E AST O REGONIAN
Thursday, November 18, 2021
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A9
Pendleton
lands 3
on IMC
volleyball
team
Garton, yoshioka
named to second
team, brown was
an hm selection
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
Heppner quarterback Landon Mitchell looks to pass the ball during the first half Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021, against the Weston-McEwen
TigerScots in the quarterfinal round of the Oregon School Activities Association Class 2A state football tournament at Les Payne Field
in Heppner. The Mustangs won 40-0 and next play the Coquille Red Devils on Nov. 20 in the semifinals in McMinnville.
COQUILLE UP NEXT FOR
TOP-RANKED HEPPNER
Mustangs and
Red Devils to
meet in 2A
semifinals on
Saturday
By ANNIE FOWLER
East Oregonian
H
ePPNer — While heppner
is a familiar name when it
comes to deep runs in the
2A state football playoffs,
Coquille is at the other end
of the spectrum.
The Red Devils, who will square off
against the top-ranked mustangs on satur-
day, Nov. 20, in the semifinals, have not
been to the semifinals since 2013, when they
were at the 3a level. before that, it was 1970
when they won the aa state title with a 10-7
win over Junction City.
Coquille coach david Thomason’s team
beat Jefferson 48-8 in the quarterfinals to
advance. The road to the title doesn’t get
any easier.
“It’s like going up against the giant,”
Thomason said of playing the mustangs.
“They are heppner. They are a well-
coached team and they have the record to
prove it. I’ve never faced them as a player
or coach. I haven’t had the pleasure yet. you
want to be the best, you have to play the
best.”
The semifinal game will be played at
noon at mcminnville high school. only
electronic tickets will be accepted at the
gate.
heppner coach Greg Grant appreciates
the compliment but said the past has noth-
ing to do with the Nov. 20 game.
“What we have done in the past has
created a reputation,” Grant said. “our job
this year is to live up to that. It’s all about
the next game. all the others don’t matter.
another game after this is the goal. They
love football and we are having a good time.
It’s a real pleasure to be practicing and play-
ing football this time of year and they are
having a blast together. When you work
hard, the paycheck is at the end of the day.
Let’s invest it and see how it pays off.”
The red devils (8-1) feature a wing-T
offense with a couple of running backs that
have done their share of damage this season.
Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian, File
Heppner’s Caden George runs the ball for a touchdown Saturday, Nov. 13, 2021, against
the Weston-McEwen TigerScots.
Coquille’s bruiser up the middle is brock
Willis, who has run for 800 yards and seven
touchdowns, and speedster Gunner yates
has dashed for 1,500 yards and 28 touch-
downs.
“They are a very solid team with an
outstanding running back, and their other
skilled players are very good,” Grant said.
“The yates kid is a true breakaway threat.
Tackling him and containing him is the
goal.”
The red devils are averaging 29.6 points
a game, with the majority of that coming on
the ground.
“We are mostly a ground team, but we
can throw,” Thomason said. “We get ahead
and get out of there as soon as we can. We
haven’t had the need to throw much, but
our quarterback (bruce Poston) can when
he needs to.”
The mustangs (11-0), who have won
29 games in a row, beat blue mountain
conference rival Weston-McEwen 40-0 to
advance.
Grant said he’s excited to see how they
match up with Coquille come game time.
“That’s the exciting part when you match
up with someone you know nothing about,”
he said. “We will find out on Saturday that
we will have our hands full. They are a very
dangerous team. They are very fundamen-
tally sound on offense and defense. What
they do, they do extremely well.”
heppner averages 32 points a game,
and has allowed just 66 points all season.
most every game has been a runaway in
the second half, limiting an offense full of
weapons to minimal time.
“We got some film on them,” Thom-
ason said. “I think they are an extremely
well-coached team, the best we have seen
all year. They will create some problems
for us. defensively, I think it will be a good
game. I think we match up well. We are
similarly sized on the lines. It will come
down to execution and schemes. There will
be mistakes, but it will be how we react to
them.”
running back brock hisler has run for
1,114 yards — nearly half of the Mustangs’
2,323 yards — and 12 touchdowns. soph-
omore quarterback Landon mitchell has
thrown for 1,001 yards and 16 touchdowns,
a good portion of both going to Jace Coe
(447 yards, 6 TDs).
The mustangs will get receiver/defen-
sive back Kason Cimmyotti back for the
Nov. 20 game. he missed last week with a
knee strain.
mitchell has grown into his role as a
starter, and with a veteran group of play-
ers around him, the Mustangs’ offense is
diverse and efficient.
