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Tuesday, March 30, 2021
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A11
Mountaineers earn weekly honors after OT win
East Oregonian
WhITeFIsh, Mont. — The eastern
Oregon University football team pulled off
a come-from-behind road win on saturday,
March 27, and on Monday, March 29, the
Frontier Conference and NAIA office took
notice.
The Mountaineers, who beat rocky
Mountain 36-33 in overtime, swept all
three player of the week honors, the league
announced.
Pendleton graduate Kai Quinn took the
offensive honor, while Zak Donato earned
Cahill
Donato
Quinn
the defensive award. Zachary Cahill was
the special teams winner.
Quinn was an all-around weapon for
EOU’s offense, totaling 341 yards on
offense. Through the air, he was 24-of-35
passing for 256 yards and had three touch-
downs. On the ground, he carried the ball
17 times for 85 yards and a pair of touch-
downs. he also had the game-winning rush-
ing touchdown in overtime to lead eOu to
a 2-0 start.
donato led the eastern defense in total
tackles with 11 in the victory with five solo
tackles. he also had one tackle for loss.
cahill handled all kicking chores for the
Mountaineers. he was a perfect 3-for-3 in
extra point attempts and kicked a 43-yard
field goal. As a punter, his longest punt of
the game was 60 yards and he had one punt
land inside the 20-yard line.
In addition to the individual awards, the
Mountaineers also moved up one spot in the
national rankings.
eOu now ranks No. 20 in the NaIa
Football Firstdown PlayBook Top-25
Poll. Out of the Frontier conference, east-
ern Oregon and college of Idaho are the
only ranked teams. The coyotes check in
at No. 6 this time around, falling one spot
from No. 5. The Mountaineers and yotes
showdown this weekend will be a battle of
unbeatens. The college of Idaho is also 2-0
on the season.
NCAA MENS BASKETBALL
usc shuts
down Oregon
82-68 to end
20-year elite
eight wait
By JOHN MARSHALL
AP Basketball Writer
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Pendleton’s Kyle Liscom (21) and Ridgeview’s Gannon Jeter (20) watch as an official performs the coin toss prior to the Buckaroos’ 20-12
win over the Ridgeview Ravens on Friday, March 12, 2021.
Officials and schools
are working together
to keeps sports rolling
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
P
eNdLeTON — dorothy
smith has worked volley-
ball matches by herself this
season, and on one particu-
lar day, she officiated an early
afternoon match in Irrigon,
then hustled up the road to be in Pendleton
for a match that evening.
such schedules are not the norm, but
during the COVID-19 pandemic, they are
frequent adventures for not only volleyball
officials, but for those who also work football
and soccer games.
“We have officials that work a noon game
in spray, then drive to heppner, arlington
or Ione for a night game,” heppner football
coach Greg Grant said. “I don’t think people
realize what they do. We play junior high
and junior varsity games during the week
and they are there. I joked at the start of the
season, ‘name your price.’”
smith, president of the Blue Mountain
Volleyball Association, is one of 18-20
volleyball officials who officiate matches in
umatilla and Morrow counties. Because of
COVID, the number of officials this season
is down to eight.
“It has been different because we couldn’t
invite new referees,” smith said. “We have
had to use veteran referees. some are teach-
ers and can’t get the time off when we need
to staff early matches. I worked some solo
matches. When there was a sub, I signalled
them in, marked it on my card and put the
whistle back in my mouth. during a timeout,
I get down and check the book.”
While the working conditions are not
ideal, Smith said all of the officials have the
same goal in mind.
“We wanted to get the girls playing,” said
Smith, who is in her 16th season of officiat-
ing games. “The girls have been so good.
If their mask comes down when they go up
to hit a ball, they are good about adjusting
it. It’s hard to play with them on. They are
working hard and sweating. I had one girl
hyperventilate.”
smith said the players also have been
good about sanitizing their hands every time
they leave or enter the court.
With limited or no fans, smith said she
has seen an uptick in parents volunteering to
run the score clock, be line judges or sanitize
the volleyballs just so they can watch their
daughters play.
“In Pendleton, they had sign-up sheets
for parents,” smith said. “They are coming
together to make sure their kids get to play.”
