SPORTS
WEEKEND, OCTOBER 31-NOVEMBER 1, 2015
Sports shorts
Mariota to miss
second straight game
NASHVILLE, Tenn.
(AP) — Quarterback Marcus
Mariota is
close to a
return from
his knee
injury, just
not this
week for
the Tennessee Titans.
The Titans announced
Friday that they will hold
Mariota out for a second
straight game Sunday. Zach
Mettenberger will start at
Houston.
“He made a lot of progress
this week,” coach Ken
Whisenhunt said. “I think
he’s close, but we’re not
going to play him this week.
I think that’s the best decision
for him, and that’s what we’re
going to go with.”
Japan’s Uchimura
makes case for best
ever at worlds
GLASGOW, Scotland
(AP) — This isn’t about
history for Kohei Uchimura.
This is about national pride,
the perpetual chase of
perfection and respect for his
own considerable gifts.
Whether the
FACES Japanese star
is the greatest
male gymnast
ever remains
up for debate,
though perhaps
not for much
longer. The
Uchimura
sixth world title
he won Friday night came
with as much ease as any of
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There was never a doubt.
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the start of the night to the
slightly watered down high
bar routine that ended with
Uchimura nailing the landing
as if his feet were suctioned
to the mat.
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92.332 points was posted
— more than 1.6 better than
Cuban teenager Manrique
Lardue and China’s Deng
Shudi — the relentlessly
self-controlled 26-year-old
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“It’s a combative
game played by
combative people.
I don’t know that
those are red
fl ags in the game
of football.“
— John Fox
Chicago Bears head
coach discussing the
release of DT Jeremiah
Ratliff on Oct. 22, a day
after he threatened team
staff and reportedly said
“I am the devil” and that
he “felt like killing ev-
erybody in the building”
according to a police
report released Friday.
Fox said there had been
no prior incidents with
Ratliff, who started Chi-
cago’s last two games at
nose tackle after serving
a three-game suspension
for violating the NFL’s
substance abuse policy.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1987 — Jockey Chris
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to win nine races in a single
day. He has four winners in
six mounts at Aqueduct and
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during The Meadowlands’
evening program.
1999 — Tim Couch
completes a desperation
56-yard touchdown pass
to Kevin Johnson with no
time on the clock to give the
expansion Cleveland Browns
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over New Orleans.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com
1B
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS
WAR ON 84
Bulldogs beat Bucks for crown
Hunsaker, defense
lead Hermiston
over Pendleton
to win league
championship
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — For the
fourth-straight season, the Herm-
iston Bulldogs are Columbia River
Conference champions.
And for the fourth-straight year,
the Bulldogs defeated the Pendleton
Buckaroos in the ‘War on 84’ to do
so, defeating the Bucks 28-12 on
Friday night.
“It feels great,”
said
Hermiston
quarterback
Hermiston
Nathan Hunsaker
after the game.
“Way better than
earlier this season.
We’re
digging
ourselves out (of
Pendleton
the hole.”
The road the
Bulldogs (4-5, 3-0
CRC) took to get
here wasn’t the one most traveled,
but this season it was one that still
worked.
On Oct. 2, Hermiston suffered a
42-10 loss to Coeur d’Alene to drop
the Bulldogs to an 0-5 start to the
season and made a playoff spot near
impossible. Now fast-forward 28
days later and the Bulldogs rattled
off four-straight wins to wrap up
the season and gives the team some
steam heading into the postseason.
“It keeps momentum building
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Hunsaker “We were pretty inex-
perienced players coming into the
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keeps our streak alive.”
Hunsaker’s performance at quar-
terback was what lifted the Bulldogs
to victory, carrying the ball 13 times
for 158 yards and three touchdowns
as well as tossing for 145 yards and
one touchdown.
“He did a great job, we’re really
excited about him,” said Hermiston
coach David Faaeteete. “He did a
great job running the offense and
had some big running touchdowns,
it was beautiful.”
While Hunsaker had a big game
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Buckaroo defense clamped down
on the Bulldogs run game in the
second half, limiting them to just
75 yards on 18 carries, and limiting
the Bulldogs offense to zero points
as well.
“I think it was just gut check
time for them,” said Pendleton
coach Erik Davis. “The things
were already in place for them to
be successful, and I think they just
executed much better. I think our
kids just showed a lot of guts defen-
sively in the second half.”
