Page 2B
SPORTS
East Oregonian
Saturday, November 26, 2016
DESTINATION: Only loss came to Washington’s La Center
In this Oct.
21, 2016
photo,
Stanfield’s
Hunter
Barnes
and Justin
Shelby
bring down
Heppner’s
Coby
Dougherty
as Wyatt
Steagall
(64) gets
in on the
play in the
Tigers’
14-0 win
against the
Mustangs
in Heppner.
Continued from 1B
Salas said at the time.
Week 3: Tigers 41, Grant
Union 20
The Tigers overcame a slow start
that saw them up 13-0 at halftime to
post another 400-yard rushing effort
behind great blocking from the
offensive line.
Monkus had his second-straight
200-yard game, and finished with
223 yards on 14 runs, and found the
end zone four times. “He’s just a very
patient runner who doesn’t push and
stays behind his blockers,” Stanfield
coach Davie Salas said after the
game. “Then when the holes open
up he sees the field so well and is
aggressive and finds the cutbacks
and then just gets out and runs.”
Week 4: Tigers 20, Regis 14
The Tigers came up big on fourth
down to edge out the win and head
into conference play at 4-0.
Facing 4th-and-goal late in the
fourth quarter, Grogan was wrapped
up short of the end zone, but flipped the
ball to Monkus on a designed option
and the Tigers converted the two-point
conversion to regain the lead.
Regis responded by marching
down the field to Stanfield’s four,
where it would face its own 4th-and-
goal after three runs went for no gain.
A fourth-straight run was stuffed at
the line, and the Tigers were able to
run out the clock for the win.
“Two of the top teams in the state
battled it out,” Salas said. “Those
kids played their butts off tonight on
both sides.”
Stanfield was held to 288 yards
on offense with Monkus limited to
74 yards on 16 carries. He scored
twice and Renner added the other
touchdown. Grogan was 6-of-10 for
133 yards with one interceptions,
and Justin Shelby had a key 35-yard
catch to set up the Tigers’ final score.
Week 5: Tigers 62, Culver 21
Stanfield opened the Columbia
Basin Conference schedule with a
home blowout that featured touch-
downs from five different players.
The running game got back to its
typical dominance with 401 yards, led
by Monkus (eight carries, 149 yards,
3 TDs) and Renner (4-103, TD).
“We just stuck to what we do
best and that’s run the ball,” Salas
said following the win. “We were
patient and we ran great between the
Staff photo by
E.J. Harris
tackles … Culver tried to stack the
box, but we just wore them down in
the second half.”
Week 6: Tigers 74, Weston-
McEwen 26
Stanfield pushed its record to 6-0
with the runaway win in Athena,
tallying 428 rushing yards and 10
touchdowns.
Four of Monkus’ 10 carries went
for scores and he finished with 105
yards. Renner had just five touches
but added two touchdowns and 106
yards, and Grogan totaled 326 yards
(150 rushing) and four touchdowns
(one rushing, three passing).
“Kind of some nasty field out
there today, but they able to keep their
feet and get into the end zone, slow
and steady,” Salas said at the time.
“Everybody’s running the ball hard,
the line’s blocking good and we’re
trying to keep everybody healthy
because we’re short on numbers, so
we’re getting everybody carries.”
Week 7: La Center 28, Tigers 6
Stanfield filled the hole left in
its schedule by Irrigon’s move to
3A with a tough road game in La
Center, Washington, that would be
their only loss of the regular season.
The Tigers scored their only
points in the first quarter, and were
limited to a season-low 232 total
yards of offense.
“La Center is a very good foot-
ball team, and they were able to stop
our run game,” Salas said. “It was
just one of those days.”
La Center is playing in the WIAA
1A state semifinals on Saturday.
Week 8: Tigers 14, Heppner 0
Stanfield wrapped up its first
league title on the gridiron since
their state-title season of 1957 with
the win in Heppner.
The Tigers scored on their second
possession when Grogan hit Brody
Woods on a 30-yard touchdown
pass, and the defense made the lead
stick from there.
“It’s been a long time coming
for the town of Stanfield and these
kids,” Salas said. “All the hard work
is paying off and we’re heading in
the right direction this season.”
Grogan completed 13-of-20
passes for 175 yards with Woods
hauling in six catches for 97 yards.
Monkus topped the millennium
mark for rushing in the game with
48 yards to put him up to 1,046 for
the season.
