A10
SPORTS
Wallowa County Chieftain
Wednesday, October 20, 2021
Playoff possibilities abound entering final week of regular season
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
ENTERPRISE — Depending
on how the final week of the reg-
ular season goes, the Enterprise
football team could find itself in
anywhere from a tie for first to
alone in fifth in the West division
of Special District 2.
It means that while Enterprise
is in a good position to qualify for
the playoffs for the first time since
2017, it’s far from a given.
Two games will dictate the
Outlaws’ fate in district action,
one of those games being Enter-
prise’s road trip to face Lyle/
Wishram/Klickitat on Friday,
Oct. 22.
Enterprise,
Lyle/Wishram/
Klickitat and Imbler all enter the
final week of the season 3-2 in
district play. The teams are a half-
game behind Ione Arlington (4-2)
and a game behind Dufur (4-1).
Imbler visits Dufur on Friday,
while Ione/Arlington plays a non-
Classification
adjustments
likely to have
little impact
in Wallowa
County
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
SALEM — The Oregon School
Activities Association, as it does
every four years, is reviewing its
classifications and districts and
considering proposed changes to
how they will look in the next
four-year block beginning in the
fall of 2022.
So far, the only impact the cur-
rent proposals would have on
Wallowa County schools is who
they play in league.
The latest proposal the OSAA
is seeking feedback on is a
six-classification draft. Within it,
Enterprise would remain in the
2A Blue Mountain Conference,
and both Joseph and Wallowa
would stay in the 1A Old Oregon
League.
The only real change would
be league opponents. Under the
newest draft, the BMC would be
a six-team conference, with the
Outlaws being joined by Hep-
pner, Grant Union, Stanfield, Irri-
gon and Weston-McEwen.
The OOL would retain all its
current schools — Joseph, Wal-
lowa, Griswold, Nixyaawii, Pow-
der Valley, Elgin, Imbler, Pine
Eagle and Cove — but would add
two schools that would drop from
the current BMC, Union and Pilot
Rock.
The OSAA has looked at both
five- and six-class setups for the
next four years, but in its most
recent meeting on Oct. 11 nar-
rowed its scope to six classes,
which would keep it the same as
it currently stands, and has since
2006.
Whether a draft was for five or
six classes, it did not have a major
impact in Wallowa County.
In the previous four propos-
als put together by the OSAA,
and listed on its website, Enter-
prise was joined by Grant Union,
Weston-McEwen, Heppner and
Stanfield, and current school Irri-
gon. In all four proposals, Pilot
Rock, currently in the BMC,
would dropped to the OOL.
Union was in flux depending
on the proposal with whether it
would remain in 2A or drop to 1A
alongside Joseph and Wallowa
depending on where the OSAA
sets the 1A/2A cutoff.
In fact, the range on OSAA’s
average
daily
membership
(ADM) — enrollment numbers it
uses — varied the size of the new
2A classification to anywhere
from 37 to 44 schools, with the
latest draft having 38. There cur-
rently are 47 schools in 2A.
The OSAA has also changed
how it calculates its ADM. Rather
than using students in grades
9-12, it is now factoring its
enrollment data based on grades
9-11, doing so to adjust for stu-
dents who graduate early.
But the ADM isn’t a high
school’s overall population. It
weighs in several factors, perhaps
the most significant reducing the
ADM by 25% of how many stu-
dents it has who take free and
reduced lunch.
league game against Cove.
The most important game for
the Outlaws, obviously, is the
one in front of them against Lyle/
Wishram/Klickitat. The winner
pushes their way into no worse
than a tie for second with Ione/
Arlington. Both teams would
own a tiebreaker given they each
have head-to-head wins over the
Cardinals, who stayed in the pic-
ture with a stunning 46-6 upset of
Dufur last week.
But the outcome of the
Imbler-Dufur battle carries signif-
icant weight. A Dufur win puts the
Rangers in first and give them the
top seed going into next week’s
district playoff at Eastern Oregon
University. The Enterprise-Lyle/
Wishram/Klickitat winner would
be second and Ione-Arlington
would take third. Those three
teams would earn automatic state
playoff berths, regardless of the
outcome of the district games.
