E AST O REGONIAN
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2021
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PENDLETON AT FULL STRENGTH
GOING UP AGAINST THE DALLES
Two-way lineman
Griffi n returns
to anchor lines
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — It’s hard
to say one player can make
a difference, but Pendleton
coach Erik Davis is happy to
have two-way lineman Jacob
Griffi n back on the fi eld this
week when The Dalles rolls
into town Thursday, Sept. 30,
for a Special District 1 game.
“I think we will be back to
full tilt,” Davis said. “We will
get Jacob back. He’s one of
our best interior linemen. That
will be a great addition to our
off ensive and defensive lines.
Kyle (Liscom) and Payton
(Lambert) got banged up last
week, but they will be ready
by Thursday.”
Pendleton (3-1 over-
all) is back at the Pendleton
Round-Up Grounds after play-
ing its fi rst two home games at
the high school.
“They have rolled it
and done their best to get it
ready,” Davis said of the facil-
ity that hosted the Pendleton
Round-Up two weeks ago.
“I’m going to go down to make
sure it’s safe. Their mainte-
nance crew does a good job of
getting it ready. We will prob-
ably practice there Wednesday
and let our special teams play-
ers kick off the surface and let
the receivers run some routes.”
The Bucks are 2-0 in league
after a big 35-21 come-from-
behind win over Hood River
last week.
“That was a big win for
us,” Davis said. “In our four
games, we have had two char-
acter building wins. The win
at Southridge, stopping the
2-point conversion to win the
game, and the comeback last
week. I have coached here for
10 years, they don’t give up.
That’s a huge point of inter-
est. This last win was a good
launching pad for the push
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Weston-McEwen’s Levie Phillips (18) attempts
to break free from a pack of Stanfi eld defenders
Friday, Sept. 24, 2021, in Stanfi eld during the Ti-
gerScots’ 12-7 win over the Tigers. Undefeated
Weston-McEwen next hosts the undefeated Hep-
pner Mustangs on Oct. 1.
Heppner heads
to W-M for
BMC showdown
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, FIle
Pendleton’s Collin Primus throws out a pass for the Bucks during a 47-6 win Sept. 16, 2021, over
the Putnam Kingsmen at Pendleton High School.
to the end of the season. I
am trying to build a winning
culture where we are never out
of a game.”
This week, the Bucks will
face a Riverhawks team that
absorbed two big losses before
beating La Salle Prep 76-44
last week.
“They have a new coach
and a pretty good roster,”
Davis said. “We always focus
on getting better each week.
We have to go out and execute
to win. Our kids are working
hard. Our goal is still intact to
win a conference title.”
The Dalles has a speedy
player in Jaxon Pullen, who
sees time at quarterback,
receiver and on defense.
“He is a good track athlete
and one of the fastest kids in
the state,” Davis said. “We
always have to know where he
is. They always seem to have
big linemen too.”
The Bucks have prided
themselves on having a solid
run game this season, mixed
in with timely pass plays. The
results have been positive.
“Our kids have taken the
challenge to get 200-300 yards
a game.” Davis said. “You add
Jacob back in the mix and that
helps. We are a contender and
a respected team in the state.
That’s all I can ask for.”
Dawgs look to pick up fi rst win against Walla Walla
Hermiston is 0-4
to start the season
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
HERMISTON — Hermis-
ton’s 0-4 record is something
the Bulldogs are not used to
seeing.
They are looking to add a
win to their record Friday, Oct.
1, when they travel to take on
Walla Walla in a Mid-Colum-
bia Conference game.
“Some of our younger guys
are not used to losing or work-
ing that hard,” Hermiston
coach Davis Faaeteete said.
“No one likes to lose, or work
hard and not win. We had kids
quit after the fi rst two weeks.
It’s a character fl aw in kids.
At the end of the day, the core
group of guys, which is about
70, is fun to be around, and
they work hard. Kids can see
adversity in two diff erent ways
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian, FIle
Hermiston receiver Marcus Winebarger tries to evade a Rich-
land defender on Friday, Sept. 24, 2021, at Kennison Field. The
Bulldogs fell to the Bombers 48-0.
— fi ght through the obstacles
or let it hold them back.”
The Bulldogs (0-4 over-
all, 0-3 MCC) are coming off
a 48-0 loss to Richland. They
were missing starting quar-
terback Chase Elliott (medical
issue) last week, but he is back
and ready to go.
“It’s an opportunity for us
to go down the road and focus
on the little things,” Faaeteete
said. “Walla Walla has a good
staff who will get them ready
for our game this week.”
The Blue Devils (1-3, 1-3)
are coming off a 35-0 loss to
Kamiakin. Their lone win is a
55-0 shellacking of Hanford on
Sept. 17.
“We are looking at work-
ing on timing and execution,”
Faaeteete said. “We are play-
ing a lot of sophomores. We got
to work on a few things today
(Tuesday), special teams and
such.”