“my hope with a young quarterback,
with experienced skill kids around him, it
can become a solid offense,” Grant said. “To
his credit, he has stepped up. Those expe-
rienced kids around him made it easier.”
and helped put the mustangs back on the
field for another week of football.
ON THE SLATE
THURSDAY, NOV. 18
Prep girls bowling
Kamiakin at Hermiston, 3 p.m.
FRIDAY, NOV. 19
College cross-country
Eastern Oregon at NAIA National
Championships, 10:30 a.m.
College men’s wrestling
Simpson at Eastern Oregon, 7 p.m.
College women’s wrestling
Simpson at Eastern Oregon, 5 p.m.
College men’s basketball
Blue Mountain vs. Linn Benton at
WWCC, 6 p.m.
College women’s basketball
Edmonds at Blue Mountain, 7:30 p.m.
SATURDAY, NOV. 20
Prep football
2A state semifinals: Heppner vs.
Coquille at McMinnville High School,
noon
College women’s basketball
Eastern Oregon vs. Montana Western,
Caldwell, Idaho, 2 p.m.
Lower Columbia at Blue Mountain,
5 p.m.
College men’s basketball
Blue Mountain vs. Mountain Home
AFB, 2 p.m.
SUNDAY, NOV. 21
TUESDAY, NOV. 23
College men’s wrestling
Eastern Oregon at Spokane Open,
Spokane, Washington, TBA
College women’s wrestling
Eastern Oregon at Spokane Open,
Spokane, Washington, TBA
College women’s basketball
Clark at Blue Mountain, 2 p.m.
Prep girls bowling
Hermiston at Kennewick, 2:30 p.m.
TUESDAY, NOV. 30
Prep girls basketball
Hermiston at Davis, 5:45 p.m.
Prep boys basketball
Hermiston at Davis, 7:30 p.m.
PeNdLeToN — Pendleton had
two volleyball players named to the
Intermountain Conference second
team, and another
to the honorable
mention team.
senior sauren
Garton was named
to the second team
as a hitter. on the
season, she had 63
kills, 17 blocks,
Brown
132 digs and five
service aces.
also named to
the second team
was senior libero
Nora yoshioka,
who finished the
season with 231
digs. she also had
Garton
16 aces and missed
just 18 out of 107
serves.
T h e h o n o r-
able mention team
had senior ashtyn
brown selected as a
hitter. She finished
the season with 53
Yoshioka
kills, 61 blocks, 38
digs and nine ace
serves.
The Bucks finished the season
with an overall record of 7-11 and
3-7 in the ImC.
ridgeview, which won the ImC
title with a 10-0 record, and finished
third at the 5a state tournament,
dominated the all-conference team
with seven players.
mcKenzie Jonas of Crook
County was named Player of
the year, while Katie Karcher of
redmond was named coach of the
year.
INTERMOUNTAIN
CONFERENCE
VOLLEYBALL
Player of the Year: McKenzie
Jonas, jr., Crook County.
Coach of the Year: Katie Karch-
er, Redmond.
First Team
Hitters — Jenna Albrecht, sr.,
Ridgeview; Aspen Bradley, sr.,
Redmond; Josie Kasberger, sr.,
Crook County; Madie Vaughn,
jr., Ridgeview; Ellie Owen, so.,
Ridgeview. Setter — Jenny
McKinnon, sr., Crook County.
Libero — Jaycee Villastrigo, so.,
Crook County.
Second Team
Hitters — Kendall Maykut, sr.,
Crook County; Sauren Garton,
sr., Pendleton; Rilea Mills, sr.,
Redmond; Kennedy Abbas, jr.,
The Dalles; Jayden Gustaveson,
sr., Redmond. Setter — Rachel
Lester, jr., Ridgeview. Libero —
Nora Yoshioka, sr., Pendleton.
Honorable Mention
Hitters — Paige Capitani, so.,
Ridgeview; Ashtyn Brown, sr.,
Pendleton; Reese Leblein, sr.,
Hood River Valley; Zoe Lebreton,
so., The Dalles; Zoe Dunn, jr.,
The Dalles. Setters — Hayden
Hamilton, jr., Ridgeview; Jeilane
Stewart, so., The Dalles. Liberos
— Kayla Sheasby, sr., Hood River
Valley; Kiyarah Hicks, sr., Red-
mond; Kylee Rost, sr., Ridgeview.