By Greg Gulas

Aaron McKinney’s 3-yard TD return on a Spartan fumble helped Chaney avoid a shutout.

BOARDMAN — Hoping his team would dig in and find some extra incentive for their game Friday with Chaney High, Boardman coach D.J. Ogilvie called upon Dr. Will Keim of Oregon State University, one of nation’s foremost speakers on leadership and motivation to address his Spartans prior to their pre-game walk through with the Cowboys.

Dr. Keim’s message was short, sweet and to the point. He asked the team to give their promise to adhere to his five very important principles and if so, then they should expect to be a success this season.

He asked of them to think, feel, hope, act and love each other as teammates, and if they were to do so then the rest would simply fall into place as the season unfolded.

Senior Pat McFall took Keim’s message literally, setting the tone for the Spartans’ third straight win as his three touchdown’s and 89 receiving yards led Boardman to a 55-7 victory.

“I have never heard anyone speak like that before. He [Dr. Keim] really hit home with his words, telling us to love our teammates like brothers while always giving it our best both on and off the field,” said McFall.

“He asked us to show respect to everyone, whether we were playing a game or going about our everyday lives.

“We knew that this was going to be a tough game so we prepared extra hard this week, respecting our opponent the entire week of preparation,” McFall added.

McFall got the scoring started on the team’s first offensive series when he cashed in on a 1-yard run just 2:16 into the game for the 7-0 Spartan advantage.

He then added a 3-yard touchdown scamper on the Spartans’ second offensive series for a 14-0 lead and when he caught a 49-yard scoring strike from signal caller Rob Boyd at the 2:20 mark, Boardman had a 21-0 margin after the first 15 minutes.

“Pat’s nickname is ‘Big Thing’ because we always expect big things from him,” said Ogilvie. “He has great hands, is an excellent blocker and plays great defense.

“We came out hitting on all cylinders and played what I felt was a pretty good overall game. We did make some mistakes, however; mistakes that can be costly and miscues that we will have to rectify come time for Federal League play,” he added.

Damien Jarrett, the Spartans’ speedster, reeled off three touchdown runs of 5 yards (10:52), 13 yards (7:25) and 12 yards (3:57) to help the Spartans (3-0) forge a 41-0 halftime lead.

Tyler Walls’ 86 yard kickoff return for a touchdown to start the second half increased Boardman’s lead to 48-0, but Aaron McKinney’s 3-yard touchdown return of a Spartans fumble at 3:21 of the third stanza helped the Cowboys (0-3) avoid the shutout.

Walls’ second touchdown of the game, a 69-yard run with just 23 seconds remaining, rounded out the scoring.

Walls had a game-high 117 yards rushing while the Spartans as a team rushed for 219 yards, holding the Cowboys to 72 ground yards and just 154 overall.

Boyd was 3-of-7 for 95 yards and a touchdown, his efforts helping the Spartans to 314 total yards offensively.