E AST O REGONIAN
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2021
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PREP FOOTBALL PREVIEW
ON THE SLATE
Pendleton faces Putnam in SD1 opener
Bucks will have their
hands full with the
Kingsmen’s off ense
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — Pendleton will
open Special District 1 play Thurs-
day, Sept. 15, hosting the Putnam
Kingsmen. Game time is 5 p.m.
While both teams are 1-1 coming
into the game, the Bucks used their
two preseason games to prepare for
league play. They beat 6A South-
ridge 27-26, then dropped a 35-19
game to 5A powerhouse Wilsonville
last week.
“We are coming off a learn-
ing experience and a barometer to
where we are at the 5A level,” Pend-
leton coach Erik Davis said. “This
is league now, and our emphasis is
to keep our goal intact to be league
champions. Round-Up week is
where you hold your breath a bit.
There is no school and the structure
is diff erent. We have had a great
week of practice. I expect us to come
out and play well Thursday.”
The game will be played at Pend-
leton High School because the Pend-
leton Round-Up is at the Round-Up
Grounds.
“Ever since we got the lights and
the scoreboard, they have been will-
ing to put us at home,” Davis said of
the league’s scheduling group. “The
kids like it up there. If there’s 100
yards of grass fi eld, we are willing
to play anywhere.”
The Bucks will get two-way line-
man Tucker Pace back this week,
who has been out with a knee injury.
He adds depth to both lines, who
will have their work cut out trying
to keep Putnam’s Wing-T off ensive
in check.
“They run an off ense that is built
off misdirection,” Davis said. “It’s a
run-heavy off ense, a lot of pulling
off ensive linemen. We have to play
assignment football. You don’t do
Thursday, Sept. 16
Prep football
Putnam at Pendleton (at PHS),
5 p.m.
Umatilla at Weston-McEwen,
7 p.m.
Prep volleyball
Grant Union at Heppner,
5 p.m.
Pilot Rock at Weston-McE-
wen, 6 p.m.
Union at Stanfi eld, 5 p.m.
Riverside at Irrigon, 5 p.m.
Umatilla at La Grande,
5:30 p.m.
Echo at Ione/Arlington, 5 p.m.
Prep girls soccer
Hermiston at Kamiakin, 7 p.m.
Stanfi eld/Echo at Riverside,
4 p.m.
Umatilla at Irrigon, 4 p.m.
Prep boys soccer
Prescott at McLoughlin, 4 p.m.
Umatilla at Irrigon, 6 p.m.
Prep slowpitch softball
Hermiston at West Valley (2),
4 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 17
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Pendleton running back Payton Lambert (32) carries the ball for the Bucks on Friday, Sept. 10, 2021, during a 35-19
loss against Wilsonville at Pendleton High School.
your job, they can take it to the house
and that can lead to some problems.
We have seen it for the past 10 years.
We are prepared. If our kids are in
the right positions, we will be OK.”
Last week, Putnam rallied from
a two-touchdown deficit to beat
Milwaukie 23-21.
Tyler Creswick fi nished with four
catches for 124 yards and two touch-
downs — the last being for 32 yards
and the go-ahead touchdown with
5:33 left in the third.
Junior quarterback Konner Bick-
ford threw for 155 yards and three
touchdowns, while running back
Austin Heslin ran for 54 yards on
seven carries.
Kamiakin at Hermiston — The
Bulldogs will have their hands full
with the powerful Braves on Sept.
17.
Kamiakin knocked off three-
time defending league champion
Chiawana 46-24 on Sept.10, handing
the Riverhawks their fi rst Mid-Co-
lumbia Conference loss in 19 games.
Henry Mercado threw for 234
yards and four touchdowns — an
dean for another — for the Braves.
Gabe Tahir, who also plays corner,
caught four passes for 126 yards, and
had a 42-yard touchdown run.
The Bulldogs are coming off a
35-14 nonleague loss to Sunnyside.
Quarterback Chase Elliott had 87
yards rushing and 190 passing, with
Caden Hottman catching touchdown
passes of 11 and 28 yards.
