OVER SION IN SOFTBALL

SOFTBALL TEAM SCORES 19 RUNS IN ONE GAME The softball team won a 19-5 victory over Notre Dame de Sion. Patrice Jackson had a grand slam and 7 rbi's. Jesse Smith and Andi Davis each had 4 hits, Patrice Jackson and Lindsey Davis each had 3 hits, and Caitlin Croker, Kellie Bachkora, Alex Paulakovich and Chelsey Buseck each had 2 hits to lead the Celtics with a 22 hit attack. Melissa Batiz pitched for another win in her column.

VOLLEYBALL AT BLUE SPRINGS TOURNAMENT

O’HARA WINS CONSOLATION BRACKET AT BLUE SPRINGS VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT Playing among some of the area’s best volleyball teams, O’Hara emerged champions of the consolation bracket of the Blue Springs Tournament over the weekend. The Lady Celtics, defending Missouri Class 3 State Champions, held their own among the squads from class 4, winning against their final opponent from Raymore-Peculiar. The scores for the consolation championship trophy were 25-19 and a close 27-25 which prevented a need for a third rubber match. Competition began with four pools and O’Hara was entered in the four-team Silver Pool. Not off to a good start, the Celtics lost two games to Cor Jesu 25-13 and 25- 20. They then split with Notre Dame de Sion by losing 25-16 and finally persevering in a very competitive overtime win. The team also split with Raymore-Peculiar by losing 22-25 before taking the next game 25-18. This placed O’Hara in the consolation bracket where the Celtics saw better results. They did not lose another game from here on. O’Hara beat Jefferson City 25-21 and 25-17. They followed this by putting away Blue Valley West 25-19 and 27-25 to qualify for the showdown championship with Raymore-Peculiar from their original pool. The overall winner of the sixteen-team tournament was Lee’s Summit West. Incarnate Word was second followed by Cor Jesu and Note Dame de Sion in that order. Prior to the tournament, the Missouri Volleyball Coaches Association ranked O’Hara #1 in Class 3 volleyball with undefeated Platte County ranked #2.

OHara 14 St James 13

O’HARA’S HOMECOMING GAME IS A REFLECTION OF THE POWDER PUFF GAME On Friday at O’Hara’s Paul Monteil Stadium, as a part of the Homecoming festivities, the junior and senior girls had their annual powder puff game. Both teams scored two touchdowns with Jackie Kruger and Linda Nwachukwu scoring for the seniors and Ashley Cadenhead and Cameron Randle scoring for the juniors. That evening, in the same setting, the O’Hara Celtics and the Saint James Thunder did the same with Donnie Criswell and TJ White scoring for O’Hara and Jim Getto and Ben Reynoldson scoring for Saint James. The Celtics won 14-13 however when Bryce Scovill kicked both extra points for O’Hara and Christian Mata only made one of two for Saint James. O’Hara had the ball first and fumbled on their second play, giving an indication of the woes they would endure throughout the game. Saint James drove the 37 yards for the first scoring of the game. Jim Getto’s 15 yard pass completion to Christian Mata was the key play in the nine downs it took to score. Getto plunged for the final yard and the Thunder was ahead 7-0. But this wasn’t for long. Starting eighty yards from the goal, the Celtics exploded in five plays to knot the score at 7-7. Donnie Criswell had a run of 30 yards and TJ White passed to James Tillman for 9 yards and to Joe Pepple for 42 yards in the drive. Donnie Criswell delivered the ball to the endzone from the 13 yard line for the tying TD. It was to be the only scoring until the second half of play. Both squads had setbacks. The Thunder defense got a deep sack and the Celtics benefited from a deep over-the-shoulder interception by Danny Hernandez who reversed the ball nearly all the way to the original line of scrimmage. O’Hara got as close as the 11 yard line in spite of several bad snaps, and a wide-open pass caught by Joe Pepple in the endzone that was nullified by a five yard procedure penalty at the line of scrimmage. At halftime, three events relating to Homecoming took place. The O’Hara Dance Team performed, and was followed by the introduction of the Homecoming court, queen and king. Patrice Jackson and Andy Park were the Homecoming Queen and Homecoming King. The letterman club then announced the retirement of the jersey #21 which was used by five outstanding running backs from the same family at O’Hara. Honored were alumni Mike Brown ’81, J. R. Brown ’83, Jeff Brown ’87, and Mark Brown ’93. Saint James received the second half kickoff and eventually gave up the ball on a fumble recovered by Jake Robinson. O’Hara also gave up the ball on an interception by Ben Reynoldson who returned the ball all the way to the 17 yard line. Reynoldson took the ball in to score on two runs but the kick for the extra point missed its mark and the Thunder had only a 13-7 advantage. This advantage did not last long. On the second play following the kickoff, TJ White went 59 yards untouched around the right end for the tying touchdown. Bryce Scovill then put O’Hara ahead for the first time in the game with a successful conversion. At the end of the third quarter, Saint James gambled on a fourth down attempt but came up short. A second interception by Reynoldson brought the ball down to the O’Hara 19 yard line. The Celtic defense did not allow their opponents to get any closer the rest of the game. When the clock showed five and a half minutes left in the game, O’Hara got possession and ran off the remainder of the time with a mixture of short gain plays except for an important 18 yard gain from a TJ White pass to Joe Pepple. Donnie Criswell led the O’Hara runners with 88 yards for an average gain of 9.8 yards per carry. Joe Pepple caught four passes for 78 yards. TJ White upped his total yards career passing to 1729 yards for 4th place in O’Hara history. Ryan McNamara presently holds 3rd place with 1749 yards garnered in 1997-1998. Joe Pepple is the O’Hara all-time career pass receiver with 51 receptions asnd Bryce Scovill is the O’Hara all-time career extra point kicker with 104. He hasn’t missed this year in 17 attempts. Next weekend O’Hara will meet Christ Prep in a Saturday afternoon game with a starting time at 1 PM.

