Page 2B
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Thursday, November 19, 2015
STANFIELD
Local dojang cleans up at Portland tourney
East Oregonian
With just 12 students, the Eastern Oregon Family
Taekwondo (EOFT) dojang, based in Stan¿eld,
¿nished in 4th place with 182 points at the 2015
Legacy Cup Taekwondo Tournament at Mt. Hood
Community College Nov. 14.
More than 300 students from 26 schools
competed in disciplines such as sparring, traditional
forms, creative forms and board breaking, EOFT
won 15 gold medals, worth eight points a piece,
seven silver medals, worth ¿ve points and ¿ve three-
point bronze medals. Students were awarded a point
for simply participating.
There were tournaments for weapons and
Gi jiu-jitsu, though no Eastern Oregon students
competed. Owner, operator and lead instructor
Erwin Watson said some students have begun
practicing with weapons to compete in tournaments
next year. Watson also said referees and other
instructors were impressed with his students and
often asked where they were from. He said it only
took reference to Pendleton for them to understand
where Stan¿eld is.
Continued from 1B
Courtesy photo by Erwin Watson
Students and instructors from Eastern Oregon Family Taekwondo in Stanfield pose
at the 2015 Legacy Cup Taekwondo Tournament at Mt. Hood Community College.
Top row from left to right: Instructor Lorry Watson, Instructor Erwin Watson,
Natividad Sanchez, Joseph Phillips, Melissa Shilhonik, Rene Sanchez, Vladimir
Caldera, Mario Sanchez. Bottom row from left to right: Aaron Sanchez, Luis
Ibarra, Jigjot Singh, Miseal Sanchez, Osvaldo Sanchez, Sukprit Kaur, Instructor
Tyler Watson, Instructor Bailey Watson.
MONKUS: Took snaps when QBs were injured
Continued from 1B
The ¿rst-year coach, who has
personality enough for the two
of them, has grown close to the
reserved Monkus. As an entering
freshman, Salas tried immediately
to crack the tough shell of Monkus.
“I’m a happy-go-lucky guy,”
Salas said, smiling. “I’m not gonna
stop until you talk to me.”
So after repeated attempts,
Monkus opened up. Now the pair
sometimes goes out for dinner or
lunch and talks about football.
“We have a good relationship,”
Monkus said. “He’s a great coach.
He pushes us everyday.”
Sometimes, teammates try
to needle him and get him to say
something, anything.
“I like to get on his nerves,”
junior guard Jose Garcia joked.
Monkus isn’t tall, maybe
5-foot-9, and weighs only 145
pounds, but don’t let his stature
fool you. The diminutive running
back is the driving force behind
Stan¿eld’s historic run to its ¿rst
football semi¿nal since 195,
when the No. 9 Tigers (10-1) travel
to Hillsboro to play No. 4 Kennedy
at 5 p.m.
As the Tigers’ featured back,
the junior has carried 180 times for
1,51 yards and 20 touchdowns.
In 11 games, he’s rushed for 142.8
yards per game, and is averaging
8. yards per attempt.
As a sophomore, with starting
quarterback Dylan Grogan and
backup quarterback Ryan Bailey
out with injuries, Monkus took
all the snaps, attempted most of
the rushes and threw almost all of
the passes. To head coach Davy
Salas, it’s his toughness that makes
Monkus such a special player.
“He practices hard,” Salas said.
“He’s competitive. Every rep is
competitive. When he loses a race,
he’s competitive. He doesn’t take
plays off. He doesn’t take practices
off.”
But he also sets the standard
from the other running backs. His
relentless style and work ethic
provide an example for the others,
and it’s worn off on them. Makiah
Blankenship, Justin Keeney and
even quarterback Dylan Grogan
take their cues from Monkus, but
so does the whole team.
“He gives it his all 100 percent
of the time, so we all feed off
that,” senior defensive back Jason
Fitzpatrick said. “We have a lot of
runners that like to run hard. When
something happens, Thyler’s
usually the ¿rst one there saying,
µLet’s get it ¿xed.’”
