Thursday, September 7, 2017
SPORTS
BULLDOGS: Game will be played on MARINERS: Next host the Angels
from 1B
Saturday if smoke doesn’t lift by Friday Continued
Houston took a 2-0 lead
Page 2B
East Oregonian
route to a 35-14 defeat.
Although the outcome
was less than ideal, the
Bulldogs closing spark was a
brief look in to what they are
capable of.
“We started executing
because we got a little bit
of momentum by forcing a
turnover on defense,” Faae-
teete said.
If all cylinders are rolling
on Friday and the defense
can produce big plays, like
Adrian Tuia’s interception,
and the offense can click
early, with an even better
performance from Andrew
James, than the Bulldogs
have a good chance at
avenging last year’s defeat.
This
time
around,
Lewiston doesn’t have the
same offensive threat. After
losing quarterback Colton
Richardson to graduation,
the Bengals are rebuilding
with a new player at the helm
of the offense and a new
coach leading that charge.
If the Bulldogs practice
what coach preaches, and
pay attention to the details
a fourth quarter comeback
won’t be necessary.
“It’s in the little things,”
Faaeteete emphasized after
yet another practice indoors
Continued from 1B
are still working out some
winkles. But with the first-
game jitters behind them,
there is an opportunity to
show how far they have came
in the short week they have
had to prepare for a familiar
foe.
“We’ll take it one play,
one snap at a time,” Faae-
teete said. “At the end of the
day it’s who improves from
week to week. They’ve got
to deal with this smoke too
so it’s not going to be an
excuse for either team.”
Last year, the Bulldogs
entered the match up against
the Bengals with the same
record and a similar outing
to open their season — a
large fourth quarter deficit
and a late effort that simply
wasn’t enough.
In Hermiston’s 2017
season opener, the Bulldogs
scored only one touchdown
the first half while Union
(WA) had no problems
getting three on the board.
The last 10 minutes were
the strongest for Hermiston
— scoring two touchdowns
six minutes apart — but the
team continued to trail until
the final whistle blew in en
Wednesday.
Fundamentals like not
covering down the correct
lane on special teams, drop-
ping passes, or simple lazy
routes can hurt or help the
Bulldogs on Friday.
With play makers in the
senior class like Tuia and
wide receiver Dayshawn
Neal, creating havoc for
their opponents will be even
more special once the lights
come on.
“They’ve got a lot riding
on this season,” Faaeteete
said. “You’ve got to leave
Oregon with a bang, and
if you can’t show up
consistently week in and
week out then you’re just
another should-of, could-of,
would-of team.”
If the air quality stays at
an unhealthy level through
Friday, the game will move
to Saturday at 7 p.m. If at
that time conditions don’t
improve the game will be
canceled and Hermiston’s
2017 schedule will continue
as planned.
————
Contact Alexis at aman-
sanarez@eastoregonian.
com or 541-564-4542.
Follow her on Twitter @
almansanarez.
in the fourth when Josh
Reddick singled with one
out, Yuri Gurriel walked
and Gonzalez followed
with a two-run double off
the base of the wall in right-
center.
ASTROS MOVES
McCullers was acti-
vated off the 10-day DL
(back discomfort) to start
Wednesday night. . RHP
James Hoyt was recalled
from Triple-A Fresno for
his third stint this season
with the Astros. Hoyt was
1-0 with a 4.98 ERA in
38 relief appearances this
season with Houston.
MARINERS MOVE
INF Shawn O’Malley
was outrighted to Triple-A
Tacoma. O’Malley hit .229
in 89 games with Seattle
in 2016, but spent most of
2017 on the disabled list.
He hit .205 in 20 games at
Tacoma.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Astros: Marisnik, who
has been bothered by a
groin issue, pinch ran in the
ninth. ... 2B Jose Altuve,
who leads the A.L. in
batting at .351, but is hitless
in his last three games, was
not in the starting lineup.
“Off day. The world’s still
AP Photo/John Froschauer
Seattle Mariners’ Nelson Cruz hugs Kyle Seager after
Seager hit a solo home run on a pitch from Houston
Astros starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. during
the fifth inning of Wednesday’s game in Seattle.
OK and he’ll be back in
there the next time we
play,” Hinch said. “He’s
got a well-deserved off
day. I can steal another day
tomorrow with the off day,
another half-day on Friday
before the night game, so
this will be a nice break for
him. . RHP Michael Feliz
pitched one inning in rebab
start Wednesday for the
Single-A Quad Cities River
Bandits, retiring all three
batters he faced.
UP NEXT
Astros: RHP Collin
McHugh (2-2, 3.25) opens
the
four-game
series
at Oakland on Friday
following a day off.
Mariners: After a day
off on Thursday, RHP Mike
Leake (1-0, 2.57) makes his
second start for Seattle to
open the three-game series
against the Los Angeles
Angels at Safeco Field on
Friday. Leake, acquired
from St. Louis on Aug. 30,
allowed two-first inning
runs in his Mariners debut,
but settled in for seven
strong innings to pick up
the victory in a 3-2 win over
Oakland.
BUCKS: Consistent running game, stout defense will be crucial on Friday
dealing with an unorthodox
offense is kind of tough
because you can’t simulate
the speed and the offensive
fronts,” he said, “but we’re
all in the same boat here in
Oregon. Is it ideal? No. We’d
love to be able to get outside
and spread things out, but
everyone’s in the same
boat and we’ll try to move
forward and get as much out
of it as we can.”
Last season, Putnam
(1-0) smacked Pendleton
around the field in the Week
2 meeting in Milwaukie,
sending Pendleton home
with a 49-21 loss. The King-
smen stumped the Buckaroos
defense with a lot of misdi-
rection out of the Wing-T
formation and sprinted to
a 35-7 lead by halftime.
