Chelan Football

Derrick Talley rushed for 310 yards against the Okanogan Bulldogs to led the Chelan Goats to their impressive 37-0 shutout last Friday night in Okanogan.

Chelan bounces back with a 37-0 victory over Okanogan

By Richard Uhlhorn

It was a special night of football for the Chelan Goats when they defeated Okanogan 37-0 and gained their confidence back after the devastating Cashmere game the week before.

It was also a night that had some emotional tugs for Coach Darren Talley. He reports:

“I knew Friday night would have some emotional tugs.  At halftime my dad, Coach Del Talley was being honored along with his past football players for winning three Caribou Trail League Championship titles in a row.  Many of those players, teachers, and staff were present for a pregame picture in the end zone, some I hadn't seen in over 30 years.  Many of those players were my first heroes and inspiration to play this great game of football, including Okanogan's Head Football Coach Denny Neeley, Gordon Pitts, Jon Consack, and Mike Tomco.  Stepping back on the Okanogan football field that I hadn't been on since my grade school days, and where I always thought I'd play my high school football games, was almost surreal.  Watching my son Derrick fill those shoes was just as good maybe even better.  Tonight he had one of the best performances by a running back (310 yards on 21 carries) that I've ever seen at the high school level.   If a couple plays hadn't been called back he would have had over 360 yards rushing and over 100 yards receiving.  I loved every minute of the game, it was a special night in every way.” 

Chelan stepped up their defensive play so much that Coach Steve Stamps (CHS 1973) said he hadn’t seen Chelan hit as hard as they did in a very long time. Okanogan prided themselves on their ability hit, reported Talley. “That was the challenge to our kids to rise up and sow what we could do. They responded in a great way all night long,” stated Coach Talley.

The big hits came from the defensive leaders including Danny Zavala, Davey Anderson, Zane Sandum, Cody Olsen, Derrick Talley and Greg Schultz. “Greg had two of the biggest hits of the night and it became contagious,” said Talley. New comers to the big hit club included Reece McClelland, Jaime Guerrero, Adam Hendricks, and Gage Schmidt.

Mat Engstrom, Cody Olsen, Will Nielsen and Matt Pittsinger put some aggressive pressure on the Okanogan quarterback. Brett Linehan was able to pull down two interceptions and Danny Zavala grabbed one interception.

The contact carried over to the offensive side and excellent blocking by Brett Linehan, Luke Lauglin, Mat Engstrom, Joe Harris, Brooks Gatzemeier and the “O Line Brotherhood” helped keep the Chelan offensive running on all eight cylinders.

Team blocking at the line of scrimmage and downfield allowed Derrick Talley, Danny Zavala, Luke Laughlin, Greg Schultz, Sam Sydloski-Tesch to have one of the teams best rushing performances of the season in three quarters of duty on the field.

“Our JV team took over the reigns in the fourth quarter and moved the ball in style,” reported Coach Talley. “This was a great intense game for our team with a lot of fun memories for life.”

Chelan hosts the Brewster Bears this coming Friday night for Chelan’s homecoming.