But what sets Monkus apart
isn’t his speed, which is top end,
it’s his knack of avoiding the big
hit. Because he’s a smaller back, he
has a low center of gravity, which
already makes him a tough tackle
and allows him to push piles with
his legs. But it also gives Monkus
outs when a big hit seems immi-
nent. He’s got quick feet, so he can
tip-toe around a would-be tackler.
He’s smart, too, so he’ll slip out of
bounds when there’s no hole to hit,
conceding a play without risking a
big hit or a turnover.
It’s qualities like that which
allow him to carry 40 times in a
game as a 145-pound sophomore,
or 30 times as a 145-pound junior
in a playoff game.
“If he was taking big hits, I
would be a little more reserved
about giving him the ball that
many times,” Salas said. “But
he’s so shifty, and his linemen are
always in front of him. So when he
gets in a big pile, its not a head-on
hit. If you can catch him and get
a head-on hit, you’re a pretty good
football player.”
MUSTANGS: Endurance tested against WMHS
Continued from 1B
you get in shape Monday through
Thursday.
“So we’re trying to do the
things that we should do. We’re
trying to make sure that we’re
continuing to run and that we’re
pushing ourselves. But nothing
really unique.”
Even though the Mustangs
have yet to be pushed in the post-
season, Grant said he saw enough
ROSSELLE:
Four players
from team
drafted to NFL
in the team’s regular season ¿nale
win over Weston-McEwen to
know they have right endurance
level.
That game went into halftime
with Heppner leading just 8-0,
but the Mustangs controlled the
second half and went on to win
20-0.
“I was pleased to see them
in the fourth quarter really
controlling the game,” Grant said.
The Mustangs are preparing
for a similar type of game this
week when they face Tri-River
Conference champion Regis
(8-3) at Liberty High School in
Hillsboro.
“We’ve been practicing hard
all week, getting down and
getting ready to play a fourth
quarter,” said senior lineman Saul
Erickson. “It’s going to be a close
game I think, de¿nitely going to
be a good game.”
The Mustangs and Rams
will kick off at Liberty at noon.
The game will be broadcast on
Hermiston’s KOHU 1360 AM
and streamed live online on the
NFHS Network with a subscrip-
tion.
———
Contact Matt Entrup at
mentrup@eastoregonian.com or
(541) 966-0838.
and seeing the pride that returned as
a result of that, the facilities that were
built and opportunities they now have
for the young kids — seeing those things
happen as result of success is probably
the highlight,” he said.
The 2000 Beavers were full of big
personalities and big egos, but that’s
what made them so successful Rosselle
said.
It wasn’t uncommon for skirmishes to
break out at practice, and coaches didn’t
discourage it.
Four players from that team went in
the 2001 NFL Draft — receivers Chad
Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh,
tackle Mitch White and defensive end
DeLawrence Grant.
Rosselle played with future NFLers
Steven Jackson and Derek Anderson
the next season. He said he never could
have pictured himself in the Oregon
Sports Hall of Fame as a youngster in
Pendleton.
“No that was never the goal,” he
said. “Pendleton is a town that’s rich in
tradition and history, and I truly enjoyed
growing up there and going through the
school and sports system there.”
Also being inducted into the Hall of
Fame in the 2015 class are:
Mike Belotti, Oregon head coach
from 1995-2008, winningest coach in
Ducks history (116-55), led the team to
12 bowl games and the program’s ¿rst
four 10-win seasons (2000-01, 2005,
2008).
Mike Doherty, Oregon’s winningest
high school boys basketball coach,
career record of 850-390 at 10 schools
including Hermiston.
Jack Folliard, executive director of the
Oregon Athletic Of¿cials Association.
Elmer Kolberg, Oregon State standout
in football and basketball (1935-38),
played three years in the NFL with Phil-
adelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers.
Damon Stoudamire, born in Portland
and starred at Woodrow Wilson High
School where he won two state titles,
All-American and Pac-10 Co-Player
of the Year at Arizona, drafted seventh
overall by Toronto Raptors played 14
seasons in the NBA spending most of
them with the Portland Trail Blazers
(1998-2005).
Leann Warren, back-to-back national
champion in the 1,500 meters (1981-82)
for University of Oregon, also won 800
title in 1981.
———
Contact Matt Entrup at mentrup@
eastoregonian.com or (541) 966-0838.
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PICKERS
Week 11
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