SPORTS
Saturday, November 18, 2017
MLS
East Oregonian
Page 3B
Auto Racing
Timbers part ways Earnhardt ready to say goodbye to NASCAR
Dale Earnhard Jr.
with head coach
Caleb Porter
Dale
Earnhardt
Jr. speaks
with the
media
during
a news
confer-
ence at
Home-
stead-Mi-
ami
Speed-
way in
Home-
stead,
Fla., Fri-
day, Nov.
17, 2017.
By DAN GELSTON
Associated Press
PORTLAND — Coach
Caleb Porter has parted
ways with the Portland
Timbers after five
seasons with the
team, including
an MLS Cup
championship.
The
team
made the move
official
Friday
morning.
T
h
e
4 2 - y e a r - o l d Porter
Porter compiled a
68-50-52 record
and guided the team to
the league title in 2015.
He was named the MLS
Coach of the Year after his
first season with the team
in 2013.
In a lengthy statement
released by the Timbers,
Porter thanked the organi-
zation.
“My goal in taking the
Timbers job was to lead
the club to new heights
and to win things that
had never been done by
the organization,” Porter
said. “Looking back and
reflecting on my time with
the Timbers, I am very
proud of the results we all
achieved and I know that
joining the club in 2013
was one of the best deci-
sions of my life.”
Porter signed a long-
term contract extension
with the team in January
2016.
“I respect Caleb’s
decision to seek his next
challenge. He leaves
Portland with a lasting
legacy valued by everyone
associated with the club,
and I wish him nothing but
success in the future,” team
owner Merritt Paulson said
in a statement.
Porter tied the Major
League Soccer record for
fewest losses through his
first 100 games with just
25.
The Timbers qualified
for the CONCACAF
Champions League twice
during his time with the
team. The Timbers also
reached the semifinals
of the U.S. Open Cup in
2013, his first season with
the team.
Portland
finished
this
season as the
top seed in the
Western Confer-
ence but fell in
the conference
semifinals
2-1
on
aggregate
to the Houston
Dynamo.
The
Timbers
were
decimated by injuries in
the semis, including to
midfielder Diego Chara,
who broke a bone in his
foot.
“This is one that hurts
for sure. We fell short. We
felt we could move on, but
we didn’t,” Porter said after
the game. “When the dust
settles I think we will look
back and realize it was a
good season, but it’s also a
season where you think to
yourself, ‘What if? What if
we were at full strength?’”
Porter came to the
Timbers from the Univer-
sity of Akron, where he
was head coach of the Zips
from 2006-12. He went to
the NCAA College Cup
championship game twice
during his tenure, winning
the title in 2010.
The Timbers said they
were identifying candi-
dates to succeed Porter.
“With our next on-field
leader, we look forward to
building on the Timbers’
winning tradition and to
setting the course for even
greater achievements in
the seasons ahead. Caleb
leaves a strong club
foundation and we are
well-positioned to manage
this departure,” Paulson
said.
BRIEFLY
College Football
Had signed long-
term contract in
January 2016
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
Stanfield’s Woods
signs with WWCC
STANFIELD — Stanfield
junior pitcher Brody
Woods signed with Walla
Walla Community College
(WWCC) on Wednesday,
which makes him the fourth
Tiger from the 2017 team
to go on to play collegiate
baseball.
Woods has received
All-State honors the last two
seasons, and after the 2017
season was named to the
First Team All-EOL.
Last season, the Stanfield
went 21-2 overall and 13-0
in league play. The Tigers
had a nice postseason won,
but it ended with a one-run
loss in the 3A semifinals.
Woods ended the season
with a .479 average and 38
RBI; 1.44 ERA, 41 IP and
63 strikeouts.
Woods will join Dylan
Grogan (Yakima Valley
CC) , Tony Flores (Blue
Mountain CC) and Klay
Jenson (Blue Mountain CC)
at the collegiate level next
year.
Kennewick High
School’s Cooper Shelby and
Southridge (WA) catcher
Lane Hailey have also
signed with WWCC.
HOMESTEAD, Fla. —
Dale Earnhardt Jr. bounded
out of the media center and
was instantly swarmed by
fans snapping photos and
shoving Sharpies in his face.
Earnhardt was tailed until
he walked up the steps to
another TV interview.
“Did you see him?” a man
yelled as more fans arrived
a few steps too late to reach
NASCAR’s most popular
driver.
