(By Geno Ludwig/Chewelah Independent)

The Chewelah cheerleaders and football team lineup for the national anthem before the “new” Snyder Field’s first football game.

Lions and Kiwanis clubs served 750 burgers for field dedication…

There was plenty of pageantry — and people — for the dedication of the new track at Snyder Field last Friday. The Kiwanis and Lions clubs served 750 free burgers to fans, coaches, players and cheerleaders during the game and collected $222 in donations for their efforts. A total of 67 volunteer hours were contributed by both service groups.

Many individuals responsible for the track renovation were in attendance and honored by Chewelah Superintendent Rick Linehan in front of the grandstands at Snyder Field.

Fans also got the opportunity to see the new track and how fan seating will be handled by the school district. Chewelah state hurdles champion Lilly Kirry ran a 300-meter distance around the track and was joined by students to cross the “finish line” to christen the new track. More

 (By Staff Reports)

Grizzlies come back against Cougars…

The game was hard-fought but a late surge by Newport allowed the Grizzlies to come away with a 27-25, 18-25, 15-25, 25-15, 15-7 NEA League victory over Chewelah on Thursday night.

The Cougars were led by Elizabeth Chalmers’ 16 kills and Elle Carpenter’s 18 assists in the matchup. The loss dropped Chewelah to 5-4 on the year and 4-4 in league play.

Jaelynn Skok also had 34 digs for the Cougars while Skyla Tunison had five blocks. Carpenter and Tunison each notched three aces.

Newport was led by Olivia Witter’s 31 assists and three aces.

Chewelah hosts Freeman next Tuesday.

More

(By Staff Reports)

Krislyn Koler tips the ball over the net during NEA League action against Medical Lake. (Photo by Brandon Hansen)

Chalmers gets a dozen kills in win over Colville…

A win over your county rival is nice, especially when it jostles up the league standings. Chewelah downed Colville in five sets 23-25, 19-25, 25-18, 25-14, 17-15 last night on the Indians home court. The Cougars improved to 5-3 on the year and 4-3 in NEA League play.

Elizabeth Chalmers led the way with 12 kills and two aces for the Cougars. Elle Carpenter dished out 18 assists and Jaelynn Skok notched 26 digs.

The win drops Colville below Freeman and Lakeside in the NEA League standings and the Cougars are just a game behind the Indians in the standings.

Chewelah has won three of their last four matches and they’ll host Newport this Thursday at 6:30 p.m.

The Cougars have been picking up victories in early season NEA League play. They celebrate a point here during action vs. Medical Lake. (Brandon Hansen photo)

Chewelah wins matches against Riverside, Medical Lake before falling to Newport

(By Geno Ludwig)
Chewelah’s Lady Cougars enjoyed a pair of three-set wins over Riverside and Medical Lake last week, but a weekend trip to Newport on Saturday was disastrous. The Cougars hammered 33 kills at Riverside on their way to set wins of 25-20, 25-15, and 25-11 on Tuesday. Coming home on Thursday, they defeated visiting Medical Lake in three sets: 25-18, 25-14, and 25-4. At Newport, however, they were unable to find their rhythm as the Lady Grizzlies controlled the net for a three-set win.

Led by Elizabeth Chalmers and Skyla Tunison, Chewelah totaled 33 kills at Riverside to claim their second league victory of the season. Chalmers topped the team with 10 kills. Tunison finished the match with eight. Although there were some long rallies at the beginning of the match, the Cougars slowly wore down the Rams with a deluge of hits. As the match progressed, the point spread got wider.

The opening set was close until the score was tied at 11-11 as Tunison, Chalmers, Krislyn Koler, Haven Rainer, and Lily Kirry hammered kills. Chewelah took the lead to stay as the Cougars continued to attack at the net. Koler, Chalmers, and Kirry spearheaded the assault, while Bailey Smith and Tunison teamed up for five serving aces down the stretch for the 25-20 win. Tunison served three consecutive aces. Smith served two.

