Page 2B
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Tuesday, November 8, 2016
Prep Roundup
Honkers downed in first round
Arlington hurt by
turnovers in loss to
Days Creek
East Oregonian
DAYS CREEK — Arling-
ton’s first playoff game in 32
years started well enough,
but quickly spiraled out of
control after a big kick return
by Days Creek and rash of
fumbles by the Honkers.
The Wolves held a
four-touchdown lead at
halftime and went on to win
56-12 on Saturday in the
first round of the OSAA 1A
football playoffs.
No. 13 Arlington (6-3)
finished with five turnovers,
and was no match for a No.
4 Days Creek (8-2) team
hungry for a playoff win after
two-straight first round exits.
The Wolves scored on
their first drive, then held
Arlington to three-and-out
and added another touch-
down to lead 14-0.
Arlington
responded,
though, and after some tough
running by senior Calvin
Davis, quarterback Anthony
Valdez found Tyler Longacre
for a 16-yard touchdown to cut
the lead to 14-6 with less than
a minute in the first quarter.
Kameron Stever sucked
away their momentum on the
ensuing kickoff, returning it
82 yards for a touchdown.
The Honkers then beat
themselves with four fumbles
in the second quarter that led
to two Days Creek touch-
downs and a 34-6 halftime
deficit.
The Wolves went for the
kill to start the second half,
and recovered an onside kick
before driving for another
touchdown. Stever added
another touchdown return,
this time of 79 yards, in the
fourth quarter.
Arlington scored its
second touchdown on a
10-yard run by Davis that
made it 48-12 in the fourth
quarter.
———
AHS
6 0
0
6 — 12
DC
22 12 14
8 — 56
Scoring plays
1st Quarter
DC — J. Hays 2 run (pass failed), 6-0
DC — C. Fuller 1 run (K. Stever pass from
Fuller), 14-0
AHS — T. Longacre 16 pass from A.
Valdez (run failed), 14-6
DC — K. Stever 82 kickoff return (J. Hays
run), 22-6
2nd Quarter
DC — J. Whetzel 65 pass from Fuller
(pass failed), 28-6
DC — J. Holsclaw 12 run (pass failed), 34-6
3rd Quarter
DC — K. Stever 11 pass from Fuller (run
failed), 40-6
DC — C. Fuller 45 run (conversion good), 48-6
4th Quarter
AHS — C. Davis 10 run (pass failed), 48-12
DC — K. Stever 79 kickoff return (J. Hols-
claw pass from G. Wentland), 56-12
NORTH DOUGLAS 50,
ECHO 28 — At Sutherlin,
the Echo Cougars couldn’t
dig out of an early hole and
were eliminated from the
1A postseason by the North
Douglas Warriors on Friday.
An interception return for
a touchdown by Tazz Dill,
then two recovered onside
kicks that led to touchdowns
by Dominic Aguilar put No. 3
North Douglas (10-1) up 20-0
before No. 14 Echo (5-4) had
picked up a first down.
Warriors tackle Walker
Woolley was effective in
disrupting the Cougars’
rushing
attack,
which
finished with just 87 yards,
but quarterback Devan Craig
was able to get the Cougars
moving through the air and
finished 9-of-14 for 206
yards with four touchdowns
and two interceptions.
Klay Jensen had four
catches for 112 yards and
three touchdowns, and
Damian Curiel had four
catches for 89 yards and one
touchdown.
Echo also created four
turnovers on defense, but
couldn’t cut the lead any
closer than when a 38-yard
touchdown pass from Craig
to Jensen on the last play of
the first half made it 36-14.
North Douglas finished
with 415 yards of total
offense with 398 of those
rushing.
———
EHS
0 14
6
8 — 28
ND
20 16
6
8 — 50
Scoring plays
1st Quarter
9:21 — ND T. Dill 48 interception return
(run failed), 6-0
5:07 — ND D. Aguilar 2 run (pass failed), 12-0
1:03 — ND D. Aguilar 19 run (Dill run), 20-0
2nd Quarter
7:29 — ND C. Parks 7 run (Parks run), 28-0
3:49 — EHS K. Jensen 15 pass from D.
