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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 23, 2017)
SPORTS Saturday, September 23, 2017 East Oregonian Page 3B PENDLETON T-Wolves men’s soccer plays first-ever home game First-year BMCC program still working out kinks By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ East Oregonian It was an historic home- coming from Blue Mountain Community College athletics Friday night. Underneath a familiar landscape of cattle and crops began something new and unfamiliar. For the first time ever, BMCC hosted a men’s soccer match. Head coach Art Mota along with assistant coaches Maggie Coleman and Austin Shick brought together 21 athletes from Eastern Oregon and beyond to form a young, developing team that will not only continue the careers of the men already on the roster but also provide opportunity for younger players to extend Staff photo by E.J. Harris BMCC’s Giovanni Madrigal (11) pass the ball to Kaden Goforth between Wenatchee’s Dilan Calva (2) and Le- nin Guzman in the Timberwolves’ 11-2 loss to the Knights on Friday in Pendleton. their careers beyond high school — and do so in front of their family and friends. “That was the thing that attracted them the most,” Mota said of the Timber- wolves being made up of mostly local players. “When I spoke to them during the recruiting process it was about making history and I think they all found that very appealing and very attractive. They are wanting to make history and set a standard for those that come afterwards. “We do have a lot of players from the area, and that is always going to be an emphasis as long as I’m here that we are going to try to draw in as many players as we can for the area and try to put out a product that everyone can be proud of.” Of the 21 players, five are from Hermiston, four from Pendleton, two from Boardman, and one from Umatilla. There are six players from Idaho, one from Washington, and even one from California. The family-like atmo- sphere growing up in a small town provides was something else that attracted Brian Ramirez — a freshman midfielder out of Pendleton High School. That type of camaraderie is one of the things that is working well for this team. “We all get together very well,” Ramirez said. “We are all a big family, that’s one thing I like about this group.” Like in any family, there are ups and downs and the men’s first home game was anything but up. The Timberwolves fell to the Wenatchee Valley College Knights 11-2. Their only goals came in the 37 minute from Hermiston native Giovanni Madrigal, and in the 85 minute again by Madrigal. It was a tough outing for the all-freshman squad, but one that is almost necessary in this stage of a program. “We probably just need to look ourselves in the mirror and do some reflection and see if we are willing to give a little bit more of each other,” Mota said. “We are lacking in a lot of areas.” With the youth comes a big learning curve, Mota added. The men have struggled with things like speed of play, the physicality at this level, communication, and the work rate, and the learning curve hasn’t been easy. “We’re learning and we’re learning the hard way,” Mota said. “We’re definitely taking our knocks.” Just like the team, the season is still very young. The Timberwolves now have two games under their belts and will reset and recharge as early as Monday. For now, Mota asks the fans for patience as they work out the wrinkles. “I’m really appreciative of the crowd that came out to watch and I just hope they understand that it is going to take time,” he said. “It’s going to take time to build the program up and just be patient.” ——— Contact Alexis at aman- sanarez@eastoregonian.com or 541-564-4542. Follow her on Twitter @almansanarez BUCKAROOS: Pendleton puts up 370 total yards — 228 passing, 142 rushing Continued from 1B wasted no time cashing in with a five-yard touchdown run by Shawn Yeager for a 20-0 lead with 1:26 left in the first quarter. “It feels unbelievable to just come out and play like that,” Pendleton wideout Shaw Jerome said. “We executed on a couple of their mishaps on the punts which helped us out and got the momentum going our way and then got our offense rolling.” Pendleton put up 370 total yards of offense in the game with 228 passing and 142 rushing. Its most impressive drive of the game was the last scoring drive of the second quarter, where Pendleton started on its own six and drove 94 yards in 5 minutes, 50 seconds of game time and scored on a one-yard plunge by Yeager for a 28-7 lead. Yeager was the team’s leading rusher with 56 yards on 12 carries. Bower threw for 212 yards on 19 of 27 passing with a pair of touch- downs and a pair of inter- ceptions, and also ran for 25 yards on six carries. Jerome was the team’s leading receiver with 