Likewise, the second set against the Rams stayed tight through the first third of play, with the score tied four times until it reached 8-8. Then, as in the opening game, the Cougars surged ahead.
Three consecutive kills by Tunison and an ace serve from Smith moved the momentum to the Chewelah side of the net, and the Cougars took advantage of several Riverside errors for the 25-16 win. Kills by Elle Carpenter and Kirry provided the final touches.

Three ace serves and a trio of kills from Chalmers highlighted Chewelah’s 25-11 win in the third set. The Cougars also got serving aces from Carpenter and Tunison. This time, Chewelah pulled away early and continued to build its lead, punctuated by kills from Chalmers, Tunison, Skok, Smith, and Rainer.

The Lady Cougars used the same strategy against Medical Lake on Thursday night, controlling the action above the net and totally dominating play the second half of each set. Scores at the beginning of the first two sets were close, but as play continued Chewelah produced more power. This time, it was Kirry and Koler who led the Chewelah charge at the net as they teamed up for 16 of the Cougars’ 33 kills. Kirry had a season-high nine kills. Koler had seven.

Both Chewelah and Medical Lake had a strong start, with the score being tied seven times up to 11-11. Kills by Koler, Kirry, Chalmers, Tunison, Smith, and Rainer gave the Cougars a wide spectrum of choices at the net. Chewelah then took the lead on kills by Tunison and Smith, and they never gave it back. A pair of ace serves from Smith, followed by a couple from Tunison gave the Cougars a 19-13 edge. Chalmers, Koler, and Kirry put the icing on the cake for a 25-18 set win.
A back row kill by Jaelynn Skok triggered 25-16 Chewelah win in the second set, and early explosive hitting gave the Cougars a 13-8 lead. A pair of ace serves by Chalmers, along with her lob kill to the back line, highlighted early play. Chewelah’s lead continued to grow as Tunison, Koler, and Skok crushed kills. Another back row kill and an ace serve by Skok ended the set with the Cougars posting a 25-16 triumph.

Kirry clobbered six kills in the third set as she ignited the Cougars to a 25-4 win to wrap up the match in Blue and White. With Chewelah leading 10-2, Kirry kept calling for the ball and Carpenter fed her six kills. Alyssa Fitzgerald added three quick kills off the bench, and Chalmers served a trio of aces for the one-sided win. This win raised Chewelah’s league record to 3-3, 4-3 overall.

After the two sweep victories over Riverside and Medical Lake, the hope for the Cougars was to carry the momentum into the make-up game at Newport on Saturday. Unfortunately, that did not happen. The Grizzlies won the match in three sets.

The Cougars traveled to Colville on Tuesday. They will return to their home gym to host Newport on Thursday and Freeman the following Tuesday. Match time is 6:30 p.m.. Go Cougs!

Chewelah 3, Riverside 0
Kills: Chalmers 10, Tunison 8, Koler 5, Kirry 4, Smith 2, Rainer 2, Skok 2, Carpenter 1.
Assists: Chalmers 11, Carpenter 10.
Aces: Chalmers 5, Carpenter 2, Smith 2, Tunison 1, Skok 1, Rainer 1, Koler 1.
Blocks: Kirry 3, Chalmers 2, Tunison 1.
Digs: Skok13, Smith 10, Chalmers 9, Carpenter 8, Tunison 6, Rainer 4, Koler 2, Kirry 1.

Chewelah 3, Medical Lk. 0
Kills: Kirry 8, Koler 7, Chalmers 5, Tunison 4, Fitzgerald 3, Rainer 3, Smith 2, Skok 2, Carpenter 2.
Aces: Chalmers 7, Tunison 5, Skok 2, Smith 2, Carpenter 1, Koler 1.
Assists: Carpenter 13, Chalmers 8, Rainer 4, Koler 1, Tunison 1.
Blocks: Tunison 1, Chalmers 1, Smith 1.
Digs: Skok 11, Chalmers 4, Carpenter 4, Rainer 2, Tunison 1, Smith 1, Koler 1.