Umatilla at Weston-mcewen —
The TigerScots open Blue Mountain
Conference play Thursday against
the Vikings, who opened the Chad
Smith era with a 48-0 road win over
Irrigon last week.
W-M (1-0) had it’s game canceled
last week, and coach Kenzie Hansell
said his boys are ready to play.
“We are excited after playing
Culver, and now we have another
home game,” Hansell said. “We’ve
had two great weeks of practice. We
are ready to get on the fi eld in front
of our home crowd.”
Umatilla moved the ball at will
against the Knights, and Hansell
knows they are in for a battle up
front.
“They are big and athletic,” he
said. “We look forward to them
coming to our place.”
Also on Sept. 17, Stanfi eld is at
Heppner, McLoughlin is at Burns,
Lyle/Wishram/Klickitat is at Ione/
Arlington, Riverside is at Irrigon,
and Huntington is at Echo.
Eastern hits the road to face Carroll
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
HELENA, Mont. — No. 13
Eastern Oregon heads into a road
matchup against Carroll College (1-1)
looking to maintain momentum.
“We’re defi nitely excited,” head
coach Tim Camp said. “We have to
get better at every asset of the game
and limit mistakes.”
The Mountaineers come into
the matchup 2-0, winning close
decisions over Montana Tech and
Montana Western. Eastern jumped
up from No. 18 to No. 13 in this
week’s National Association of Inter-
collegiate Athletics Week 1 coaches’
poll and stands as the highest ranked
Frontier Conference team. Accord-
ing to Camp, the high ranking is not
causing any distractions in the locker
room.
“There’s always been high expec-
tations with every Eastern team I’ve
coached,” he said. “The morale is
high but the focus level is high. You
have to take the rankings with a grain
of salt.”
Eastern has dominated the
matchup lately, winning the last
six head-to-head competitions with
Carroll. The Mountaineers have won
A8
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group
Defensive back Brennen Hull (13), along with the rest of the Eastern Or-
egon University team cheers as Zak Donato scores a pick-six on Satur-
day, Sept. 4, 2021, against Montana Western at Community Stadium, La
Grande. The Mountaineers head Helena, Montana, for a matchup with the
Carroll College Saints on Sept. 18.
eight out of the last 11 games against
Carroll, prior to which the Saints won
10 in a row.
Carroll lost to Montana West-
ern 26-22 in its season opener, but
bounced back with a 31-17 win over
Montana Tech the following week.
“They have a very good coaching
staff ,” Camp said. “I think the team
that blocks better and tackles better
will win.”
Senior quarterback Kai Quinn has
been a staple to Eastern’s off ense this
year, passing and running eff ectively
in both game’s this year. Quinn threw
for 283 yards and four touchdowns
in the 35-28 victory over Montana
Western in Week 2, earning confer-
ence off ensive player of week.
Quinn has been dangerous with
his legs, averaging 67 rushing yards
per game. He has also spread the love
in the passing game, connecting with
fi ve diff erent receivers for touch-
downs so far this season. Redshirt
senior Saige Wilkerson is leading the
way, totaling 88 receiving yards and
one touchdown on 10 targets.
“We’ve shown that we can run on
people and we’ve shown that we can
pass on people, now we have to put it
all together,” Camp said.
The lethal linebacking duo of Zak
Donato and Solo Taylor has been the
anchor of Eastern’s defense. Both
players lead the team with 18 total
tackles each, while Donato has
recorded two interceptions and 2-1/2
tackles for loss. Taylor, a redshirt
junior, has been a vocal leader for the
defense this year and recorded the
game-ending sack against Montana
Western. The linebacker pair will
look to stifl e a Carroll off ense that is
averaging 26.5 points per game and
350 yards per contest.
Duncan Kraft has been a solid
running back for Carroll this year,
averaging 91 rushing yards per game.
Kraft went off for 148 yards and
three touchdowns in the victory over
Montana Tech. He will be a key point
of emphasis for Eastern’s defense in
the upcoming matchup.
Kickoff is set for noon at Nelson
Stadium in Helena, Montana. The
Carroll College athletics department
will be livestreaming the game on its
YouTube page.
Prep football
Hermiston at Chiawana,
7 p.m.
Stanfi eld at Heppner, 7 p.m.
