E AST O REGONIAN
Saturday, November 6, 2021
FOLLOW US ON
TWITTER @EOSPORTS |
FACEBOOK.COM/EOSPORTS
B1
BUCKS CLAIM VICTORY IN REQUA BOWL
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
Weston-McEwen’s Theodore White hauls in a
pass Oct. 29, 2021, during a 28-26 win over the
Grant Union Prospectors in Athena. TigerScots
play Saturday, Nov. 6, at Toledo in the first
round of the 2A state football playoffs.
TigerScots back
in playoffs for first
time in six years
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Pendleton quarterback Tucker Kuza (12) runs the ball for a touchdown Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2021, on fourth down against Milton-Freewa-
ter in the Requa Bowl at the Pendleton Round-Up Grounds. The Pendleton Bucks brought down Milton-Freewater 8-0 in the local 5/6th
grade championship bowl game.
Heppner opens 2A playoffs against Regis
mustangs are riding
27-game win streak
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
HePPNer — turning in
your football gear at the end of
the season is not a happy time.
during the past 31 years,
Greg Grant’s Heppner football
team has stretched its play into
the postseason all but two years
(1994, 1996), and this season
they go into the playoffs as the
No. 1-ranked 2a team.
the mustangs (9-0), who are
on a 27-game win streak, will
host regis on Saturday, Nov.
6, at the morrow County Fair-
grounds.
the rams, the No. 3 team
from Special district 2, is 6-3
overall and the No. 16 team in
the oregon School activities
association rankings.
“they are not the 16th best
team in the state,” Grant said.
“they are a really good team.
very solid. they have a big full-
back (andre Pelayo), they execute
their offense well, and they are
aggressive on defense. they will
be a tough team to beat.”
the key to the game, accord-
ing to Grant, will be to avoid
mistakes and stop the rams’
run game.
“We are going to have to step
up defensively and stop their
run,” Grant said.
defense hasn’t been a prob-
Kathy Aney/East Oregonian, File
Heppner High School’s Derrick Smith goes up for a catch during
his team’s final regular season game Oct. 29, 2021, against the
Umatilla Vikings in Umatilla. The No. 1-ranked Mustangs host Re-
gis on Saturday, Nov. 6, in state football playoffs.
lem for the mustangs this
season.
Led by brock Hisler, blaine
mahoney, Jace Coe and Kason
Cimmyotti, they have only
allowed 58 points in nine games
(6.4 points per game), while
scoring 310 (34.4 ppg).
Quarterback Landon mitch-
ell has thrown for 928 yards and
13 touchdowns, while Hisler has
run for 963 yards and 10 touch-
downs. Caden George leads the
team with four interceptions —
two for touchdowns — while
Cimmyotti has three.
Heppner has scored on
offense, defense and special
teams this season. It’s weapons
appear endless at times. While
all that is well and good, it will
not help them against regis.
“It’s all about what happens
Saturday,” Grant said. “all that
we have done got us there. Now
it’s all about what we do on
Saturday.”
the mustangs are hoping to
have two-way lineman Cody
Fletcher (bone bruise) back after
missing a few games. other than
that, they are healthy and ready
to go.
So is the community, which
gives a healthy dose of support
to the mustangs.
“It’s kind of one of the
rewards of working hard all
season,” Grant said. “our kids
appreciate it and respond to it.”
the mustangs also know the
playoffs are a byproduct of hard
work and they do not take it for
granted.
“If you work hard, you play
your best, good things happen,”
Grant said. “they should be
excited to play their best football
at the end of the year. that’s all
they have left. they are playing
for their football lives and they
want to keep a fun thing going.
It’s fun to be together and be part
of something you’ve worked for
together. to be able to extend
that is special.”
atHeNa — It’s been six years since
Weston-McEwen has qualified for the 2A
state football playoffs, and the TigerScots are
primed and ready for action this weekend.
the tigerScots play Saturday, Nov. 6, at
Toledo in the first round of action.
“We’re so excited about being in the state
playoffs.” W-M coach Kenzie Hansell said.
“this has been a goal for our program since the
beginning of the year. So excited for the senior
class and their leadership that has helped us get
to this game. No one on this team has been in
the playoffs. It’s a reward
of hard work, dedication
W-m will
and commitment.”
Weston-mcewe, the
play at
No. 2 team out of the
toledo in
blue mountain Confer-
ence, enters the game
first round
with a 7-1 record, while
the boomers are the top
team from Special district 3 and have a 6-3
record.
