Wednesday, September 8, 2021
A9
SPORTS
Eagles survive Curiel, Echo to win in OT
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
JOSEPH — The Joseph
Eagles are still unbeaten at home
as a six-man football team.
But on Friday, Sept. 3, it took
surviving a late fourth-quar-
ter rally by Echo to remain that
way.
Jaxon Grover rushed for 164
yards and three touchdowns,
including a 2-yard run in over-
time that proved to be the game
winner, and Joseph withstood
a massive effort by Echo quar-
terback Dom Curiel to collect
a 39-32 overtime victory in its
season-opening contest.
“Probably one of the best
games we’ve ever played in four
years of being here,” Joseph
head coach Duncan Christman
said. “This crew we have put it
together. ... The kids performed
exceptionally well, and the big-
gest thing from this game is we
got the win, we see what we
need to work on and we know
how we’re going to start the
week out.”
Grover ran for 21 yards on
the first play of overtime, break-
ing several Cougar tackles in
the process, to get down to the
4-yard line and set up first-and-
goal. Three plays later on third
down he broke into the endzone
to put the Eagles ahead to stay.
Echo, which had just rallied
from a 14-point deficit, tried
one more time to get even, but
Curiel missed on four passes,
and Joseph survived.
The late stretch of incom-
pletions was a rarity for Curiel,
whose passing prowess helped
get the Cougars back in the
game late. The sophomore was
23-for-41 for 425 yards and
threw four touchdown passes,
two to his older brother Javon
Curiel.
Joseph had seemingly put the
game away when James Burney
broke away for a 25-yard touch-
down and a 32-18 lead with 5:34
Ronald Bond/Wallowa County Chieftain
Joseph’s Jaxon Grover carries the ball in overtime Friday, Sept. 3, 2021. Grover rushed for 164 yards and three touchdowns, including the
eventual game-winner in the extra session as the Eagles edged Echo 39-32 in their season opener.
to play, the score matching the
Eagles’ largest lead of the game.
Echo quickly responded, with
Curiel finding his brother for a
completion of 24 yards and Sam
Wyse for 36 yards, then hitting
Mac Nasario for a 13-yard scor-
ing strike. A two-point conver-
sion kick (PAT kicks are worth
two points and run or pass plays
on just one point in six-man)
trimmed the margin to 32-26
with 2:55 remaining.
Echo got a stop to get the ball
back with about a minute to play.
After a sack and an incomplete
pass, the Curiels connected for
40 yards to the 21, then again
for 9 yards to get into the red-
zone. A wild, penalty-filled play
resulted in Echo getting the ball
at the 6 with just seven seconds
to go, and two plays later — on
the last play of regulation —
Curiel threw another touchdown
pass to Nasario to tie the score.
A conversion pass attempt
for the win, though, hit off the
hands of Javon Curiel, sending
the game to overtime.
Dom Curiel was a handful
for Joseph from the outset. On
the first two plays of the game
he hit Javon Curiel for 14 yards
and Wyse for 48 to quickly get
Echo to the 3, and the older
Curiel bulled into the endzone
for a 6-0 lead just 30 seconds
into the game.
“Dude is a beast. ... He can
dance out there. It’s something
else,” Christman said of Echo’s
sophomore quarterback. “Very
good at avoiding the block and
getting there and reading down-
field. Football IQ on him is
awesome.”
Echo recovered an ensu-
ing onside kick, but Joseph’s
defense then found its foot-
ing. On the first play following
the onside kick, Harley Miller
sacked a scrambling Curiel for
a loss of 22 yards, forced a fum-
Joseph edges Echo in five
to start off solid weekend
Chieftain staff
JOSEPH — The Joseph
Eagles won a thriller in their
home opener on the volley-
ball court.
Molly Curry had a team-
best nine kills and also had
nine digs, and the Eagles
rallied twice to top Echo
in five sets Friday, Sept. 3,
13-25, 25-23, 25-27, 25-21,
15-13.
The final set alone was
indicative of how close the
match was, as the teams
tied five times and changed
leads four times. In the
final set, Joseph seemed to
take control with a 6-1 run,
capped by a Curry kill and
two errors by Echo to go
ahead 9-6.
The Cougars responded
with the next five points,
taking an 11-9 lead after
a Nevaeh Thew kill and a
Faith McCarty ace.
Joseph, though, scored
the next five points to pull
ahead for good. An ace
by Aimee Meyers put the
Eagles ahead, and kills by
Sarah Orr and Abby Orr
pushed the lead to 14-11.
Ronald Bond/Wallowa County Chieftain
Joseph’s Maggie Miller (3) makes a play on the ball in front of teammate Cooper Nave (16)
during the Eagles’ match against Echo Friday, Sept. 3, 2021 at home. Joseph won the match
in five sets.
Joseph took the match three
points later when an Echo
serve went long.
The Eagles recovered
from a rough first set to take
an eight-point lead in the
second before holding on
to square the match. Joseph
then seemed primed to pull
ahead when a Meyers kill
gave them a five-point lead
at 19-14 late in the third set.
Echo recovered, then
took the lead at 25-24 after
two Joseph error. Emma
Orr’s block tied the score,
but the ensuing serve by
Joseph went long and
Charlei Harwood’s serve
See Volleyball, Page A10
ble and recovered the fumble all
in one fell swoop to change the
tone of the game.
“Just some little personnel
adjustments,” Christman said.
“... It ended up working in our
favor to make some switches
and bring in some new blood
and really get a hold on the
game.”
On the next possession, the
defense got Joseph on the board.
After three completions and
a penalty got Echo moved down
to the 9-yard-line, Kale Fer-
guson sacked Curiel for a loss
See Joseph, Page A10
Outlaws fall just
short against Crane
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — Gideon
Gray did a little bit of every-
thing for the Enterprise Out-
laws in their season opener
Friday, Sept. 3.
It wasn’t enough for them
to come away with a win,
though they gave traditional
eight-man power Crane all it
could handle.
Gray rushed for 148
yards and a touchdown,
had a touchdown reception,
and recovered a fumble on
defense, but the Outlaws
fell short as the Mustangs
escaped Enterprise with a
16-14 win in a defensive
battle.
“Crane is always tough,”
head coach Rusty Eschler
said. “It was good for us to
get out there and play some-
body like that right off the
bat.”
A game about as close
as one could be statistically,
coincidentally enough, was
ultimately decided by the
fact the Mustangs converted
on both their two-point con-
versions while Enterprise
missed on one early in the
game. The yardages were
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nearly identical — Enter-
prise had 209, Crane had
204. Both teams lost a fum-
ble — four plays apart in the
third quarter, in fact. Enter-
prise had the edge on the
ground, 149 yards to 123,
while Crane held an edge in
passing yards, 81-60.
Crane held an 8-6 lead at
the half, and was up by the
same score after three quar-
ters before Enterprise pulled
ahead. Gray took a counter
handoff, broke through a
hole on the right side and
scampered 26 yards to cap
a short five-play drive that,
following a two-point con-
version run by quarterback
Jackson Decker, put the Out-
laws ahead 14-8 with 10:42
remaining.
“Gideon’s a really good
athlete. The only thing I
ever critique him on is he
runs a little too much like
Eric Dickerson, straight
up,” Eschler said. “I worry
about his health a little bit.
Other than that, Gideon is a
(heck) of a ball player. Proud
to have him on the football
team. And he is an even bet-
ter leader. Him and Jack-
See Enterprise, Page A10