Craig (Z. Gehrke run), 28-8
1:13 — ND C. Parks 12 run (Dill run), 36-8
0:00 — EHS K. Jensen 38 pass from D.
Craig (pass failed), 36-14
3rd Quarter
8:31 — ND C. Parks 7 run (run failed), 42-14
5:15 — EHS D. Curiel 8 pass from D.
Craig (run failed), 42-20
4th Quarter
0:53 — ND C. Parks 8 run (T. Dill run), 50-20
0:08 — EHS K. Jensen 47 pass from D.
Craig (Curiel pass from Craig), 50-28
VOLLEYBALL
CRANE
3,
ARLINGTON 0 — At
Redmond, the Honkers’ run
at the 1A volleyball state
championships at Ridgeview
High School ended in the
consolation semifinals on
Saturday morning with
losses to No. 7 Crane of
25-15, 25-12, 25-18.
No. 3 Arlington (20-3)
was making its first appear-
ance at the tournament’s final
site since 1987, and had lost
just once coming in.
Their second loss of the
season was a heart-breaker
when No. 11 Adrian bumped
them into the consolation
bracket in five sets 25-14,
20-25, 27-25, 21-25, 15-8 on
Friday.
Crane went on to claim
fourth place with a three-set
win over Hosanna Christian
25-21, 25-14, 25-15. Adrian
was third with a five-set
win over Crosshill Christian
21-25, 17-25, 25-23, 27-25,
15-11. Country Christian
beat North Douglas for the
championship in four 25-17,
20-25, 25-20, 25-21.
CROSS COUNTRY
3A/2A/1A BOYS — At
Eugene, Weston-McEwen
senior Hayden Scott ran his
second-fastest race of the
season to earn his second-
straight podium finish at
the 3A/2A/1A boys cross
country state championships
on Saturday at Lane Commu-
nity College.
Scott complete the 5K in
16:32 to place sixth, and the
runner he beat for the district
title, Union sophomore Tim
Stevens, won the state title
over Jefferson junior Hassan
Ibrahim in a photo finish in
16:10.
Scott was third at the state
finals as a junior.
Heppner
sophomore
Hunter Nichols finished 15th
in his first state meet in a time
of 17:19 that was his third
fastest race of the season.
Bandon won the team title
with 82 points.
5A BOYS — At Eugene,
Hermiston junior Isaac
Sanchez
continued
his
climb up the 5A ranks with
a 32nd-place finish at the
5A boys cross country state
championships at Lane
Community College.
It was his third-straight
season competing in the
state finals, and a 17-place
improvement over his finish
as a sophomore.
Sanchez crossed the finish
line in 17:02 after a hard
sprint in which he just edged
The Dalles’ Ezekiel Stelzer.
Crater
junior
Andy
Monroe won in 15:21, and
Crater scored 32 points to
beat Summit for the team
title by nine.
5A GIRLS — At Eugene,
Hermiston junior Melany
Solorio ran in her second
5A girls cross country state
championship on Saturday
at Lane Community College,
finishing 61st overall with a
time of 21:19.
Summit swept the top
three spots, and senior Olivia
Brooks won the title in 17:45
with her nearest teammate 43
seconds behind her. Summit
scored 23 points and was the
only team with less than 100.
AP Photo/John Froschauer
Seattle Seahawks tight end Jimmy Graham (88)
makes a one-handed catch for a touchdown with
coverage from Buffalo Bills strong safety Robert
Blanton, right, in the first half of an NFL football
game, Monday, Nov. 7, 2016, in Seattle.
SEAHAWKS:
Continued from 1B
quarter and later used the
same arm to cradle an
18-yard TD pass in the final
moments of the first half.
