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
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