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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 13, 2018)
Page 2B SPORTS East Oregonian Thursday, September 13, 2018 PREP FOOTBALL Dawgs welcome Lions as MCC gauntlet continues Pendleton will face familiar Milwaukie foe in Putnam By ANNIE FOWLER and BRETT KANE East Oregonian The Hermiston Bull- dogs have settled into the Mid-Columbia Conference football scene quite nicely. The Bulldogs are 2-0 after victories over Pasco and Richland. The Kenne- wick Lions (0-2) are up next, visiting Kennison Field on Friday. “Kennewick is a few missed plays and a few missed tackles away from being 2-0,” Hermiston coach David Faaeteete said. “Kennewick is very explo- sive and very athletic. They are huge up front — bigger than us. We just have to do our job.” The Lions are com- ing off a 27-26 loss to Chi- awana last week, a game in which Ryan Lowry kicked a game-winning 35-yard field goal for the Riverhawks as time expired. “I was very proud of our kids,” Lions coach Bill Tem- pleton said. “We had a men- tal letdown, but it was may- hem until the end.” Going into Friday’s game, the Bulldogs rank first in offense in the MCC with an average of 417 yards per game. The defense ranks third behind Kamiakin and Chiawana. Individually, senior run- ning back Wyatt Noland leads the league in rush- ing with 399 yards on 52 carries, while quarter- back Andrew James ranks fourth in passing with 206 yards. He has thrown three touchdowns and one interception. “That’s great, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t mean anything,” Faaeteete said. “We are just trying to be balanced. We try to design our offense to work EO file photos Hermiston’s Andrew James gets tackled by Pasco’s Oscar Rodriguez while rushing the ball in the Bulldogs’ 45-0 win against the Bulldogs on August 31 in Hermiston. Pend- leton’s Blake Davis gets brought down by a Hood River de- fender in the Bucks’ 46-0 win against the Eagles on Sept. 7 in Pendle- ton. with our group.” Kennewick will have quarterback AJ Templeton back in the lineup after miss- ing last week with a shoul- der injury. “We just wanted to be cautious last week,” coach Templeton said of his son. While Faaeteete has his concerns about the Lions, he isn’t quite ready to give his team a passing grade. “I like everything to be good all the time,” he said. “We need to finish blocks, run the gaps and throw to the right receiver. Attention to detail. I am a dot the i’s and cross the t’s kind of guy.” Templeton knows his boys will be in for a battle. “They are a well-coached team,” Templeton said. “Their front five are grind- ers. They are skilled. They move you and they are very good at making things go.” Which helps make Noland and James very dangerous. “He is a very talented kid,” Templeton said of Noland. “So is Andrew James. We have our work cut out for us.” Bucks take perfect record on the road Despite two tremendous wins so far this season — the season opener against La Grande (38-12) and a league debut against Hood River Valley (46-0) — the Pend- leton Bucks are keeping a level head. They’ll travel to Portland to face the Putnam Kings- men on Friday, who have a 0-2 record, while Pendle- ton’s is 2-0. “We played Putnam during the past two years,” said Pendleton head coach Erik Davis. “Two years ago, we got beat pretty handily. They play disciplined foot- ball. But last year, they came up here and we took care of business.” The Bucks excelled in all phases on the field last Fri- day night — quarterback Trent Sorey threw for 217 yards and two touchdowns and the defense prevented Hood River Valley from scoring even once. The team has spent the past week refining what they did well against Hood River. Coach Davis has noticed his team has been slow to start during this season’s first two games. He hopes to come out of the gate swinging on Friday. “We’re not adding any- thing new,” Davis said. “We’re familiar with how Putnam coaches and how they work offensively.” The Bucks’ goal this week is simple: Continue a winning streak. “Our goal is 3-0,” Davis said. “It doesn’t