Wednesday, September 22, 2021
A9
SPORTS
Outlaws hold off Panthers for fi rst win
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — The Enter-
prise Outlaws have already seen
their fair share of close games this
fall.
On Friday, Sept. 17, they fi nally
gained the upper hand in one of
those tight contests.
“This time we found a way to
win,” head coach Rusty Eschler
said. “I’m really happy for the
kids, mainly for them ... to fi nally
(have) everything come together
and get a win.”
Jackson Decker’s one-yard
touchdown with 2:03 to play
proved to be the diff erence as the
Outlaws held on for an 18-12 home
win over Imbler for their fi rst vic-
tory of the season.
The win was a needed one for
the Outlaws after dropping two
tight battles to start the season,
including a 16-14 setback to Crane
at home in their season opener, and
a 36-32 loss at Pilot Rock a week
later.
“It feels great,” Decker said.
“Those fi rst two games, we lost
one by two, lost the other by four,
and it really sucks when you are
that close. We’ve been working all
week at practice to just do it right,
come in here and execute. It paid
off .”
Decker’s score came after
Enterprise held Imbler on downs
inside its own 10-yard-line. Pan-
ther quarterback Carter Crook was
tackled on fourth down to give the
ball back to Enterprise with just
2:50 to play, and Decker’s keeper
from a yard out on third down gave
the Outlaws an 18-6 lead.
Imbler, which struggled against
Enterprise’s defense most of the
evening, quickly got downfi eld,
needing just 45 seconds for Crook
to connect with Tel McBride for
a six-yard TD with 1:18 to play.
Enterprise, though, recovered the
ensuing kickoff and was able to
kneel out the victory.
Ronald Bond/Wallowa County Chieftain
Enterprise’s Trey Stewart looks for a hole during the Outlaws’ 18-12 win over Imbler on Friday, Sept. 17, 2021.
Stewart scored a touchdown in the third quarter in the win.
Ronald Bond/Wallowa County Chieftain
Caden Fent gets tackled by an Imbler player, but not before he snagged a
fi rst-quarter interception for Enterprise in the Outlaws’ 18-12 win over the
Panthers.
The teams battled through a
defensive-oriented fi rst quarter
— one that saw each team grab
an interception — before Imbler
opened the scoring in the second
quarter. Dallin Rasmussen scam-
pered in from 21 yards out for a
6-0 Panthers’ lead with 10:08 to
play in the opening half.
Enterprise
immediately
responded, and used the big play
to do so. On the third play of the
ensuing drive, Gray got free down
the left side of the fi eld and rum-
bled 52 yards to fi nd pay dirt and
tie the score. It remained tied at 6-6
at halftime.
Enterprise took the lead for
good on the fi nal play of the
third quarter when Trey Stewart
punched it in from two yards out
for a 12-6 edge. The score capped a
drive that was the epitome of what
Enterprise wants to do off ensively.
The roughly six-minute drive was
10 plays — all runs — and 84
yards, with the Outlaws blending
together the mixture of Gideon
Gray, Stewart and Decker all the
way downfi eld.
The big play was a 33-yard run
by Gray that set up the Outlaws
inside the 10, and Stewart scored a
play later. Gray had 57 yards rush-
ing on the drive.
“The whole thing was just take
our time,” Eschler said. “We got
into a rhythm there, and we were
just burning clock and getting fi ve
yards at a time, six yards at a time,
just moving the chains, moving the
chains, and moving the ball down
the fi eld.”
Enterprise stopped Imbler on
the next two possessions, and had a
long clock-eating drive in between
that, while it didn’t result in points,
pinned Imbler deep. The four-and-
out by Imbler on the next drive set
up the game-sealing score.
“We fl y around, we hit people,
we play good defense,” Decker
said. “I’d say the biggest thing is
just saying up on each other.”
The Outlaws (1-2 overall, 1-2
Special District 2-West) are home
again Friday when they host Dufur.
Also
Joseph stays unbeaten
Joseph ran its record to 3-0 and
picked up its fi rst road win of the
season, edging Dayville/Monu-
ment on the road Friday, Sept 17,
20-6.
The Eagles continue their three-
game road slate on Sept. 24 when
they travel to face Prairie City/
Burnt River.
Wallowa gets off
to rough start
Wallowa’s delayed start to the
season was a tough one, as 2019
state champion Adrian routed the
Cougars in Wallowa Friday, Sept.
17, 58-0.
The Cougars are at home again
Friday, Sept. 24, when they meet
up with Union.
