O'Hara Tennis Team is Seeded Fourth

The O'Hara girls tennis team will compete in District play starting on October 4th. ______ The team is seeded behind Notre Dame de Sion, Barstow, and Grain Valley. _____ The first opponent for the Celtics is Center seeded fifth. _____ Grandview is also in the tournament seeded sixth. ____ Tennis finals are on October 6th.

TWO CELTICS REACH SECTIONALS IN GIRLS GOLF

In District 5, O'Hara's first ever girls golf squad had two athletes qualify for Sectionals. _____ Shooting 115 at Shirkey Golf Course at Richmond, Mackenzie Magwire earned all District honors taking 15th place. _____ Also qualifying for Sectionals was Olivia Wright who finished 24th (one of the top 15 individuals not on a qualifying team). ______ Sectional competition will be at Paradise Pointe in Excelsior Springs on October 6th. _____ Laura Eagle is the Archbishop O'Hara Girls Golf Coach.

Girls Tennis: O'Hara 5 Odessa 4

The Archbishop O'Hara girls tennis team got by Odessa 5-4 on September 23rd. ______ Briana Rainey, Dakota Waggerman, Sara Downs, and Lindsey Routledge won their singles matches. ____ Briana Rainey teamed with Alex Moran to win in doubles.

FOOTBALL: O'HARA 7, ST PIUS 14

For the third time this season, the Archbishop O'Hara football team lost a close game. ____ In their first two games, it took Grandview overtime to top the Celtics and it took extra points for Clinton to come out on top. _____ On September 24, the Saint Pius X Warriors had to hold on to survive a late O'Hara rally 14-7. _____ In the first quarter, the Warriors scored on a quarterback sneak by Grant Gavin and in the second quarter, Anthony Zicarelli ran for a 5 yard score. _____ With Caleb Baker adding the extra points, Saint Pius was able take a two touchdown lead into halftime. ____ But that was the only scoring the Celtics would allow as O'Hara narrowed the lead to seven points by scoring a fourth quarter TD on a 3 yard run by Raphael Spencer with just over four minutes remaining in the game. _____ Julian Gidley kicked the extra point._____ With two and a half minutes remaining, O'Hara had their last possession on the 43 yard line. _____ The Celtics were able to advance the ball to the 17 yard line before giving up the ball on downs and the Warriors were victors in a close game. _____ Raphael Spencer ran for over 100 yards in the game and D. J. Griffin caught three passes for 59 yards. _____ Jorge Belcher had eight tackles and a quarterback sack. _____ Lowell Thomas halted a Warrior drive with an intereption. _____ As for O'Hara school career records, Raphael Spencer is 2nd in scoring with 217 points and Julian Gidley is 10th in most kicked extra points made with 46.

Two Named to All Conference Girls Golf

McKenzie Magwire and Olivia Wright from Archbishop O'Hara High School were named to the All West Central Conference Golf Team on September 23rd. _____ Girls golf is in its first year at O'Hara and is coached by Laura Eagle. _____ In the recent West Central Conference Girls Golf Tournament, Olivia Wright and Ciara Bazemore tied for fifth place.

TWO MEDAL AT SMITHVILLE INVITATIONAL

Jennifer Gustin was 7th and Claire Becker was 12th in the Smithville Cross Country Invitational on September 21st winning medals. O'Hara only had four runners, not enough to field a team; the other two were Amy Gaston (25th) and Mackenzie Shelton (31st). _____ In the boys varsity, the Celtics had only four runners also. They were Andy Meyer (39th), Alex Wagner (54th), Dakota Defreece (55th) and Corbett MbKinney (59th).

An Easy Win in Volleyball For The Celtics

O'Hara won 25-0 and 25-3 on September 20. The Center Yellowjackets were the Celtics' opponents.

O'HARA TIES AN UNDEFEATED TEAM IN SOCCER

Coming from behind, the O'Hara soccer team managed to tie Warrensburg 1-1 on September 20. _____ The Warrensburg Tigers were 5-0 going into the contest while O'Hara was 2-3. _____ Nate Lacalilade gave the Tigers a 1-0 halftime edge, but Julian Gidley slipped in the tying goal in the second half for the Celtics. _____ West Central Conference games do not go into overtimes nor shootouts as tournament games do, so the two defensive squads settled for a tie. _____ This was O'Hara's first Conference game of the season.

