SPORTS
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2016
1B
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ATHENA
NFL
TigerScots tear to title
Seahawks
hold off
Buffalo
By TIM BOOTH
Associated Press
SEATTLE — Jimmy Graham
needed only one hand to catch two
fi rst-half touchdown passes from
Russell Wilson,
and the Seattle
Seahawks
held
off a late rally for
Buffalo
a 31-25 win over
the Buffalo Bills
on Monday night.
Seattle
won
its 11th straight
Monday
night
Seattle
game behind a
huge game from
its tight end.
Still less than a
year removed from a major knee
injury, Graham used his right arm
to catch a 17-yard touchdown
from Wilson on the fi rst play of the
25
31
See SEAHAWKS/2B
Photo courtesy of Northwest Sports Photography
The Weston-McEwen volleyball team poses with its state championship trophy and the 2A volleyball fi nal bracket after beating Im-
bler in the fi nal match on Saturday night at Ridgeview High School in Redmond. It was the third championship in program history.
Weston-McEwen sweeps Imbler for third state championship
“This one is really sweet.”
East Oregonian
REDMOND — For the third time in school
history, the Weston-McEwen TigerScots are 2A
volleyball state champions.
The No. 5 seed TigerScots knocked off
the No. 3 seed Imbler Panthers in three sets
25-19, 25-16, and 25-22 on Saturday night at
Ridgeview High School to capture their fi rst
state championship since 2010.
“It feels amazing,” Weston-McEwen senior
Sarah Finifrock said. “I love my team so much
and I’m so proud to be a TigerScot.”
“This one is really sweet,” Weston-McEwen
very proud of the effort those two put forth in
the match.
“They both played like champions,” he said.
— Shawn White,
“We’ve
relied on those two a lot throughout the
Weston-McEwen volleyball coach after his
year and they were there when we needed them
team beat Imbler 25-19, 25-16, 25-22 to win tonight.”
the program’s third 2A state championship.
Weston-McEwen (23-11) got off to a great
start in the championship as it coupled some
solid hits with some Imbler (28-5) errors to take
coach Shawn White added.
Sara von Borstel was named Player of the seven of the fi rst 10 points. The Panthers then
Match for Weston-McEwen after she tallied a responded with a run to cut the defi cit to 9-7
team-high 12 kills in the match, while fellow but could never get any closer as the TigerScots
senior Finifrock was close behind with nine held on for the fi rst set victory.
See TIGERSCOTS/2B
kills and also added 10 digs. White said he was
The Heppner Mustangs knew
the road to defend their 2A state
championship would not be an
easy one in 2016.
The Mustangs returned all of
four starters on offense and three
on defense, and earning a playoff
spot is never a given — even for
a program as storied as Heppner.
But through some ups and downs
of the season Heppner showed
gradual maturity and still earned a
6-2 record and a No. 4 seed in the
state playoffs.
On a cool Saturday afternoon
at Les Payne Field, the Mustangs
took a big step toward their title
defense with a 55-20 victory over
the Gold Beach Panthers in a fi rst
round playoff game.
“After losing all those guys last
year we didn’t really know what we
were going to be this year but I think
we really found our identity this
game,” Heppner senior Logan Grieb
said. “(The young guys) stepped up
big, being in their fi rst playoff game.
See PIRATES/2B
Staff photo by
Kathy Aney
20
55
By MATT ENTRUP
East Oregonian
See MUSTANGS/2B
Heppner
running
back Coby
Dougherty
(24) looks
for an
opening
during
Saturday’s
state play-
off football
game in
Heppner
against
Gold
Beach.
I’m sure most of
really worked hard
Football
them were nervous
and it’s paying
but you couldn’t
off.”
really tell after that
Heppner (7-2)
Gold Beach
Heppner
fi rst snap.”
dominated every
“I think if you
facet of the game
saw us play in St.
on Saturday, and it
Paul (Week 1) and
all started with its
saw us play today you’d have seen play in the trenches. On offense,
two distinctly different teams,” Heppner ran a mere 14 plays from
Heppner coach Greg Grant added. scrimmage in the fi rst half with
“I had hoped to have that matura- seven of those resulting in rushing
tion take place and I think that it touchdowns as the offensive line
says a lot about the kids, they’ve paved gaping holes.
