SPORTS THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2015 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS WAR ON 84 Sports shorts World Series TV rating highest since 2009 Bucks, Dawgs ready for CRC bout NEW YORK (AP) — The World Series opener between the Kansas City Royals and the Mets was the highest-rated Game 1 since 2009 — the previous time a New York team played for the championship. Kansas City’s 5-4, 14-inning win Tuesday night was watched by 14.9 million viewers, according to Fox. The game received a 9.0 rating and a 17 share, the network said Wednesday, The rating was the highest for Game 1 since an 11.9/19 for the Philadelphia Phillies’ 6-1 win over the Yankees in 2009. The viewership was the most since 15 million tuned in for San Francisco’s 11-7 victory over Texas in 2010. The rating was up 22 percent from San Francisco’s win over Kansas City in the ¿ rst game last year. Conference title, bragging rights on the line on Friday By ERIC SINGER & SAM BARBEE East Oregonian The Columbia River Conference is one of three four-team leagues in the state of Oregon, but the only four-team league in the Class 5A ranks. This small set-up only allows for three league foot- ball games per season, often creating end-of-season playoff scenarios that can go any direction. That’s exactly how the 2015 CRC season will end on Friday, when the Hermiston Bulldogs (3-5, 2-0 CRC) and Pendleton Buckaroos (3-5, 1-1) clash at the Round-Up Grounds for the War on 84 with the conference title on the line. “When every game has an implication, (the players) don’t have to hear it every day,” Hermiston coach David Faaeteete said. “We win all our games, we win Football Pendleton Hermiston Buckaroos Bulldogs (3-5, 1-1) (3-5, 2-0) • Friday, 7 p.m. • at Round-Up Grounds it outright. We lose a game, and you leave your fate to chance. You never want to leave anything to chance.” When Faaeteete mentions chance, he isn’t kidding. A Pendleton win coupled with a Hood River Valley win creates a three-way tie at the top of the standings, with a coin toss determining the odd team out. With its own fate in its hands, both Hermiston and Pendleton are sixty minutes of football from guaranteeing one more game. WHEN HERMISTON HAS THE BALL: It took most of the season, but the Bulldogs have found their offensive identity. Behind burly running backs Bob Coleman and Hayden Simon, Hermiston has used a potent ground attack to grind away at its previous Prep Football HELIX Grizzlies build trust McCollum lifts Trail Blazers to win over Pelicans PORTLAND (AP) — CJ McCollum scored a career- high 37 points, including six 3-pointers, and the Portland Trail Blazers opened the with FACES season a 112-94 victory over the depleted New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night. McCollum It was Portland’s 15th straight home-opening victory, surpassing Boston’s record of 14 (1979-92). Damian Lillard, Portland’s only remaining starter left over from last season, had 21 points and 11 assists. The Blazers are the third-youngest team in the NBA this season. Anthony Davis had 25 points and 10 rebounds for the Pelicans, who lost 111-95 at Golden State in their opener on Tuesday night. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 2005 — Top-ranked Southern California wins its 30th straight game, routing Washington State 55-13. The Trojans tie Texas for the 11th-longest winning streak in major college football history. 2008 — Brad Lidge and the Philadelphia Phillies ¿ nish off the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3 in a three-inning sprint to win a suspended Game 5 nearly 50 hours after it started, capturing their ¿ rst World Series title since 1980. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com ‘Scots going against history Heppner rolls into Athena with chance to wrap up CBC By MATT ENTRUP East Oregonian “I don’t want to be a liability. I don’t want somebody to have to worry about if I’m going to drop on the fi eld.” — Jerry Kill The Univeristy of Minnesota football coach after announcing his immediate retirement on Wednesday. The 54-year-old has dealt with issues from epilep- sy since 2005 and has had numerous seizures in that span. Kill said at the press conference that he has “no more ener- gy”and that he ultimately made the decision to re- tire after consulting with his doctor following two seizures he suffered on Tuesday. Kill has been the coach at Minnesota since 2010. three opponents. In those three games, all wins, Hermiston has aver- aged 41.6 attempts on the ground resulting in 212.7 yards per game. But that’s nothing new. In Hermiston’s ¿ rst ¿ ve games, all losses, the Bulldogs ran the ball well, averaging just more than 200 yards per game in those contests. “We’re gonna do what we’ve been doing. We’re not gonna change what we’re doing,” Faaeteete said. “We’ll make a few adjustments here and there. See WAR ON 84/2B Staff photo by Kathy Aney Helix players have a group hug with head coach Tammie Parker after winning three straight games Wednesday against the Jordan Valley Mustangs. Comeback wins give Helix momentum, hope for playoff run By MATT ENTRUP East Oregonian Admittedly, the Helix Grizzlies didn’t always do a great job of fostering trust within their ranks during the regular season despite posting a .850 winning percentage and ¿ nishing second in league play. For the team to reach its postseason goals, that needed to change. Volleyball “ W e ’ v e kind of been struggling with that recently, not Helix working together. There’s been a little conÀ ict,” said senior Paden Flerchinger. “Our coach yesterday Jordan Valley was like, ‘You know what? It’s a new season. You guys go out there and you have fun.’ And I think that’s what it was.” The Grizzlies took a huge step toward building that trust by opening their new season victoriously on Wednesday with a three-set win over Jordan Valley in the ¿ rst round of the Class 1A playoffs. The Grizzlies would be tested in Staff photo by Kathy Aney each set with early de¿ cits, and each A trio of Mustangs scramble for the ball after a block by Makenzie Mize (49), of Helix,during Wednesday’s playoff game in Helix. See GRIZZLIES/2B 3 0 When the Heppner Mustangs won their only football state title in 1992, no team played them tougher in the regular season than the Weston-McEwen TigerScots. First-year TigerScots coach T.J. Bailey remembers the game well because he was a senior on that season’s Weston-McEwen squad. With the undefeated Mustangs (8-0, 4-0 CBC) poised for another deep playoff run, Bailey is hoping history can at least repeat itself when the TigerScots (6-2, 3-1) host them on Friday at 7 p.m. in Athena. “You’d like to treat it like every other game but you can’t because it’s Heppner,” he said. “We’ve got to take it one play at a time, and I’ll be happy if it’s just compet- itive.” Heppner has outscored its four Columbia Basin Conference opponents by a combined tally of 229-39 and Bailey said it’s with the same concepts the Mustangs were using to roll over opponents in his playing days. “I’m honored to coach against (longtime Heppner coach) Greg Grant,” Bailey said. “He was a great coach then and he’s an outstanding coach now. “There’s some things that he still does that are pretty consistent from when I was playing. The thing with Greg is the formations may change but the purpose behind them won’t change.” Figuring out how the Mustangs have beaten their opponents so soundly this season isn’t the dif¿ cult part, Bailey said. Stopping it, well that’s a different matter. “It’s Heppner so there’s never really a key match-up. They are so fundamentally sound in everything they do,” he said. “We’ve got to make sure that we keep our defen- sive line as fresh as possible, and then they’ve got to do what they’re taught all year.” Bailey’s defense has À own to the ball in allowing a CBC-low 37 points in confer- ence play, but got caught out of position trying to go for the big play at times last week in a 36-6 win at Culver. They will need to show greater discipline against Heppner. “Our No. 1 goal is to make sure that we don’t have athletes try to freelance and be All Americans,” Bailey said, adding playing through See PREPS/3B