Football: O'Hara 14 Smith-Cotton 31

The O'Hara Celtics football team led Smith-Cotton until 1:10 left in the first half, but couldn't regain the lead the rest of the game as the Sedalia Tigers went on to win 31-14. _____ With their first possession, the Celtics went up by a touchdown and extra point. _____ Raphael Spencer broke through the Tiger defense for a 56 yard TD and Julian Gidley tagged on the extra point. _____ It took the Tigers ten plays, but they knotted the score on a 12 yard run by Raymon Arias and an extra point by Jacqueline Greer. _____ The Celtics went back on top 14-7 with Raphael Spencer returning the Tiger kickoff for a 96 yard return. _____ The score held up until near halftime when the Tigers scored on a 48 yard run by Dominque Smith. _____ Josh Snow blocked the extra point attempt, so the Celtics held a slim 14-13 edge. _____ One of O'Hara's eight fumbles in the contest set up a Tiger TD before the first half ended. _____ DarianWeeks took the ball in from four yards out and Dominique Smith passed to Shae Buckner for the two-point conversion. ______ The halftime score was 21-14. _____ Neither team scored in the third quarter although a 29 yard pass from Raphael Spencer to Brandon Dennis appeared to close the gap, but the touchdown was called back due to a penalty. ______ The Tigers rounded out the scoring with a touchdown run for 29 yards by Raymon Arias and a field goal by Jaqueline Greer.

FOUR CROSS COUNTRY RUNNERS REACH PERSONAL BESTS

In the Platte County Invitational on September 16th, four O'Hara cross country runners bettered their previous high running times: Alex Wagner, Dakota Defreece, Corbett McKinney, and Jennifer Gustin. ______ Four also won medals at the meet. In varsity competition Jennifer Gustin took 15th and Claire Becker was in at 19th for the girls, while Blake Hudon crossed the finish line 26th for the boys. In a non-varsity run, Alex Wagner won a 9th place medal. ____ The course was at Platte Ridge Park

Holden Overwhelmed by O'Hara 10-0 in Soccer

On September 14th, the O'Hara soccer team scored ten times against Holden before the game was stopped with the mercy rule. _____ Senior Matthew Shelton and freshman Colton Ludwick had three Celtic goals apiece. _____ Julian Gidley, Amory Gunter, Ryan Wald, and John Tyler had individual scores. _____ Six players registered assists: Matthew Shelton, Colton Ludwick, Anthony Scassalletti, Mat McInerny, Pay Berney, and Jason Jaurquio.

CELTICS ENJOY A 7-2 CONFERENCE WIN IN TENNIS

With winnings from Lindsey Routledge, Mary Pat Brage, Dakota Waggerman, Alex Moran, and Briana Rainey. the O'Hara tennis team downed Smith-Cotton on September 14th by a score of 7-2.

O'Hara Volleyball Team Win Third Place in MO-KAN Consolation

O'Hara, the defending 3-A Missouri Volleyball Champions, defeated Saint Teresa's 25-10 and 25-20 to win the the third place trophy at the MO-KAN Invitational on September 11th. _____ The overall winner of the Tournament was Saint James, defending Class 4-A Kansas Champions, whose record went to 9-0. _____ In pool play, O'Hara lost to Blue Springs, winning the first game 25-20, but then dropping the next two 22-25 and 18-25. _____ However, in the playoffs the Celtics were undefeated, winning 25-9 and 25-12 over Lawrence Free State as well as 25-16 and 25-19 over Blue Valley.

LIGHTNING HALTS O'HARA WARRENSBURG FOOTBALL GAME

The score of the September 10th football game was Warrensburg 28 O'Hara 0 when lightning put a stop to the activity with 6:21 on the clock before halftime. ______ The Warrensburg Tigers benefitted from touchdowns on runs by Andrew Frencken for 14 yards and 8 yards, a 24 yard pass play from Layton Moore to Nick Dandurand, and an 82 yard interception return by Alex Kostas. _____ O'Hara's lone big-gainer was a pass from Jake Fortin to Brandon Dennis for 34 yards.

Softball: O'Hara 3 Warrensburg 2

The Lady Celtics softball team handed the Warrensburg Tigers their first loss of the early season 3-2 with Allison Seck pitching for O'Hara. _____ Kellie Bachkora was 3 for 3 and batted in all three of the O'Hara runs. _____Carson Burns was 2 for 3 and Andi Davis scored the deciding run of the game. _____ Notable defensive plays were two leaping catches by Natalie Berigan and Payton Buseck.

O'HARA IS 7th IN CROSS COUNTRY INVITATIONAL

At Frick Park on September 9th, the O'Hara boys cross country team was seventh among eleven teams in the Oak Grove Invitational with 200 points. _____ Smithville won with a score of 48 followed by Platte County, Richmond, Pleasant Hill, Odessa, and Pembroke Hill. _____ The teams behind the Celtics with scores over 200 were Oak Grove, Marshall, Barstow, and Boonville. _____ None of the O'Hara runners were among the top five finishers, and the girls squad did not have enough runners to field a complete team. _____ Medalists included Blake Hudon, Claire Becker, and Jennifer Gustin (who had her own personal best time). _____ Non-medalists who registered their own personal bests were Corbett McKinney and Alex Wagner.

O'Hara Soccer Team Does Well Against Undefeated Oak Grove

Matt Shelton scored twice for the Archbishop O'Hara High School soccer team while Zach Leamon put in three goals for Oak Grove on September 9th. _____ The 3-2 contest kept Oak Grove undefeated in three games while the Celtics dropped to 1-4.

