Wednesday, March 31, 2021
A10
SPORTS
Late score dooms Cougars in Crane Eagles pull away
from Echo, now 4-0
Wallowa suff ers
fi rst loss, 28-22
Chieftain staff
By ELLEN MORRIS
BISHOP
For the Wallowa County
Chieftain
CRANE — It was a per-
fect sunny afternoon for
football in the small des-
ert community of Crane —
unless you were the Wal-
lowa Cougars.
On Tuesday, March 23,
the Cougars (2-1 overall)
suff ered a painful last-min-
ute loss to the Crane Mus-
tangs by a score of 28-22.
“It was disappointing.
We just had a lot of lit-
tle timely mistakes that
cost us the football game,”
Wallowa head coach Matt
Brockamp said.
The Cougars kept pace
with the Mustangs through-
out the contest, keeping
the game tied or within
one score until they pulled
ahead, 22-20, in the fourth
quarter.
Zeb Ramsden’s dazzling
53-yard catch and run to the
end zone gave Wallowa the
lead in the fourth. Ramsden
broke four Mustang tackles
on a power-ramble to give
the Cougars the lead. A win
seemed in sight.
“Zeb’s a heck of a foot-
ball player, and that was a
great play when we needed
one,” Brockamp said.
But the Mustangs bowed
their necks, took the bit in
their teeth and scored on
the next possession. It was
28-22.
It was Wallowa’s turn.
With Lute Ramsden
under pressure, several of
his passes were out of reach
of receivers in the last crit-
ical downs of Wallowa’s
fi nal fourth-quarter posses-
sion. But Wallowa moved
the ball ably on the ground.
They did, at least, until they
fumbled.
With less than 2 minutes
to go, the fumble was disas-
trous. Crane recovered.
Ellen Morris Bishop/For the Wallowa County Chieftain
Wallowa’s Zeb Ramsden makes a fl ying tackle of Crane ball carrier Mitch Clark while Lute
Ramsden assists Tuesday, March 23, 2021, in Crane.
Crane took a knee and
ran out the clock.
“We had them on the
ropes. We were ahead by
22-20 with 3-½ minutes to
go. We were moving the
football and running the
ball well. And then (we)
coughed it up.” Brockamp
said. “That was a killer.”
ralled three passes for 53
yards and one TD.
Lute Ramsden was sec-
ond in rushing with 35
yards. Despite playing
injured, Cougar running
back Tristin Bales amassed
39 years rushing. Zeb
Ramsden and Hermens also
contributed to the Cougars’
“ZEB’S A HECK OF A FOOTBALL
PLAYER, AND THAT WAS A GREAT
PLAY WHEN WE NEEDED ONE.”
— Matt Brockamp, Wallowa head coach
But there were many
bright spots in Wallowa’s
loss.
Lute Ramsden went
18-for-34 in passing for a
total of 241 yards in the
air and three touchdowns.
Zeb Hermens tossed the
ball twice for 55 yards after
taking a pitch from Rams-
den. Zeb Ramsden was his
brother’s favorite receiver,
snagging eight passes for a
total of 163 yards and two
touchdowns. Hermens cor-
total of 87 rushing yards.
Defense was a whole-
team eff ort led by Zeb
Ramsden led on tack-
les (eight) and assists (10)
followed by Jesse Dun-
can with six tackles, seven
assists and one sack.
The fact that two of Wal-
lowa’s
hardest-working
stars played injured may
have contributed to the
team’s loss.
Hermens had back and
neck problems that cut
down on his ability to turn
his head and to tackle.
“You could tell he was
really uncomfortable, and
he was just in pain the
whole game,” Brockamp
said.
“Tristin Bales had con-
tinuing lower back prob-
lems from an injury from
the Enterprise game when
he got hit in the end zone,”
Brockamp said. “After
X-rays and ultrasounds, he
was cleared to play by his
physician, but he just was
not right. Especially his lat-
eral motion was not what he
can do.”
“Crane is a hard place to
win football games,” Brock-
amp continued. “They are a
talented team and a tough
opponent. The kids played
hard. In the end they were
all bloody and exhausted.”
“Wallowa really should
have won that game,”
Crane Mustang assistant
coach Fred Maupin said
after the game concluded.
“They were really the bet-
ter team.”
Wallowa hosts Powder
Valley Friday, April 2.
JOSEPH — The Joseph
football team heads into its
fi nal regular-season game of
Season 2 undefeated follow-
ing a 46-24 road victory over
Echo on Friday, March 26.
“It was a great game,”
Eagles head coach Duncan
Christman said. “Kane John-
son really stepped up for us.
We were missing some kids
due to spring break, so it was
big for him and others to step
up.”
