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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 9, 2017)
SPORTS THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2017 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS Prep Football Playoffs Dawgs ready for tough fi ght Mustangs ready for rematch with Buckaroos 2A Quarterfi nals Heppner, St. Paul to meet in 2A quarterfi nals Staff photo by E.J. Harris La Salle’s Tae Brooks runs the ball trailed by Keaton Mikami in the Bulldogs’ 47-21 win against La Salle on Friday, Nov. 3, at Kennison Field in Hermiston. No. 3 Hermiston hosts No. 6 South Albany in 5A quarterfi nals By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ East Oregonian HERMISTON — The Hermiston Bulldogs were coming off a not-so-hot week of practice to open Round 1 of the 5A playoffs. But after a sluggish start, the Bulldogs (8-2) responded in only a way they could and defeated La Salle Prep 47-12 to move onto to the quarterfi nals. Last week, the mantra was win one to host one more. This week, as Hermiston welcomes South Albany for 5A Quarterfi nals S. Albany Hermiston Rebels Bulldogs (6-4) (8-2) • Friday, 7 p.m. • at Kennison Field its fi rst quarterfi nal home game, there’s a new saying. “We keep telling our kids that we are one of eight,” head coach David Faaeteete said. “After this week, we have a chance to be one of four.” Faaeteete and quarterback Andrew James both admitted that before entering last week’s game, the Bulldogs didn’t have their greatest week of practice. That’s not the case as they enter Week 11. “They were way more dialed in on Monday’s practice than they were last week,” Faaeteete said Tuesday. “Last week was maybe an emotional roller coaster, after the big Pend- leton win and going into their fi rst playoff game, but now they have settled down quite a bit.” The plan going into the week is the same as it has been all season. Hermiston will look to establish the play action pass by setting up the ground game early, and fans can count on seeing play- makers continuing to make big plays as the Bulldogs will work on fi nding whoever the open receiver is. As of late, that’s been more than just senior Dayshawn Neal. See DAWGS/2B By ERIC SINGER East Oregonian #8 Heppner #1 St. Paul Mustangs Buckaroos (6-3) (9-0) • Sat., 1 p.m. • at Newberg High School Under head coach Greg Grant, the Heppner Mustangs have developed a winning consistency over the last two-plus decades that is matched by only a few schools in the state. The Mustangs are in the OSAA state playoffs for the 20th consecutive season and after a fi rst round win over Neah-Kah-Nie on Saturday, the Mustangs are back in the quarterfi nals for the sixth consecutive season. Though earning a trip to the state semifi nals for the fi fth straight time will be a tough task this weekend for the No. 8 seed Mustangs. Heppner travels to Newberg High School on Saturday afternoon to take on the No. 1 seed St. Paul Buckaroos, a rematch between two teams that met during Week 1 of the regular season. St. Paul won that meeting 40-0, though the Mustangs know they are a different team than the one that took the fi eld that night. “We’re a lot better than we were back then,” Heppner senior Wyatt Steagall said after Satur- day’s fi rst round game. “We’ve made a lot of changes and I think it’s going to be one heck of a game to be honest.” But the Buckaroos surely have improved from that meeting as well, and come into Saturday looking every bit the part of the No. 1 team in 2A. St. Paul, in its fourth season since moving up from Class 1A, is a perfect 9-0 on the season and won the Tri-River Conference. It had fi ve regular season wins over playoff teams, including Heppner, No. 2 Monroe (42-12), No. 5 Santiam (38-12), No. 10 Kennedy (54-14) and No. 13 Central Linn (62-27). The Buckaroos also defeated No. 16 Lost River 46-13 in the fi rst round last week. Grant said on Saturday that his Mustangs are looking forward to getting another shot at the Bucka- roos. “Oh yeah we’re excited to play anybody this time of year,” he said. “We know how good they are, don’t mistake it. They’re very well-coached and a tough team and we’re just going to go play as hard as we can and see what happens.” The Mustangs are a much different team than the one that was outgained 370-120 by the Buckaroos to start 2017. That was a See MUSTANGS/2B NFL Seahawks seem to love the desert, look for another win there By BOB BAUM Associated Press GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Seattle Seahawks must love the desert. They’ve beaten coach Bruce Arians’ Cardinals three of the past four times they’ve played there. The exception was last season’s excruci- ating 6-6 tie, a Sunday night game when Arizona and Seattle both missed chip-shot fi eld goals that would have won the game in overtime. “It was old-time football,” Arizona coach Bruce Arians said. “I’ve never been in a game with 97 snaps on offense and you only score six points.” It’s the latest matchup between NFC West foes where home fi eld doesn’t seem to mean much. The Cardinals have won in three of its past four trips to Seattle, but the Seahawks have dominated in Arizona. The Seahawks (5-3) will be favored again when they face the Cardinals (4-4) on Thursday Night Football Seattle Arizona Seahawks Cardinals (5-3) (4-4) • Thurs., 5:25 p.m., NBC • at U. of Phoenix Stadium Thursday night, with Seattle’s tough defensive front aiming to stop Adrian Peterson, who literally is carrying the offen- sive load since