But the Seahawks had to
hold on in the final seconds
as Buffalo quarterback
Tyrod Taylor led the Bills
inside the Seattle 10 in the
final seconds. Taylor was
sacked by Cliff Avril on
third-and-goal from the
8 and on fourth-and-goal
Taylor’s pass into the end
zone fell incomplete.
Buffalo would not have
needed a touchdown if
not for mistakes by the
officiating crew at the end
of the first half that cost the
Bills a chance at a shorter
field goal. Dan Carpenter
eventually missed a 54-yard
attempt on the final play of
the half, only after Seattle’s
Richard Sherman got
away with an unnecessary
roughness penalty that
wasn’t called and a delay of
game caused in part by the
officiating crew standing
over the ball.
NFL head of officiating
Dean Blandino tweeted
during the game that Walt
Coleman’s crew did not
make the correct call.
Graham caught all eight
of his targets for 103 yards.
It was his third 100-yard
receiving game of the
season. Wilson was 20 of 26
passing for 282 yards.
Wilson and Christine
Michael both added 3-yard
touchdowns runs, but
Seattle’s run game was
again absent. The Seahawks
attempted just 12 running
plays and wide receiver
Tyler Lockett was Seattle’s
leading rusher taking a fly
sweep 13 yards.
Buffalo lost its third
straight to drop below .500,
but it wasn’t due to its quar-
terback.
Taylor was outstanding,
nearly matching Wilson’s
performance, except for one
miscommunication
with
a wide receiver that led to
Sherman’s end zone inter-
ception in the third quarter.
Taylor threw for 289 yards.
He kept plays alive with his
legs and made smart reads
and smart throws.
Robert Woods was his
favorite target with 10
catches for a career-high
162 yards.
Buffalo got a dream start,
with Jerry Hughes blocking
a punt after Seattle went
three-and-out to open the
game and Taylor running
untouched for a 3-yard TD
on the next play for a quick
7-0 lead. It was Buffalo’s
first blocked punt since 2014.
MUSTANGS: Varisty defense limits Gold Beach to 72 total yards
Continued from 1B
big beneficiary of the line’s
play as he carried the ball
just five times but ended up
with 192 rushing yards and
four touchdowns. His only
non-touchdown carry was a
four-yard gain in the second
quarter.
“The line was unbeliev-
able,” Grieb said. “In the
playoffs every year our line
seems to take another step
and props to them.”
Heppner showed its domi-
nance up front from the start,
holding Gold Beach (6-4) to
minus-one yard of offense
on its opening drive and then
blocked the ensuing punt to
give the Mustang offense the
ball at the Panther 17. After
that, Heppner needed just
three plays — all runs by
Coby Dougherty — before
getting into the end zone on
a one-yard Dougherty plunge
for an 8-0 lead with three
minutes expired.
Dougherty also had a
strong game for Heppner,
carrying the ball 13 times for
117 yards and three touch-
downs.
The Mustangs scored
six more touchdowns in the
first half, the final one being
a 35-yard scamper by Beau
Wolters on 4th-and-2, and
the team averaged more than
39 yards on each of those six
touchdowns.
On the defensive side of
the ball, Heppner held Gold
Beach to 182 total yards —
110 of which came against
the JV squad in the second
half — and forced three
turnovers. Grant believes that
shutting down the Panthers’
offense early in the game was
Staff photo by Kathy Aney
Heppner football players descend on Gold Beach quar-
terback Taylor Mather (10) during Saturday’s state
playoff game in Heppner.
a big key for Heppner.
“I think they were
discouraged after we stuffed
them on the first two series
defensively,” Grant said. “I
think if they (Gold Beach)
could’ve moved the ball and
chunked away it could’ve
been a lot different for them.
We definitely prepared for
their best and it showed, we
were ready.”
Gold Beach’s first score
happened just before time
expired in the second quarter,
capitalizing on a Heppner
fumble. The cash-in play was
a 19-yard touchdown pass
that cut the score to 49-6. The
Panthers scored twice more
on touchdown passes in the
second half, a 60-yarder and
a nine-yarder.
