SPORTS
WEEKEND, NOVEMBER 7-8, 2015
1B
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ECHO
Mariota to return
to starting lineup
Local schools getting ahead of concussions
NASHVILLE, Tenn.
(AP) — Tennessee Titans
quarterback
Marcus
Mariota
will return
to the
starting
lineup
Sunday to face the New
Orleans Saints.
Mariota has missed the
Titans previous two games
with a sprained medial
collateral ligament in his
left knee. Mariota’s injury
occurred on a hit from
Miami’s Olivier Vernon,
who was penalized for
roughing the passer.
Student-athletes taking “With the big push in the media right
baseline tests to better now, it’s important we get this right and
diagnose brain injuries take care of this. Because that’s what it
Timbers’ Nagbe
makes 1st US roster
comes down to, the health of the kids.”
By SAM BARBEE
East Oregonian
Two Echo football players would
have returned to the gridiron from
concussions too soon had the school
not implemented a new concussion
management protocol this season.
The Oregon Scholastic Activities
— Ben Campbell,
Echo boys basketball coach
Association’s concussion policy
requires concussed athletes to sit
out one week before returning to
full participation.
Had Echo followed that policy,
those two football players would
have gone back to practices and
games while still dealing with
concussion symptoms.
Instead they were held out for
three and four weeks, not just seven
days, due to data gathered by trained
concussion specialist Dr. Derek
Earl.
Earl was hired in 2015 by Echo
as well as Hermiston, Umatilla,
Griswold, Irrigon and Riverside
high schools to administer baseline
concussion tests for athletes to create
data about athlete’s brain activity
prior to and after concussions.
See CONCUSSION/2B
HERMISTON
Dawgs’ season grinds to halt
CHICAGO (AP) —
Portland Timbers mid¿ elder
Darlington Nagbe wasn’t
even a U.S. citizen at the
beginning of this year.
Less than two months
after becoming
FACES an American,
the 25-year-old
was named to
the U.S. roster
for its opening
quali¿ ers for
the 2018 World
Cup by U.S.
Nagbe
coach Jurgen
Klinsmann on Friday.
Nagbe was born in
Liberia and left the country
when he was young with his
family because of civil war.
He played at the University
of Akron, winning the 2010
Hermann Trophy as the top
college soccer player, and is
in his ¿ fth season with the
Timbers. Portland owner
Merritt Paulson announced
Sept. 10 that Nagbe became
a U.S. citizen that day.
The U.S. opens against
St. Vincent and the Grena-
dines at St. Louis on Nov.
13, then plays at Trinidad
and Tobago four days later.
“Every week
when you’re a
Seahawk, you’re
playing against
everybody’s best.
They look, they
mark that up. It’s
the opposite of
a homecoming
game, it’s one
of those games
where it’s almost
like a Super Bowl
for them.“
— Michael Bennett
Seattle Seahawks DE
speaking about the team’s
rough start to the NFL sea-
son. The defending NFC
champions are 4-4 but
have a bye this week to get
ready for the second half
of the season. Seattle has a
.833 winning percentage
in the last eight games of
the past three seasons.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
Nov. 7, 1991 — Magic
Johnson, who helped the Los
Angeles Lakers to ¿ ve NBA
championships, announces
he has tested positive for the
AIDS virus and is retiring.
Nov. 7, 2010 — India-
napolis quarterback Peyton
Manning starts his 200th
consecutive game, a 26-24
loss at Philadelphia. Manning
joins Brett Favre as the only
quarterbacks in NFL history to
start 200 consecutive games.
Nov. 8, 2008 — Chris
Paul has his sixth straight
double-double with 21 points
and 13 assists in New Orleans’
100-89 victory over Miami.
Paul sets an NBA record for
consecutive games at the start
of a season with at least 20
points and 10 assists, breaking
the mark set by Oscar
Robertson in 1968.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Hermiston quarterback Nathan Hunsaker gets sacked by Wilsonville’s Garrett Pollman (33) and Kam Morgan in the Bulldogs’ loss to the
Wildcats on Friday in Hermiston.