The chance to catch him is
winding down.
Earnhardt will retire
Sunday, ending a career that
saw him emerge from his
father’s intimidating shadow
and grow into NASCAR’s
favorite son over 18 full
seasons. Hilarious and
heartfelt, his folksy charm
endeared him to the millions
that comprised “Junior
Nation “ and made him a
household name to the casual
fan who recognized Earn-
hardt simply as NASCAR’s
top pitchman.
Earnhardt has one final
destination on his farewell
tour, at Homestead-Miami
Speedway, a track which
over the last two years also
helped the sport bid farewell
to NASCAR greats Jeff
Gordon and Tony Stewart.
His legacy will be different
from theirs, and not simply
because Earnhardt never
won a championship as they
did. If anything, he was more
beloved as an ambassador of
the sport than any driver of
his era.
The 20-something Earn-
hardt that retreated into his
motorhome to play video
games all night has matured
into a 43-year-old man that
will be flanked Sunday by
his pregnant wife, his mother
and sister before he slides
into the No. 88 Chevrolet one
last time.
“There’s a whole other
world out there waiting for
him,” sister Kelley Earnhardt
Miller said. “There’s his
marriage and having a baby
and doing other things in
life, either professionally or
personally that he hasn’t been
able to do. He’ll have time
for them now. It’s exciting.”
Earnhardt’s finale hit a
AP Photo/Terry
Renna
bump Friday — he’ll start
from the rear of the field
because of an engine change
in the Chevys. His one wish
was to end the race on his
terms.
“It would be a bit of a
heartbreaker if we have the
kind of issue that would take
us out of an event and we
couldn’t finish,” he said.
Earnhardt, dressed in a red
T-shirt and red cap of his race
sponsor, was at ease as he
reflected on the end of career
that started May 30, 1999, at
Charlotte Motor Speedway.
He finished 16th — dad
was sixth — and he soon
started his perpetual grip on
NASCAR’s most popular
driver award.
Earnhardt cracked jokes,
quizzed his eligibility to
race in an Xfinity race with a
reporter and spoke with some
regret on the misspent years
early in his career.
“There were days when I
would come into the garage
to practice and everybody
was in their cars pulling out
of their stalls and I’m just
walking in,” he said. “And,
nothing was wrong with
that, you know, in my mind.
That’s crazy. I mean, you’d
be fired in this day and time
if a driver was that carefree
about it. It didn’t seem to
matter.”
He maintained much
of that spirit even though
he shaped up and ditched
the lazy habits and shirt-
tail-hanging-out wardrobe
he kept at Dale Earnhardt
Inc. when he joined the more
buttoned-down operation at
Hendrick Motorsports.
Earnhardt has driven for
team owner Rick Hendrick
since 2008 after he split DEI,
the team founded by his father
but run by his stepmother. He
was unhappy with the direc-
tion of DEI since his father’s
2001 death in a last-lap acci-
dent at the Daytona 500, and
a frosty relationship with his
stepmother led him to bolt to
NASCAR’s most powerful
team.
He won a Daytona 500
with each team, and 26 races
overall. But he never won a
Cup championship, or came
close in achievements to
matching his late Hall of
Fame father, Dale, who won
seven titles and was known
as “The Intimidator.”
A third-generation driver,
Earnhardt wanted to win a
title for himself, Hendrick
and the legion of fans who
have idolized him for a
generation. Earnhardt has
been feted with charitable
donations, his father’s race
car, a barrel of pickles and
numerous video tributes from
tracks, sponsors and teams.
Budweiser , his sponsor at
DEI, aired a tear-jerking
appreciation of his days in
the No. 88 car.
“They were all very
emotional. Amy is the one
that’s obviously the most
emotional,
with
being
pregnant and everything, so
they’ve really been hitting
her,” he said, laughing.
Earnhardt, who says he’s
healthy and feels good in
NASCAR Cup Series
Driver Profile
• 630 career starts
• 179, 165 laps driven
• 8,234 laps led
• 26 victories
• 149 Top-5 finishes
• $95+ million in earnings
*-Stats from Racing-Reference.info
the wake of concussions
that cost him 20 career
races, wants some of those
memories on home video
and hired a photographer to
shoot the final weekend and
has a camera crew filming
in preparation for a potential
documentary.