Juston Rogers powered
the Joseph off ense, rushing
for 199 yards and three touch-
downs, and catching a fourth
touchdown pass. He also had
13 tackles on defense. Harley
Miller added 67 yards rush-
ing, and quarterback Trace
Collier had 76 passing yards
and a touchdown, rushed
for another score and added
eight tackles.
Defensively, both Kale
Ferguson and Jonah Staigle
had 10 tackles. Ferguson also
returned an interception 55
yards for a touchdown, and
Johnson returned a fumble
44 yards for a touchdown.
“Overall we played well,
and are looking forward to
this Friday’s game against
South Wasco,” Christman
said.
The Eagles (4-0 overall)
visit South Wasco County on
Friday, April 2.
Knapp, Outlaws
win in Heppner
HEPPNER — Wallowa
Valley’s Zac Knapp edged
out Union/Cove’s Taylor Fox
to claim victory and lead the
Outlaw cross-country team
to a fi rst-place fi nish in their
most recent race at the Mus-
tang Invite in Heppner on
March 18.
Knapp crossed the fi nish
line in 17:11.9 to just slip past
Fox, who fi nished in 17:15.5.
Knapp was one of two Wal-
lowa Valley runners in the
top four, with Bayden Men-
THIS WEEK’S
SCHEDULE
APRIL 1
Volleyball
Enterprise at Elgin,
5:30 p.m.
Wallowa at Joseph,
5 p.m.
APRIL 2
Volleyball
Powder Valley at Joseph,
1 p.m.
Damascus Christian at
Wallowa, 2 p.m.
Imbler at Enterprise,
3:30 p.m.
Powder Valley at Wal-
lowa, 4 p.m.
Damascus Christian at
Joseph, 5 p.m.
Football
Joseph at South Wasco
County, 3 p.m.
Enterprise at Elgin, 7 p.m.
Powder Valley at Wal-
lowa, 7 p.m.
Cross-Country
Wallowa Valley at
3A/2A/1A Special District
5 Championship, Hep-
pner, 3 p.m.
APRIL 3
Volleyball
Joseph at Elgin, 1 p.m.
* schedule subject to change
ton taking fourth in 17:21.3.
Ian Goodrich cracked
the top 10, taking 10th in
19:33.4, just in front of team-
mate Brenden Moore, who
was 11th in 19:36.5.
Rounding out the top fi ve
for Wallowa Valley, which
fi nished with 28 points to
beat the rival Bobcats (44
points) was Weston Wolfe,
who placed 16th in 20:37.1.
Only one Outlaw runner
took part on the girls side,
with Kyla Hook placing
fourth in 22:52.8.
Wallowa Valley next runs
back in Heppner on Friday,
April 2, at 3A/2A/1A Special
District 5 Championship.
Recycled Art Contest!
sponsored by Friends of Wallowa County Recycling
To celebrate EarthWeek
Open House and
Spring Clean-up
APRIL 23rd at
the Recycle
Center on Fish
Hatchery Road.
We need volunteers for “spruce up” projects to tidy up our
recycling center. Also we’ll have a recycled art contest, games, recycling
information, and prizes. We hope you can join us and
vote for your favorites!
CONTEST RULES
MATERIALS– anything found at the Recycle Center (cardboard, tin
& aluminum, glass, plastic, paper) or in your backyard/barnyard (scrap
metal, baling twine, scrap wood) is fair game! Must be previously used.
There will be prizes for top entries in Youth (<18 yrs) and Open categories.
Public voting will be from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on April 23rd. PRIZES include
donated merchandise and gift certificates from local sponsors. Champion
entry will be displayed at the Josephy Center for Arts and Culture
following the contest. Drop off submissions April 22nd, 3-5 p.m. or call,
e-mail us for special arrangements (wallowacountyrecycling@gmail.com
or 426-7131). Pick up art entries 4-6 pm, April 23.
KEY
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female torbi (tabby-
tortoiseshell mix) born
on September 11, 2020.
She is up-to-date on vac-
cines, dewormed and is
litter box trained. Paisley is a
sweet little girl who loves to have
her fur brushed while she lays beside
you. She would do well in a home
with older children.
Available for Adoption
Call Mary at 541-398-2428
Brought to you by,
Susan Gilstrap - CPA
541.426.4070
$65 adoption fee
http://www.wallowacountyhumanesociety.org/
TO OU R F U TU RE
Save the Date for the
Key to Our Future Virtual Fundraiser
SAVE DATE
THE
04.15.21
Proceeds go toward the purchase
& repair of the Josephy Center
MJ Murdock Trust will match donations up to $50K
Let's get all the way...to $50K!
Register @ josephy.org/capital-fundraiser
Wallowa County’s Home for
Arts and Culture