Darla Huxel, commissioner of the Blue
Mountain Volleyball Association, said she
appreciates the work of the athletic directors
in being flexible to change times to make
sure all matches can be covered.
“The ultimate goal is to let the kids play,”
said Huxel, who is in her 41st year of offici-
ating.
While volleyball matches typically
consist of two officials, football requires at
least a four-man crew for 1a, 2a, 3a and
4A games, and five-man crews for 5A and
See Officials, Page A12
INdIaNaPOLIs — southern california’s
dark days lasted far longer than the Trojans
would have liked.
a once-elite program had fallen into into
mediocrity, losing seasons mixed in with
short-lived trips into the Ncaa Tournament.
a two-week run of playing their best at
just the right time has the Trojans turning the
corner — possibly toward the Final Four.
Isaiah White scored 22 points and usc
shut down Oregon’s potent offense to reach
the Elite Eight for the first time in 20 years
with an 82-68 win in the West Region semifi-
nals sunday night, March 28.
“We’re making history and it just means a
lot to this program,” White said. “as a team,
we’re just super excited and we worked for
this, so I’m glad that it’s paying off.”
Pac-12 after dark Indy-style turned into a
lights-out performance by usc.
The Trojans (25-7) clipped the high-flying
ducks with their length on the perimeter and
7-footer Evan Mobley in the middle. Offen-
sively, the region’s No. 6 seed bobbed and
weaved through the holes in Oregon’s defense,
shooting 57% and 10 of 17 from 3.
The all-around domination put usc in the
elite eight for the second time in 60 years and
three Pac-12 teams in the regional final for the
first time since 2001.
Next up is a shot at undefeated Gonzaga in
the regional final on Tuesday, March 30.
“We believe we can beat anybody,” White
said.
Oregon certainly had no answer for the
long-armed Trojans.
The seventh-seed Ducks (21-7) floundered
after USC switched to zone early on, unable
to find holes or get much of anything to drop
over it until a late rally that came up short.
The Pac-12’s best 3-point shooting team (38%)
went 5 of 21 from the arc.
eugene Omoruyi had 28 points 10
rebounds, and chris duarte scored 21 for the
ducks.
“I let the guys down. I didn’t have them
ready for that zone,” Oregon coach Dana
altman said. “I thought we were, but their
length and athleticism really bothered us.”
Oregon and usc have been a big part of the
Pac-12’s unexpected success in the Circle City.
Picked to be the worst among the major
conferences, the big league out West opened
the Ncaa Tournament with nine straight
See Oregon, Page A12
SPORTS SHORT
Hamilton holds off Verstappen to win tense F1 season opener
Associated Press
saKhIr, Bahrain — World
champion Lewis hamilton just
managed to hold off Max Verstap-
pen to win the season-opening
Bahrain Grand Prix and clinch
the 96th Formula One win of his
career on sunday, March 28.
The race was effectively
decided when Verstappen over-
took hamilton on Lap 53 of 56
but went too wide on a turn and
off track limits. He was told by his
team to give hamilton the position
back, as he risked a time penalty.
“It’s a shame, but you also have
to see the positives,” Verstappen
said. “We are really taking the
fight to them, and I think that’s
great to start the year like that.”
Verstappen still had a few laps
to catch hamilton and he almost
did, finishing 0.74 seconds behind
the Mercedes driver.
“What a difficult race that was.
Max was all over me at the end
and I was just about able to hold
him off,” Hamilton said. “I knew
he was going to catch me and I
thought it was going to be impos-
sible to keep him behind ... That
was one of the hardest races I’ve
had for a while. I love the chal-
lenge.”
With 22 races still to come,
F1 fans could be in for a treat this
season if Verstappen takes the title
challenge to hamilton.
“I’m super happy for the fans
that they are excited, this is some-
thing all the fans have wanted for
some time,” hamilton said. “I
hope for many more of these races
with Max.”
Hamilton’s teammate, Valtteri
Bottas, finished third but was way
behind the front two.
Kamran Jebreili/Associated Press
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain steers his car followed by
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands during the Bahrain
Formula One Grand Prix at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir,
Bahrain, on Sunday, March 28, 2021.