SOFTBALL O'HARA WIN TWO MORE

LADY CELTICS CLING TO SECOND PLACE IN WWC WITH TWO WINS The O’Hara softball team maintained their second place standing in the West Central Conference by defeating Clinton and Saint Pius during their Homecoming week. The Lady Celtics had lost their two games to the league leading Tigers from Warrensburg, the most recent was a 13-3 game in which O’Hara’s only runs came by way of Andi Davis’ three-run homer. But the team rebounded with a 12-5 win over the Clinton Cardinals and a 14-4 win over the Saint Pius Warriors. Brittany Gallatin was the winning pitcher in the game with the Cardinals and Melissa Batiz for the game with the Warriors. In the Clinton contest, the Cardinals jumped to a three run lead in the first inning on four hits, but the Celtics matched that with three of their own. The early tie game was broken in the second inning with Patrice Jackson’s three-run homer, and in the third inning six more runs crossed the plate for O’Hara. At Saint Pius, the Celtics went to work right away with three first inning runs. Clean singles by Andi Davis, Lindsey Davis, Caitlin Croker, and Patrice Jackson, along with Kelly Bachkora’s double provided the punch. Three more O’Hara runs materialized in the next inning capped by a triple by Patrice Jackson. Jackson went on to hit two more triples in game, an O’Hara record. Remaining on the O’Hara schedule are games in the Jefferson City Helias Tournament and two West Central Conference games with Smith-Cotton and Saint Pius.

HOMECOMING FOOTBALL GAME

O’HARA EDGES SAINT JAMES 14-13 It came down to a missed extra point attempt and the O’Hara Celtics football team was able to score a Homecoming victory 14-13 Friday night. Each team scored twice and in both cases Saint James scored first and was immediately was answered with an O’Hara TD. In the first quarter, O’Hara fumbled giving Saint James good field position. .Jim Getto plunged for the six points and Christian Mata converted the extra point. The Celtics responded with five lightning plays covering a total of 80 yards. The big yardage came from a TJ White pass to Joe Pepple who fought his way for 42 yards. Don Criswell added a nifty 30 yard run and the actual touchdown was via a 13 yard run by Criswell. Bryce Scovill kicked the first of his two extra points of the evening. O’Hara had difficulties with penalties and bad snaps, some of which resulted in long lost yards through quarterback sacks. There was no scoring in the second period although Joe Pepple had a wide-open pass in the end zone and Aaron Stubblefield had a spectacular deep catch on the five yard line; both plays were negated by 5 yard penalties at the line of scrimmage. At halftime, Andy Park and Patrice Jackson were crowned homecoming king and queen. Also at halftime the jersey #21 was retired. It had been the number of Mike ‘81, JR ‘83, Mark ‘87, and Jeff ‘93 Brown who were outstanding O’Hara players of the past all from the same family. Ben Reynoldson intercepted a TJ White pass in the third quarter at midfield and set up Saint James’ second TD by returning the ball to the 17 yard line. A bit later, he scored on a run from 9 yards away but the extra point kick failed. After receiving the ensuing kickoff, on the Celtics’ second play, TJ White scored on a 59 yard run untouched around right end. Scovill then put O’Hara on top for the first time in the game, and the defense held up the rest of the way. O’Hara was able to keep possession for the final five and a half minutes of the fourth quarter.

