SPORTS
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2015
Sports shorts
1B
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College Football
Arizona
State’s
Viliami
Latu, left,
and Sala-
mo Fiso,
right,
con-
verge on
Oregon’s
Vernon
Adams
Jr., mid-
dle, for
a sack
during
the fi rst
half of
an NCAA
college
football
game
Thurs-
day, Oct.
29, 2015,
in Tempe,
Ariz.
EOU women make
preseason Top 25
KANSAS CITY,
Mo. — The Eastern Oregon
University
women’s
basketball
team was
selected
No. 14 in
the NAIA
Division II Preseason Top 25
Coaches Poll.
EOU tallied 160 points,
Southern Oregon was ranked
16th with 143, and Oregon
Tech received votes.
Defending national
champion Morningside
(Iowa) received all 11
¿ rstplace votes and ranked
No. 1 with 281 points.
The threetime defending
CCC regularseason
champion Mountaineers
¿ nished last season with a
26 record and reached the
National Championships
for the ¿ fth time in si[ years
before falling to Oklahoma
Wesleyan in the ¿ rst round.
Biles wins gold at
gymnastics worlds
GLASGOW, Scotland
(AP) — Simone Biles won
her third straight world title
by the biggest margin yet,
1.083 points over teammate,
buddy and reigning Olympic
champion
FACES Gabby Douglas
and bronze
medalist Larisa
Iordache of
Romania on
Thursday.
Biles’
eight
world
Biles
championship
gold medals are a record
for an American, and she’ll
have a chance to add to that
total in event ¿ nals over the
weekend.
Douglas became the
¿ rst reigning Olympic gold
medalist to reach the podium
at worlds since the Soviet
Union’s Yelena Davydova
in 1981.
“The fact that
we are all in
this together is
priceless. This is
so exciting. You
feel proud that
this is something
historic, but at
the same time
you’re aware this
is also unique.
Nobody knows if
three Dominican
pitchers will be
ever starting
again for the
same team in
World Series.“
— Yordano Ventura
Kansas City Royals
pitcher and scheduled
starter for Game 3 of
the World Series tonight.
The Royals started coun-
trymen Johnny Cueto
and Edinson Volquez
in the fi rst two games
and will become the fi rst
team in Series history to
start three pitchers born
outside the United States.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1943 — Gus Bodnar of
Toronto scores 15 seconds
into his ¿ rst N+L game, and
the Maple Leafs beat the
New York Rangers 52.
1974 — Muhammad Ali
knocks out George Foreman
in the eighth round in
Kinshasa, Zaire, to regain the
world heavyweight title.
2003 — In the ¿ rst regu
larseason game of his NBA
career, 18yearold LeBron
James has 25 points, nine
assists, si[ rebounds and
four steals, but the Cleveland
Cavaliers lose 10692 to the
Sacramento Kings.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com
AP Photo/Ross
D. Franklin
Oregon’s Aidan
Schneider (41)
steps in to kick
a fi eld goal as
Oregon’s Taylor
Alie (12) holds
the ball while
Arizona State’s
Tim White (12)
rushes in during
the fi rst half
Thursday, Oct.
29, 2015, in Tem-
pe, Ariz.
Ducks go late
The Oregon and Arizona State
football teams needed some e[tra
time to sort things out in their
Pac12 matchup Thursday night
and were still going at it tied 5555
in the third overtime when the EO
went to press.
Oregon tied the game 4141
with 12 seconds to play in regula
AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin
tion on a scrambling throw from
9ernon Adams to Dwayne Stan
ford on fourthandgoal from the
eight yard line to force overtime.
Tyree Robinson intercepted
Arizona State quarterback Mike
Bercovicic and returned it to the
Oregon 40 to set up the tying drive.
More in Saturday’s edition.
PENDLETON
Quinn carries on QB tradition
Buckaroos
quarterback fulfills
dream, writes legacy
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
Kai Quinn’s passion for the game
of football started when he was in
third grade.
It was the ¿ rst time he had the
chance to ¿ nally put on the helmet
and shoulder pads and feel the rush
of running, throwing, and tackling.