Week 9: Tigers 54, Pilot Rock 12
Stanfield closed out the regular
season 5-0 at home with Grogan
leading the way again on offense with
337 total yards (200 passing, 137
rushing) and two total touchdowns.
Woods topped his game from the
week prior with six catches for 147
yards and a score, and Blankenship
rumbled for 116 yards on seven
rushes. Monkus sat out the game
with minor bumps and bruises due
to a coach’s decision.
“It’s been fun,” Salas said of the
season to that point. “I told the kids
at the beginning of the year I wanted
to ride this season as long as we can
and we got a good start.”
State 1st Round: Tigers 49,
Central Linn 14
Hosting its first playoff game
since 1957, the Tigers shook off
their pre-game collywobbles to
pound out 668 yards (481 rushing)
on the visiting Cobras.
Grogan had a busy night going
for 223 yards on 16 carries and
completing 9-of-14 passes for 187
yards. He had two scores each
rushing and passing. Monkus added
166 yards and two TDs on 16 runs,
and Woods had five catches for 99
yards and one TD.
“We knew when we were
watching film (of Central Linn) and
saw the (big guys) we just thought
‘Well, we’ll have to do the best we
can’ and those guys did it,” Grogan
said of his offensive line. “The holes
were huge for us to run through and
it was nice.”
State Quarterfinals: Tigers 13,
Santiam 0
With a heavy fog hanging over
Horyna Athletic Complex, the
Tigers moved to 7-0 at home in
what would be their final game in
Stanfield this season.
Defensive stops and takeaways
played a huge role in the win as the
Wolverines looked to control the
clock with a plodding rushing attack,
and were able to limit Stanfield to
two possessions in the first half.
The second one went for a score,
though, as Grogan stretched it in
from two yards out on fourth down
with two seconds left in the first half.
The defense then held on for
its second shutout while holding
Santiam to 190 total yards. Monkus
finished with 103 yards on 14
carries, and Stanfield managed 300
total for the game.
State Semifinals: Tigers 32,
Kennedy 13
Stanfield benefited from another
great game in the trenches to earn
its long-awaited return to the state
finals.
The offensive and defensive
lines dominated, and the Tigers
totaled 373 yards (254 rushing, 119
passing) while holding Kennedy to
236 (143 rushing, 93 passing).
“Defense won the game,” Salas
said after the game, which was played
at Liberty High in Hillsboro. “I mean
13 points to an explosive team that
was dominating everybody, putting
teams down. I knew we had our
work cut out for us but I knew that if
we followed our game plan we’d be
fine and it went our way.”
Salas said Monkus’ play at
linebacker was key to stopping the
Trojans’ rushing, and the senior
Tiger rushed for two touchdowns
and 138 yards on 17 carries on
offense, and added seven catches
for 46 yards.
———
Regis Rams (10-2) game-by-game
Week 1: Rams 14, Blanchet Cath. 13
Week 2: Dayton 16, Rams 13
Week 3: Rams 48, Knappa 0
Week 4: Stanfield 20, Rams 14
Week 5: Rams 15, Kennedy 7
Week 6: Rams 36, Oakland 0
Week 7: Rams 41, Central Linn 0
Week 8: Rams 35, Santiam 0
Week 9: Rams 27, St. Paul 7
State Rnd 1: Rams 42, Monroe 20
State QFs: Rams 50, St. Paul 0
State SFs: Rams 27, Heppner 6
TIGERS TITLE: Stanfield took just four plays to score first touchdown of game
Continued from 1B
The following game recap
by Jim Eardley ran in the
Monday, Dec. 2, 1957 East
Oregonian under the head-
line “Stanfield Wins State B
Football Crown”:
HERMISTON — Coach
Gary Burton’s Stanfield
Tigers, who hadn’t lost a foot-
ball encounter in their last 25
outings, scored almost one
point a minute here Saturday
afternoon to blast the Powers
Cruisers 46-0 and win the
state class B championship
that they shared last year.
In racking up their third
46-point showing this season,
the Tigers were paced by a
pair of swift, powerful backs
and a sticky-fingered end.
Fullback John Gordon,
quarterback John Houk,
and end Norm Evans stole
the show, although a hard-
charging and stout defensive
line made their chores easier.
Gordon, a 175-pound
senior who moves like a tram-
poline artist; Houk, who was
equally adept at packing the
ball, blocking and on defense;
and Evans, who makes the
game look easy, accounted for
all Stanfield’s scoring.
Stanfield halfback Tom
Stamate might have run the
score even higher had not he
become one of three players
ejected during the hotly-con-
tested, although lopsided,
contest.
