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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 16, 2017)
Page 2B SPORTS East Oregonian Thursday, November 16, 2017 BULLDOGS: Preparing for Wildcats’ tough defense over Bend. The defense is led by two upperclassmen at the line, senior Aiden Burkhead and junior Caleb Baker. The duo totals a mass of 475 pounds and leads the team with 46 and 45 total tackles, respec- tively. Burkhead also has a team-high seven sacks. On top of that duo, Wash- ington Huskies commit and former Pendleton resident Draco Bynum brings a 6-feet-6, 275 pound frame with 32 total tackles, six tackles-for-loss and fi ve sacks under his belt. “I don’t think we’ve seen anything similar to this foot- ball team,” Faaeteete said. “They’ve got a Divison-1 lineman, and a great quar- terback. They’re defensive front seven is as good as they come.” Wilsonville’s success doesn’t just come from the line. A pair of linebackers, seniors Manav Raghubansh and Chance Hansen, sit in the heart of the defense and are good for 80 combined tackles while the secondary has also done their job and recorded six of the team’s 12 interceptions. “We have to be tenacious, we have to be physical and keep their offense of the fi eld as long as possible,” Faae- teete said. Last week, James’ trust in the process led to one of his best games as of late. Even though he wasn’t the most accurate — completing 14-of-22 passes — he threw for over 200 yards and four touchdowns. Continued from 1B James said of the team’s development since the Week 3 loss. “We’ve had the skill the whole time but now everything, confi dence, is built up.” Repeating that steady performance, however, will be tough against Wilsonville. On defense, the Wildcats have a Divison-1 bound athlete taking charge and on offense, they have a quarter- back who has led the team to 10 consecutive wins. “They’ve got an oppor- tunity to make a dream a reality,” Faaeteete added. “Everyone in the quarters and the semis are good football programs ... but our approach doesn’t change.” The Wildcats are coming off 31-7 win over Lebanon, the defending Class 5A champions. The game was a rematch of last season’s fi nale when Lebanon defeated Wilsonville 34-17 for the title. Wilsonville had its revenge and held the No. 10-seeded team to only one touchdown. That’s been a theme for the 10-1 team throughout the year, as they bounced back from a season-opening loss to South Medford, a Class 6A team with only one loss on the season. During that time, Wilsonville has shut out three opponents — two in back-to- back weeks — and allowed the fewest points (132) in the entire Class 5A. The most any team has scored against the Wildcats is 21, which happened in Round 1 of the playoffs during a 41-21 win It was Hermiston’s fourth consecutive game scoring 40 or more points, and its sixth of the season. The high scoring affair was thanks to big plays on all three sides of the ball. Senior Dayshawn Neal that set up Hermiston’s fi rst scoring drive with 60-plus- yard kickoff return. Fellow seniors Jonathan Hinkle and Joey Gutierrez each had 80-plus-yard runs to the house, and the defense won the turnover game recovering four fumbles and nabbing two interceptions. Faaeteete is hoping for a repeat of that performance when Wilsonville’s quarter- back Nathan Overholt and his offense is on the fi eld. “(We have to) win the turnover takeaway battle,” he said. “Win fi rst downs and make second downs more manageable. At the end of the day the game of football comes down to hitting and tackling. We have to be ready to go.” Wilsonville is known to have buttery fi ngers. The Wildcats have fumbled 17 times on the season, and only recovered seven of those fumbles. For the Bulldogs to be successful, they will need to be the fi rst to the ball, espe- cially when its in Overholt’s hands, who has a team-high six fumbles. The junior quarterback enters with a 66 percent completion rate with 1,688 passing yards and 17 touch- downs. The Wildcats are a pass-heavy offense, and Overholt is quick to get the ball out, but they also posses another threat — one that will test Hermiston’s developing defensive line — a solid run game. When the Bulldogs opened the season, opponent’s run game was the defense’s Achilles heel. Now, the unit has only given up more than 200 yards in one of their last fi ve games. Wilsonville junior Cooper Mootz will use his 5-foot 9-inch 195-pound frame to try to bulldoze his way through white and purple jerseys. Mootz has totaled 1,135 yards on the ground this season and averages 103.2 yards per game — that’s more than seven other Wildcats’ season totals. Wilsonville, like Herm- iston, has done the most damage in the fi rst half and more specifi cally the second quarter. The Bulldogs will need the have another aggres- sive start like they have in previous postseason games if they want a chance against the second-best team in the state. Kickoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m at Hillsboro Stadium. The game will be broadcasted on AM 1360 KOHU and live streamaed via NHFS at http:// w w w. n f h s n e t w o r k . c o m / associations/osaa. The winner of Saturday’s game will play either No. 1 Mountain View or No. 4 Churchill in the 5A championship game Nov. 25. ——— Contact Alexis at aman- sanarez@eastoregonian.com or 541-564-4542. Follow her on Twitter @almansanarez. AP Photo/Steve Dykes Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard drives to the basket on Orlando Magic forward Evan Fournier during Wednesday’s game in Portland. BLAZERS: Lillard moves up on all-time scoring