HOMECOMING EVENTS 2008

HOMECOMING AT O’HARA HAS BIG APPLE THEME September 22-27 is Homecoming Week at Archbishop O’Hara High School. This year’s theme is The Big Apple and will reflect New York, Liberty, and Broadway. Vicki Swanson, moderator of the Student Council, announced that the queen and king homecoming candidates have been selected as well as the underclassman court members. Candidates for the queen are Linda Nwachukwu, Patrice Jackson, and Paulina Pengelley. The homecoming king will be chosen from Alex Rogers, Larry Liggett, and Andy Park. The underclassmen making up the homecoming court are Brittany Gallatin and Teddy Dujakovich from the junior class, Courtney Peterson and Andre Jordan from the sophomore class, and Katie Hayes and Pat Berney from the freshman class. The five school days each have a different focus. Monday is “Liberty Day”, Tuesday is “Big Apple Day”, Wednesday is “Good Morning America Day”, Thursday is “Broadway Musical Trivia Day”, and Friday is “New York Bagel Day.” On each of these days O’Hara students will participate in various related activities. A schoolwide Mass at 10 AM and the annual powder puff game after classes will be on Friday. The homecoming queen and king will be announced on Friday when the O’Hara football team will play Saint James Academy. The Homecoming Dance is scheduled for Saturday from 8 to 11 PM.

Number 500 for Lori Hanaway

O’HARA DEFEATS SAINT TERESA’S TO WIN THE LEE’S SUMMIT NORTH VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT Even though O’Hara won the championship game at the Lee’s Summit North Volleyball Tournament on Saturday by winning over Saint Teresa’s, the newsworthy excitement came in the semifinal game with Notre Dame de Sion. By coming out winners in this contest, O’Hara Head Coach Lori Hanaway won her 500th victory since her coaching career began in 1990. Over the years, her teams have won five Missouri State Championships including last year’s. Four of these were as the O’Hara coach and one was as coach at Saint Teresa’s. In the Tournament, the road wasn’t without some challenges. To survive pool play to compete for the Tourney Championship, each team had to win at least three times. O’Hara came up with a 1-0-2 record which boiled down to four games won and two lost. The Celtics defeated Saint Teresa's Academy by winning 25-19 and 25-21 after losing 23-25 at the Lee's Summit North Brono Volleyball Tournament. Tori Hurtt led the Celtics with 79 kills. Michala Boehm added 56 kills. Lindsey Hanaway dished out 130 assists. Katie Huber and Madeline Rembold led in the passing and defense effort. There were 16 teams entered in the Tournament. O'Hara defeated Oak Park, split with Blue Valley North, and split with Lee's Summit North in pool play. They finished 2nd in their pool. The Celtics defeated Liberty in the quarterfinals and Notre Dame de Sion in the semifinals.

One Version of the Game in Sedalia

CELTICS LOSE BY NINE TO TIGERS In a game of two high-scoring football teams, the Smith-Cotton Tigers outpointed the O'Hara Celtics 38-29 on Friday in Sedalia. O'Hara had two touchdowns scored by Donnie Criswell and Smith-Cotton had two scored by Bryce Johnson. However, the Tigers got three scored by Solomon Watkins, and the Tigers got the game's only field goal. O'Hara's other two touchdowns came from a 95 kickoff return by DJ Jackson and a 7 yard short run by Chuck Preston. O'Hara had first possession and moved the ball from their own 21 yard line to the Tigers' 23 yard line before giving up the ball on downs. On the Tigers' very first play after the long drive, Solomon Watkins discovered a huge hole in the O'Hara defense and scampered 82 yards for the home team's first six points. Immediately the Celtics got the score tied as DJ Jackson took the kickoff on the five yard line and went all the way for a score. Breaking the tie just before the end of the first quarter, the Tigers pushed across another TD for a 14-7 advantage, and midway throught the second quarter added on another to up the score to 21-7. With four and a half minutes remaining before the half, the Celtics showed why they were regarded as a strong offensive team. Starting at their own 12 yard line they went across the field in seven plays which included a 19 yard pass from TJ White to Joe Pepple, a 19 yard run by James Tillman, an 18 yard gain by Donnie Criswell, and a 13 yard pass from White to Danny Hernandez. After scoring the touchdown, the Celtics surprised the crowd with a two-point conversion. Raphael Spencer scored the points on a pass from Joe Pepple. With two seconds on the clock, after the Celtics kept the Tigers out of the endzone, Jessica Greer kicked a 22 yard field goal to make the halfway mark 24-15. The Tigers played ball-control the entire third quarter but scored only seven points during that time. O'Hara was held to a total of only four plays from scrimmage. The Tigers did score once in the fourth quarter but the Celtics had two TD's of their own. The first one was set up by two White-to-Pepple passes for 13 and 37 yards and the second one was set up by a long pass completion from TJ White to Joe Melchoir covering 32 yards. For both of these touchdowns, O'Hara went for the two-point conversions. They were successful in their first attempt as TJ White passed to Joe Pepple, but in their second attempt, TJ White tried to run it in but was held short.

