SPORTS
FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2016
1B
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS
College of
Idaho tight
end
Keegan
Crafton
runs with
the ball
during
a scrim-
mage with
Linfi eld on
Thursday
in Hermsi-
ton.
HERMISTON
Hermiston grads return to
play again at Kennison Field
Dylan Caldwell, Keegan Crafton take
part in scrimmage with college teams
By WILL DENNER
East Oregonian
A sea of purple uniforms invaded
Kennison Field Thursday afternoon,
but only a select few had ties to
Hermiston High.
Division III Linfi eld College
and NAIA College of Idaho met in
Hermiston for a scrimmage between
the two squads that have three
combined former Bulldogs.
Those players are freshman
center Dylan Caldwell, who plays
for Linfi eld, and freshman tight
end Keegan Crafton and freshman
defensive end Landon Clark-Gam-
mell, both of whom are College of
Idaho players.
The teams ran drills, including
seven-on-sevens
and
trench
matchups against each other for the
fi rst hour-and-a-half, before squaring
off in an 11-man scrimmage for the
last hour. Hitting was permitted
for everyone besides quarterbacks,
though the teams abandoned kick-
offs and punts, instead starting on
their own 35-yard lines.
The teams didn’t offi cially keep
score, but if they were, Linfi eld
won 14-10. Linfi eld scored two
touchdowns — both on long passes
Staff photo by
E.J. Harris
See SCRIMMAGE/2B
Mustangs ready for title defense
Prep Football
Heppner hopes
new faces lead to
same success with
Stanfi eld lurking
TigerScot
netters
split on
fi rst day
Weston-McEwen
happy to get the
season started
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
The Columbia Basin Conference
proved to be the deepest league
of Class 2A in 2015, as four of its
six teams — Heppner, Stanfi eld,
Irrigon, and Weston-McEwen —
earned postseason berths.
Two of those CBC teams, Stan-
fi eld and Heppner, also made it all
the way to the state semifi nals. Stan-
fi eld took a heartbreaking 34-20 loss
to Kennedy in the semifi nal while
Heppner rolled all the way to the
state championship with a dominant
48-0 victory over Kennedy.
But the CBC has a bit of a
different look this season with the
advancement of Irrigon up to the
Class 3A ranks, but the conference
is still expected to be just as strong
as ever, starting with the defending
champion Mustangs.
It is a bit of a changing-of-the-
guard in Heppner this year, as
veteran all-state magnates such as
C.J. Kindle, Patrick Collins, Kaden
Clark and Weston Putman all
graduated after last season, leaving
several holes to fi ll on both sides of
the ball. But the Mustangs do get
back some contributors from last
season’s state title team and have
some sophomores and juniors ready
to make their mark.
ATHENA
East Oregonian
The 2016 fall sports
season offi cially kicked off
on Thursday evening with
some prep volleyball action
as the Weston-McEwen
TigerScots
h o s t e d
Volleyball
Imbler and
Dufur.
T h e
Weston-McEwen TigerScots
finished
the
day
with a 1-1
split of the
matches,
Dufur
defeating
D u f u r
e a s i l y
25-5, 25-8
and 25-8 before falling to a
talented Imbler team 25-10,
25-20, and 25-14.
“We were very happy
to get on the court and play
against some one other than
ourselves,” said Weston-
McEwen coach Shawn
See VOLLEYBALL/2B
3
Staff photo by Eric Singer
Heppner’s Logan Grieb (5) and Kevin Murray (62) participate in a blocking drill at Monday’s practice in
Heppner. Grieb and Murray are the lone returning all-state players for the Mustangs in 2016.
“We have some new faces in
some new places, but I think we’re
right where I thought we would be
(progression wise),” said Heppner
coach Greg Grant. “The guys have
been feeling themselves out, seeing
who fi ts where … I’m excited.”
The two most notable returners
are First Team All-State players
Logan Grieb and Kevin Murray.
Grieb scored a combined 18 touch-
downs last season on offense and
had 21 tackles and four interceptions
on defense, while Murray was the
team’s leading tackler with 87 total
and 12 tackles-for-loss. Murray also
anchored the offensive line.
Grieb is expected to retain his
hybrid running back/wide receiver
role on offense, and says that he
doesn’t have a preference on which
position he plays.
See MUSTANGS/2B
2015 CBC Final Standings
Heppner*
Stanfi eld*
WMHS*
Irrigon*
Culver
Pilot Rock
Conf.