Program looks set for future
Hermiston will
return in 2016
with depth at
all positions
Bulldogs fall behind early
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
By SAM BARBEE
East Oregonian
Hermiston head football
coach David Faaeteete will
walk into his classroom next
week and erase the current
depth chart he has written on
a white board.
Names like Tre Neal,
Bob Coleman, Hayden
Simon, Ethan Snow, Nathan
Hunsaker and more will
never again appear on it,
but that means new names
will. It all feeds into a belief
that isn’t uncommon that
the Hermiston program has
adopted: next man up.
“The next man up
Hermiston ousted
by Wilsonville
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Wilsonville quarterback Kaden Floyd leaps through the
Hermiston defensive line and in to the end zone for
a touchdown in the Bulldogs’ loss to the Wildcats on
Friday in Hermiston.
mentality is a belief,” Faae-
teete said.
That philosophy was on
display all year. All-state
wide receiver Ethan Snow
broke his collarbone in the
¿ rst half of the ¿ rst game
against Hanford, and he
never returned. Starting
quarterback Dayshawn Neal
broke his ankle against Coeur
d’Alene, and never returned.
See FUTURE/2B
The 2014 OSAA state playoffs were something
to remember for the Hermiston Bulldogs, culmi-
nating in the win of the Class 5A
Football
state championship.
But the 2015 OSAA playoffs
will be a thing to forget for the
Hermiston squad, as it was booted
Wilsonville
from the bracNet in the ¿ rst round
on Friday night, falling to the
Wilsonville Wildcats 49-14.
The Bulldogs (4-6) were
simply overmatched in the game,
as their offense could not ¿ nd
Hermiston
develop a rhythm against the
Wildcats defense. Defensively,
the Bulldogs started out with a
¿ re, holding Wilsonville (9-1) to
a short possession and a punt on its ¿ rst offensive
drive of the game.
See BULLDOGS/2B
STANFIELD
Tigers pound /oggers in ¿ rst round
Stanfield ends streak
of playoff losses with
win over Vernonia
Stanfi eld
Vernonia
East Oregonian
56
26
VERNONIA — The Stan¿ eld
Tigers heard the whispers headed
into their ¿ rst-round state playoff
game this Friday.
The last seven times the Tigers
had been to the playoffs they
were quick outs, and the program
hadn’t won a postseason game
since 1957.
First-year head coach Davy
Salas didn’t shield his players
from that fact, and instead
Football
embraced it as a challenge.
The Tigers took the challenge
and ran with it to the tune of a
56-26 rout of No. 8 Vernonia on
its home ¿ eld.
“We’ve taken a thumping in
the ¿ rst round and we told these
kids, ‘Eventually we’ve got to
get that monkey off our back, and
why not be us? Why not go out
and make a statement and show
Stan¿ eld football is for real?’”
Salas said. “I told the kids, ‘This
is our time to prove something,
this is our time to do something
special for our town, our friends,
our family, our school.’ It was
just about getting these kids to
believe how good they could
be.’”
The Tigers played what Salas
called their most complete game
of the season and led 35-12 at
halftime.
With several players taking
turns toting the ball, Salas said
the No. 9 Tigers (9-1) were able
to follow their offensive line and
keep the chains moving.
“One of the things that really
See TIGERS/2B
49
14
State Volleyball
Locals look for
consolation
Weston-McEwen, Ione
lose in opening round
East Oregonian
REDMOND — The Weston-
McEwen volleyball team won it’s ¿ rst
set on Friday, but couldn’t keep pace
with old foe Culver over the long haul
and fell in four sets to enter the conso-
lation bracket at the 2015 OSAA Class
2A State Championships at Ridgeview
High School.
The No. 10 TigerScots stormed into
See VOLLEYBALL/2B