Elliott is one of the Bull-
dogs’ best weapons out of the
backfi eld. His return is key to
Hermiston getting its off ense
churning.
“We try to establish the run
game,” Faaeteete said, “and
once we get the off ensive line
going and running backs going,
it opens up our play action pass
game that we like to run.”
ATHENA — Athena will be the place to be
Friday, Oct. 1.
Not too sure that phrase is thrown around
very often, but it’s not every day that undefeated
Weston-McEwen hosts undefeated Heppner in a
Blue Mountain Conference football game.
“They looked like they would be in this position,”
Heppner coach Greg Grant said. “I’m impressed
with what they do. They have good seniors, some
who have started since their freshman year. I’m
surprised we are undefeated. It will be a good night
of high school football.”
TigerScots coach Kenzie Hansell agrees.
“We are excited,” he said.
“What an exciting atmosphere
it will be in Athena with two
Both
undefeated teams. The support
teams are
we have at home and on the
undefeated
road is outstanding. Heppner
is very well coached and they
going into
are very disciplined in what
the game
they do.”
The Mustangs (4-0) are
coming off a come-from-be-
hind 34-28 win over then top-ranked Kennedy. The
Mustangs now have taken over the No. 1 spot in the
Oregon School Activities Association rankings.
“I think they realized if they dug down and tried
hard that good things can happen,” Grant said of the
Kennedy game. “To their credit, their eff ort and the
spirit they played with clear to the end is what you
want to see.”
The Mustangs come into Friday’s game without
two-way lineman Cody Fletcher (knee), but they get
back lineman Jake Lentz, who did not play last week.
Off ensively, the Mustangs were on fi re last week.
Sophomore quarterback Landon Mitchell threw for
225 yards and four touchdowns, while the run game
chewed up 118 yards.
“Our off ense adapts to the other teams’ defense,”
Grant said. “Landon did a really nice job. That’s
good to see, we need balance. Off ensively, we were
a little more consistent than we have been.”
Hansell knows his team has a tough test come
Friday, but you don’t get to be 3-0 without putting
in the work.
“We continue to get better every week, that is our
program’s goal,” Hansell said. “We are going into
our fi fth week. We are excited about being healthy
and coming off a big win at Stanfi eld. I don’t know if
there is another place I want to be than Weston-McE-
wen coaching the TigerScots against the Heppner
Mustangs.”
W-M gets a full day’s work out of senior quarter-
back Blane Peal every week, and that has resulted in
the TigerScots outscoring opponents 91-13.
“He is an all-round good athlete whether it’s base-
ball, basketball or football,” Hansell said. “He is so
coachable. One thing about him is he and the other
seniors know the system and what we do. There is
some comfort in that. We can change things up on
the fl y. It’s nice having that ability.”
Also on Friday, Ione/Arlington is at Enterprise,
Pilot Rock is at Lyle/Wishram, Irrigon is at Umatilla,
Grant Union is at Riverside, and Mitchell/Spray/
Wheeler is at Echo.
ON THE SLATE
Thursday, Sept. 30
Prep football
The Dalles at Pendleton, 7 p.m.
Prep volleyball
Heppner at Stanfi eld, 5 p.m.
Pendleton at Ridgeview, 6:30 p.m.
Richland at Hermiston, 7 p.m.
Enterprise at Weston-McEwen, 5 p.m.
Pilot Rock at Union, 6 p.m.
McLoughlin at Baker, 6:30 p.m.
Prep girls soccer
Hermiston at Chiawana, 7 p.m.
Pendleton at Crook County, 4:30 p.m.
Four Rivers at Stanfi eld/Echo, 4 p.m.
Irrigon at Riverside, 4 p.m.
Prep boys soccer
Crook County at Pendleton, 4:30 p.m.
Irrigon at Riverside, 6 p.m.
Prep slowpitch softball
Chiawana at Hermiston (2), 4 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 1
Prep football
Hermiston at Walla Walla, 7 p.m.
Heppner at Weston-McEwen, 7 p.m.
Ione/Arlington at Enterprise, 7 p.m.
Pilot Rock at Lyle/Wishram/Klickitat, 7 p.m.
Irrigon at Umatilla, 7 p.m.
Grant Union at Riverside, 7 p.m.
Mitchell/Spray/Wheeler at Echo, 7 p.m.
Prep volleyball
Irrigon at Burns, 5 p.m.
Riverside at Burns, 1 p.m.
Umatilla at Vale, noon
Umatilla at Nyssa, 5 p.m.
Mitchell/Spray at Echo, 5 p.m.
Prep girls soccer
Nyssa at Umatilla, 2 p.m.
Prep boys soccer
Nyssa at Umatilla, 4 p.m.
Prep cross-country
McLoughlin at Baker Invite, 4 p.m.
College volleyball
Evergreen State at Eastern Oregon,
7 p.m.
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