SPORTS
FRIDAY, AUGUST 17, 2018
INTENTIONAL
PLUNKINGS
UNDER FIRE
2B
1B
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS
PENDLETON
Bucks ready to break out
With numerous returners,
Pendleton looking for first
playoff win since 2002
By ERIC SINGER
East Oregonian
P
ENDLETON — Following con-
secutive 3-6 seasons, things finally
got back on track for the Pendleton
Buckaroos in 2017.
The Buckaroos finished the season
5-5 and qualified for the Class 5A play-
offs for the first time since 2014, where
they competed well against the even-
tual state runner-up Churchill Lanc-
ers before the game slipped away in the
Staff photo by Eric Singer
Pendleton head football coach Erik Davis, right, talks with seniors Cam Sandford, center, and Shawn Yeager, left,
prior to Thursday’s practice. Smoke from wildfires in the Northwest forced the Buckaroos to move practice indoors
to the Pendleton Round-Up Pavilion.
Staff photo by Eric Singer
Pendleton’s Trent Sorey waits
to run a drill during Thursday’s
practice at the Round-Up Pa-
vilion in Pendleton. Sorey, a
senior, begins the season as
Pendleton’s starting quarter-
back after serving as the back-
up for the past two seasons.
“I just want to
win some football
games”
— Trent Sorey,
Pendleton starting quarterback
second half. A large part of Pendleton’s
success was from the production from
its then-junior class; a talented 22-per-
son group that head coach Erik Davis
had been watching closely since the kids
were in middle school.
The class produced 11 all-district
selections, and two of those kids, line-
backer Kirk Liscom and punter Gabe
Umbarger, also earned all-state men-
tions. And with all 22 kids back for
their senior seasons and only a hand-
ful of seniors to replace, Davis is feel-
ing excited about what his team can do
this fall.
“Being that my son (Blake) is a senior,
I’ve known these kids for a long time,”
Davis said at practice on Thursday. “I’ve
watched them compete in everything
from Little League to wrestling to bas-
ketball, and I’ve been looking forward
to this year for a long time. I just knew
this was a special group, and they hav-
en’t disappointed right now in practice.”
The biggest change this fall will be
at the quarterback position, as two-year
starter Nick Bower, who threw for more
than 2,000 yards and 20 touchdowns last
season, graduated in the spring. The next
man up at the position will be senior
Trent Sorey, who served as Bower’s pri-
mary backup for the past two seasons.
Sorey, also a standout calf roper on
the Intermountain High School Rodeo
team and National High School Finals
Rodeo qualifier, is a prototypical dual-
threat quarterback with superb scram-
bling skills to go with a strong right
throwing arm that’s capable of mak-
ing clutch throws. Behind Sorey, junior
Cooper Roberts appears to be solidifying
himself as Sorey’s primary backup, and
Davis described Roberts as the best pure
passer on the team.
“Right now Trent’s our guy,” Davis
said. “He’s just one heck of a competi-
tor and he’s just a leader, a natural leader.
He’s good with his feet, he scrambles as
well as I’ve seen and he’s got a good
arm.”
HERMISTON
The 6-foot-tall Sorey says he’s excited
to finally get his chance to lead the Buck-
aroos, but is focused on trying not to do
too much.
“I just want to win some football
games,” Sorey said. “And just lead the
team, make plays when they’re needed
and have fun.”
Protecting Sorey is what Davis
believes is one of the best, if not the best,
offensive lines he has had in his seven
years in Pendleton. Everett Williard was
an all-conference center in 2017, while
Travis McCoy at left tackle and Cetch
Kelly at right tackle settled in as stal-
warts last season.
“We go as they go, to be honest with
you,” Davis said. “Everett’s one of our
leaders and he’s a stud, Cetch and Travis
have that experience. We’re as good up
College football
Cougars enter season
drawing strength from
Hilinski’s memory
A local revolution
Hermiston Revolution
soccer wins big in
Spokane tournament
By BRETT KANE
East Oregonian
By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS
Associated Press
Hermiston Revolution fin-
ished the summer off strong last
weekend.