And ever since that time, Quinn
held one dream — to become the
starting quarterback for the Pend
leton Buckaroos varsity football
team.
“Me and my (childhood friend)
Jack Peterson would always go
outside at his house and play catch
when we were younger,” said
Quinn, “And watching the team and
being around it when my dad was
a coach drew me to (quarterback).”
But when the time came to get
settled into a position a few years
WAR on 84
Hermiston
Pendleton
Bulldogs
Buckaroos
(3-5, 2-0)
(3-5, 1-1)
• Friday, 7 p.m.
• at Round-Up Stadium
• Radio: KOHU 1360 AM
KTIX 1240 AM
• All-time Series: Pendleton leads
79-12-1
• /ast ¿ Ye meetinJs:
2014 - Dawgs 63, Bucks 14
2013 - Dawgs 49, Bucks 28
2012 - Dawgs 28, Bucks 13
2011 - Bucks 26, Dawgs 12
2010 - Bucks 40, Dawgs 34 (2OT)
later, there was a different reason
that gave Quinn the desire to play
quarterback.
“The center of attention,” he
said with a chuckle. “Just having
the spotlight, there’s just something
about it I like.”
The quarterback position for the
Pendleton Buckaroos has produced
some bigtime athletes in recent
years. Preceding Quinn were the
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Pendleton quarterback Kai Quinn rushes the ball in front of The
Dalles’ Colton Walker on his way to a touchdown last Friday in the
Bucks’ win against the Riverhawks in Pendleton.
likes of Conner Johnson (2011
2012) and Chad McCoy (2013) —
names that can be found at the top of
several categories in the Buckaroos
alltime record books.
And now Quinn — a twoyear
starter — has continued that success
with his career. In 2014 he was
selected as a second team AllCRC
selection at quarterback and ¿ rst
team selection at defensive back
and is well on his way to ¿ nding
his name on those lists again this
See QUINN/3B
HERMISTON
Bulldogs getting kick out of Rodriguez
+ermiston junior
scoring points on
gridiron and pitch
“It was easy. I
picked it up really
quick. It was not a
big change.”
By SAM BARBEE
East Oregonian
It’s just kicking, right? It can’t be
that different, right?
Wrong. Ask Freddy Rodriguez.
The +ermiston junior is pulling
double duty this season by leading
the fourthranked Bulldogs into the
playoffs this weekend, but will also
tee it up for the Bulldogs tonight as
a kicker in the War on 84.
“In soccer, I’m just used to it,”
Rodriguez said. “I was born kicking
a ball.”
So early into the 2015 football
season, Rodriguez was approached
when +ermiston’s kicking game,
which was one of the best in the
state last year, fell off. So after
junior Omar Garcia, who won the
job e[iting fall camp, got hurt,
+ermiston needed a kicker. Enter
Rodriguez.
“They asked me one day during
conditioning class,” he said. “They
— Freddy Rodriguez,
Hermiston junior on learning to
kick a football this season after
years of playing soccer.
File photo
This fi le photo shows Hermiston’s Freddy Rodriguez (9) in action
for the soccer team against Hood River earlier this season. Rodri-
guez is also playing football for Hermiston and is third on the team
in scoring.
just started demonstrating how to do
it,” before offering for Rodriguez to
come out to practice that day. “So I
did.”
In si[ games, Rodriguez has made
15 of 18 e[tra points and three of si[
¿ eld goals with a long of 52. +e’s
already third on the team with 24
points scored this season, and 53.1
yards per kickoff. On the pitch, Rodri
guez is second in goals with eight
behind senior Edwin Rosales’ 14.
It’s not Rodriguez’s ¿ rst time
on the gridiron, though. The junior
played football in si[th grade with
many current teammates.
It’s not the same, kicking a
soccer ball and football, he says.
The ¿ rst obvious difference is the
shape of the two, and a round soccer
ball is much more forgiving than its
oblong cousin.
“In football it’s different because
you have to hit it in the e[act spot to
get to go to the e[act position where
you want it,” Rodriguez said. “It
was easy. I picked it up really quick.
It was not a big change.”
Naturally, Bulldogs soccer
See RODRIGUEZ/3B