(By Staff Reports)

Nolan Hansen runs with the football. (Mickey Olson photo)

Freeman strikes through the air to defeat Chewelah…

Nolan Hansen scored late in the fourth quarter last Friday night as the Chewelah Cougars escaped being shut out at Freeman.

Hansen plowed his way into the end zone from the three yard line behind the blocking of Dakota Kroiss and Wade Baker, finishing a 50-yard scoring drive that denied Freeman the shutout win. The home-standing Scotties, however, earned the win 28-6 to remain undefeated in league play.

The loss dropped Chewelah to 0-2 in conference action after losing their first encounter of the schedule at Newport the previous week.

“We simply have no depth,” said Coach Levi Hogan. “We played only 14 kids last Friday, including two freshman, because of injuries and a lack of veteran players. With our starting quarterback out with a knee injury, Nolan had only four days to learn the offense, and he did really well considering the short time he had.”

Although his Cougars were defeated last Friday, Coach Hogan was pleased with the effort of his players.

“The kids played hard through the entire game,” he explained. “I can’t ask for more than that. The problem was not the effort. The problem was inexperienced players on the field who did not know their specific assignments on every play.”

This Friday night, the Cougars play their first home game on their newly reconstructed field. The Deer Park Stags will be coming to town. Kickoff time is set at 7 p.m., but the dedication ceremony for the gridiron and the all-weather track will begin at 6 p.m..

“We’re going to open the gates at 5 p.m.,” said Chewelah superintendent Rick Linehan, “and we will have free hamburgers ready for everyone prior to the dedication ceremony. The ceremony will be short. We just want to thank everyone who contributed to this project. After the game, we will fire up the grills again and serve hamburgers to players and coaches from both teams.”

Members of the Kiwanis Club and the Lions Club will be flipping the burgers.

Chewelah’s lone scoring drive in the fourth quarter of play was triggered by freshman Kaden Krouse’s 30-yard kickoff return following the final Freeman touchdown. Behind 28-0, Krouse caught the ball at the left hash mark on the Cougar 20-yard line and cut to the opposite side of the field. He got a block from Kaden Mackowiak at the corner and another from Dakota Kroiss down the sideline before he was pushed out of bounds at the midfield stripe.

On first down from the 50-yard line, Mackowiak ran the ball inside for a five-yard gain into Scotty territory. Next, Hansen ran an option keeper around the right flank for a 20-yard pickup, with John Larson delivering the block at the corner that opened the door.

With a first down on the 25-yard line and a penalty walked off against Freeman, Chewelah had the ball on the Scotty 12-yard line. Another option keeper by Hansen advanced the ball to the five-yard stripe. Two possible touchdown throws into the end zone, one to Griffin Stroyan and the other to Larson, were flagged for defensive pass interference and the ball was moved half the distance to the goal line. From there, Hansen used the blocking of Wade Baker and Kroiss to bull his way into the end zone. It was the first Cougar touchdown of the league season after being blanked at Newport.

The extra-point pass fell incomplete, but the Cougars had avoided being shut out.

The Chewelah offense struggled to move the ball throughout the game. There were some big ground gainers, but not enough to provide a sustained push all the way to the goal line until late in the game.

Defensively, the Cougars shut down the Scotty running attack, but they were victims of three touchdown passes thrown by Desmond Parisotto, the son of former Chewelah softball coach Brian Parisotto who is now the Freeman athletic director. They also had a fumble returned for a touchdown by Freeman.

Deer Park enters this Friday’s game winless with a 0-2 league record after losing to Colville and Lakeside. The Indians scored five times on their way to a 34-7 win. The Eagles won 20-14.

