E AST O REGONIAN
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2019
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B1
Former Dawgs help C of I to perfect season, playoff s
Hermiston’s Landon Clark-Gammell and
Keegan Crafton play key roles for Yotes
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
CALDWELL, Idaho —
If you would have told Kee-
gan Crafton fi ve years ago
that he’d be playing col-
lege football at this point in
his life, he’d have laughed
you right off the basketball
court.
The 6-foot-5 Crafton
was a standout basketball
player and golfer for Herm-
iston High School, but only
played football his senior
year when the Bulldogs won
the 2014 state title.
Now, Crafton and for-
mer Hermiston teammate
Landon Clark-Gammell are
seniors at College of Idaho,
and have helped the Yotes to
a 10-0 record, the Frontier
Conference title, and a spot
in the NAIA playoffs.
“It’s like the same exact
team,” Crafton said of com-
paring the 2014 Hermiston
team to College of Idaho.
“It’s crazy how similar the
feeling is. I’ll never for-
Clark-Gammell
Crafton
get this my whole life. The
coaches are telling us to be
ready, to bring the juice and
let them know who the Yotes
are. It’s crazy the memories
that come back.”
Fifth-ranked
College
of Idaho will host No. 16
Ottawa (9-1) on Saturday in
the fi rst round of the NAIA
playoffs at Simplot Stadium.
It’s the fi rst time the teams
have played one another.
“Ottawa has a really
good running back, and
their O-line goes three
bills across the board,” said
Clark-Gammell, who plays
defensive end for the Yotes.
“I think they will have a lot
to handle with our defense.”
Crafton feels the Spirit
may not be up to the task of
stopping the Yotes’ offense.
“They give up 170 rush-
ing yards a game,” he said.
“I don’t think they are look-
ing for a physical game,
but that’s how we play. We
will not roll over. We will
punch them in the mouth the
whole game.”
College of Idaho, which
has won 16 games in a row
dating to last season, turned
in its fi rst perfect regular
season since 1953, and are
5-0 at home this season.
“We are super pumped
to get a home game,” said
Clark-Gammell who, like
Crafton, is a 2015 Hermis-
ton grad. “Who knows, we
might get two. Our crowd
is crazy. We average about
4,000 fans a game. The peo-
ple go absolutely insane.”
Built to play football
Clark-Gammell,
23,
has played football since
Grid Kids. Now at 6-2, 230
pounds, he starts for the
Yotes at defensive end. He
said the team prides itself on
its defense, which gives up
an average of 17 points per
game, while scoring 37.
“We’ve got a vet-
eran group on defense,”
Clark-Gammell said. “We
pride ourselves on stopping
the run, which opens up
some blitzes. Every game,
we give up less than 100
yards rushing (83.3 yards).”
Though Clark-Gammell
has had a standout senior
season, it wasn’t always
smooth sailing.
See NAIA football, Page B3
Mustangs will put defense
to the test against Knappa
AP Photo/Morry Gash
Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetok-
ounmpo shoots over Portland Trail
Blazers’ Carmelo Anthony during
the fi rst half of an NBA basketball
game on Thursday in Milwaukee.
Bucks
take down
Blazers
137-129
By KEITH JENKINS
Associated Press
machine this season. They average 221
yards rushing per game, along with 110
yards passing. Lehman has returned
eight punts for touchdowns, and Hep-
pner has forced 13 turnovers in the past
two games.
The Mustangs also have outscored
their opponents 81-7 in their two playoff
games.
“That is quite a few,” Grant said of the
turnovers. “I wouldn’t expect that in this
game. Playing good defense is import-
ant. We hope to continue to do that.”
The Loggers, who have won eight
games in a row since dropping a 26-6
game to Taft, have done a good job put-
ting points on the board this season (39
per game), but they also have allowed
21.3 points per game.
“I think they are extremely well-
coached,” Grant said of Knappa. “They
don’t make mistakes on reads, they
are disciplined, and they make you
MILWAUKEE — Giannis Ante-
tokounmpo had his second tri-
ple-double of the season and the
Milwaukee Bucks beat Carmelo
Anthony and the short-handed Port-
land Trail Blazers 137-129 on Thurs-
day night.
