7A
Monday, October 28, 2019
The Observer
Tigers run away from Bulldogs
■ ■ La Grande rolls past
Baker, 34-0, to complete
perfect regular season
By Ronald Bond
The Observer
La Grande’s defense held stout
until the offense was able to break
through.
Once it did, the floodgates
opened, and the Tigers reached
one of their goals — an undefeated
regular season. Much more, though,
lies ahead for La Grande.
“The boys have had a lot of goals
from the beginning, and they’ve
worked hard to do that. They’ve
put a lot of time and energy into
football, and this is what they’ve
wanted,” head coach Rich McIlmoil
said. “They deserve all the credit.
We probably had our best week of
practice this week. All their hard
work and accomplishing those
goals is coming out.”
Nathan Reed rushed for 114
yards and three touchdowns,
Parker Robinson and Blaine Shaw
also scored, and the Tigers locked
up the Greater Oregon League title
outright with a 34-0 home win over
the Baker Bulldogs Saturday after-
noon at Community Stadium.
“We’ve been working really hard
all week,” Reed, who eclipsed 1,000
yards rushing for the season in the
win, said. “We worked on scheming
things differently (and) blocking
things differently. We played a
lot harder. We had a great week
of practice and we came out and
executed.”
La Grande scored on its second
offensive play of the game — a 15-
yard run by Reed — but then was
held in check by Baker’s defense
most of the first half.
“Sometimes one of our weak
links (is) that we start a little slow,
and then we gotta get it rolling
later in the game,” McIlmoil said.
But two big plays late in the half
led to two touchdowns and what
Ben Lonergan/EO Media Group
La Grande running back Nathan Reed (25) breaks free of the Baker defense to run for a touchdown during the third quarter. The La Grande
Tigers defeated the Baker Bulldogs 34-0 at Eastern Oregon University in La Grande Saturday afternoon.
felt like an insurmountable lead for
La Grande going into the half.
Reed — who had been held to
short gains on his previous four
carries — broke through the line on
fourth and five for a 39-yard touch-
down and a 14-0 lead with 2:12 to
play in the half.
Shaw then grabbed an inter-
ception — his second of the game
— and scored four plays later on
a 10-yard reception to make the
margin 21-0 at the break and La
Grande, indeed, was rolling.
“We just started wearing them
down,” Reed said. “They’re a pretty
confident team, and you could
see as the game progressed they
started losing confidence. They
See Tigers / Page 8A
Northwest brings an end to
Mountaineers home streak
Ronald Bond/The Observer
Eastern Oregon players Oscar Munoz, left, Calvin Mitchell, center, and Alexander
Zuluaga celebrate after Munoz scored a goal against Northwest Friday.
Ronald Bond/The Observer
Sarah Mitchell tracks down a ball deep in Eastern Oregon’s end of the field in a
match against Northwest Friday night. Mitchell scored EOU’s lone goal in a 2-1 loss.
By Ronald Bond
The Observer
The Eastern Oregon University’s wom-
en’s soccer team experienced something it
hadn’t since 2016 — a loss at home.
The No. 11 Mountaineers split their home
slate over the weekend, falling to Cascade
Collegiate Conference-leading Northwest,
2-1, Friday night, before recovering for a 3-0
win over Evergreen on Saturday.
“Hats off to Northwest,” EOU head coach
Jacob Plocher said. “They’re a great team.
We knew that coming in. It’s been them and
us battling the last two years for that top
spot. Hopefully well get to see them again in
the conference tournament.”
The loss to the Eagles Friday put an end
to a 17-match home winning streak for
Eastern, one that dated back to the 2016
season. It was also the first loss the team
has taken on the Community Stadium turf.
“All good things come to an end as far as
streaks go, but it’s an opportunity to start
a new one,” Plocher said following Friday’s
match. “Sometimes losses can be good and
reignite that fire and that drive, and hope-
fully that’s what we’re able to do.”
Perhaps bigger than seeing the winning
streak end, however, is what the loss does
See Women / Page 9A
Eastern men get two much-
needed wins to stay in hunt
By Ronald Bond
The Observer
Maybe the Eastern Oregon University’s
men’s soccer team just needed a little pres-
sure on itself.
Being in a must-win scenario, the rest of
the regular season certainly is pressure, but
the Mountaineers, to this point, have thrived
in that position.
EOU locked up two victories it needed
to have to stay in the hunt for a Cascade
Collegiate Conference tournament berth,
earning a pair of one-goal victories over two
Washington schools it’s jockeying with for a
playoff berth — Northwest on Friday, 2-1,
and Evergreen on Saturday, 3-2.
“We like to put pressure on ourselves, I
guess,” EOU head coach Zach Mills said after
Friday’s win. “We told (the team) before Walla
Walla (last week) we need five wins in a row,
but we’re taking them game by game.”
So far, the Mountaineers have three of the
five wins in a row that they need, moving
themselves to 5-6 in the CCC. Eastern is now
in a tight bunch with Evergreen, Warner
Pacific, Carroll College and Northwest for a
postseason berth.
“It’s a bad place to be. We’d rather be ahead of
the game, (but) they know now it’s time to go,”
See Men / Page 9A