list Continued from 1B skid. Portland’s offense had been stagnant, especially in close games. Blazers coach Terry Stotts tweaked the starting lineup, inserting rookie Caleb Swanigan, who made his second straight start. But after playing just fi ve minutes in the fi rst half, Pat Connaughton started the second and the Blazers went with a three guard lineup. Orlando was without J.J. Augustin (left hamstring) for the seventh straight game and Jonathan Isaac (right ankle) for the second game. The Magic jumped out to a 13-3 lead, prompting Stotts to take a timeout. But Portland was hurt by turn- overs and couldn’t get its offense going. The Magic stretched the lead to 38-26 early in the second quarter on Jonathan Simmons’ layup. But the Blazers found their shot and ended the half on a 17-0 run, capped by McCollum’s driving layup, to lead 51-47 at the break. McCollum led all scorers at halftime with 16 points. The two teams both scored 24 points in the third quarter, and Portland led 75-51 going into the fi nal period. Shelvin Mack made consecutive baskets to pull the Magic within 79-78. TIP INS: Portland: Lillard passed Mychal Thompson (9,215 points) for eighth on the team’s all-time scoring list. UP NEXT Blazers: Having wrapped up a six-game homestand, Portland visits the Sacramento Kings on Friday. CY YOUNG: Scherzer the 10th in MLB history to win award at least three times him into rare company. He’s the 10th pitcher with at least three Cy Youngs, and among the other nine, only Kershaw, Roger Clemens and Roy Halladay aren’t in the Hall of Fame — Kershaw and Halladay aren’t yet eligible. “That’s why I’m drinking a lot of champagne tonight,” Scherzer said. Scherzer earned the NL honor last year with Washington and the 2013 American League prize with Detroit. “This one is special,” he said. “When you start talking Continued from 1B game. Just a little different than the pitcher they call “Klubot.” Kluber was stoic as ever when announced as the AL winner. He swallowed hard but otherwise didn’t react, only showing the hint of a smile moments later when answering questions. Not that he wasn’t thrilled. “Winning a second one maybe, for me personally, kind of validates the fi rst one,” Kluber said. Scherzer’s win moves about winning three times, I can’t even comprehend it at this point.” Scherzer was 16-6 with a career-best 2.51 ERA this year. The 33-year-old righty struck out a league-leading 268 for the NL East cham- pion Nationals, and in an era noted for declining pitcher durability, he eclipsed 200 innings for the fi fth straight season. He had to overcome a variety of ailments to get there, and Washington’s training staff was high on his thank-you list. “Everybody had a role in keeping me out on the fi eld,” he said. “I’m very thankful for all their hard work.” Kershaw has won three NL Cy Youngs and was the last pitcher to win back-to- back. He was 18-4 with a league-best 2.31 ERA and 202 strikeouts. This is his second runner-up fi nish. Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals fi nished third. Kluber missed a month of the season with back pain and still easily won the AL award over Sale and third- place fi nisher Luis Severino of the New York Yankees. Kluber led the majors with a 2.25 ERA, and his 18 wins tied for the most in baseball. He added to the Cy Young he won with the Indians in 2014 and is the 19th pitcher to win multiple times. The 31-year-old Kluber was especially dominant down the stretch, closing out the season by going 11-1 to help Cleveland win the AL Central. He and Minnesota’s Ervin Santana tied for the major league lead with fi ve complete games — nobody else had more than two. Kluber and Scherzer both had rough outings in the playoffs. Kluber gave up nine runs over two starts in an AL Division Series against the Yankees, and Scherzer blew a save in the decisive Game 5 of an NL Division Series against the Cubs. Scherzer said he couldn’t even watch the League Championship Series, although he did tune in for the World Series. “That will eat at me this whole offseason,” he said. Voting for the awards was completed before the postseason began. Brandon Case Weston Putman PIGSKIN PICKERS Week 11 Overall: Last Week: Hermiston vs. Wilsonville Churchill vs. Mnt.View Ontario vs. Marshfi eld Santiam vs. St. Paul Arizona State at OSU- Arizona at Oregon Michigan at Wisconsin Rams at Vikings Eagles at Cowboys Falcons at Seahawks Ron Gibbs Clint Shoemake Zachary Orem Eric Singer Mike Appleton Jodi Bloomberg John Airoldi Alexis Mansanarez 65-35 80-20 77-23 72-28 70-30 69-31 67-33 62-38 57-43 64-36 5-5 8-2 7-3 7-3 5-5 4-6 7-3 5-5 7-3 5-5 Hermiston Hermiston Wilsonville Wilsonville Wilsonville Hermiston Hermiston Hermiston Hermiston Wilsonville Mnt. View Churchill Churchill Churchill Churchill Mnt. View Mnt. View Churchill Mnt. View Mnt. View Marshfi eld Ontario Marshfi eld Marshfi eld Marshfi eld Ontario Marshfi eld Ontario Marshfi eld Ontario St. Paul St. Paul St. Paul St. Paul St. paul St. Paul St. Paul St. Paul St. Paul St. Paul Arizona State Arizona State Arizona State Arizona State Arizona State Oregon State Arizona State Arizona State Oregon State Arizona State Oregon Arizona Arizona Arizona Arizona Arizona Oregon Oregon Arizona Arizona Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin Michigan Vikings Vikings Rams Rams Rams Rams Rams Vikings Rams Vikings Eagles Eagles Eagles Eagles Eagles Eagles Eagles Cowboys Eagles Eagles Seahawks Seahawks Seahawks Falcons Seahawks Falcons Falcons Falcons Seahawks Seahawks ROGERS TOYOTA 4 SEASON’S PAINT CO. ST. 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