Antetokounmpo had 24 points,
19 rebounds and a career-high 15
assists to lead the Bucks to their
sixth straight victory. Antetokoun-
mpo, who also had a triple-double in
the season opener, has 16 career tri-
ple-doubles. Milwaukee is 14-2 in
those games.
Eric Bledsoe added 30 points and
six assists in the Bucks’ highest-scor-
ing game of the season.
After scoring 10 points on 4-of-
14 shooting in 24 minutes in his sea-
son debut Tuesday night against the
Pelicans, Anthony had 10 points in
the fi rst half Thursday. The 10-time
All-Star fi nished with 18 points (6-of-
15 shooting) and seven rebounds for
the Blazers, who were without Has-
san Whiteside (hip), Damian Lillard
(back), Zach Collins (shoulder) and
Jusuf Nurkic (leg).
CJ McCollum scored a game-high
37 points and Skal Labissiere added
22 points, 12 rebounds and fi ve blocks
off the bench for Portland. The Trail
Blazers lost their third straight game
See 2A football, Page B3
See NBA, Page B3
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan, File
Heppner quarterback Jayden Wilson (13) attempts to break free of a tackle from Warrenton defensive back Austin Little (7). The Mus-
tangs defeated the Warriors 32-7 on Nov. 16, 2019, in an OSAA Class 2A quarterfi nal game at Les Payne Field in Heppner.
Heppner has outscored
opponents 81-7 in two
playoff games
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
H
EPPNER — At this point of
the season, there are no secrets
or secret weapons. It call
comes down to execution and
discipline.
The Heppner Mustangs (11-0) are
quite adept at both heading into Satur-
day’s Class 2A state semifi nal game
against the Knappa Loggers (9-2). The
game will be played at 2:15 p.m. at Hill-
sboro Stadium.
“The location is different, that’s all,”
Heppner coach Greg Grant said of the
game. “We have to have great practices
and be ready on game day.”
Knappa coach Aaron Barendse is
familiar with Heppner, having lost a
26-16 game to the Mustangs in the 2014
semifi nals.
“They are well-coached and do the
things the right way,” Barendse said.
“They have a great defense — they are
one of the top in the state. You don’t do
that (allow just 73 points in 11 games)
without having a good team.”
The Mustangs, led by quarterback
Jayden Wilson, running back Blake
Wolters and receiver/return specialist
Mason Lehman, are looking for their
fi rst state championship game since win-
ning the title in 2015.
“I think they are mature, smart kids,”
Grant said of his players. “You have to
focus on the next thing, maybe learn
from the last one, and not get too far
ahead of themselves.
“I felt this team could get to this
point, or maybe further. You worry more
during the year. The further we go, the
more I relax. Nothing worse as a coach
than not getting your kids prepared.”
The Mustangs have been a well-oiled
SPORTS SHORTS
Bucks’ Antetokounmpo suing
home remodeling contractor
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Mil-
waukee Bucks star Giannis Ante-
tokounmpo is suing a home
remodeling contractor he says
failed to perform the work for
which he was hired.
The lawsuit says Antetokoun-
mpo hired David Gonzalez, of
Cedarburg, to do some remodeling
work at his suburban Milwaukee
home. The work included paint-
ing, installing new countertops,
fl ooring, landscaping and fencing.
Gonzalez, doing business as
DIG Enterprises, did not immedi-
ately respond to an email for com-
ment and his cellphone mailbox
was full.
The Journal Sentinel says
Antetokounmpo made a $40,000
down payment on work that was
expected to top $238,000. The
lawsuit says some of the work
was never done or wasn’t done
correctly.
Antetokounmpo claims Gon-
zalez fraudulently obtained more
than $144,000 just for the fence
project, didn’t install it or get the
necessary permits.
Milwaukee Bucks forward
Giannis Antetokounmpo
(34) grabs a rebound
against the Atlanta Hawks
in the second half of an
NBA basketball game on
Wednesday in Atlanta.
AP Photo/Brett Davis