matter what the score is, a win is a win, and every one of them is a confidence booster. Con- fidence helps with perfor- mance and speed. This team has lofty goals, but they also understand our immediate goals. It just comes down to coming out 3-0.” In other leagues: Irrigon at Liber- ty-Spangle (WA): The Knights (2-0) will put their perfect record on the line against a Liberty-Spangle team that is much better than its 0-2 record. “They know how to play football up there,” Irrigon coach Ken Thompson said. “They are trying to find themselves after some kids graduated.” The Knights have gotten good production from run- ning back Lino Covarru- bia (180 yards), while Caleb Adams is the main target at wide receiver for quarter- back Keith Flemming, who also stars at linebacker. “Our defense is pretty stout,” Thompson said. Heppner vs. Lost River (in Bend): The 0-2 Mus- tangs are looking to enter the win column after early sea- son losses to Clatskanie and Santiam. Heppner will be looking for more good things from running back Mason Leh- man, who ran for 108 yards and a touchdown last week against Santiam. Umatilla at Stanfield: Two teams looking for their first win will match up in Stanfield. “A win would go a long way in getting our program going in the right direction,” Tigers coach Davy Salas said. “We have gotten better each week, even if the score- board doesn’t show it. There is still work to do, that’s what preseason is for.” Riverside at Seton Catholic (WA): The Pirates travel to Vancouver, Wash., for a 1 p.m. game Saturday. Riverside (0-1) suffered a 48-6 loss to Portland Chris- tian last week. The Cougars (1-1) are coming off a 7-6 loss to Charles Wright, a game where a blocked 30-yard field goal and a slew of pen- alties cost them the game. Baker at Mac-Hi: After losses against Madras and Tillamook, the Mac-Hi Pio- neers hosts 1-1 Baker on Friday. This is the Pioneers’ first league game of the season. Pilot Rock/Nixyaawii at Ione: Ione has lost both its games so far this sea- son, against Powder Val- ley and Enterprise. Pilot Rock is currently unde- feated with a 2-0 record after defeating Enterprise and last week’s shutout against Sherman. Arlington/Condon at Sherman: Sherman is 0-2 for the season so far, while Arlington/Condon is 0-1 after a 56-0 loss at Dufur last week. PIGSKIN PICKERS Taylor Smith Week 2 Overall: Last week: Pendleton at Putnam Kennewick at Hermiston Umatilla at Stanfield Pilot Rock at Ione Boise St. at Okla St. Oregon State at Nevada USC at Texas Vikings at Packers Giants at Cowboys Seahawks at Bears Zachary Orem Annie Fowler 9-1 9-1 8-2 9-1 9-1 8-2 Pendleton Pendleton Pendleton Hermiston Hermiston Hermiston Umatilla Umatilla Stanfield Pilot Rock Pilot Rock Pilot Rock Boise State Boise State Boise State Oregon State Oregon State Oregon State USC USC USC Vikings Vikings Packers Giants Giants Giants Bears Bears Bears Clint Shoemake Mike Appleton Frank Taylor Ron Gibbs 8-2 8-2 Pendleton Hermiston Umatilla Pilot Rock Boise State Nevada USC Packers Cowboys Bears 8-2 8-2 Pendleton Hermiston Umatilla Pilot Rock Boise State Oregon State USC Vikings Giants Bears 8-2 8-2 Pendleton Hermiston Umatilla Pilot Rock Boise State Nevada USC Packers Giants Bears 7-3 7-3 Pendleton Hermiston Umatilla Pilot Rock Okla. State Nevada USC Vikings Giants Bears Jodi Bloomberg Jeff Snell 6-4 5-5 6-4 5-5 Pendleton Pendleton Hermiston Hermiston Stanfield Stanfield Pilot Rock Pilot Rock Boise State Okla. State Oregon State Oregon State Texas Texas Packers Vikings Giants Cowboys Bears Bears Eric Singer 4-6 4-6 Pendleton Hermiston Umatilla Pilot Rock Okla. State Nevada USC Vikings Cowboys Bears A&W 4 SEASON’S PAINT CO. ROGERS TOYOTA SHIPPING SOLUTIONS EAST OREGONIAN IS ROOTING FOR IS ROOTING FOR IS ROOTING FOR IS ROOTING FOR IS ROOTING FOR J EFF S NELL M IKE A PPLETON F RANK T AYLOR T AYLOR S MITH E RIC S INGER NWMF POWDER COATING ST. ANTHONY HOSPITAL HERMISTON HERALD ELMER’S IRRIGATION MCP PETROLEUM IS ROOTING FOR IS ROOTING FOR IS ROOTING FOR IS ROOTING FOR IS ROOTING FOR C LINT S HOEMAKE Z ACHARY O REM A NNIE F OWLER R ON G IBBS J ODI B LOOMBERG
