Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 6, 2016)
SPORTS THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2016 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS PENDLETON Porter is Bucks’ next girls basketball coach District names former assistant to head job East Oregonian With the 2016-17 season fast approaching, the Pend- leton School District assured a smooth transition for the Buckaroos girls basketball team when it named Kevin Porter as the next head coach at the high school. Porter spent one season on the Buckaroos bench as a volunteer assistant under former coach Michelle Gomez, who resigned in August, and said in a press release that he is excited by the prospects of taking over a team slated to return several starters. It is the fi rst time Porter has led a high school program, although he has several years of coaching at the AAU level. Porter is a self-employed farmer in the Pendleton area, and said the most rewarding part of coaching has been Porter the chance to give young athletes the tools they need to succeed in life. “Working with kids and seeing them learn some- thing from a sport that they can apply later in life is a huge reward for coaches,” he said. “Coaching isn’t all about X’s and O’s and winning, it’s about teaching skills to young people that can help carry them through their adult life. “Working as a team, being a leader, dealing with adversity and sharing in the successes are just a few of the positives kids learn from participating in sports. It is my desire that these ideals will be the backbone of our program.” The fi rst practice date for basketball is Nov. 14, and games can begin on Nov. 30. Pendleton has yet to release its 2016-17 schedule. In three seasons with the Buckaroos, Gomez compiled an overall record of 37-42 (.468) while her teams went 13-14 in league play and 3-4 in the postseason. Pendleton’s best season under Gomez was the 2014-15 squad that went 17-11, fi nished second in the Columbia River Conference and reached the state quarterfi nals at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis. Prep Football College Football October means crunch time EOU benefi ts from bye Many local teams need wins to strengthen postseason hopes Mountaineers look to get off two-game skid East Oregonian It seems like not long ago prep football teams were putting on the pads and running through drills for the very fi rst time to start prepara- tions for the 2016 season. Yet here we are approaching Week 5 already and the calendar fl ipped over to October. With only four weeks of play remaining a few area teams are trying to solidify their resumes for good postseason seedings, while many others are on the outside looking in at the postseason, trying to scrape together some wins to help fi eld a late-season push into the postseason. Let’s take a look at the Week 5 games for the local Class 4A-1A teams and what the action may bring: MAC-HI (2-2) at ONTARIO (4-1), 6 p.m. — The Mac-Hi Pioneers come off their bye week rested and ready to play their fi rst Greater Oregon League game of the season when they take on the upstart Ontario Tigers on Friday night. Ontario has already won as many games in 2016 as it did in 2014 and 2015 combined (4), and have done so with a mix of great offense and shut-down defense. Since Ontario’s lone loss in Week 1, the Tigers are averaging 40.5 points for and just 9.8 points against. By MATT ENTRUP East Oregonian Staff photo by Kathy Aney Cougar quarterback Devan Craig (2) looks for a receiver during Friday’s game in Echo against the Ione Cardinals. ECHO (2-2, 1-1) at POWDER VALLEY (4-1, 2-0), 6 p.m. — Echo fi nally got over a hump in Week 4 by fi nally beating a Wallowa team that had owned the Cougars in recent years. Now the Cougars are gunning to get over an even bigger hump — beat a top 15 team. Powder Valley is one of four remaining unbeaten teams in Special District 1, and has topped the 60 point threshold in each of the last four games — all victories. Echo will need another big game from quarterback Devan Craig, receiver Ty Mulder, and running back Zack Gehrke if they hope to keep pace with the Badgers. UMATILLA (4-1, 0-1) at RIVERSIDE (1-4, 0-1), 7 p.m. — The Umatilla Vikings were off to one of the best starts in recent years, but their unbeaten streak was halted at four games with a tough 40-14 loss at No. 5 Burns last week. The Vikings hope to get back in the win column this week with a rivalry match-up against the Riverside Pirates — a team that struggled to fi nd a rhythm on offense in last week’s 26-6 loss to Irrigon. Umatilla won last year’s battle 35-24, and holds a 7-3 record over Riverside in the last 10 meetings. IRRIGON (2-3, 1-0) at VALE (2-3, 1-0), 7 p.m. — Irrigon won its debut in the Eastern Oregon League last week with a dominant 26-6 win over Riverside, but Week 5 brings a much bigger challenge. Not only is it Irrigon’s fi rst road game in the EOL, but it is a match-up with the defending 3A state champion Vale Vikings. The Vikings aren’t quite as strong of a squad this year, but it is still brings a tough defense to the fi eld that has allowed an average of just 16.6 points per game. See PREP