Overall
5-0
4-1
3-2
2-3
1-4
0-5
13-0
10-2
6-4
6-4
3-6
0-8
*-Made playoff s
0
NFL
Romo gives Cowboys scare as Seattle rolls
By TIM BOOTH
Associated Press
SEATTLE — Three plays were
all it took for Dallas to get yet
another injury scare surrounding
Tony Romo.
The quarterback lasted just
90 seconds into the Cowboys’
27-17 preseason loss to the Seattle
Seahawks on Thursday night
before leaving with what appeared
at fi rst to be a potentially signifi cant
injury, but ended up being minor.
Romo was tackled from behind
by Seattle’s Cliff Avril on the third
play from scrimmage as Romo
scrambled from the pocket.
He immediately grabbed at his
Preseason
Dallas
Seattle
17
27
back, crumpled on the fi eld while
trainers sprinted from the Dallas
sideline and images of Romo’s
injury problems from last year
immediately fl ashed to mind.
Turned out it was all just a
scare. Romo walked off the fi eld
without assistance, threw passes
on the sideline and lobbied for a
return to the game, but did not.
Dallas running back Ezekiel
Elliott rushed for 48 yards on seven
carries, and backup quarterback
Dak Prescott fi nished 17 of 23 for
116 yards.
Russell Wilson and Seattle’s
No. 1 offense played into the
second half, scoring on four of its
fi nal fi ve possessions including a
pair of TD tosses by Wilson.
He found Paul Richardson on
a perfectly placed 9-yard crossing
route in the second quarter, then
improvised, spun, scrambled and
hit Tyler Lockett on a 9-yard strike
midway through the third quarter
on his fi nal play.
Wilson fi nished 16 of 21 for
192 yards, while Christine Michael
averaged 8.3 yards per carry.
AP Photo/Elaine Thompson
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, left, is tackled by Seattle Sea-
hawks defensive end Cliff Avril during the fi rst half of a preseason NFL
football game Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016, in Seattle.
Sports shorts
Lochte’s legal troubles mount
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazilian police
charged American swimmer Ryan Lochte on
Thursday with fi ling a false robbery report over an
incident during the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
A police statement said Lochte would be informed
in the United States so he could decide whether to
introduce a defense in Brazil. The
FACES indictment will also be sent to the
International Olympic Committee’s
ethics commission, it said.
It said the case was turned over
to a special Brazilian court that has
jurisdiction over crimes related to
major sporting events. The court,
which was established before
Lochte
Brazil hosted soccer’s 2014 World
Cup, is authorized to receive cases straight from
the police when lesser charges are involved,
without a need for prosecutors.
The swimmer’s spokeswoman, Melissa
Nathan, said Lochte had no comment.
““I was just in shock
and had my mind on
just, ‘C’mon, Tony. Get
up.’ Said a few prayers
right there in the middle
on the spot. Really just
couldn’t imagine getting
that hand dealt to us.“
— Jerry Jones
Dallas Cowboys owner on his
reaction when quarterback
Tony Romo remained on the turf
following a tackle in Thursday’s
preseason football game against
the Seattle Seahawks.
UN agency: No confi rmed Zika
cases linked to Rio Olympics
GENEVA (AP) — The U.N. health agency
says reports from national authorities indicate
no confi rmed laboratory cases of
the Zika virus in anyone associ-
ated with the Rio Olympics.
The World Health Organi-
zation announced the fi ndings
Thursday in its weekly situation
report on Zika. A recent epidemic
of the mosquito-borne virus,
which fi rst erupted in Brazil, has been linked
to brain-related birth defects in newborns and
other nervous system troubles in some adults.
Before the Games, some medical experts
expressed concerns the Games might cause the
virus to spread faster than normal by drawing
large numbers of foreign athletes and visitors
who might carry it back home.
Some Brazilian fans jeered U.S. athletes
who made light of the risk.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1939 — The fi rst major
league baseball game is tele-
vised. NBC-TV broadcasts a
doubleheader at Brooklyn’s
Ebbets Field between the Cincin-
nati Reds and the Dodgers.
1961 — The International
Hockey Hall of Fame offi cially
opens in Toronto, Canada.
1995 — Greg Norman
sinks a 66-foot chip on the
fi rst playoff hole, to capture
the World Series of Golf and
become the leading money
winner in PGA Tour history.
Norman wins $360,000 in
his third tour victory this year
to raise lifetime earnings to
$9.49 million and overtake
Tom Kite.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com