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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 13, 2019)
E AST O REGONIAN Tuesday, augusT 13, 2019 FOLLOW US ON TWITTER @EOSPORTS | FACEBOOK.COM/EOSPORTS A8 EOU women look to take next step after historic 2018 season By RONALD BOND EO Media Group a close-knit, winning culture has been built within the eastern Oregon university women’s soc- cer team. and with most of the starters returning from a team that shared the Cascade Collegiate Confer- ence title and picked up its first- ever win at nationals a year ago, players and coaches have every NFL Seahawks rookie Blair draws attention in first game reason to believe this culture will continue in 2019. “With the caliber of play- ers we have and the team chem- istry we already have, as long as we can keep that together, I think we’re capable of doing some nice things,” third-year head coach Jacob Plocher said. among the 14 returners for eOu are eight players who started 14 or more matches last fall for the Mountaineers, who went 16-3-2, shared the CCC title, reached the CCC tournament title game and secured a 2-1 road playoff win against grace, Indiana, before falling in the round of 16 to even- tual national champion William Carey, 3-0, at the final site in alabama. In that match with William Carey, EOU played to a first half draw, and senior goalkeeper Cydni Cottrell — who last year was a first-team all-CCC keeper — said eastern saw what the next level of soccer looks like. “In the first half of that game, we kept up with them, so we know what to expect now,” she said, adding that the team learned from that match about “the pace of how they play, and we know what kind of teams we’re going to be going up against (at that level).” Plocher noted that there were times in the second half of that game when eOu made mistakes that William Carey took advan- tage of as it scored three goals. “We played a good first 45 (minutes), and then had moments where we had lapses, and the great teams will make you pay for that,” he said. “We’re capable of being a great team, it’s just (elimi- nating) those lapses and letdowns. With this group’s focus so far and everybody’s buy-in, it’s hopefully See Soccer, Page A9 Biglow has record night at FCPR By TIM BOOTH Associated Press ReNTON, Wash. — When safety Marquise Blair was drafted in the second round by the seattle sea- hawks, he brought with him to the NFL the reputation as a big hitter. That’s what happens when you’re ejected twice from college games for targeting. so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that one of the most notable moments from seattle’s preseason opener cen- tered on Blair and riding that fine line between what’s a legal hit and what will draw a flag in the NFL. “I’ve been working on it since I left utah, I’ve been working on mov- ing my shoulder,” Blair said. “I’m going full speed out there, it’s what- ever they see.” In drafting Blair, the seahawks are hoping they’ve found the next version of Kam Chancellor — a big safety with the strength and size to be a force against the run but the skills to also defend the pass. and it didn’t take long into his first NFL preseason game to see the thumping he could add to the secondary. It was the fourth quarter and denver’s drew Lock attempted to hit Nick Williams downfield. Blair came across and rocked Williams as the ball arrived, soon followed by a flag. It was a hit that drew oohs, but also a review to see if Blair was sub- ject to ejection. Blair appeared to avoid making helmet contact but his mistake was making the hit with his right shoul- der, instead of his left. seattle coach Pete Carroll said the teaching point in that instance was for Blair to have tried making the hit with his left shoulder so his head was fur- ther away from the contact with the receiver. “The cool thing was that he was there. He made a great break on the football, his timing was excellent, his toughness was demonstrated. Now there is a little technique issue to make sure that doesn’t happen again,” Carroll said. Not surprisingly, doing drills to replicate that play was one all of the seahawks’ defensive backs were doing on sunday. “That flag is all about inches,” seattle safety Bradley Mcdougald said. “If he goes two inches lower then it’s a clean, legal play. We can’t let that flag or the referees diminish how we play the game. We just have to practice, drill those things at prac- tice, getting the right strike range, the right target area and stay there and rep it enough that it becomes second nature.” Blair was “scrambling” as Carroll described it in the preseason opener. He was flagged for the hit on Wil- liams and made the incorrect read on a pass play going after the quarter- back when he should have stayed on the receiver releasing off the line. He also made a perfect, legal hit along the sideline later in the fourth quarter and added a tackle for loss. He played 36 defensive snaps, the most of any player in seattle’s secondary. “some plays I was getting lined Clayton Biglow leaps high on Asian Orchid to win bareback riding Saturday night with a score of 89 points, which puts him in a three-way tie for the Farm-City Pro Rodeo arena record. See Seahawks, Page A9 See Rodeo, Page A9 Staff photo by Kathy Aney California bareback rider closes Farm-City by tying arena record By BRETT KANE and ANNIE FOWLER East Oregonian ERMISTON — In his fifth appearance at the Farm-City Pro Rodeo, Clayton Biglow decided to open the show in record fashion. The Clements, Calif., cowboy not only won the bareback riding title with his 89-point ride saturday night, but also moved into a three-way tie for the event’s arena record. Biglow, 23, matched andy Marti- nez’s 2006 ride, as well as austin Foss’ in 2017. “It’s great just to be in first,” Biglow said. “It’s awesome. But tying a record is just the cherry on top right there.” at a young age, Biglow has already established quite the name for himself in the world of rodeo. He’s the No. 2 bare- back contender in the Pro Rodeo Cow- boy association World standings, and has amassed $140,166.43 in earnings so far. “I just gotta keep doing this,” he said. “I’m second in the world, so my year’s been going pretty good.” Biglow’s talent is hereditary — his father Russ competed in the PRCa as a bareback rider and team roper from 1980-1995. “The Northwest is my favorite place H Staff photo by Kathy Aney Thor Hoefer, of Priest River, Idaho, rolls out from under a bull after being tossed at the Farm-City Pro Rodeo. to come rodeo,” Biglow said. “My dad rode up here a lot. I spent a lot of time up here as a kid. There’s nothing like it.” Biglow’s record was set on the back of asian Orchid. He’ll get a bit of a break before his next performance, which is scheduled for Thursday. “I have some friends that live around here, so I’ll stay with them,” he said. “I’m just going to hang out and work out until my next rodeo.” Clint Robinson of spanish Fork, utah, won the all-around title, earning money in tie-down roping and team rop- ing. Robinson, who competed Wednes- day, was the 2014 FCPR tie-down champion. Bull riding The big beasts ruled the event this week, shutting out the cowboys on two nights. saturday night, Josh Frost of Randlett, utah, was not going to be fro- zen out of a paycheck. He turned in an 87.5-point ride on the back of Damn