While the sport has all
eyes on Earnhardt, his are
on two more parting gifts:
JR Motorsports can win an
Xfinity Series championship
on Saturday and hunting
buddy Martin Truex Jr. is
the favorite to win the Cup
championship on Sunday.
“I’m Team Martin this
weekend, for sure,” Earn-
hardt said.
Earnhardt’s not quite
ready for a complete uncou-
pling from NASCAR: He
has two or three Xfinity races
planned for next season and
tossed out the Homestead
finale in 2018 as a potential
race.
He’ll still be around at
the track with his Xfinity
teams and his job in the NBC
Sports broadcast booth. Alex
Bowman takes over his ride
in 2018.
Outside of his family,
Earnhardt will have his flock
of fans pulling for him one
final time in the 88.
“I thing going to Daytona
next year, I’ll still be coming
to terms about what it looks
like without Dale on the race
track,” Earnhardt Miller said.
“I’m sad about it in terms of,
it’s what we’ve known, it’s
what our family’s done. It’s
all that we’ve lived through
and worked through in our
lives with losing our dad,
starting JR Motorsports
and all the fun and different
things we got to accomplish.”
It’s not over yet — but it’s
getting there.
“We want to enjoy this
weekend,” Earnhardt said,
“but we want to end well.”
No. 16 Washington in an unusual spot as it hosts Utah
By TIM BOOTH
Associated Press
SEATTLE — It’s a very
strange place that No. 16
Washington finds itself in
with two games left in the
regular season.
The Huskies’ hopes
of landing a spot in the
College Football Playoff
were dashed when they lost
to Stanford. Their shot at
playing in the Pac-12 cham-
pionship game is completely
out of their control. Even if
the Huskies (8-2, 5-2, No.
18 CFP) win their last two
games to reach 10 victories
it may not be good enough
to land them an at-large spot
in one of the New Year’s Six
bowl games.
In the end, the Huskies
may end up playing the role
of spoilers, beginning with
Saturday’s game against
Utah.
But things could still
swing
significantly
in
Washington’s favor. If Cali-
fornia can upset Stanford on
Saturday then Washington’s
situation
becomes
far
different. In that scenario,
the Huskies only need a win
Pac-12
Utah
Washington
Utes
Huskies
(5-5, 2-5)
(8-2, 5-2)
• Sat., 7:30 p.m. (ESPN)
• at Husky Stadium
over No. 15 Washington
State in the Apple Cup to
claim a spot in the Pac-12
title game.
But if Stanford beats Cal
then Washington becomes
a spoiler. A win over Utah
would keep the Utes waiting
another week to try to gain
bowl eligibility, and a win
over the rival Cougars in
the Apple Cup would keep
Washington State out of the
Pac-12 title game.
“These will be two
really tough games and I
know this: We’ll feel really
good about ourselves if we
can get that done. Because
these are going to be tough
challenges,”
Washington
coach Chris Petersen said.
“Then we look up and say,
‘OK, now what?’ But for us
to sit here and worry — that
has nothing to do with the
mindset we have around
here.”
The Utes (5-5, 2-5) need
one victory in their final
two games to become bowl
eligible for the fourth straight
season. After starting the
season 4-0, the Utes have
lost five of six, including last
week’s 33-25 home loss to
Washington State.
The Utes are bruised
and battered, uncertain of
the status of the Pac-12’s
leading receiver, Darren
Carrington, and could be
down three starters on
defense. Carrington, safety
Chase Hansen and line-
backer Sunia Tauteoli did
not play against Washington
State, while defensive end
Kylie Fitts left the game
with an injury.
“It doesn’t appear right
now like there are any
season-ending
injuries.
Although, in the regular
season there are only two
games left, so it is kind of
a relative statement,” Utah
coach Kyle Whittingham
said. “We just hope for the
best, but there are a half-
dozen guys that are in the
situation of, ‘Are they or
aren’t they going to play?’”
Here are other things to
watch for as the Huskies
look to improve to 10-1
all-time vs. Utah:
H U N T L E Y ’ S
REBOUND: Utah needs
a far better game from
quarterback Tyler Huntley
than the way he played last
week against Washington
State. Huntley threw five
interceptions against the
Cougars after having just
four interceptions in his
first seven games of the
season. Huntley did throw
for 330 yards, but needs to
rediscover the efficiency of
the previous week when he
threw four touchdowns on
just 22 pass attempts against
UCLA.