Knapp continues strong start as
Outlaws win Wallowa County Invite
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
Ronald Bond/Wallowa County Chieftain, File
Cooper Nave had a big week for the Joseph Eagles as they won six matches. The eff ort
included an 18-kill, 13-dig performance in a win over St. Paul.
Eagles go 6-0 on the court
Chieftain staff
JOSEPH — Six matches, six wins.
That was the result of the last week for
the Joseph volleyball team, as it swept Wal-
lowa in an Old Oregon League contest on
Tuesday, Sept. 14, then followed with fi ve
wins in fi ve matches at the East/West Clas-
sic in North Powder on Friday, Sept. 17,
and Saturday, Sept. 18.
Against the Cougars, Joseph won the
road contest 25-13, 25-13, 25-12, and was
led by seven aces and 11 digs from Aimee
Meyers and 11 kills and 14 digs by Coo-
per Nave.
On Friday and Saturday, the Eagles
topped St. Paul in three sets (23-25,
25-20, 15-13), then swept Damascus
Christian (25-14, 25-20), Crane (25-22,
25-23), Grant Union (26-24, 25-23) and
Culver (25-8, 25-14).
The highlights were Nave’s 18 kills and
13 digs against St. Paul. Meyers had 12 digs
in that match, and against Damascus Chris-
tian, Nave led again with fi ve kills, Molly
Curry and Meyers had four kills, and McK-
enzie Keff er had 11 digs.
Joseph (11-3 overall, 2-0 OOL) hosts
Imbler Thursday, Sept. 23, in a matchup of
the only two teams unbeaten in OOL action.
Wallowa, following the match against
Joseph, struggled at the Classic in North
Powder, falling to Damascus Christian (25-
21, 25-14) and St. Paul (25-12, 25-6) Fri-
day, and to Crane (25-18, 25-15) Culver
(25-12, 25-23) and Grant Union (25-14,
25-17) Saturday.
The Cougars (2-8 overall, 1-2 OOL)
travel to face Griswold and Nixyaawii Sat-
urday, Sept. 25.
WALLOWA LAKE —
Zac Knapp has a second win
in the young cross-country
season.
The Wallowa Valley
senior standout dominated
the Wallowa County Invi-
tational on Friday, Sept. 17
— the fi rst cross-county
race in Wallowa County in
fi ve years — with a time
of 16:20.2, more than 1:20
ahead of the second-place
time.
That second-place runner
was teammate Bayden Men-
ton, who organized the race
as his senior project. Men-
ton fi nished the course he
designed with the aide of
head coach Dan Moody in a
time of 17:43.8.
The 1-2 fi nish helped
Wallowa Valley win running
away, as the Outlaws had
four runners in the top 10
and six in the top 14 to fi n-
ish with 27 points as a team,
besting rival Union/Cove,
which fi nished second with
39 points. The teams were
well ahead of third-place
Baker, which fi nished with
91 points.
Ian Goodrich placed third
for Wallowa Valley, tak-
ing seventh overall with
a time of 18:44.7. Chase
Homan followed in 10th
in 19:27.8, and newcomer
Levi Ortswan edged Weston
Alex Wittwer/The Observer, File
Zac Knapp, shown during the Catherine Creek Scamper, won
the Wallowa County Invitational Friday, Sept. 17, 2021, in
dominant fashion, besting the rest of the fi eld by more than
80 seconds.
Wolfe for fi fth on the team,
fi nishing in 13th overall in a
time of 19:34.7, with Wolfe
in 14th in 19:36.1. Xander
Perry rounded out the slate
for Wallowa Valley in 26th
in 20:53.0.
The rest of the team top-
fi ve was Pendleton (135)
and La Grande (138).
On the girls side, the Out-
laws placed fourth, scoring
70 points.
La Grande won on the
girls side, taking the top two
spots and scoring 41 points.
In second was Union/Cove
(52 points), followed by
Baker (62), Wallowa Valley
(70) and Pendleton (114).
Iona McDonald led
the way for Wallowa Val-
ley, taking 11th in a time
of 24:04.3. Nevaeh James
and Maddie Nordtvedt fol-
lowed closely in 13th and
14th in times of 24:28.1 and
24:32.2, respectively. Lan-
nie Stonebrink also cracked
the top 20, fi nishing in 19th
in 25:36.6, with teammate
Michaila Caine in 21st in
25:41.6 to round out the top
fi ve for the Outlaws. The
sixth runner for Wallowa
Valley, Isabella Brann, was
32nd in 29:44.
The Outlaws return to the
course Thursday, Sept. 23,
when they run at Stanfi eld.
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