VOLLEYBALL TEAM WIN TWO HOME CONFERNCE GAMES

On September 7th, the Archbishop O'Hara High School defending State Champion Volleyball Team won 25-5 and 25-5 in their West Central Conference game with Smith-Cotton of Sedalia in the O'Hara gym. _____ In the first game, the Celtics led the Tigers by only 8-4 before racking up 10 consecutive points, and in the second game, the Celtics jumped to a 10-0 advantage before the Tigers got on the scoreboard. ______ On September 9th, the Celtics beat the Saint Pius Warriors 25-12 and 15-15. ______ In the first game only six points separated the two teams when they reached 18-12, but the Celtics scored the next seven points of the contest. ______ After O'Hara got the early lead at 3-2 in the second game, they remained ahead the rest of the way.

Some Stats After the O'Hara-Clinton Football Game

After the close 27-25 football win By the Clinton Cardinals over the O'Hara Celtics, some stats emerged that may be of interest. _____ Raphael Spencer quarterbacked the first Celtic series and completed his only pass attempt for 34 yards and a touchdown. _____He also led the running attack for O'Hara the rest of the game averaging 6.5 yards per carry as he gained 155 yards on 24 attempts. _____ The only other Celtic that contributed much to the rushing yards was Brett Coatney averaging 6.0 yards with 60 yards on 10 attempts. _____ Spencer's 1888 total yards in his career at O'Hara places him 6th in the school's history behind Matt Patterson, J. R. Brown, Mike Brown, Jesse Thomas, and Jeff Brown. _____ The 1454 yards gained in last year's season has him 5th best for a single season. _____ He is second only to Matt Patterson in career points scored and presently holds the top spot for a single season which he attained last year with 179 points. _____ In the game with Clinton, Jake Chichuk and Tanner Hull each had a quarterback sack, Brandon Dennis had an interception, and Josh Snow recovered a fumble. _____ After the second week of the season, the standings of the teams within the West Central Conference are Clinton 1-0, Warrensburg 1-0, Smith-Cotton 1-1, Saint Pius 1-1, O'Hara 0-1, and Center 0-1.

SIX MEDALISTS IN CROSS COUNTRY FOR O'HARA

Coach Mike Martin assisted by Coach Ann Adams had eleven O'Hara cross country runners participate in the Annual Saint Mary's Invitational at William Jewel with six athletes finishing high enough for medals. _____ O'Hara was unable to field a complete team for the various races and thus did not come up with team scores. ______ Claire Becker was 14th in the girls varsity while Blake Hudon and Andy Meyer were 17th and 25th respectively in the boys varsity to be among the top 35 for receiving medals. _____ Also running on the varsity level but not high enough for medals were Amy Gaston and McKenzie Shelton for the girls and Dakota Defreece and Ronald Clark for the boys. _____ Sam Baird was the only Celtic runner competing in the JV race and came in 43rd. ______ All three of the freshman entered in the First-Year Runners competition won medals. _____Among the girls, Jennifer Gustin came in 2nd and in the boys race, Corbett McKinney was 7th and Alex Wagner 15th.

O'Hara Loses Another Cliffhanger by Two Points

Clinton scored a deciding touchdown with less than a minute left in the game and won 27-25 on September 3. _____ Trenton Perry took an 11 yard TD pass from Dylan Stadter and Gabe Suthoff kicked the extra point as the Cardinals came from behind to erase a 25-20 O'Hara advantage. _____ Clinton opened the scoring in the first quarter on a 16 yard pass from Dylan Stadter to Collin Garvin and O'Hara matched the six pointer on a 34 yard pass from Raphael Spencer to Brandon Dennis. _____ Both teams failed to make their extra points. _____ The Cardinals scored first in the second quarter when Gabe Suthoff ran the ball in from five yards out after which the Celtics answered with a 32 yard pass play from Jake Fortin to D. J. Griffin. _____ Whereas the Cardinals failed in their two-point conversion attempt, Julian Gidley kicked the extra point for O'Hara to give the home team a 13-12 halftime edge. _____ O'Hara scored the only touchdown of the third quarter, a six yard run by Brett Coatney giving the O'Hara team a 19-12 lead into the final quarter. _____ The tiring Celtic defense nearly stopped the Cardinal scoring drive at the start of the fourth quarter, but on a fourth down play with the ball on the 26 yard line, Gabe Suthoff caught a TD pass from Dylan Stadter; Suthoff also ran in the two-point conversion to put the Cardinals up by one 20-19. _____ Behind the running of Raphael Spencer and Brett Coatney, the Celtics pulled ahead on an eight yard run by Raphael Spencer, but the team was unable to click on a two-point conversion.

O'HARA SOCCER

The Archbishop O'Hara soccer team went 1-2 in the Lee's Summit Invitational Tournament before Labor Day, defeating William Chrisman 3-1 but losing shutout games to Saint Thomas Aquinas 10-0 and Lee's Summit West 4-0. ______ Scoring O'Hara's goals were Matt Shelton scoring two and Kevin Hogan one.