After a quick score for
Heppner to start the second
half, Grant felt confident
enough to pull his starters
on both sides for the ball and
played the junior varsity for
all but the first two minutes
of the second half. Grant says
that he was happy to get the
freshmen and sophomores a
chance to experience some
postseason football.
“I was upset we gave up
that touchdown before half-
time because I wanted to start
the second half with those
younger guys and give them
some looks,” Grant said. “It’s
exciting that they get to go
out there and have some fun
and play on a Saturday after-
noon in November and play
football in front of the home
crowd. Those are memories
that last forever.”
The win moves Heppner
onto the state quarterfinals
for the fifth straight year,
where it will host No. 5 Grant
Union next weekend at Les
Payne Field. The Mustangs
and Prospectors met in
Heppner during Week 2 that
ended with a 36-20 win for
Heppner.
——
GBHS
0 12
0
8 — 20
HHS
22 27
6
0 — 55
Statistics
PASSING — GB: T. Mather 9-16-1, 131
yds, 3 TD; Y. Rangel 2-4, 12 yds. HHS: K.
Grant 1-4, 11 yds; K. Smith 1-1, 6 yds.
RUSHING — GB: A. Williams 13-38; G.
Rangel 11-22; T. Mather 4-(-16); Y. Rangel
3-(-14); T. Walker 1-7. HHS: C. Dougherty 13-
117, 3 TD; L. Grieb 5-192, 4TD; M. Lehman
5-14; B. Wolters 2-41, TD: K. Smith 2-(-16);
N. Martins 1-(-4).
RECEIVING — GB: Z. Denney 2-69, 2 TD;
T. Bright 4-41; Y. Rangel 2-25, TD; 2-6. HHS:
N. Martins 1-11; B. Wolters 1-6.
PIRATES: Play No.1 Catlin Gabel in semifinals
TIGERSCOTS: Three make All-Tourney
Continued from 1B
Continued from 1B
“My defense, they’re the
best,” Bedolla said. “I’m
only here when they need
me. There’s only like a few
games where they needed
me and I’m OK with that if it
gets us the win.”
The Pirates (12-3-1) added
their insurance goal in the
36th minute when Madrigal
out-jumped his defender and
headed a corner kick from
Quincy Castillo into the
backside corner of the net.
“From the previous
corners I had always recog-
nized that Quincy would
always send it to the second
post, so I said I’m going to
go for the second post and
luckily it turned up there,”
Madrigal said.
Gervais (13-4) came out
pushing the tempo in the
second half but still couldn’t
break through Riverside’s
back line. The Pirates waited
them out, then took over in
the final 20 minutes when the
Cougars began wearing down.
“They have spirit, we
could tell they had that fire in
them, and (Coach Francisco
Velazquez) told us, ‘If we
let them take advantage of
us they’re going to score
and tie it up,’” Olvera said.
“We’re constantly running in
practice, and our coach just
stresses a lot about endurance
in the game. The more we
Staff photo by Matt Entrup
Riverside’s Luis Olvera (9) battles Gervais’ Alex Isior-
dia for control of the ball during Saturday’s 3A/2A/1A
boys soccer state quarterfinals game in Boardman.
Riverside won 2-0.
run we’re going to outrun
the other team. … I guess all
those hours in practice and all
that sweat paid off in the end.”
The Pirates had 30 shots
to Gervais’ five, and River-
side had chances to extend
the lead in the 54th, 56th,
58th and 60th minutes but
either shot just wide or off
the framework each time.
“We can’t have those, any
chances we get we need to
make them,” said Madrigal,
who had one of the near
misses on a rebound.
The No. 4 Pirates will
advance to the state semifi-
nals for the second time in
four season, where they will
play No. 1 Catlin Gabel on
Tuesday in Portland at 5 p.m.
The teams met earlier this
season, which ended in a 0-0
tie on Sept. 10.
“Catlin Gabel’s going to
be a really tough team, and
we’ve got to capitalize on
everything our else they’re
going to score on us and it’ll
be the end of us,” Olvera
said. “It’s going to be really
difficult getting through their
defense, but the slightest
mistake, we’ll take advan-
tage of it.”
