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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2021
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B1
Nichols, Mustangs fi nish third at state
Despite a week of
illness, Heppner
rallies for a trophy
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
EUGENE — With a little
encouragement from his
older brother on the sidelines,
Heppner’s Trevor Nichols
placed third at the 2A/1A
State Cross-country Champi-
onships on Saturday, Nov. 6,
at Lane Community College.
“I was trying to be conser-
vative because I didn’t feel
too well,” said Nichols, who
posted a time of 16 minutes,
48.20 seconds. “With about
800 (meters) left, I tried to put
a little surge on. Then I heard
them coming behind me. The
fi nal 300, I sprinted it out.
The last 100, I out kicked
Caleb (Brown of Pine Eagle),
who ended up fourth.”
Colin Friend of St.
Stephen’s Academy won the
race in a time of 16:23.50,
followed by Isaiah Rodriguez
of Knappa (16:28.80).
Even though they were
missing two key runners
because of illness, the
Mustangs rallied the troops
to fi nish third in the team
standings with 123 points.
Union won the team
title with 39 points, closely
followed by Bandon with 43.
“I was shocked,” Heppner
coach Russ Nichols said. “I
really could not believe we
got third. I thought they all
ran pretty darn well. Trevor
ran well and fi nished strong.
The fi rst two runners went
out quickly and got a little
lead on the next group.”
The fi nish was the best
Nichols has placed at state,
but his time was off his best
showing.
“The course was slow
today,” Nichols said. “Every
step you were slipping, even
with spikes on. It was a bless-
ing that the rain went away
before our race.”
Hunter Nichols, a junior
at Eastern Oregon Univer-
sity and a member of the
cross-country and track
teams, drove from La Grande
to cheer on his little brother.
“He cheered me on and
got me going,” Nichols said.
“Our whole team has decided
he is the best inspiration
during a race. He knows how
to get you going.”
Weston-McEwen’s Alex
McIntyre fi nished seventh
overall in a time of 17
minutes.
“We have been running
a long time together,” Nich-
ols said of McIntyre. “When
we are together, we run our
best. We go back and forth
trying to get motivation to
get going.”
Also scoring for the
BUCKS FALL TO DRAGONS
Pendleton fi nishes
season 9-2 after
7-6 loss to Dallas
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
PENDLETON — The
football sat on the Dallas
9-yard line. There were 26
seconds on the clock, Pend-
leton had a fi rst down and
trailed 7-6.
Bucks coach Erik Davis
wanted to get a few more
yards to give kicker Ben
Jennings more of a comfort
zone. Those yards never came.
An incomplete pass, and
quarterback Collin Primus
losing yardage back to the
25-yard line, left Pendleton
with one play to fi nd the end
zone or go home. Another
incomplete pass in the end
zone turned the ball over to
Dallas, who escaped with
a 7-6 win in the fi rst round
of the 5A state playoff s on
Friday, Nov. 5, at the Pend-
leton Round-Up Grounds.
“It’s a tough one,” Davis
said. “It was ugly. It came
down to a missed PAT and
the inability to put the ball
in the end zone when you
are in the red zone. The kids
played hard. With them, it’s
never a lack of eff ort. They
played with the utmost char-
acter, and we played great
defense.”
Dallas (6-4) will play at
West Albany in the quarter-
fi nals. The Bucks fi nished
their season at 9-2.
With time winding down
in the fourth quarter, the
Dragons turned the ball over
on downs at the Pendleton
21-yard line with 1:39 left in
regulation.
A Dallas penalty put
the ball at the 36-yard line.
On second-and-10, Primus
connected with Jennings on
a 16-yard pass play to the
Dallas 48.
Mustangs were Joe Sher-
man (22nd, 18:32.40), Ed
Ellsworth (35th, 19:04.10),
K a m ron D r u r y (41st,
19:36.10) and Roen Waite
(59th, 22:13.30).
“Third was awesome,
especially without one of our
top runners,” Nichols said.
“We were surprised when we
found out. Our other runners
showed up. Joe ran really
great. He ran a good race. He
defi nitely earned the second
runner spot today.”
See State, Page B3
ON THE SLATE
Tuesday, Nov. 9
Prep boys soccer
3A/2A/1A state semifi nals:
Dayton at Riverside, 5 p.m.
College volleyball
Eastern Oregon at Cascade
Collegiate Conference Tourna-
ment, TBA
College men’s soccer
Eastern Oregon at Cascade
Collegiate Conference Tourna-
ment, TBA
College women’s soccer
Eastern Oregon at Cascade
Collegiate Conference Tourna-
ment, TBA
College men’s basketball
Eastern Oregon at Idaho
State, exhibition, 6 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 10
College volleyball
Spokane at Blue Mountain,
6 p.m.