A LOSS IN SEDALIA

O'HARA COMES UP SHORT IN SEDALIA The O'Hara football team rallied for fourteen fourth quarter points against Smith-Cotton on Friday but ended up nine points behind as they dropped a 38-29 decision. In the middle of the first quarter, both teams scored within a half minute of each other as Solomon Watkins broke loose for an 82 yard TD run for the Tigers and DJ Jackson returned the ensuing kickoff for 90 yards. Before the quarter ended, however, Watkins scored again for the Sedalia team on a two yard plunge. In the second quarter, Watkins scored again on a 13 yard run to up the score to 21-7. This was followed by a sustained drive by the Celtics and a touchdown with James Tillman going in from two yards out. The O'Hara team then added a two-point conversion; Joe Pepple passed to Raphael Spencer for the points. Just as the first half was coming to an end, Jessica Greer added a field goal when the O'Hara stopped the Tigers near thye goal line. The halftime score stood at 24-15. The Tigers were the only team to score in the third period. Quarterback Bryce Johnson ran the ball in from twelve yards away. O'Hara's first score in the fourth quarter was set up by a long 37 yard pass play to Joe Pepple with Chuck Preston scoring from six yards out. Again the Celtics went for a two point conversion. This time TJ White passed to Joe Pepple for the points. With just 8 points separating the two teams, the Tigers got an insurance score with Bryce Johnson scoring on a two yard play. O'Hara wasn't finished for the night though, and Joe Melchior gathered in a 32 yard pass to set up a short run by Donnie Criswell. This time O'Hara's two point conversion, a run by TJ White, came up short.

Cross County at Platte County

Congratulations to Max Storms in winning the Platte County cross country meet on Thursdayday. The team did not have a full five-member team and did not receive a school score. The other top four varsity runners were: Andy Meyer, Jerry Rellihan and Kyle Van Hecke. For the girls, they had one medalist also Katelyn Gutteridge in the JV race. She placed 23rd. The girls varsity was led by Aliyah Jones, followed by Chelsea Rose, McKenzie Shelton And Kristina Snyder.

VOLLEYBALL TEAM IN THE RANKINGS

9/15 GKCVCA Metro Top Ten 1 Blue Springs 2 Lee's Summit West 3 Archbishop O'Hara 4 St. James Academy 5 Bishop Miege 6 St. Thomas Aquinas 7 Blue Valley West 8 St. Teresa's Academy 9 Olathe South 10 Olathe East 9/15 MHSVCA Class Rankings CLASS 3: 1. Archbishop O'Hara 2. Reeds Spring 3. Platte County 4. Logan-Rogersville 5. Boonville

SOFTBALL (4 games)

O’HARA SOFTBALL TEAM WIN TWO AND LOSE TWO The O’Hara softball team last week dropped two one-run games and won two contests handily. Grain Valley edged the Celtics 5-4 but on the following day, O’Hara was a 7-3 winner over Saint Teresa. Then came a 4-3 Conference loss to Warrensburg which in turn was followed by an 11-0 victory over Raytown South. O’Hara began the Grain Valley game with two first inning runs generated via hits by Jessie Smith, Andi Davis, and Alex Paulakovich. Grain Valley tied up the game in their half of the inning. In the fifth inning, Grain Valley scored three times behind five hits, two of which were doubles. The Celtics tried to catch up in the last inning but came up one run short. Their two tallies materialized behind singles by Jessie Smith, Patrice Jackson, Kellie Bachkora, and Alex Paulkovich. Pitcher Brittany Gallatin held Saint Teresa to three runs scored in the latter part of their game. Doubles by Jessie Smith and Lindsey Davis along with a single by Caitlin Croker brought in three third inning runs for the Celtics. Two more runs came in during the next inning in which two errors occurred. Finally O’Hara pushed across their last two runs of the game aided by hits by Jesse Smith and Caitlin Croker. In the close contest with Warrensburg, Melissa Batiz yielded a first inning run and three more in the third inning. She retired eleven of the last twelve batters, but her teammates only produced three runs. In the one-sided game with Raytown South, O’Hara scored in each of the first four innings and the game ended with the mercy rule. Patrice Jackson smacked two homeruns, a two-run shot in the first inning and a three-run shot in the third inning. In O’Hara’s last at bats, she had two additional RBI’s on a bases loaded double. Brittany Gallatin held the Cardinals to three hits and did not allow a runner to reach third base.