FOOTBALL/2B LA GRANDE — Going into his team’s bye off back- to-back home losses, Eastern Oregon football coach Tim Camp was at a bit of a loss himself. After putting up 80 points in their fi rst two games, both wins over ranked opponents, the No. 16 Mountaineers had managed just 31 over the next two. Their most recent defeat was 37-24 to Montana Tech in a game that saw the Mountaineers rush for just 32 yards while quarterback Zach Bartlow was sacked eight times. Camp said he wasn’t sure if the problem was scheme or See EOU/2B NAIA #16 EOU MSU-Northern Mountaineers Lights (2-2, 2-2) (1-3, 1-3) • Saturday, 5 p.m. • at Blue Pony Stadium, Havre, Mont. • Radio: NewsTalk 103.1 FM College Football Pac-12 pecking order shifting unexpectedly this season Washington, Colorado among surprise leaders, while Oregon drops By JOHN MARSHALL Associated Press AP Photo/Ryan Kang In this Oct. 10, 2015, fi le photo, a PAC-12 logo is seen painted on the fi eld before a game between Washing- ton State and Oregon in Eugene. PHOENIX — The Pac-12 may be going through a geographical shift in its pecking order. Oregon and Southern California, once the power centers of the confer- ence, have dropped to the bottom. Washington and Colorado, typically near the cellar, have shifted toward the top. It’s still too early to know if this movement is permanent; there’s nearly two months until the Pac-12 Champion- ship game in Santa Clara. Even if the changes aren’t for good, it’s sure made for an interesting season in the Pac-12 so far. A look at how the divisions stand heading into this weekend’s games: ——— NORTH DIVISION Oregon and Stanford have domi- nated the division and, for that matter, the conference. The Cardinal and Ducks have combined to win the last seven conference titles, including fi ve times in the Pac-12 Championship game. This season, the Washington Huskies have been the top dog. The Huskies are 5-0 and lead the Pac-12 North after beating Arizona and Stanford to open conference play. They moved up to No. 5 in the AP poll this week, their highest ranking in more than a decade. Washington has a chance to end a long streak this weekend when it faces Oregon, a team that’s beaten the Huskies 12 straight times. “We’re kind of burying our head in the sand,” Huskies coach Chris Petersen said. “I think they have done a good job of just paying attention to what’s important and practicing hard and all those type of things.” Stanford appeared to be the team to beat in the North after crushing Southern California and holding off See PAC-12/2B Sports shorts Oilers make McDavid youngest team captain in NHL history EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) The Edmonton Oilers have made Connor McDavid the youngest captain in NHL history. McDavid will wear the “C” despite being 19 years and 266 days old and having just 45 games of NHL experience under his belt. He had 16 points and 32 assists in his rookie season in 2015-16 despite missing 37 games with a broken collarbone. The native of Newmarket, McDavid Ontario, who was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 draft, will follow in some big footsteps as captain, including those of Hall of Famers Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier. The Oilers hope a healthy McDavid and a revamped roster will put an end to their decade- long postseason drought. “I don’t think I’d want to ignore it. There’s a lot of history there, a lot of people I really care about. But I’ve been here four years. It’s not a bad thing when you move on. Sometimes it’s just time to move on.“ — Terry Francona Cleveland Indians manager on his connections to the Boston Red Sox, who the Indians play in Game 1 of the AL Division Series tonight. Francona led Boston to two World Series titles and last coached there in 2011. Bumgarner, Gillaspie lead Giants to NL Wild Card win NEW YORK (AP) Madison Bumgarner pitched a four-hitter in his latest postseason gem, Conor Gillaspie hit a three-run homer off Jeurys Familia in the ninth inning, and the San Francisco Giants beat the defending NL champion New York Mets 3-0 Wednesday night in the wild-card game. Trying to follow their World Series titles in 2010, ‘12 and ‘14, the Giants open the NL Division Series on Friday at the best-in-the-majors Chicago Cubs. Bumgarner has pitched 23 consecutive scoreless innings in winner-take-all postseason games all on the road following a four-hitter at Pittsburgh in the 2014 wild-card game and fi ve innings of relief at Kansas City to save Game 7 of the 2014 World Series. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1993 — Michael Jordan announces his retirement after nine seasons in the NBA. 1995 — The Colorado Avalanche edge the Detroit Red Wings 3-2 in the fi rst NHL game in Denver in 13 years. 2007 — Chadron State running back Danny Wood- head breaks the NCAA all-di- visions career rushing record in a game against Western New Mexico. Woodhead gets the 121 yards he needed by the third quarter to surpass the previous record of 7,353 yards held by R.J. Bowers, who set the record from 1997-2000 at Division III Grove City (Pa.) College. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com