However, Deer Park posted impressive pre-season victories over Rogers and St. Maries. Thus, the Cougars will have their hands full when the Stags visit Snyder Field on Friday. Finally playing on their home turf should make a positive impact, on the other hand. So, come early to see the new athletic complex, eat a hamburger, and watch the game. Kickoff time is $7. Go Cougs!

COLVILLE 49, RIVERSIDE 6
It didn’t take long for Colville to pile up the points against the Rams, as the Indians scored 21 first quarter points en route to a 49-6 NEA League victory. Jakob Larson ran for three touchdowns in the first half, while Dawson Flugel hauled in a duo of touchdown passes for the Indians. Colville improved to 3-1, while Riverside fell to 2-2.

LAKESIDE 20, DEER PARK 14
The Stags got shocked by Lakeside on Friday, with the Eagles coming away with a suprising 20-14 victory over the state playoff qualifiers from last year. Lakeside got an interception returned for a touchdown and a 9-yard scoring run from Kasen Hunsater for the victory. Lakeside is now 2-0 in league play, while Deer Park fell to 0-2 in the NEA League.

NEWPORT 48, MEDICAL LAKE 0
Newport stayed undefeated on the year, jumped out to a 35-0 lead in the first half and destorying Medical Lake 48-0 on Friday. Newport got two touchdowns from Adam Moorehead while Danny Bradbury ran for 119 yards on 10 carries and a score for the Grizzlies. Medical Lake fell to 0-4.

2B: REARDAN 26, SPRINGDALE 0
A low scoring, defensive affair got away from Springdale as Reardan came away with the 26-0 in NE 2B League action on Friday night. Reardan led 6-0 at the half thanks to a Caleb Cole 31-yard touchdown run. Springdale, however had some solid defensive stands and looked to be hanging tough.
Some miscues at the beginning of second half by Springdale led to Tyson Learn scoring on a three-yard run. The Indians would score on a one-yard run by Cole and the final score by Thomas Perryman to seal things.
Springdale fell to 1-3 on the season while Reardan improved to 2-2.
NOTE: Kettle Falls forfeited their game against NWC to fall to 0-4 on the year.

1B: HUNTERS 30, ST JOHN 22
Playing with just 10 players, the Lions were able to outlast St. John on Friday to improve to 3-1 on the year. St. John-Endicott fell to 0-3 on the year.

1B: CUSICK 70, NORTHPORT 0
Cusick improved to 3-1 on the year, scoring 42 points in the first quarter en route to a 70-0 victory over Northport on Friday. Northport fell to 1-3 on the year.

FREEMAN 28, CHEWELAH 6
Chewelah 0    0   0   6-6
Freeman   7   14  0   7-28

F – Freudenthal 10-yard pass from Parisotto (Fuchs kick)
F – McGill 6-yard pass from Parisotto (Fuchs kick)
F – Iris 15 fumble return (Fuchs kick)
F – Trumble 5-yard pass from Parisotto (Fuchs kick)
C – Mackowiak 3-yard run (pass failed)

(By Staff Reports/Chewelah Independent)

The Cougars have a lot to celebrate about after beginning the season 4-2. (Brandon Hansen photo)

Chalmers bumps up season kill total to 41…

Facing winless Medical Lake, the Cougars were able to quickly dispatch their NEA League foe 25-18, 25-16, 25-4 on Thursday night. Chewelah was led by Elizabeth Chalmers who had seven kills and seven aces to go along with one block.

Chalmers on the season has 17 aces and 41 kills for Chewelah. Medical Lake fell to 0-6 on the year while Chewelah improved to 4-2 overall and more importantly 3-2 in league play.

Elle Carpenter dished out 13 assists for the Cougars while Jaelynn Skok had 11 digs. Skyla Tunison and Bailey Smith each had an ace in the game.