Toledo has a turf field, which the TigerScots
are looking forward to playing on.
“It will be our first time playing on turf,”
Hansell said. “We are excited about that.”
Hansell said the boomers like to run the
ball, and have the offensive line to wreak
havoc.
“they are really big up front and they like
to run the ball with a lot of different running
backs,” Hansell said. “they are fast, they are
big and they look for contact. It will be a great
game.”
the key for W-m on Nov. 6 will be
controlling the ball and limiting mistakes.
“We need to take care of the ball and sustain
drives,” Hansell said. “We have had games
where we have thrown the ball a lot and others
we have run the ball a lot. Our offense line
allows us to do both and change things up.”
the tigerScots who left for toledo on Nov.
5 have been practicing in the cold, rain and
windy weather this week. the same weather
they are expecting to see Nov. 6.
despite the conditions, Hansell said his
team is ready to play.
“this is an accomplishment,” he said.
“there are teams at home right now that don’t
get to put on the helmet and the jersey that says
tigerScots. It’s an honor in itself. as a coach-
ing staff, we couldn’t be more proud of all of
our student athletes.”
Local teams running for medals at state cross-country meets
Hermiston girls looking
for top eight finish
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
umatILLa CouNty — Led
by sophomore megan Joyce, the
Hermiston girls cross-country team
has high hopes at the 3a state cham-
pionships on Saturday, Nov. 6.
the bulldogs will take off at
1 p.m. on the beautiful course at Sun
Willows Golf Course in Pasco.
“We are ready to get going,”
Hermiston coach troy blackburn
said. “We have done the work. We
have run in the rain, the wind and we
have run a lot of hills. they are ready
for anything.”
Hermiston finished second at the
district 8 Championships last week,
and Joyce finished seventh overall.
the top three teams advanced to
state.
“We are hoping she can get into
the top 20 and bring home a medal
for us,” blackburn said of Joyce.
“Liz (Newman) and alexia (Serna)
should follow right along. as a team,
we are hoping for a top eight finish. I
would like to see top six, that would
make me super happy. top four, I’d
be ecstatic.”
Kennewick’s macy marquardt
is among the favorites to win, along
with Lily LaPorte from bishop blan-
chet.
Hermiston also will have two
boys running Nov. 6 — freshman
Jaysen rodriguez and senior Logan
Springstead.
rodriguez has been the bulldogs’
top runner most of the season, with
Springstead right on his tail.
“Logan was our top guy last year
and the start of this year, and Jaysen
has really come along,” blackburn
said. “Logan is getting his confidence
back. they both have their strengths
and weaknesses. Jaysen starts stron-
ger and Logan finishes stronger.”
bishop blanchet’s Will Schnei-
der and drew oliver are among the
favorites, as are Walla Walla’s brody
Hartley and Cruize Corrin from
Lakes.
Oregon 2A/1A boys
The Heppner boys finished second
at district, qualifying its entire team
for the Nov. 6 championships at Lane
Community College in eugene.
the mustangs looked to be
contenders in the top half of the field,
but illness has hit the team this week
and limited their miles.
“they all tested negative for
CovId, which is good,” said
Heppner coach russ Nichols. “It’s
just crazy. I’m just hoping by Satur-
day they all feel better.”
Junior trevor Nichols has led the
Mustangs this season. He finished
second at the Special district 5
Championships. Weston-mcewen’s
Alex McIntyre finished fourth to
earn an individual berth.
Heppner, which has only had
a program the past seven years, is
taking runners to state for the sixth
consecutive year.
the 2a/1a boys will run at
10:35 a.m.
Oregon 5A boys
Pendleton senior James thatcher
will be the bucks’ lone runner at state
after finishing fifth at the Intermoun-
tain Conference Championships.
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian
Heppner High’s Trevor Nichols runs through a water crossing in the men’s
5,000 meters Oct. 7, 2021, at the Mustang Invite at Thompson Ranch in
Heppner. The junior finished third with a time of 16:32.7. The Mustangs
compete Saturday, Nov. 6, at the 2A/1A boys state championships at Lane
Community College in Eugene.
thatcher ran a personal best 17
minutes, 13.7 seconds to become
the first Pendleton runner to earn
a trip to state since 2016.
the 5a boys run at 2:20 p.m. at
Lane Community College in eugene.