Riverside defense
extends shutout
streak against Gervais
“I thought this was their best
game of the year,” Grant said of
the offensive line. “They’re really
coming together and communi-
cating and understand what they’re
doing … they’re telling me what
to run and not me telling them and
that’s what you want to have this
time of year, it shows they really
understand.”
Grieb, who has been Heppner’s
big-play guy all season, was a
Mustangs show maturation in first round victory
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
Pirates
strike fast,
advance to
semifi nals
Riverside jumped out to another
early lead in Saturday’s boys soccer
state quarterfi nals against Gervais,
and the defense posted its eighth-
straight shutout to lift the Pirates to
a 2-0 victory.
The Pirates took the lead for
good in the second minute when
Luis Olvera tracked down a
long pass from
Boys Soccer Alejandro Llamas
inside the penalty
box and beat
Gervais
goal-
Gervais
keeper Ivan Borja
with the fi rst shot
of the game.
“It was a great
pass, right behind
the defender and
Riverside
I was able to just
tap it in,” Olvera
said.
It was the
second straight playoff game in
which the Pirates took the early
lead after scoring in the fourth
minute of their 5-0 fi rst-round win
over Western Mennonite.
“That’s defi nitely a morale
booster to get that fi rst goal,” said
Riverside junior Miseal Madrigal.
The Cougars pushed back and
found themselves in front of River-
side’s goal several times during
the game, but couldn’t get off any
clean shots as Riverside senior goal
keeper Adolfo Bedolla needed just
two saves to notch his 11th shutout
of the season.
HEPPNER
Heppner runs over
Gold Beach to
open title defense
BOARDMAN
0
2
Sports shorts
No. 4 Huskies lose DE for season
SEATTLE (AP) — No. 4 Washington will be
without its best edge pass rusher for the rest of
the season, no matter how long the season lasts.
Washington defensive end Joe Mathis will
miss the rest of the season after it was determined
surgery was the best way to repair a
foot injury suffered a few weeks ago,
coach Chris Petersen said Monday.
Mathis had been rehabbing the
foot in the hopes that a non-sur-
gical treatment could get him back
on the fi eld toward the end of the
Mathis
regular season or potentially the
postseason.
Mathis’ injury is a huge blow to a defense that
has been having a standout season. Mathis led
Washington with fi ve sacks and was particularly
disruptive in two of the Huskies’ more impres-
sive victories, against Stanford and Oregon.
Mathis had two sacks against the Cardinal and
had three tackles for loss against the Ducks.
Finalists announced for MVP
“No one would have
expected what I have
done the last few
months. I don’t really
know if it’s sunk in or
not.”
— Andy Murray
British professional tennis play-
er after beating American John
Isner 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-4 to win the
Paris Open and overtake Novak
Djokovic as the No. 1 ranked
men’s player in the world. It is the
fi rst time Murray, 29, has held
the top ranking.
NEW YORK (AP) — Fresh off leading the
Chicago Cubs to their fi rst World Series title in
more than a century, slugger Kris Bryant could
soon be hoisting more hardware.
Bryant is among the top
three vote-getters for the NL
MVP award aseason after
he was the NL Rookie of the
Year. Bryant hit 39 home runs
with 102 RBIs while batting
.292. The third baseman also scored a league-
high 121 runs.
Washington second baseman Daniel
Murphy, who batted .347 for the NL East
champions, and Dodgers rookie shortstop
Corey Seager also are up for NL MVP.
AL batting champion Jose Altuve of
Houston, 2014 winner Mike Trout of the
Angels and Boston outfi elder Mookie Betts are
the AL fi nalists. The MVPs will be announced
Nov. 17 on MLB Network.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
1952 — Maurice Richard of the
Montreal Canadiens becomes the
NHL’s leading career goal scorer
with his 325th in a 6-4 victory over
the Chicago Blackhawks.
1986 — Tulsa’s Steve Gage is
the fi rst quarterback to rush and
pass for 200 yards in a game. Gage
rushes for 212 and passes for 209 in
a 34-27 triumph over New Mexico.
2003 — John Gagliardi becomes
college football’s career victory
leader when St. John’s rallies to
beat Bethel 29-26. Gagliardi, in
his 55th season and his 51st at the
Minnesota school, gets his 409th
victory, passing Eddie Robinson,
who retired in 1997 after winning
408 games at Grambling.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com