———
GHS
0
0 —
0
RHS
2
0 —
0
Goals
2’— Luis Olvera (Alejandro Llamas)
36’— Miseal Madrigal (Quincy Castillo)
Saves — GHS Ivan Borja 6; RHS Adolfo
Bedolla 2.
Yellow Cards — GHS Daniel Gray
The second set is where
things got interesting. This
time it was Imbler that started
fast as the Panthers jumped
to a 7-3 lead and forced
White to call a timeout to
settle his team. Finifrock
said that the message in the
huddle was brief.
“Pretty much just refocus
... keep fighting and to do
this for each other,” she said.
“We’re here for a reason so
let’s play like it.”
After the timeout, the
TigerScots hit a groove.
With Finifrock serving, the
team scored eight straight
points — three on kills by
von Borstel — to run to
a 11-8 lead. After that the
TigerScots never relin-
quished that cushion and
coasted to the 25-16 win.
And then in the third
set, Imbler turned in its best
performance of the night.
The Panthers stayed right
with the TigerScots through
the first half of the set,
playing to a 9-9 tie before
Weston-McEwen
gained
some momentum and turned
the tie into a 14-11 lead.
From that point on it was
a back-and-forth match with
the teams trading runs with
Weston-McEwen
inching
closer and closer. The Tiger-
Scots eventually held a 23-18
lead and were just two points
away from the title when
Imbler made a last-ditch
effort and scored three-
straight to cut it to 23-21 and
force a TigerScot timeout.
But Imbler’s comeback
hopes crumbled to the
ground just a few minutes
later when von Borstel
smashed a set from Bryce
Thul past the Panther
defense to the ground for the
title-clinching point, sending
off a roaring cheer from the
TigerScot faithful that made
the four-plus hour trip.
“It was just a moment of
pure joy,” Finifrock said.
The road to the state
title was a tough one for the
TigerScots, as they had to
endure one of the toughest
non-league schedules in
the state and a competitive
Columbia Basin Conference
slate to even earn a spot into
the playoffs.
“To fight through strug-
gles with errors and confi-
dence and one of the most
difficult schedules, it really
makes it sweet,” White
said. “We had to make huge
amounts of improvement
and just had to keep fighting
and the girls did.”
In the regular season,
Weston-McEwen
faced
Imbler three times and lost all
three by a combined set score
of 8-2. The TigerScots also
played the No. 1 seed Culver
team — who they beat in the
semifinals on Friday — three
times in the regular season
and lost all three as well by
a combined set score of 9-3.
Finifrock said that beating
those two teams to win the
championship makes it even
more rewarding.
“They are both such great
teams and if you want to win
you want to be able to beat the
best teams,” she said, “and we
were able to do that.”
ALL-TOURNAMENT
In addition to bringing
home
state
champion
hardware, three TigerScot
players also took home
all-tournament honors.
Senior outside hitters
Sara von Borstel and Sarah
Finifrock were named to
First Team all-tournament,
while senior setter Ali
Schroeder was named to
Second Team.
“It’s amazing and such a
great feeling to share it with
my teammates,” Finifrock
said of the honor.
———
W-M
25 25 25
IMB
19 16 22
Statistics
KILLS — W-M: S. von Borstel 12, A.
Finifrock 9, A. Finifrock 3, A. Schroeder
2, T. Benedict 1, M. Muilenburg 1, H.
Weaver 1.
ASSISTS — W-M: A. Schroeder 13, B.
Thul 10, C. Quaempts 2, M. Muilenburg 1.
DIGS — W-M: C. Quaempts 11, S.
Finifrock 10, A. Schroeder 7, B. Thul 5, T.
Benedict 4, B. Hillmick 4, S. von Borstel 3,
H. Weaver 2, A. Finifrock 1.
ACES — W-M: B. Thul 2, B. Hillmick 2, S.
Finifrock 2, C. Quaempts 1.