SPORTS
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2018
1B
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College volleyball
Playoffs
loom for
BMCC
squad
By BRETT KANE
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Pendleton senior center Everett Willard has put the hard work in at the gym this year and he is seeing the benefits on the field.
The right man for the job
Pendleton lineman Everett
Willard has proven himself
worthy on both sides of the ball
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
uick. Name the starting five across
Pendleton’s offensive line.
Drawing blank? Bucks senior cen-
ter Everett Willard said fans shouldn’t feel
bad.
“The offensive line is a pretty underrated
position,” Willard said. “Unless they are
related, I don’t think they would know.”
But know this, Willard is one of the main
keys to Pendleton’s 9-1 record and its spot in
the state quarterfinals.
“Honestly, we go as he goes,” Bucks
coach Erik Davis said. “He is the quarter-
back of the offensive line. He reads defen-
Q
sive fronts, recognizes blitzes. Sometimes,
he’s telling (quarterback) Trent (Sorey) what
to do. Anything he says and does is gospel.
He is invaluable.”
Willard’s work on the field was noticed
by the league coaches. He was named to the
Special District 1 first team offense as a cen-
ter, and the first team defense at tackle.
“There’s not a whole lot of recognition
for the offensive or defensive linemen,”
Willard said. “To know people are watch-
ing and seeing what I have done, builds con-
fidence. It takes a pretty selfless person to
play O-line. When you do your job, it helps
everyone else to their job.”
The 6-foot-2, 250-pound Willard is in his
third year starting at center, a position he
began playing toward the end of his fresh-
man year.
“Going from freshman ball and skipping
JV, the speed gap was enormous,” Willard
said. “I wasn’t really familiar with the posi-
tion or the speed of the game. I don’t think I
would be the player I am now without those
growing pains.”
Sorey and former quarterback Nick
Bower (now at Pacific University) have
benefited from Willard’s hard work and
protection.
“I do my best to keep Trent safe back
there,” Willard said. “I don’t want my quar-
terback to lack confidence in the pocket. I
try to keep his head in the right place.”
And Sorey appreciates his center’s
efforts.
“He is just as much a field general as I
am,” Sorey said. “He’s played center for
quite a while, and I’ve taken quite a few
snaps from him. He blocks his tail off. His
protection is pretty solid. Guys pretty much
have to go around all of them (linemen) to
get to the backfield.”
See WILLARD/2B
Bucks brace for Scappoose in quarterfinals
Pendleton won the first
meeting against Indians
seven weeks ago
PREP FOOTBALL
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
The deeper you get in the play-
offs, the tougher the competition
gets.
Pendleton will strap on the pads
Friday against Scappoose in the
5A quarterfinals at the Round-Up
Grounds.
If the opponent sounds familiar,
it should. The Bucks (9-1) beat the
Indians (8-2) 47-27 in a nonleague
game on Sept. 21. But don’t let that
victory give you false hope.
“It is hard to beat a good team
twice,” Pendleton coach Erik
Davis said. “We turned the ball
over four times in the first half last
time. Scappoose has a tremendous
winning tradition. We are in for a
dog fight.”
Indians coach Sean McNabb
said his team is excited to play
Pendleton again.
“We are excited to play at the
Pendleton
Buckaroos
(9-1)
Scappoose
Indians
(8-2)
Friday, 7 p.m., at Round-
Up Grounds, Pendleton
historic Round-Up Grounds,”
McNabb said. “I don’t think we
were as confident as we should
have been the first time we played
them. We ended up jumping out to
a 13- or 14-point lead at the begin-
ning. They have a lot of good ath-
letes with a lot of speed.”
Scappoose likes to the run the
ball, and has a pretty lethal three-
headed monster working out of the
backfield.
Senior Connor McNabb (6-0,
190) has run for more than 1,300
yards and 22 touchdowns. He has
nearly 2,300 all-purpose yards for
the Indians.
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
Pendleton lineman Everette Willard, 75, blocks La Salle defender
Isaac Calvert-Russell, 34, in the Bucks’ 62-14 win against the Fal-
cons on Oct. 5 in Pendleton.
Fellow seniors Quincy Cleve-
land (6-1, 235) and Matt Roth
(6-1, 220) have chewed up their
fair share of yards this season, and
junior quarterback Jakobi Kessi
(6-0, 200) likes to take off and run,
as well.