Chewelah plays undefeated Colville on Tuesday in the Indians’ home gym. The Cougars have won two straight matches and four of their last five. They’re sitting in fourth place of the NEA League. Colville is 6-0 overall.  More

(By Staff Reports)

Elizabeth Chalmers had five aces against Riverside. (Photo by Brandon Hansen)

Cougars pick up third victory of the season…

Chewelah slammed their way past NEA League foe Riverside on Tuesday. Elizabeth Chalmers had five aces, while Elle Carpenter dished out 13 assists for the Cougars. Chewelah improved to 2-2 in league play and 3-2 overall. Lily Kirry had two blocks while Bailey Smith added 11 digs. Skyla Tunison had seven kills.

More

(By Staff Reports) 

Colville (2-1) moved into the No. 7 spot of the latest AP Washington Prep Football Poll after their 34-7 victory over Deer Park in an early season NEA League litmus test. The Stags (2-1) tumbled out of the poll because of the loss but is still receiving votes.

In the 4A poll, No. 6 Gonzaga Prep is the only Spokane-area school ranked, while No. 5 Mt. Spokane is the only Spokane-area school ranked in the 3A poll. Prep is 2-1 and Mt. Spokane is 3-0.

In the 2A poll, West Valley is ranked No. 6 after beginning the season 3-0, including a 13-12 victory over 1A Colville.

Liberty has climbed to No. 2 in the 2B ranks, while the NE 2B league also has NW Christian (No. 5) and Asotin (No. 6) ranked.

In the 1B poll, Selkirk and Hunters are receiving votes.
More

(By Geno Ludwig/Chewelah Independent)

Griffin Stroyan runs the ball back after an interception close to halftime against Newport last Friday. The Grizzlies won the game 25-0. (Photo by Brandon Hansen)

Yards scarce against Grizzlies…

It was evident at Newport last Friday night that the Chewelah Cougars were lacking in game experience. They had played only one quarter at Bridgeport, and their game at Liberty Christian was cancelled. They appeared to be unexpectedly raw against the Grizzlies, who they had totally dominated at the Deer Park jamboree three weeks earlier. The difference was that while the Cougars were having their game cancelled, Newport was playing under the lights the previous Friday night, defeating Priest River 29-8.

Newport had “seen the elephant”, and because of it, the Grizzlies had used their experience against Priest River to improve. Chewelah had not faced an opponent, so they had nothing to compare to.

Now, after being shut out by Newport 25-0 last Friday night, the Cougars have a lengthy list of things to work on this week as they prepare for Freeman on Friday. The primary emphasis will be on improving offensive line performance. Chewelah has some big beef up front, but Coach Levi Hogan and his staff will have to get them all herded in the right direction this week. Although some plays were blocked well, others were muddled. Blown blocking assignments hurt Chewelah in the loss. There may be some adjustments along the offensive line this week. More

(By Geno Ludwig/Chewelah Independent)

Lily Kirry sends the ball back over the net against Deer Park last week. (Morgan Aust photo)

Chewelah wins first league game of the year…

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. Charles Dickens must have written those famous lines about last week’s Chewelah volleyball games. The Lady Cougars destroyed Deer Park on Tuesday night in four sets. However, on Thursday, they were swept by league leading Lakeside in three sets.

Chewelah had a slow start against Deer Park, but the team continued to build momentum throughout the remainder of the match. After losing the opening set 25-21 on Tuesday night, the Lady Cougars got into a groove and stung the Stags for three straight wins to claim the league victory. The set scores were 25-13, 25-23, and 25-17.
More

(By Geno Ludwig/Chewelah Independent)

Carl Oman was the first Chewelah runner to cross the finish line after traversing the 5,000-meter course in 18 minutes, 48 seconds. (File photo)

Cougar runners go to CDA for first invitational of the year…

With the smoke somewhat cleared, the Chewelah cross-country runners finally got an opportunity to compete last Saturday at the Coeur d’Alene Invitational meet held at Hayden Canyon.

Since it was their first event of the season, the Cougars did not establish any records. Just being out on the course was a treat after spending a considerable amount of their training time running indoors through the halls of the high school.
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