83 yards on seven catches. Pendleton had three turnovers, but did not punt the ball until the 5:06 mark of the fourth quarter. “This came from all 11 kids tonight,” Davis said of the offense. “Nick had time to throw the football because our offensive line improved dramatically this week and hats off to those guys, they did a fantastic job of keeping Nick clean and allowing holes for our tailbacks. We talk a lot about taking what they give you, you don’t always have to look for the home run ball and good things will happen and I think we did a pretty good job of that tonight.” Staff photo by E.J. Harris Pendleton’s Beau Skinner (10) and Willie Camp scramble from a loose ball in the end zone after sacking Ridgeview punter Nick Sperber in the Bucks’ 48-13 win against the Ravens on Friday in Pendleton. Pendleton’s defense was solid again with an outstanding performance by the front seven, holding Ridgeview to a net of six rushing yards and just 37 passing yards. Six players recorded a quarterback sack in the game and four others recorded at least one tackle-for-loss. Kirk Liscom continued his strong season with numerous tackles and a sack, Greg Lee had 1½ sacks, two tackles-for-loss and a forced fumble and Aiden Patterson picked up a sack and two tackles-for-loss as well. “We have some big guys up front and they work hard and make our defense sharp this year,” Patterson said. “Our front seven, Ridgeview tried to run up the middle a lot and we were ready for them.” Pendleton scored three more times in the second half, on touchdown passes from Bower to Cam Sandford and Staff photo by E.J. Harris Pendleton’s Shawn Yeager rumbles into the end zone past a pair of Ridgeview defenders in the Bucks’ 48-13 win against the Ravens on Friday in Pendleton. Staff photo by E.J. Harris Pendleton’s Beau Skinner (10) and Catch Kelly sack Rid- geview’s Payton Davis in the Bucks’ 48-13 win against the Ravens on Friday in Pendleton. Patterson and an eight-yard zone-read option keeper by backup quarterback Trent Sorey in the fourth quarter. Sorey led a drive with some second-string players for Pendleton, going 63 yards in just over two minutes to get the score. On that drive, Sorey ran twice for 17 yards, passed once for 12 yards while Liscom ran for 30 yards on two carries to set up the score. “That was fun to see,” Jerome said. “It’s nice to see those younger guys and know you have some guys behind you to trust.” Davis kept a smile on his face for a while after the game, knowing just how important it was for his team to not only win like they did but to notch that all important first league victory. “It was crucial. Our last home game here on the high school field to get a pretty pronounced win is always a fantastic taste,” he said. “It’s fantastic to just get on the board in league and even ourself up, because we still control our own destiny which is always good. If we continue to do our jobs, our goal stays intact. Our kids just have to come back ready to go on Monday and we’ll see what Redmond has to offer.” ———— RHS 0 7 0 6 — 13 PHS 20 8 6 14 — 48 PASSING — (PHS) N. Bower 19-27, 212, 2TD, 2INT; T. Sorey 1-1, 12; W. Camp 1-2, 4. (RHS) P. Davis 4-7, 30; M. Hopper 1-2, 7. RUSHING — (PHS) S. Yeager 12-56, 2TD; N. Bower 6-25, TD; A. Patterson 2-10; K. Liscom 2-30; T. Sorey 2-17; C. Sandford 1-0; A. Rendon 1-4. (RHS) C. Benz 13-42; M. Cupp 4-11; P. Davis 4-(-25), TD; N. Brown 3-18; P. Anderson 2-64, TD; T. Lee 2-(-13); M. Hopper 2-(-13); G. Dietz 1-(-1); Team 2-(-77). RECEIVING — (PHS) S. Jerome 7-83; B. Davis 5-41; C. Sandford 3-54, TD; T. Stephan 3-28; W. Camp 1-14; T. Whaley 1-12; A. Patterson 1-9, TD; M. Demianew 1-4. (RHS) C. Benz 2-18; B. Olson 2-17; C. Brown 1-2. ———— Contact Eric at esinger@ eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0839. Follow him on Twitter @ByEricSinger. PREP ROUNDUP: Mac-Hi thumps Riverside, Weston-McEwen gets first win Continued from 1B Heppner (1-3) finally got its usually-reliable ground game working as it rushed for 204 yards on 35 carries as a team. Coby Dougherty was the team’s leader with 128 yards on 15 attempts with two touchdowns. Quar- terback Jayden Wilson also threw for a touchdown to Logan Burright. “Our offensive line did a nice job getting things going,” Heppner coach Greg Grant said. “We’re improving, we had a good week of practice and I’m happy for the kids and for their effort.” Heppner’s defense stepped us as well, allowing just 123 total yards to the Boomers (0-4). Tyler led the team with seven tackles and two sacks, while Derek Howard had four tackles, three sacks. Heppner will open up league play next week at Weston-McEwen. IRRIGON 32, LAKEVIEW 21 — Irrigon grinded out a victory on homecoming night, even though the Knights weren’t playing at their best. The win over Lakeview pushes Irrigon’s record to 2-1 