The local youth soccer pro-
gram, led by commissioner Erick
Juarez, traveled to Spokane, Wash-
ington, for the Les Schwab North-
west Cup tournament, in which
their U-13 boys’ team went unde-
feated, taking home the title.
The league also consists of
three other teams: U-14 boys,
U-12 girls, and U-15 girls, who are
placed onto their respective teams
by age, and all had impressive runs
over the weekend as well.
The U-14 boys won their first
three games of the tournament, but
ultimately lost to the Tri-Cities FC
PULLMAN, Wash. — Wash-
ington State receiver Robert
Lewis is going into this season
still mourning Tyler Hilinski
but also drawing strength
from his memory.
Hilinski was expected
to lead the Cougars this
year but the young quar-
terback killed himself in Janu-
ary. Thoughts of him have stayed
with the team over the interven-
ing months. “We love Tyler,”
Lewis said. “He’s always going
to be with us.”
In the months before his
death, Hilinski had been regarded
as the presumptive starter replac-
ing Luke Falk, the Cougars’
Photo courtesy of Erick Juarez
Hermiston Revolution’s U-13 boys soccer team poses with the
championship trophy after winning the Les Schwab Northwest
Cup in Spokane, Washington, over the weekend.
on Sunday afternoon, ending in a
score of 2-1.
The U-12 girls tied their first
game against the Spokane Shad-
ows and won their following three
games, earning them second place
See BUCKS/3B
in their division. The U-15 girls
had a rough start to their weekend,
but won their final match against
the Sandpoint Strikers with a score
See SOCCER/3B
record-setting quarterback who
graduated last year and is now
with the Tennessee Titans.
So Washington State went into
the fall with questions on the field
as well as heavy hearts.
“He would want us to go
out and play as hard as we
can for him,” Lewis said.
Three players are now
competing for the start-
er’s spot, led by graduate
transfer Gardner Minshew,
a part-time starter the past two
seasons at East Carolina. Also
in the mix are juniors Trey Tins-
ley and Anthony Gordon, neither
of whom has thrown a pass in an
FBS game.
Coach Mike Leach said Min-
See WSU/3B
Sports shorts
NASCAR driver Kasey
Kahne retiring
CONCORD, N.C. (AP) —
Kasey Kahne announced Thurs-
day that he will retire from full-
time racing in NASCAR and plans
to focus on the sprint car team he
owns.
Kahne said in a Twitter post
that he is at ease with the decision
after 15 years racing in NASCAR.
Kahne, from Enumclaw, Wash-
ington, made it to NASCAR via
sprint car racing and his Kasey
Kahne Racing team competes in
the World of Outlaws series.
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
Snedeker shoots 59 at Wyndham Championship
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) —
Brandt Snedeker shot an 11-under 59
on Thursday at the Wyndham Champi-
onship, falling one shot shy of match-
ing the PGA Tour record.
He made a 20-foot putt on his final
hole to become the 10th player in tour
history to break 60. Jim Furyk set the
record with a 58 in the final round of
the Travelers Championship in 2016.
“I better be smiling,” Snedeker said.
“I don’t do this every day.”
Snedeker began his round at par-70
Sedgefield Country Club with a bogey
at No. 10, and he took off from there.
He played the front nine in 27, includ-
ing an eagle 2 on the par-4 sixth hole
when he holed out from 176 yards.
This is the third consec-
utive year the PGA
Tour has had a sub-
60 round. Snede-
ker is the first to shoot
59 since Adam Hadwin in
the third round of the 2017
Careerbuilder Challenge.
1933 — Lou Gehrig of the New
York Yankees plays his 1,308th
straight game to break Everett Scott’s
record of 1,307.
2015 — The National Labor
Relations Board dismisses a historic
ruling that Northwestern University
football players are school employ-
ees who are entitled to form what
would be the nation’s first union of
college athletes.
2016 — Jamaica’s Elaine Thomp-
son completes the first 100-200 wom-
en’s Olympic double since 1988.
Contact us at 541-966-0838 or
sports@eastoregonian.com