An Imbler win, though,
would set insanity into motion,
as four teams — Imbler, Dufur,
Ione/Arlington and the Enter-
prise-Lyle/Wishram/Klickitat
winner — would be 4-2 in district
and tied for first. Under this sce-
nario, the Enterprise-Lyle/Wish-
ram/Klickitat loser would drop
to 3-3, entirely out of the district
playoffs and hoping their final
ranking could them an at-large
bid to state.
The district playoff games at
EOU will look a little different
than in years past. This fall, six
teams from District 2 — the top
three from both the East and West
divisions — will automatically
qualify for the playoffs. There
still, though, will be four games
— the East side fourth team
against the West side fourth team,
E3 vs. W3, E2 vs. W2 and E1 vs.
W1. The E4 vs. W4 game will be
important as the outcome could
determine if a team’s OSAA rank-
ing is good enough to garner one
of four at-large playoff bids.
Wallowa still has an outside
shot to earn a fourth-seed into the
district playoff, but would need a
win against Elgin to force a three-
way tie between the Cougars,
Huskies and Cove.
Joseph to play for
second seed Thursday
In six-man football, Joseph
already has garnered a bid into the
eight-team playoff.
The outcome of Thursday’s
contest at Prairie City/Burnt River
will determine if the Eagles are
a two-seed, and host in the first
round, or are a three-seed and hit
the road.
The teams will play in an eight-
team bracket — five from the
West and three from the East —
to determine the six-man football
champion. The East side cham-
pion — Wheeler County — hosts
the fifth seed from the West. The
West side champion will host the
West fourth seed. The West second
seed hosts the East third, and the
East second hosts the West third.
Volleyball districts
take place this week
In volleyball, Joseph’s unde-
feated Old Oregon League season
gives it the top seed in the north,
and a berth to the district semifinals
Saturday, Oct. 23, in Baker City.
The finals and third-place match
will be later that day. The top three
teams go to the state playoffs.
Wallowa hosted Elgin Tuesday,
Oct. 19, in a fourth seed vs. third
seed matchup. (This contest was
played after the Chieftain went to
press). The winner faces the sec-
ond seed from the South — Imbler
— on Oct. 21, with that winner
reaching the district semifinals.
At the 2A level, Enterprise
needed a win Tuesday against
Weston-McEwen (a game that, like
Wallowa’s, started after the Chief-
tain went to press) and help in
order to gain one of five spots into
the Blue Mountain Conference’s
district tournament. The Outlaws
entered Tuesday in sixth place in
the BMC.
Football:
Continued from Page A9
Rutherford added 96
yards rushing.
Joseph, despite the
loss, did qualify for the
eight-team six-man play-
offs after Prairie City/
Burnt River’s 44-22 win
over Echo on Friday night.
Joseph (4-2 overall)
visits Prairie City/Burnt
River on Oct. 21, with the
winner earning the second
seed from the East and the
losing team taking third.
Cougars fall
to Badgers
Powder Valley surged
out to a 42-8 halftime
lead Friday, Oct. 15, at
Wallowa, on the way to
a 62-24 victory over the
Cougars.
Wallowa (1-4 over-
all) hosts Elgin Oct. 22 in
its regular-season finale,
needing a victory to main-
tain a hope of a district
playoff berth.
Enterprise wins
via forfeit
The Enterprise foot-
Ronald Bond/Wallowa County Chieftain
Joseph’s Trace Collier, left, is dropped by Wheeler County’s Clint Rutherford in the endzone for a safety during the first
quarter Friday, Oct. 15, 2021.
ball team didn’t even need
to take the field to gain a
third straight win.
The Outlaws defeated
Sherman/Condon
after
the Huskies forfeited the
game due to a lack of
players.
The victory gives
Enterprise its longest win-
ning streak since also win-
ning three games in a row
in 2018. Coincidentally,
that streak started with
a win by forfeit against
Sherman.
Enterprise (4-3 over-
all) visits Lyle/Wishram/
Klickitat on Friday, Oct.
22, to wrap up the regu-
lar season. If they win, the
Outlaws clinch a first play-
off berth, which would be
their first since 2017.
Enterprise:
Continued from Page A9
helped Enterprise trim the
margin back to six, but
Stanfield pushed the lead
back to 11 and went on
to lead by as much as 13
points en route to the win.
The team traded leads
four times early in the
final set. An ace by Reeser
put the Tigers ahead 10-9.
Stanfield pushed the lead
to four on several occa-
sions, and seemed ready to
put the match away when
Mazie Reeser’s kill made
the lead 23-17.