On the offensive side for Pend-
leton (3-6, 1-2 CRC), the Buck-
aroos could not get much going.
The Buckaroos had just 68 yards
28
12
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Hermiston quarterback Nathan Hunsaker breaks out out the pocket and rushes the ball Friday in the
Bulldogs’ 28-12 win against the Bucks in Pendleton.
Herm-
iston’s
Hayden Si-
mon dives
through
the line
Friday
in the
Bulldogs’
28-12 win
against
the Bucks
in Pendle-
ton.
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terback Kai Quinn only completed
six of his 19 pass attempts as the
Bulldogs defense was constantly
putting pressure on the Bucks’ QB.
“That was one of our big keys
of the game was to make him
uncomfortable in the pocket,” said
Faaeteete. “He completed a fair
share though and kudos to him.”
board, and we just weren’t able to
do that until the last-second,” said
Davis.
The only other Buckaroos score
came early in the second quarter,
when Bucks’ linebacker Marcus
Taylor intercepted a pass from
Hunsaker and ran it back 64-yards
for a touchdown — Taylor’s second
pick-six of the season. The extra
point was no good, which put the
score at 7-6 in favor of the Bulldogs.
“I saw the left side of the line
come
across for the screen pass
Staff photo by
E.J. Harris
block,” said Taylor after the game.
“I’ve been studying it so hard this
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for 113 yards with two interceptions see the wide receiver come across,
and one touchdown. The lone and just saw (the ball) bounce off
Buckaroo touchdown came on a his helmet right into my hands and
four-yard pass from Quinn to Nick it was just off to the races.”
It appeared the interception
Lani with just 17 seconds remaining
in the game to get the score to the might be a momentum changer
for the Buckaroos, but Bulldogs
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See BULLDOGS/2B
we could put some points on the
Prep Football
Mustangs win defensive battle for league title
Heppner shuts down
Weston-McEwen to
stay undefeated
East Oregonian
ATHENA — The Weston-
McEwen TigerScots defense rolled
out another strong performance,
but it was the Heppner Mustangs
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Friday’s Columbia Basin Confer-
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The league-champion Mustangs
held a team scoreless for the second
time this season in a 20-0 win that
saw the TigerScots gain just 118
yards from scrimmage.
The TigerScots (6-3, 3-2 CBC)
ran just 34 offensive plays and
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game. Weston-McEwen was held to
13 rushing yards.
“Credit goes to Heppner’s
defense. They did a phenomenal
job,” said Weston-McEwen coach
T.J. Bailey. “Heppner is a great
team, and for us to hold them to 20
points, and play them as tough as we
did, it’s tough to get the loss. After
this game our boys were extremely
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Three TigerScots, Lake Albert (15), Tyler Cain (16) and Ethan Reger,
bring down Tommy Bredfi eld, of Heppner, during Friday’s Columbia
Basin Conference game in Athena.
disappointed, which is great because
you know that they care.
“This shows us what type of
team we are, but it shows how we
have to improve to compete with a
team like Heppner.”
The shutout looked like it would
be a necessity as the teams headed
into halftime with Heppner (9-0, 5-0
CBC) leading just 8-0.
Heppner took the lead with only
1:32 to play before halftime when
Kaden Clark found Logan Grieb
for a 26-yard completion, then C.J.
Kindle ran in the two-point conver-
sion.
But Heppner coach Greg Grant
said turnovers and penalties kept the
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which amassed just 23 plays and
75 yards and ended punt, fumble,
downs, punt, punt.
“To their credit, every time we
seemed to do something right we
would have a penalty or a mistake,
but (Weston-McEwen) played hard.
I think they defended us better than
anybody has this season,” Grant
said. “It felt like a game where, gosh
our defense is going to keep putting
us in position and we’re going to
keep screwing it up.”
But Heppner’s offensive line
reasserted itself in the third quarter
and the Mustangs scored a touch-
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off with a one-yard run.
Then three drives later, on
3rd-and-20 Clark found Grieb on
a 30-yard pass that Grieb took to
the house for a 71-yard score. Both
conversions failed to make it 20-0
with 6:56 left in the game.
“We stepped up in the second
See PREP FOOTBALL/2B