AIR IT OUT: A year
ago, Washington QB Jake
Browning threw for 43
touchdowns,
regularly
hitting big plays downfield.
With two games left in the
regular season, Browning
has just 16 TD passes and
only six of those have been
of 20 yards or more. Last
year, Browning had six TD
passes of 20 or more yards
in the first two games of the
season.
Browning needs just one
more touchdown pass to set
a career school record. He’s
currently tied with Keith
Price with 75 career TD
passes.
NO VICTOR: Wash-
ington linebacker Azeem
Victor was suspended indef-
initely this week following
his arrest on suspicion of
driving under the influence.
Petersen would not commit
to whether Victor will play
again this season.
Victor was a preseason
AP All-American as an
inside linebacker but was
suspended for the season
opener and eventually lost
his starting job to Ben Burr-
Kirven. Washington was in
the process of transitioning
Victor to a defensive end/
outside linebacker.
KICKIN’ IT: If it comes
down to a field goal, Utah
has arguably the best kicker
in the country. Matt Gay
leads the nation with 22 field
goals. He’s 22 of 26 on the
season, including five of
six on kicks of 50 or more
yards. Gay’s season-long is
56 yards.
SEMIFINAL: Hermiston’s run defense improvement a key to beating Wilsonville
Continued from 1B
performed that well in the
first quarter. Their play in
the opening 14 minutes has
been inconsistent most of
the season, and only recently
have they been putting up
double digits on an almost
regular basis — Hermiston
was held scoreless in the first
quarter by La Salle Prep in
Round 1 of the postseason.
On average, Hermiston
has scored 8.8 of its 36.5
points in the opening quarter.
One of the most common
demoninators to the Bull-
dog’s success when they
do score in the first quarter
is scoring fast, like they did
against South Albany. And
Pendleton. And Redmond.
And Lewiston.
Doing this, however,
against the future University
of Washington defensive
lineman Draco Bynum and
crew will be a challenge.
Wilsonville has been as
steady as one can be on the
defense. Overall, they have
allowed the fewest points
in Class 5A (132) and have
held almost every opponent
scoreless in the first half.
Only three teams have been
able to find the end zone
before halftime, and all
three came in the second
half.
During
the
regular
season, St. Helens took one
to the house and Bend and
Lebanon followed suit in
the postseason.
As scary as Wilsonville’s
defense is, its offense is
also very threatening. If
Hermiston can get the edge
early and then bring the
pressure to junior quarter-
back Nathan Overholt, the
Bulldogs will better their
chances at celebrating on
the four-plus hour drive
home.
For Wilsonville to return
to the 5A finals for the
second consecutive year it
must assert itself at the line,
and not just defensively.
RUN RUN RUN:
It has been a theme in
every Hermiston game.
The Bulldogs establish the
run to then open up the
passing game. It is also
something that has worked
for the Wildcats. But unlike
Hermiston, who has both
junior quarterback Andrew
James and senior workhorse
Jonathan Hinkle, Wilson-
ville counts on mostly one
player: Cooper Mootz.
The
5-foot
9-inch
165-pound
junior
has
racked up all but 800 of the
Wildcats total rushing yards.
Mootz has ran for 1,135
yards and 23 touchdowns
on 180 carries. His impres-
sive season may continue
if he can impose his will on
Hermiston’s defensive line.
In Wilsonville’s last four
wins, the Wildcats have
ran for 300 or more yards.
Hermiston hasn’t given up
300 yards or more since
Week 6 against Ridgeview.
Since that 48-26 win, the
Bulldogs have only given
up 200 or more yards once.
But the Bulldogs have yet to
face anyone like Mootz yet,
and he doesn’t even have to
have an extrodinary night
on the gridiron.
Throughout the season,
Hermiston has only allowed
three players to collect
more than 100 yards in a
single game: Redmond’s
Jack Taylor and Mountain
View duo Jonas Larsen and
Dalton
Payfer-Locking.
The Bulldogs are 1-1 when
allowing a player to run all
over the field, and Mootz
will threaten that record
Saturday.
But all he has to run
enough to get Overholt
going.
If
Hermiston’s
defense struggles to bring
the pressure, Overholt will
be have another one of his
near-perfect performances
and Mootz .
———
Contact Alexis at aman-
sanarez@eastoregonian.com
or 541-564-4542. Follow her
on Twitter @almansanarez.