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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 18, 2018)
SPORTS THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2018 1B FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS PREP FOOTBALL Pendleton Buckaroos (7-0) Benson Tech (1-6) Friday, 5:30 p.m., at Benson Tech, Portland Buckaroos to finish regular season against struggling Benson Tech By ANNIE FOWLER East Oregonian Staff photo by E.J. Harris Three Hermiston football players tackle Pasco’s Kael Stueckle in the Dawgs’ 45-0 win against the Bulldogs on Aug. 30. Hermiston will have its hands full with Hanford By ANNIE FOWLER East Oregonian he top two offenses in the Mid-Columbia Con- ference will take the field Friday night at Fran Rish Sta- dium in Richland. The Hermiston Bulldogs (5-2 overall, 4-2 MCC) will take on the Hanford Falcons (6-1, 5-1) in a game that fea- tures two of the top running backs in the league. While offense has not been an issue for Hermiston this season, it’s defense has been questionable the past couple of weeks. The Bulldogs gave up a season-high 559 yards to Eisenhower last week in a 61-42 win, with 336 coming T in the air. “We didn’t do anything well,” Hermiston coach David Faaeteete said of his team’s defense. “We were soft up front and we didn’t tackle well. We just did not put it together against Eisenhower.” Hanford, which sits atop the MCC standings, is enjoy- ing its best season since the Falcons finished 7-3 overall in 2012. The Falcons feature run- ning Jared Devine, who has run for 537 yards and nine touchdowns. But where Han- ford moves the ball is through the air. Quarterback Garrett Horner has thrown for 1,701 yards and 18 touchdowns to a variety of receivers, with Blake VanderTop being his favorite PREP FOOTBALL Hermiston Bulldogs (5-2) Hanford Falcons (6-1) Friday, 7 p.m., at Fran Rish Stadium, Richland, WA with 20 catches for 309 yards and five touchdowns. “Hanford is playing well, they are on fire,” Faaeteete said. “They are well coached and they do things at a high level. We match up well in some areas. It will be a battle of wills — about ball control and explosive plays. We’ll see if we can get our defense reaf- firmed for the week.” The Bulldogs have got- ten 1,227 yards and 17 touch- downs from running back Wyatt Noland, who leads the MCC in rushing. He broke free for 303 yards and four touchdowns last week against Eisenhower. “He has his bumps and bruises, but it is his warrior spirit that drives him,” Herm- iston coach David Faae- teete said. “He and Andrew James, they want to put it on the line for their teammates. Same for Jacob Liebe. They love their brothers so much, they are willing to compete. That makes you want to coach football.” Benintendi, Red Sox hold off Astros, 8-6 By KRISTIE RIEKEN AP Sports Writer HOUSTON — Left fielder Andrew Benintendi made a diving catch with the bases loaded for the final out, and the Boston Red Sox held off the Houston Astros 8-6 on Wednesday night to take a 3-1 lead in the AL Championship Series. Boosted by a questionable fan interference call and another home run from Jackie Bradley Jr. in a grip- ping back-and-forth game, the Red Sox moved within one victory of their first World Series trip since winning the 2013 title. Craig Kimbrel earned a shaky six-out save, aided by a rocket throw from right fielder Mookie Betts and Benintendi’s daring grab of Alex Bregman’s sinking liner in left. ALCS: Game 4 Boston Houston 8 6 Boston leads 3-1 Game 5: Red Sox at Astros, Today, 5:09 p.m. TV: TBS Boston improved to 4-0 on the road in these playoffs and inched closer to eliminating the defending champions. Game 5 is Thursday night in See ALCS/2B AP Photo/David J. Phillip Boston Red Sox left fielder Andrew Benintendi, left, and center fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. celebrate an 8-6 win against the Houston Astros in Game 4 on Thursday. It’s the haves vs. the have-nots Fri- day night as Pendleton takes on Benson. While Pendleton is undefeated and ranked No. 1 in the 5A poll, the Tech- men have struggled all season. Benson (0-7 overall, 0-5 SD1) has been shut out three times, and outscored by an average of 63-5 per game. “Benson is having a tough year,” Bucks coach Erik Davis said. “Their numbers are down. That can’t concern us. We are going to prepare and go down there and do what we do.” The Special District 1 game is sched- uled for 5:30 p.m. at Buckman Field in Portland. The Bucks (7-0, 5-0), led by senior quarterback Trent Sorey and running backs Aiden Patterson and Shawn Yea- ger, are having a year like no other. “We are faring pretty well,” Davis said. “We don’t have a lot of kids who cross over (from offense to defense). We are senior heavy, and they under- stand what we do. We have team speed — they fly around and have fun know- ing we are a contender.” While the Bucks run the ball with authority, Davis would like to see his team balance out the offense with more of a passing threat. “We run the ball really well, but I would like to see Trent throw the ball a little more with some consistency,” Davis said. “Trent is a winner. He gets things done, whether it is a broken play or running the ball. He needs to get the ball out a little quicker, we have speedy receivers.” Sorey is a first-year starter, and with that comes a few hiccups, but Davis said he trusts him 100 percent. “He makes things happen,” Davis said. Win or lose Friday, the Bucks know they will face Wilsonville in the East- West crossover Oct. 26. And unless Wilsonville, which is ranked No. 2, loses to Wilson on Friday, Davis said they will be back in the Port- land area next week. “The top two seeds play for the over- all league title,” Davis said. “It’s basi- cally for seeding in the playoffs more than anything.” The Bucks likely will lose their No. 1 seeding if they and Wilsonville both win. It’s all part of the Rating Percent- age Index (RPI) criteria. “Our strength of schedule will hurt us,” Davis said. With us playing Benson (ranked 36th), it will drop us. We are prepared to travel.” Whether it is first or second out of SD1, the Bucks know they are headed to the playoffs. “It feels good to be on this end,” Davis said. “We still have work to do. It has been 13 years or so since Pendleton has won a playoff game.” Sports shorts THIS DATE IN SPORTS US wins CONCACAF qualifying final 2-0 over Canada FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Rose Lavelle and Alex Morgan each scored and the U.S. women beat rival Canada 2-0 on Wednesday night in the championship match of the CON- CACAF World Cup qualifying tournament. The United States improved to 16-0-2 so far in 2018. The team has gone undefeated in 26 straight matches (23-0-3) dating to last year. Both had already secured spots in next year’s World Cup in France with victories in the semifinals. CONCACAF sends the top three finishers in the tournament to the World Cup. Jamaica earned a trip to France on pen- alties after a 2-2 draw with Panama in the third-place match at Toyoda Stadium ear- lier on Wednesday. Panama will still have a chance to qualify for France with a two- legged playoff against Argentina next month. It will be Jamaica’s first trip to the World Cup, and the island nation is the first team from the Caribbean to earn a spot. The United States, the top-ranked team in the world, is the defending World Cup champion. 1977 — Reggie Jackson hits three consecutive home runs, all on the first pitch, to lead the New York Yankees to the World Series championship over Los Angeles. 1992 — Miami and Washington are tied for No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 football poll. It’s the first tie at the top in 51 years and the third since the poll started in 1936. 2009 — Tom Brady, Patriots, throws six touchdown passes — five in one quarter, an NFL mark, in a 59-0 win in the snow against Tennessee. Contact us at 541-966-0838 or sports@eastoregonian.com