Stanfield wasted little time
getting enough points on the
scoreboard to assure the win.
After end Walt Wolfe stole
the ball on Powers’ 33, the
Tigers took only four plays
to post six points. Only 5:56
was gone in the game when
Gordon slanted off left tackle
on an 8-yard TD run.
Powers refused to punt
from its own 46 on fourth
down, and when a pass fell
incomplete, Stanfield took
over. Five plays later Gordon
drifted to his right, gave
Houk time to casually sidle
far to the left, then connected
with a pass. Houk eluded a
tackler and went all the way
on the 32-yard play that came
10:21 into the first canto.
Eighth Scoreless Effort
The Tigers, who held
their opponents scoreless for
the eighth time this season,
mixed an aerial attack with
their ground game to punch
paydirt three times in the
second quarter and make
coach Darwin Michaels’ lads
wish they’d never made the
long jaunt to Umatilla county.
Five minutes into the
frame Gordon bulled over
the right side from three
yards out. The play capped a
71-yard march that took just
seven plays. Stamate was
ejected for a fracas during the
extra point try.
One minute and 57
seconds later Stanfield put its
25th point on the scoreboard.
Evans’ interception of Jim
Adamek’s pass frm the
Stanfield 45 and a runback
to Powers’ 2 set it up. Houk
skirted right end for the TD
and Gordon booted Stan-
field’s first extra point.
Six TD’s First Half
Stanfield’s sixth touch-
down came 10 seconds
before the half. The Tigers
went 74 yards in six plays.
The clincher was Houk’s
14-yard pass to Evans, who
took the lob overhead with
one hand at the goal line.
A similar play, this one
from the Powers 5, scored
for Stanfield 7:20 into the
third period. The TD took
nine plays and started from
the Powers 49 when Gordon
made one of seven intercep-
tions of Powers passes.
Another
interception
started Stanfield on the way
to its last TD. Houk made this
grab when the ball bounced out
of the receiver’s hands at the
Powers 32. Eight plays later
— on the first skirmish of the
fourth quarter — Houk flipped
a one-yard pass to Evans.
Punk Smith Contained
Powers’ only serious threat
was in the fourth quarter. The
game ended with Powers on
the Tigers 6. The Cruisers’
highly-touted halfback Francis
(Punk) Smith carried the ball
13 times but amassed only
20 yards. Halfback Ronald
Woodring was Powers’
outstanding back, gained 46
yards running in seven carries
and catching a 20-yard pass.
Despite rain that pelted the
field most of the second half,
Gordon picked up 73 yards
in 14 carries. Houk bagged
61 in 18 attempts and either
Gordon, Houk or Evans was
on the passing or receiving
end of all Stanfield’s pass
completions.
An estimated 2500 fans
saw the Tigers post their 418th
point of the season while
retaining to 19 the points
scored against them while
winning 11 and losing none.
When the game ended
Stanfield fans swarmed onto
the field to congratulate
coach and players alike, with
Burton getting a ride off the
gridiron on the shoulders of
admirers.
A hastily organized dinner
took place Saturday night as
Stanfield restaurant owner
George Potts treated the team
to a meal soon after arrival
home from Hermiston.
Burton, a graduate of
Eastern Oregon college and
assistant to Stanfield coach
Franz Haun last year, estab-
lished the remarkable feat of
gaining a state championship
in his first year as head
gridiron mentor. He went to
Stanfield immediately after
graduating from EOC.
Burton said Sunday: “I
was very pleased with the
team’s showing. I honestly
felt it was going to be our day
after the first time we scored.
“Our defense was rigged
to stop Smith’s (Francis
“Punk”) crisscrosses. We
plugged the tackle holes with
our line backers. Most of the
yardage they (Powers) made
was outside tackle. The team
did an especially good job in
stopping the Powers spread
formation. Our line backers
did a good job. They were
thinking.”
———
Powers
Stanfield
0 0
12 20
0
7
0 — 0
7 — 46
BLAZERS: Harkless layup caps 8-0 run in 4th
APPLE CUP: Huskies go for 386 yards in first half
Continued from 1B
Continued from 1B
and Jrue Holiday’s jumper.
Portland responded with an
8-0 run, capped by Maurice
Harkless’ reverse layup that
made it 113-101, and New
Orleans couldn’t catch up.
