E AST O REGONIAN
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2021
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A8
FILLING THE VOID
6A McDaniel up next for Bucks after schedule gets shuffl ed again
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian
Hermiston quarterback Isaac Corey
looks for a receiver during a game
Sept. 24, 2021, against Richland,
Washington, at Kennison Field in
Hermiston. The Bulldogs fell to the
Bombers 48-0.
Speedy Suns
could be
a problem
for Dawgs
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
Pendleton will play without
tailback Payton Lambert
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — For the second time this
season, Pendleton football coach Erik Davis
found himself without a game.
Last week, La Salle Prep informed Pend-
leton Athletic Director Mike Somnis that it
would be fi nishing the season with a junior
varsity schedule because of a lack of players.
It didn’t take Somnis long to fi ll the void.
The Bucks will play at McDaniel High
School on Thursday, Oct. 7. The Mountain
Lions play in the 6A Portland Interscholas-
tic League.
“Hats off to Mike Somnis, he beats the
streets to make it happen,” Davis said. “He’s
getting us games. We spent 6 hours without
a game before he found one. He asked if we
wanted the forfeit or if we wanted to play? I
told him we wanted to play. Happy to have a
leader like that.”
It’s the second 6A team the Bucks will
play this season. They played Southridge in
their fi rst game of the season after La Grande
this season, while the Mustangs (5-0,
2-0) have allowed an average of eight
points a game.
The Mustangs are coming off a
39-0 win over Weston-McEwen last
week, while the Pirates are recover-
ing from a 56-6 loss to Grant Union.
Regardless of the opponent,
Heppner coach Greg Grant said
preparation each week is the same.
“We approach every game the
same with preparation,” said Grant,
whose team has won 23 consecutive
games dating to 2019. “We are work-
ing on fundamentals that we have
seen lacking in play. We are trying
to clean up our play and avoid penal-
ties.”
HERMISTON — It’s homecom-
ing week for the Hermiston Bull-
dogs, who on Friday, Oct. 8, take
on Southridge in a Mid-Columbia
Conference game.
The Bulldogs (0-5 overall, 0-4
MCC) are coming off a 56-14 loss
to Walla Walla, while the Suns (2-3,
1-3) are licking their wounds from a
39-6 loss to Kamiakin.
“There’s always room for
improvement,” Hermiston coach
David Faae-
teete said.
Injuries
“La st week
continue
against Walla
Walla was not
to plague
our best show-
Hermiston
ing defensively.
Walla Walla
played pretty inspired. Credit to
them, they stopped us defensively.
We just have to get better.”
The Bulldogs opened the season
with several key senior players on the
injured list. With just seven juniors
on the team, Hermiston has been
forced to go with a young lineup.
“You have to fi nd those small
moral victories,” Faaeteete said.
“It’s the little things we have to
continue getting better as a group.
Eighty percent of our starting play-
ers don’t have a driver’s license, and
most aren’t old enough to get one.
Our seniors, Caden (Hottman), Sam
(Cadenas) and Chase (Elliott) play
through a lot and they show up.
Those guys and others are trying to
keep it together. You learn a lot about
yourself when you lose. We just need
to execute.”
Hermiston senior receiver KJ
Ramirez is waiting to hear some
good news on his foot, but according
to Faaeteete, he’s still at the doctor’s
mercy.
Senior linebacker Koi Mikami
had knee surgery and is lost for the
season.
“It’s one of those years when you
have injuries in your senior lead-
ership and that’s tough,” Faaeteete
said.
Hermiston is hoping to turn
things around as the second half of
the season gets under way Oct. 8.
The Suns, under new head coach
Matt Johnson, have an Mid-Colum-
bia Conference win over Pasco, and
a nonleague win over Davis.
See Mustangs, Page A9
See Dawgs, Page A9
had to back out because of COVID precau-
tions. Pendleton won that game 27-26.
The Mountain Lions (2-2) are coming off
a 55-0 loss to Jeff erson, but Davis said they
have some talent.
“We shared a couple of fi lms with them,”
Davis said. “They are pretty athletic. I just
don’t know much about them. Playing a team
we have never played before, the best thing
is to do what you do, and not reinvent the
wheel. They create some matchup problems
and they have some speed.”
See Bucks, Page A9
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Pendleton’s Gavin Clark runs the ball Sept. 30, 2021, during a 70-6 win over The Dalles at the Pendleton Round-Up Grounds. The Bucks
could face a tougher matchup Oct. 8 against the 6A McDaniel Mountain Lions.
Riverside up next for top-ranked Heppner
Mustangs have won
23 consecutive games
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Heppner’s Brock Hisler runs the ball Friday, Oct. 1, 2021, during
a 39-0 win over the Weston-McEwen TigerScots in Athena.
HEPPNER — The top-ranked
Heppner Mustangs make a point of
playing a tough preseason schedule.
They have been challenged by
the likes of Toledo, Warrenton and
Kennedy, so by the time they get to
Blue Mountain Conference play, they
are well-seasoned for whatever comes
their way.
Riverside rolls into Heppner on
Thursday, Oct. 7, for a conference
game. The winless Pirates (0-4, 0-3
BMC) have been outscored 190-46
SPORTS SHORT
Gonzaga on EOU men’s basketball schedule
East Oregonian
LA GRANDE — Eastern Oregon
University men’s basketball and
coach Chris Kemp announce the
team’s 2021-22 regular season sched-
ule. In all, the Mountaineers have 32
games on tap for this upcoming year.
Of the 32 games scheduled, 13
will be played at home at Quinn Coli-
seum, with 11 of those contests being
conference match-ups.
The unoff icial start to the
Mountaineers’ season begins with
their annual Alumni Game, which
take places Saturday, Oct. 9, at
7 p.m. at Quinn Coliseum.
The Mountaineers’ non-confer-
ence portion of their schedule has
nine games on the docket and two
of them will be exhibitions against
NCAA Division I opponents in
NCAA runner-up Gonzaga Univer-
sity and Idaho State University.
The Mounties will play Gonzaga
on Oct. 31. It will be just the fi fth ever
match-up between the two schools
and the fi rst since the 2001-02 season.
Eastern also will face a pair of
NCAA Division III schools in Whit-
man College and Linfi eld University.
Making up the rest of Mount-
ies non-conference slate of action
are Montana Tech Carroll College,
and Montana Western. From Cali-
fornia, Eastern is scheduled to play
William Jessup, Menlo College, and
Cal Maritime.
EOU will play its season opener
at the Comfort Suites Classic the
weekend of Oct. 23-24 in Helena,
Montana. The Mounties open up
against Montana Tech on Oct. 23,
before taking on host school Carroll
College on Oct. 24.
The Mountaineers home opener
will be the following week on Oct.
30 against Montana Western.
Samantha Flett/Eastern Oregon University Athletics
Guard Max McCullough (15) returns for Eastern Oregon Universi-
ty this season. The Mountaineers open play Oct. 23, 2021, against
Montana Tech at the Comfort suites Classic in Helena, Montana.