College women’s basket-
ball
Eastern Oregon vs. Rocky
Mountain College, LC Women’s
Basketball Tournament, Lewis-
ton, Idaho, 1 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 12
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group
Pendleton’s Payton Lambert (32) looks for an opening in the Dallas defense. The Pendleton Buckaroos fell 7-6 against the
Dallas Dragons on Friday, Nov. 5, 2021, in the fi rst round of the Oregon School Activities Association 5A State Football
Championship at the Pendleton Round-Up Arena in Pendleton.
Another big pass play from
Primus to Luke Bensching
put the ball at the 21, and a
12-yard run by Primus landed
the ball at the 9.
“We had their backs
against the wall all night,”
Dallas coach Andy Jackson
said. “I’m just really proud
of our kids and the fight
they had in them. They
stood up against some
really good running backs,
and made a great stop on
the goal line.”
After trading posses-
sions to start the game, the
Bucks scored with 4:51 left
in the fi rst quarter as Primus
connected with Payton
Lambert for a 65-yard touch-
down. Jennings missed the
PAT, leaving Pendleton with
a 6-0 lead that held at the end
of the quarter.
On their ensuing drive,
the Dragons drove 75 yards
in 10 plays, and took a 7-6
lead on a 15-yard touch-
down run and PAT by Logan
Person just 7 seconds into
the second quarter.
“When it came down to it,
my line got the job done on
my touchdown run,” Person
said. “Defensively, this is the
best we have played all year.
They got their touchdown,
but we said we wouldn’t let
that happen again.”
Pendleton had two solid
opportunities to score in the
third, but the points never
came.
Dallas opened the third
quarter with the ball, but
an incomplete pass and a
sack by Enoch Crane put the
ball at the Dragons’ own 15.
On third-and-14, the Bucks
fl ushed Ashton Foster out of
the pocket and brought him
down in the end zone for
what looked to be a safety.
The officials said he was
down at the 3-yard line.
Late in the third, the
Bucks had the ball at the
Dallas 15, facing fourth-
and-4. Lambert took the
handoff , but only got half of
the yards he needed.
See Bucks, Page B3
College women’s basket-
ball
Eastern Oregon vs. Rocky
Mountain College, LC Women’s
Basketball Tournament, Lewis-
ton, Idaho, 1 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 13
Prep football
2A quarterfi nals:
Weston-McEwen at Heppner,
1 p.m.
College football
Southern Oregon at Eastern
Oregon, 1 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 14
College men’s wrestling
Eastern Oregon at Mike
Clock Open, Forest Grove,
Oregon, 7 a.m.
College women’s wrestling
Eastern Oregon at Mike
Clock Open, Forest Grove,
Oregon, 7 a.m.
Weston-McEwen tops Toledo
to reach 2A quarterfi nals
Blankenship
interception helps
TigerScots to win
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
TOLEDO — With Toledo
driving down the field in
the waning seconds, senior
Boone Blankenship came
up with an interception to
help seal a 20-14 win for
Weston-McEwen on Satur-
day, Nov. 6, in the fi rst round
of the 2A state playoff s.
“We are so excited,” said
TigerScots coach Kenzie
Hansell. “It was such an
incredible, joyful and reward-
ing game. We had more fans
— who traveled 6 1/2 hours
— than Toledo did. That type
of support is motivating for
the entire program.”
Levie Phillips ran the
ball into the end zone from 4
yards out to break a 14-14 tie
and give Weston-McEwen a
20-14 lead with just 2:48 left
on the clock.
Blankenship’s intercep-
tion came with 40 seconds
left in the game and the
Boomers on the W-M
25-yard line.
The TigerScots opened
the scoring with a 4-yard
scoring run by Phillips in
the first quarter.
T he Boomers (6 - 4)
answered in the second quar-
ter, converting on fourth-
and-8. They would score
once more to take a 14-6 lead
at the half.
In the third, Theo White
hauled in a 62-yard touch-
down pass from Blane Peal,
and Peal ran the ball in for the
2-point conversion to tie the
score.
Hansell credited his line
for holding the Boomers to
just 14 points.
“Our defensive line was
outsized across the board,”
Hansell said. “They played
with heart and character.”
Phillips fi nished the game
with 83 yards on 22 carries,
while Peal completed 4 of 8
passes for 106 yards. White
had three catches for 86
yards.
The TigerScots (8-1)
will play at Blue Mountain
Conference foe Heppner
at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Nov.
13 in the quarterfi nals. The
Mustangs beat Regis 43-8 to
advance.
“We are looking forward
to next week,” Hansell said.
“Our program respects what
Coach (Greg) Grant has built.
They are well coached and
disciplined. We are excited
to move on to the second
round.”
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