Enterprise
mounted
one final rally, though, to
try and stay in the match.
A kill by Liz Rowley and
two by Gray helped trim
the deficit to 23-21, and
after the Tigers pushed
the game to match point,
Gray, Madison Wigen and
Rowley all had kills to tie
the set at 24-24.
Two errors by Enter-
prise, though, on the next
two points gave the set
and the match to Stanfield.
Joseph:
Continued from Page A9
Saturday. Joseph’s first
opponent won’t be known
until Thursday night.
Knapp:
Continued from Page A9
he likely would not have
the same passion for
running.
The Outlaws won the
team title at four of their
first five races, and fel-
low senior Bayden Men-
ton has been following
Knapp closely to the line
Ronald Bond/Wallowa County Chieftain
Ronald Bond/Wallowa County Chieftain
Enterprise’s Liz Rowley, left, drops to a knee to return a
ball while Jada Gray looks on Friday, Oct. 15, 2021.
Enterprise’s Madison Wigen tips the ball over the net
during a match with Stanfield Friday, Oct. 15, 2021. The
Outlaws fell to Stanfield in straight sets.
Gray had eight kills and
three blocks for the Out-
laws, while Rowley had
five kills. Coggins added
two aces.
The Outlaws followed
up Friday with a split of
action on Saturday, losing
to Grant Union at home in
straight sets, 25-16, 25-17,
25-12, and defeating Pilot
Rock 25-12, 25-11, 15-25,
25-9.
Gray had four kills
in the loss to Grant
Union, while Rosie Mov-
ich-Fields had six aces.
In the win over the
Rockets, Wigen had seven
kills, Gray had eight digs
and Rilyn Kirkland had
six aces.
“We struggled a bit
this weekend to find our
equilibrium with a new
lineup, minus an injured
Maci Marr,” head coach
Lisa Farwell said. “Our
team worked hard, but
we had a difficult sched-
ule with Stanfield and
GU both. With just one
league game left, we’re in
a do-or-die situation try-
ing to get into the district
tournament. We’ll need
to get a win on Tuesday,
and a few other things to
go our way, or our season
will be over.”
Enterprise (10-10 over-
all, 3-8 BMC) finished up
the regular season Tuesday
against Weston-McEwen.
Wallowa ends skid
After falling to Powder
Valley at home on Friday,
Oct. 15, Wallowa ended a
month-long rough stretch
with two home wins on
Saturday, Oct. 16, defeat-
ing Nixyaawii in five
sets, 25-17, 25-19, 19-25,
26-28, 15-11, and later
topping Griswold in four
sets, 22-25, 25-17, 25-23,
25-23.
The victories brought
an end to a 12-game losing
streak and placed the Cou-
gars in a tie for second in
the Old Oregon League-
North. Wallowa’s last win
was a victory over Wal-
lowa on Sept. 11.
The Friday loss to Pow-
der Valley was by a score
of 25-23, 25-14, 25-14.
The Cougars (5-14
overall, 4-7 OOL) hosted
Elgin Tuesday, Oct. 19, in
need of a win to advance
to the next round of the
district tournament, which
would be a trip to Imbler
Thursday, Oct. 21.
with a trio of runner-up
showings.
Moody leans on his
two seniors to help guide
a team looking to win its
third-straight state title.
“It is a team effort
every time we go to
a meet, so they work
together and help each
other out,” he said. “Zac
will take groups with
him and he pushes them.
Between him and Bayden
they are our true leaders
on the team.”
Menton has always
been a team player often
leading the team to the
line in middle school.
Knapp and Henry Cough-
lan — a state champion
two years ago who trans-
ferred to Crescent Valley
— may have surpassed
him in the standings
in high school, but his
impact is no less. Men-
ton, who runs with
Knapp on the weekends,
never cared where he fin-
ished, it is always about
the team and it made him
work harder, Moody said.
“Bayden is a fantastic
leader, he is always sup-
portive and I think I learn
a lot of my leadership
skills from him,” Knapp
said. “During my races
— and I don’t mean this
in a bad way — I am like,
‘I can’t let Bayden catch
me.’ That is definitely
one of my motivators.”
Knapp has set an
impressive pace so far
this season, and even
when he is pulling away
on the course he is driven
by one thought.
“I can’t let anyone beat
me,” he said.
He has shown what he
can do when he is focused
on something.