coming to the Cardinals. With quarterback Carson Palmer out with a broken arm, Arizona is leaning on Peterson even more. Thursday night’s game comes just four days after the 32-year-old running back carried a career-high 37 times for 159 yards in the Cardinals’ 20-10 victory at San Francisco. “I’m feeling good,” Peterson said on Wednesday. “My body’s feeling fresh. I’m ready to roll. I’m sure they are as sore as us, so it’s going to be a battle of will.” The Seahawks are coming AP Photo/Stephen Brashear In this Sunday, Nov. 5, fi le photo, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson (3) scrambles away from Washington Redskins defensive end Stacy McGee (92) in the second half of an NFL football game in Seattle. off a home loss to Wash- ington. “We took a step back last week,” coach Pete Carroll said. “We didn’t play like we wanted to, but over the last month or so, we’ve been playing pretty good football. We’re moving in the right direction.” Seattle not only has to play on short rest, but must travel to play the game. “If you’re going to play on Thursday night,” Arians said, “home is a huge advantage.” The Cardinals, whose wins have come against teams that are a combined 5-21, will need all the advan- tages they can muster. The Seahawks had several players miss practice in the short week due to injuries. Most will probably play, but running back Eddie Lacy (groin) and defensive end Marcus Smith (concussion) are out, and safety Earl Thomas (heel) is listed as doubtful. Here are some things to consider when Seattle faces Arizona: KICKING WOES: The teams got rid of the kickers who missed those fi eld goals in last season’s 6-6 tie — Seattle’s Stephen Hauschka and Arizona’s Chandler Catanzaro — and fi gured they had upgraded. But Blair Walsh missed three fi eld goals in Sunday’s loss to the Redskins. And 42-year-old Phil Dawson, one of the most consistent kickers in recent years, has missed six for Arizona, equaling his misses for the previous two seasons combined. Four of Dawson’s misfi res have come from 40 yards and in. RUNNING RAWLS: With Lacy out, the Seahawks will rely on Thomas Rawls as their primary ball carrier. Rawls rushed for a season- high 39 yards last week against Washington. It’s far from an impressive total, but it came on nine carries and the 4.3 yards per carry were a drastic improvement for Seattle’s run game. FLAG FEST: Carroll was bothered this week after Seattle was penalized 16 times against Washington, one off the franchise record in a game. It was the second time in three weeks the Seahawks threatened the team mark after having 15 in a victory over the New York Giants. Ten of the penalties came on offense, with all fi ve starting offensive linemen picking up at least one. It was a major lack of discipline by the Seahawks, and while Seattle has never been the cleanest team under Carroll, this level of sloppiness is not sustainable. Sports shorts Packers waive TE Bennett GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — The Green Bay Packers have waived Martellus Bennett, bringing the tight end’s short tenure at Lam- beau Field to a surprising end. General manager Ted Thompson announced the move on Wednesday after practice. The Packers cited a “failure to disclose a physical condition” for making the move. Bennett was added to the injury report after the bye last week with a shoulder injury. He did not play in the 30- Bennett 17 loss on Monday to the Detroit Lions. Bennett also posted on Instagram during the bye week a message that indicated he was thinking about retirement. Bennett signed with the Packers as an unre- stricted free agent last offseason and started seven games. He had 24 catches for 233 yards. “There are actually some road course races that I might be interested in running. We’ve actually discussed it in- house here, but we don’t have anything near worth announcing by any means.” — Tony Stewart The three-time NASCAR cham- pion expressed interest in getting back in a stock car Wednesday as he introduced Aric Almirola as the newest driver at Stewart-Haas Racing. Celtics beat Lakers 107-96 for 10th consecutive victory BOSTON (AP) — Aron Baynes matched his career high with 21 points, Kyrie Irving scored 19 and the Boston Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers 107-96 on Wednesday for their 10th straight victory. Baynes also had eight rebounds and three assists, and Boston improved to 10-2 even as Al Horford sat out after being placed in concussion protocol earlier in the day. The Celtics also lost rookie forward Jayson Tatum late in the second quarter, when he went to the locker room with a sore right ankle. Boston led by 20 in the second quarter before letting the lead shrink to two in the third. Los Angeles then struggled down the stretch, shooting 5 of 18 from the fi eld with six turnovers in the fi nal period. Brandon Ingram and Jordan Clarkson led the Lakers with 18 points apiece. THIS DATE IN SPORTS 1912 The lateral pass is used as an offensive weapon for the fi rst time by Worcester Tech coach William F. Carney. 1996 Evander Holyfi eld pounds Mike Tyson into submission at 37 seconds of the 11th round to win the WBA heavyweight title in Las Vegas. Holyfi eld becomes the second man to hold a piece of the heavy- weight title three times. 2014 Landon Donovan scores three goals and sets up Robbie Keane’s goal, propelling the LA Galaxy into the Western Conference fi nals with a 5-0 victory over Real Salt Lake. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com