McLoughlin at Burns, 7 p.m.
Lyle/Wishram/Klickitat at
Ione/Arlington, 7 p.m.
Riverside at Irrigon, 7 p.m.
Huntington at Echo, 7 p.m.
Prep cross-country
Pendleton, McLoughlin, Nixy-
aawii, Riverside, Umatilla, Stan-
fi eld/Echo at Wallowa County
Invitational, 3 p.m.
College volleyball
Yakima Valley at Blue Moun-
tain, 6 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 18
Prep cross-country
Hermiston at Oregon City
Invite,11:30 a.m.
Prep volleyball
Umatilla, Stanfi eld at River-
side Tournament, 10 a.m.
Girls prep soccer
Baker at Riverside, 1 p.m.
Prep boys soccer
Riverside at Catlin Gabel,
1 p.m.
College men’s soccer
Blue Mountain at Columbia
Basin, 2:15 p.m.
College women’s soccer
Blue Mountain at Columbia
Basin, noon
College football
EOU at Carroll College, noon
Monday, Sept. 20
Prep volleyball
Walla Walla Valley Academy at
Weston-McEwen, 4 p.m.
Prep boys soccer
Baker at Pendleton, 4 p.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 21
Prep volleyball
The Dalles at Pendleton,
6:30 p.m.
Eisenhower at Hermiston,
7 p.m.
Pilot Rock at Stanfi eld, 6 p.m.
Ontario at McLoughlin,
6:30 p.m.
Irrigon at Umatilla, 5 p.m.
Riverside at Columbia White
Salmon, 6:30 p.m.
Griswold at Nixyaawii, 5 p.m.
Condon at Echo, 5 p.m.
Ione/Arlington at Bickleton,
5 p.m.
Prep girls soccer
Chiawana at Hermiston,
7 p.m.
McLoughlin at Umatilla,
3 p.m.
Prep boys soccer
McLoughlin at Umatilla,
6 p.m.
Prep slowpitch softball
Sunnyside at Hermiston (2),
4 p.m.
SPORTS SHORT
La Grande wins thriller over Pendleton
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
The Observer
LA GRANDE — Late game
heroics from Lamar Langidrik
propelled La Grande to a narrow
1-0 victory on Tuesday, Sept. 14,
over Pendleton at Community
Stadium in La Grande.
L a G r a nd e c om ple t ely
controlled the tempo throughout
the entirety of the game, but Pend-
leton looked dead set on holding
its ground. The Tigers out shot
the Buckaroos 25-5, but the game
remained neck and neck until the
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fi nal minutes.
Early on, La Grande set the tone
with four shots on goal and 12 total
shots in the fi rst half. Junior Owen
Rinker suff ered a leg injury that
looked like it might remove the
star defender from the game, but
he returned late in the fi rst half.
Rinker was key in defense for La
Grande as Pendleton made a push
in the second half.
In the second half, both teams
stepped on the gas and took more
chances. The Buckaroos tallied
four shots, while the Tigers tallied
eight shots on goal and 13 total
shots. With just under 20 minutes
remaining in regulation, Renee
Ortega Cruz rattled a shot off the
crossbar that appeared to cross the
line but was not ruled a goal.
Following the near goal, sparks
began to fl y as both teams took
shots back and forth. With less
than fi ve minutes remaining in the
game, Langidrik scored a header
in the box to put La Grande up 1-0.
The Tigers were able to pass the
ball eff ectively and hold off a late
shot attempt to secure the victory.
Scott Train was an anchor in
goal for Pendleton, tallying 15
saves. La Grande rallied 11 total
corner kicks, keeping constant
pressure on the Buckaroos.
The victory improves La
Grande’s record to 1-1 on the
season, while Pendleton drops to
0-1. The Tigers will play at Fruit-
land High School on Sept. 18 and
the Buckaroos faced Putnam at
home on Sept. 15.
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group
Pendleton Buckaroo sophomore
Renee Cruz headbutts a return
in the match Tuesday, Sept. 14,
2021, at Community Stadium, La
Granda, against rival La Grande
High. The Tigers eked out a win
against the Buckaroos 1-0 for
their fi rst win of the season.