The
Pelicans
have
rebounded after an eight-
game losing streak to start
the season and were coming
off a 117-96 victory at home
over the Timberwolves. But
the win was costly because
New Orleans lost Dante
Cunningham in the first half
because of a non-displaced
right proximal fibula fracture.
He will miss four to six weeks.
Cunningham,
who
started in 10 games this
season, was averaging 5.6
points and 3.9 rebounds
before the injury.
The four-game winning
streak coincided with the
return of Holiday, who
missed the start of the
season to care for his wife,
Lauren Holiday, following
the birth of their child and
surgery to remove a tumor
on the right side of his wife’s
brain. Lauren Holiday
was a standout on the U.S.
women’s national soccer
Browning tossed all three
touchdown passes in the first
15 minutes, hitting Dante
Pettis on plays of 18 and 61
yards and John Ross on a
6-yarder. Browning had 243
yards passing by halftime,
the Huskies had 386 total
yards at the break and even
Washington State’s third-
quarter rally didn’t make
Washington sweat.
Washington tied a school
record with the 28-point first
quarter and the four straight
over the Cougars (8-4, 7-2,
No. 23 CFP) is the longest
streak since the Huskies won
six straight between 1998-
2003.
“It’s what we expected.
We expected to be off to a fast
start,” Washington defensive
lineman Elijah Qualls said.
“That’s what we worked on
all week. We knew we could
do it.”
Browning completed 21
of 29 passes, becoming the
third quarterback in Pac-12
history with at least 40 TD
passes in a season. Ross had
eight catches for 80 yards
and his 16th TD catch of the
season.
AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer
Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard, right,
shoots in front of New Orleans Pelicans forward An-
thony Davis during the second half of an NBA bas-
ketball game on Friday in Portland.
team for eight years until
her retirement last year.
Holiday finished with 16
points.
Portland, coming off a
137-125 loss in Cleveland,
led by as many as eight points
in the first quarter but New
Orleans pulled in front by the
second, taking a 38-32 lead
on Holiday’s 3-pointer. Port-
land reclaimed a 47-43 lead
on consecutive baskets from
Jake Layman and McCollum.
McCollum led all scorers
in the first half with 19
points and the Blazers led
66-57.
The Blazers went on an
8-0 run to open the third
quarter, capped by McCo-
llum’s 3-pointer that made
it 74-57. Meyers Leonard’s
dunk and Lillard’s long
3-pointer extended Port-
land’s lead to 94-78.
TIP-INS
Trail Blazers: It was
coach Terry Stotts’ birthday.
... Mason Plumlee finished
with 12 points and 14
rebounds.
Washington State quar-
terback Luke Falk was 33 of
50 passing for 269 yards and
a 9-yard TD pass to Gabe
Marks in the third quarter,
but was intercepted three
times. More damaging, the
Cougars were unable to
score on three drives inside
the Washington 10.
“I thought we were too
quick to press. I thought we
made more out of it than
it was,” Washington State
coach Mike Leach said.
Eight years after this
matchup was mocked because
of how bad the two teams
were, the Apple Cup was
back on a stage of national
relevance as the North title
game and regarded by many
fans as the most important
matchup of the 109 meetings.
It became a purple party
for the Huskies that made the
trip over the Cascade Moun-
tains to the Palouse.
Lavon Coleman added 82
yards rushing and a pair of
touchdowns. His 15-yard TD
run early in the fourth quarter
capped a 98-yard drive and
sent many clad in crimson
back to the tailgating lots.
Washington rolled up 386
yards in the first half, 252
coming in the first quarter and
capitalized on three mistakes
by Washington State.
Jamal Morrow fumbled on
Washington State’s opening
possession and eight plays
later, Pettis caught an 18-yard
touchdown and Washington
had a 14-0 lead. Later in
the half, Gerard Wicks was
stopped at the 1 on fourth-
and-goal on a great play by
Benning Potoa’e. And on
the final drive of the first
half, Falk was intercepted by
Beavers in the end zone.
Down 35-17, Washington
State had a chance to pull
within 11 late in the third
quarter, but Wicks was again
stuffed on fourth-and-goal.
“On offense, we weren’t
trying to do enough,” Marks
said. “We were soft.”
POLL IMPLICATIONS
Washington picked up
another win over a ranked
opponent that should impress
voters and give the 1-loss
Huskies a chance to leap
Wisconsin and possibly the
Ohio State-Michigan loser in
both the AP Top 25 and the
CFP rankings. Washington
State is likely to fall out of
the Top 25 after being ranked
the past four weeks.