SPORTS
A8 — THE OBSERVER
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2021
OSAA is going digital with prep playoff tickets
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
WILSONVILLE — The
Oregon School Activities
Association is going dig-
ital with tickets to all post-
season events.
Starting with fall play-
off s — football, volleyball,
soccer and cross-country
— fans can go online
and purchase their tickets
in advance for events.
They then will show their
e-ticket at the gate when
arriving for the event.
“Pre-sold digital tickets
will take precedence over
any potential walk up
at the day of the event,”
OSAA Assistant Execu-
tive Director Kyle Stanfi eld
wrote in a news release.
“It’s important that host
facilities are prepared to
take these tickets at the
event.”
Though the digital
PREVIEWS
Continued from Page A7
would give the Ante-
lopes an undefeated reg-
ular season and propel
them into fi rst place in the
upcoming playoff s.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
Friday.
IMBLER AT DUFUR
— Few teams are as hot at
this point in the season as
the Panthers. They have
won three straight games
to climb above .500 on the
season at 4-3.
The Panthers downed
Pilot Rock 62-34 last
Friday to record their best
off ensive output on the
season. They will look to
keep the winning going
when they travel to face
Dufur, a traditional power,
who is 4-3 on the season
coming off a 46-6 loss to
Ione/Arlington. Dufur has
lost two of its past three
games, beating only Pilot
Rock 46-44 on Oct. 7.
Friday kickoff is set for
7 p.m.
IONE/ARLINGTON
AT COVE — Cove lost
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
La Grande players dump ice on La Grande head coach Rich McIlmoil
following their win over Banks in the 2019 state title game. The OSAA
is going to sell tickets to postseason events online starting this fall.
tickets are preferred, fans
can pay at the door if the
game is hosted at a high
school. Once playoff s reach
neutral sites (semifi nals
and fi nals), e-tickets will be
the way to go.
In small communi-
ties where internet is lim-
a defensive battle against
Crane 16-6 last week to
fall to 2-5 on the season.
The Leopards will con-
clude their season after
seeing both their starting
and backup quarterbacks
going down to injury a
week ago.
Junior David Creech
continues to impress from
his fullback position after
scoring his team’s lone
touchdown against Crane.
Cove’s defense was
impressive in the loss,
holding the Mustangs to
under 20 points after they
averaged 57 points per
game across the last four
contests.
Ione/Arlington is
coming off a 46-6 drub-
bing of Dufur a week ago
to improve to 4-3 on the
season. It has won its past
two games scoring at least
30 points each time.
Kickoff is 7 p.m. Friday.
ELGIN AT WAL-
LOWA — Injuries have
plagued Elgin in the fi nal
weeks of the regular
season as it was forced to
forfeit its game against
Adrian last week. Elgin
ited or fans prefer to pay
at the gate, Stanfi eld said
the OSAA will work with
those communities to off er
both.
“Each school and loca-
tion may have diff erent
restrictions and we want to
honor those restrictions,”
has just 11 players on its
roster this year and would
have had to play freshmen
or injured players against
the top-ranked Antelopes.
The Huskies (2-4) will
lean, if healthy, on quar-
terback Ty McLaughlin
and playmakers Bruce
Morehead and Joe
Lathrop. The trio creates
a dominant rushing attack
that has been eff ective
throughout the season.
Wallowa is coming
off a 62-24 loss to No.
2 Powder Valley to fall
to 1-4 on the season. Its
single win on the year
came against Union 36-22
on Sept. 24.
Kickoff on Friday is set
for 7 p.m.
ENTERPRISE AT
LYLE/WISHRAM/
KLICKITAT — Enter-
prise enters the game at
4-3, having won three
straight games. The Out-
laws received a forfeit from
Sherman/Condon their last
time out, but scored 51 and
55 points, respectively, in
their previous two victo-
ries, over Ione/Arlington
and Elgin.
Stanfi eld said. “We will
be communicating consis-
tently throughout October
and November.”
Powder Valley Athletic
Director Brad Dunten is
unsure of the impact the
digital ticketing will have
until the school tests it
fi rsthand.
“Not experiencing it yet,
it’s hard to give feedback,”
Dunten said. “Yearly we
have to train parents and
fans on the season’s sched-
uling and protocols, so
this will just be another
element.”
Dunten noted that
seniors and their parents
volunteer to work the gate
at sporting events, which
goes toward fundraisers
for the senior class. Dunten
was unsure if the lessened
use of up-front ticketing
will have an impact on that
system.
According to Dunten,
Lyle/Wishram/Klickitat
is looking to bounce back
after falling to previously
winless Union 34-26 on
Oct. 15. It enters the game
with a 4-3 record, but has
lost its last two games.
Kickoff is 7 p.m. Friday
in Lyle, Washington.
JOSEPH AT
PRAIRIE CITY/BURNT
RIVER — It will be a
bounce-back eff ort this
week for the Joseph foot-
ball team, coming off a
blowout loss to Mitchell/
Spray/Wheeler last Friday.
The Eagles lost 49-6 to
the online ticketing will
expedite the payment pro-
cess to OSAA during the
playoff s. Local schools
send the ticket funds to
OSAA, and a smaller bal-
ance is sent back to the ath-
letics department. With the
online process in place, the
necessary funds for offi -
cials and other expenses
can be sent directly to
OSAA.
According to the OSAA,
the pandemic has forced
changes, including a con-
sumer shift to using apps
and digital services now
more than ever.
By not having
large-ticketed events the
last 18 months, the OSAA
considers this the perfect
time to reset and start a
new way of thinking on
how to enter contests.
The move to digital
tickets also will reduce the
number of people needed
drop their record to 4-2 on
the year, with the team’s
only other loss coming in
a forfeit to Pine Eagle on
Oct. 1.
Mitchell/Spray/Wheeler
came into last week’s
matchup with a perfect 6-0
record, but Joseph will not
be able to take things easy
on Oct. 21 as Prairie City/
Burnt River comes into the
matchup 5-1.
The Panthers are
coming off a 44-22 win at
Echo last Friday.
Kickoff is slated for
7 p.m. Thursday.
for an event. Venues no
longer will need multiple
ticket sellers, just a couple
of ticket scanners. Finding
people to work games has
been diffi cult for some
schools.
This move helps reduce
the number of people in
the ticket booths while pro-
viding frictionless access
to patrons.
The ease of technology
turns most any smartphone
into a ticket scanner, pro-
vided the venue has a cell
signal. An app is used to
scan tickets. For a single
high school event, the bat-
tery usage and amount of
data used to run the app is
minimal.
Schools will no longer
be responsible for large
sums of cash. Money for
digital tickets goes directly
to an OSAA account, with
no cash or credit card slips
left at the site.
STREAK
Continued from Page A7
limit mistakes, his produc-
tion will be key to turning
things around for the Moun-
taineers’ off ense.
Eastern has won its
last seven head-to-head
matchups with the Lights,
holding a 7-5 record in road
games between the two
schools. Having won nine
out of the last 10 matchups,
the Mountaineers will be
hoping for similar results to
end the team’s losing streak.
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