Putnam’s offense is led by
sophomore
quarterback
Marcellus Kenion and senior
running backs Isaiah Schum-
acher and Curtis Hoyle,
Continued from 1B
Pendleton junior Brendan
Bedolla said at practice on
Wednesday. “We all know
we can play better than Week
1 and we want to be able to
work on it and show it but
the conditions right now are
really constricting on how
we can practice and prepare
ourselves.”
Pendleton coach Erik
Davis said that he and his
coaches discussed how a
possible full week of indoor
practices could be beneficial
to the health of the team, with
kids possibly being fresher
come game time without a
week of practice bumps and
bruises. However, he said
one issue could be timing
between quarterback and
receivers as well as the Buck-
aroos defense trying to learn
the complex Wing-T offense
that Putnam runs.
“Going into a week
who led the Kingsmen to a
14-7 victory over Molalla
in Week 1. Schumacher ran
for 70 yards on nine carries
and Hoyle ran for 67 yards
on six carries, while Kenion
went 4 for 8 for 60 yards and
a touchdown.
“We
know
what’s
coming, but stopping it is a
different story,” Davis said
of Putnam’s offense. “It’s an
interesting offense, shows
a lot of misdirection and it
we don’t play assignment
football, it’ll be a long night.
But if we do, we believe we
have the athletes to take care
of it.”
Here are some other
storylines to watch for on
Friday night:
SMOKED OUT? School
officials for both Pendleton
and Rex Putnam have been
in constant contact this week
about contingency plans
for Friday’s game in case
the smoke does not let up
enough.
Pendleton
athletic
director Troy Jerome said
on Wednesday that primarily
he’s not only worried about
the smoke but also if Inter-
state 84 will be open and safe
enough to allow the school
buses to travel on. He also
added that there have been
alternatives discussed, No.
1 being moving the game to
Milwaukie if the air clears up
there but not in Pendleton.
The last option is to push the
game to Saturday afternoon,
hoping it buys a little more
time for the smoke to clear.
“Us as a coaching staff
we just have to get the
kids prepared for a Friday
night game here at the high
school,” Davis said, “and if
things changed we’ll adjust
on the fly.”
RUN DEFENSE A
POSITIVE: It is easy to
say that the Pendleton run
defense struggled against La
Grande in Week 1, but at a
closer glance it was not as
bad as the game showed.
La Grande QB Andrew
Peasley was the thorn for
the Buckaroos, running for
119 yards and three TDs.
However the Tigers’ two
primary running backs
ran for just 25 yards on 14
carries and Pendleton tallied
10 tackles for loss in the
game as the Buckaroos’ front
was stout at pressuring the
backfield. The issues came
in the inability to tackle in
space and set an edge when
Peasley started to scramble.
“Watching film, we got
beat by a very good D-I
athlete (Peasley), but we did
play well at times,” Davis
acknowledged. “We got
them into third-and-long
situations ... it’s never easy
to have the conversation with
an 0-1 team but there we
some positives there and I
didn’t have to make anything
up. We played good run
defense and now we have to
do it again this week.”
RUN, BUCKS, RUN:
The ground game was not
utilized a whole lot by
Pendleton Week 1, but when
it was it was a bright spot for
the team.
With running backs
Shawn Yeager and Aiden
Patterson, Pendleton aver-
aged 5.6 yards per carry,
with Yeager gaining 36
yards on eight attempts and
Patterson with 32 yards on
four attempts.
“We did what we were
asked,” Yeager said. “We
tried pushing for more and
got what we could and it
worked ... I know our offen-
sive line has been grinding
and I like them.”
————
Contact Eric at esinger@
eastoregonian.com
or
541-966-0839. Follow him
on Twitter @ByEricSinger.
PIGSKIN
PICKERS
Week 1
Putnam at Pendleton
Lewiston at Hermiston
Stanfield at Cascade
Heppner at Grant Union
Boise State at WSU
Nebraska at Oregon
Minnesota at OSU
Seahawks at Packers
Giants at Cowboys
Chargers at Broncos
Ron
Gibbs
John
Airoldi
Clint
Shoemake
Eric
Singer
Pendleton
Lewiston
Cascade
Grant Union
WSU
Oregon
Minnesota
Packers
Cowboys
Broncos
Pendleton
Hermiston
Stanfield
Heppner
WSU
Oregon
Minnesota
Packers
Cowboys
Broncos
Putnam
Hermiston
Stanfield
Grant Union
WSU
Oregon
Minnesota
Seahawks
Cowboys
Broncos
Putnam
Lewiston
Cascade
Heppner
WSU
Oregon
Minnesota
Packers
Cowboys
Broncos
Mike
Appleton
Jodi
Bloomberg
Weston
Putman
Alexis
Mansanarez
Pendleton
Pendleton
Pendleton
Pendleton
Hermiston
Lewiston
Hermiston
Lewiston
Cascade
Cascade
Stanfield
Cascade
Grant Union Grant Union Grant Union Grant Union
WSU
WSU
Boise State
WSU
Oregon
Oregon
Oregon
Oregon
Minnesota Oregon State Oregon State Minnesota
Packers
Packers
Seahawks
Packers
Cowboys
Cowboys
Cowboys
Cowboys
Broncos
Broncos
Chargers
Broncos
Zachary
Orem
Brandon
Case
Pendleton
Putnam
Hermiston
Lewiston
Stanfield
Cascade
Grant Union Grant Union
WSU
WSU
Oregon
Oregon
Minnesota Oregon State
Seahawks
Packers
Cowboys
Giants
Broncos
Chargers
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