as it gets ready for league play next week. “We had a helluva night,” head coach Steve Sheller said. “We really did not play our best. We played just good enough to win.” En route to it’s 32-21 victory, quarterback Zach Hendrix threw 5-of-10 for 115 yards and three touch- downs while Josue Aguilera ran for 188 yards and a touchdown on 32 carries. However, it didn’t come easy. “I’m proud they fought,” Sheller said. Because without that fight, it would not have been a homecoming to remember. Sheller went on to say there were a lot of self inflicted wounds, and even said one of the players admitted he didn’t want to watch the film from Friday night. “The boys knew they didn’t play well,” he said, “I don’t anticipate it will continue.” Irrigon will hit the road next week for it’s next match up against Riverside. WESTON-MCEWEN 17, UNION 0 — The old saying defense wins games rang true for Weston- McEwen in Union. The TigerScots struggled against a strong Bobcats defensive unit, but with success on the ground and an all-out effort on defense they were finally able to pick up their first win of the season. “Defensively our boys really picked it up and started hitting like a true playoff caliber football team,” head coach Travis Glover said. “We’ve been trying to find our identity the first couple of weeks, and this is a great stepping stone before starting league.” The first half started slow for the TigerScots (1-2), but they still managed to get to the half up 6-0. “We made some adjust- ments and was able to start moving the ball the second half and really put it to them,” Glover said. Weston-McEwen domi- nated on the ground for 222 rushing yards while holding Union to only 56. Senior running back Jacob Speed led the TigerScots with 13 carries for 83 yards and a touchdown. Quarterback and fellow senior Brett Speed added 76 yards on eight carries, and finished the night 4-for-12 for 56 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. Parker Munck added a touchdown to the board, as well. The Bobcats (0-4) will lick their wounds and have a chance to rebound with one final non-league game next week, while the Tiger- Scots will host the Heppner Mustangs, who also picked up their first win Friday. UMATILLA 52, PORT- LAND CHRISTIAN 26 — Umatilla sophomore Pedro Alvarez had another standout performance this week when the Vikings traveled to Portland. The running back put 313 on just 16 carries and was responsible for three touchdowns as Umatilla took the 52-26 victory. “He kind of woke up tonight,” head coach Dan Durfey said. “It was his night.” The Vikings (3-1) were finally able to keep focus throughout the entirety of the game, somethings they had previously struggled with especially in the second half. On Friday, against the Royals (0-4) that wasn’t the case. Although, Umatilla did have a hiccup in the second half, Durfey said they were able to pick things up and finish the game strong. The effort was a true team performance, even though Alvarez did steal the show. “For someone to get that many yards the rest of the team has to be working and blocking,” Durfey added. “It was a team effort to get Pedro that many yards.” Quarterback Kaden Webb added 75 yards to Umatilla’s total and three rushing touch- downs. He finished 8-for 14 from the pocket with 114 yards and one touchdown. Cylinders kept rolling on all sides of the ball as Alvarez also notched a special teams touchdown after running back an 80-yard kick return. The defensive performance is also worth noting, as the Vikings were up against a tough opponent. “Our defense played really well,” Durfey said. “They played a tough running game and got punched in the mouth a couple of times. Both sides of the ball tonight did well.” Umatilla will begin league play next week at Burns. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. MCLOUGHLIN 35, RIVERSIDE 6 — The Riverside Pirates could no longer keep up their winning streak, dropping their road match up against McLoughlin on Friday night. Despite the 35-6 loss, the Pirates (2-1) did show head coach Boor David some positives. “The good thing that we can take away is that they played tough,” he said, “they never stopped. One of the things we’re going to have to work on is tackling. Offen- sively, the quarterback needs to have time to get the ball in the air so our receivers have time to do their jobs.” Offensively is where their struggles began. There were two interceptions returned for touchdowns. Add a fumble and penalties that kept backing Riverside up, and it just wasn’t able to get out of the hole. The Pioneers (3-1) entered the half up 28-0, and continued to assert their dominance until the final whistle blew. This marked the end of league play for both teams. McLoughlin will host Ontario next week, while Riverside returns home to face Irrigon.