“Running the ball is our
strength,” Coach McNabb said.
“We have three good backs, and
most of our offensive line is intact
from the year before. When you
run the football, you can put your-
self in position to win games. We
See BUCKS/2B
Last Friday, the Blue Moun-
tain Community College Tim-
berwolves clinched a spot in the
Northwest Athletic Conference
volleyball playoffs after a road
win against Big Bend.
This Friday, they’ll host their
last conference match against
Columbia Basin before embark-
ing on their playoff journey.
The team secured the No. 4
spot on the east region stand-
ings after last week, just ahead
of Treasure Valley (9-7). But
the road to another title could
prove challenging. The Timber-
wolves won the title in 2010,
and 2012-2015.
Spokane, Walla Walla, and
North Idaho sit ahead of Blue
Mountain in the standings. Spo-
kane remains the heavyweight,
sitting firm at the top by remain-
ing undefeated.
But head coach Jessica Hum-
phreys is optimistic about the
Timberwolves’ chances.
“We’ve learned this season
that we absolutely can be the
No. 1 team in all of the NWAC,”
she said. “It’s just a matter of
everyone playing at their peak
together.”
The NWAC tournament runs
from Nov. 15-18, and Blue
Mountain will have to win five
matches to win the champion-
ship. But before the playoffs,
they still have their Friday night
opponents to focus on.
Columbia Basin (2-31, 0-15)
has suffered a rough season.
The Timberwolves (23-9, 10-5)
have already beat them in three
earlier this year.
“We expect to do it again,”
Humphreys said. “They’re in a
transitional period, and they’re
working with a new coach this
year.”
Humphreys said her team’s
performance this year bodes
well for a home victory to close
conference play.
“We have a strong defense,
and a strong setter, too. That’ll
help us bring the competition,”
she said.
Setter Sophia Casarez has
noticed that it’s more than skill
that has given her team success
— it’s their attitude.
“We always get up at 6 a.m.
with a smile, ready to work,”
she said. “Even if we lose,
we’ll always have that positive
energy to fall back on.”
No matter Friday’s outcome,
the Timberwolves will still
make it into the NWAC tour-
nament. Humphreys has been
prepping the girls for the play-
offs since midseason, running
them through extra workouts
and conditioning.
“There are some tough teams
out there,” Humphreys said. “In
my experience, teams that fight
for every point are the ones that
stay alive. Our goal is to make
a run down to the end of the
bracket.”
The Columbia Basin match
begins Friday at 6 p.m. at Blue
Mountain.
Sports shorts
THIS DATE IN SPORTS
Van Wagenen: Tebow earned promotion to Triple-A with Mets
AP Photo/Gregory Bull
New York Mets general
manager Brodie Van
Wagenen.
CARLSBAD, Calif. (AP) — New York
Mets minor leaguer Tim Tebow has earned a
promotion to Triple-A Syracuse.
The 2007 Heisman Trophy winner and
former NFL quarterback hit .273 with six
homers and 36 RBIs in 84 games this year
for Double-A Binghamton. His season was
cut short by a broken hamate bone in his
right hand, which required surgery July 24.
“Timmy is not a guy you want to put
restraints on,” new Mets general manager
Brodie Van Wagenen said Wednesday. “If he
sees a block, he’s going to work that much
harder to go overcome whatever somebody
places on him. I believe in him.”
Before he was hired by the Mets last week,
Van Wagenen worked at CAA Baseball and
represented the 31-year-old outfielder.
Tebow hit .301 in June for Binghamton
and .340 in 15 games in July.
“Given the hamate injury he had last year,
his momentum was stopped,” Van Wagenen
said. “The goal is if he can pick that up in
spring training and hopefully get off to a
good start in Syracuse, then we’ll evaluate it
when he’s ready.”
1959 — Elgin Baylor of the Min-
neapolis Lakers scores 64 points
against the Boston Celtics.
1970 — Tom Dempsey of New
Orleans kicks an NFL-record 63-yard
field goal on the final play of the
game to give the Saints a 19-17 vic-
tory over the Lions.
2009 — Indianapolis becomes
the fourth team in league history with
17 consecutive regular-season wins.
New England did it twice — winning
a record 21 straight from 2006-08 and
18 in a row from 2003-04.
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sports@eastoregonian.com