Wednesday, January 26, 2022
A9
SPORTS
FOOTBALL
Nine-man
back on
the table
Ad hoc committee
drops postseason
ineligibility discussion,
supports offi cial
six-man championship
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
WILSONVILLE — Nine-man
football appears to be back in the
discussion — at least at the 2A level.
The outcome of the latest meet-
ing on Wednesday, Jan. 19, of the
OSAA’s Football Ad Hoc Commit-
tee was that the committee is again
considering the addition of nine-man
football.
In fact, the committee recom-
mends nine-man for all 2A schools
— schools that play 11-man cur-
rently. It continues to back the idea
of eight-man football for larger 1A
schools and six-man for the smaller
schools.
Nine-man football was consid-
ered early on by the ad hoc commit-
tee, as it was looking at implement-
ing the setup for larger 1A schools
and all 2A schools, a move that
would have, in eff ect, nixed eight-
man football altogether.
But a survey of 1A schools found
they overwhelmingly supported
sticking with eight-man as opposed
to nine-man. In the Jan. 5 meeting
of the ad hoc committee, it appeared
that nine-man talk had been shelved
altogether.
Instead, the committee cited sup-
port among 2A schools of adjust-
ing to nine-man in its reasoning for
bringing it back to the table.
“The group reviewed correspon-
dence and testimony from members
of the 2A classifi cation indicating
that a majority of schools surveyed
supported moving to the nine-player
game for the next time block,” the
committee wrote in its update.
The change, if implemented,
would potentially impact Enter-
prise, although the 2A school has
been playing eight-man football the
last four seasons. Currently, the Out-
laws are slated to be part of an eight-
team Blue Mountain Conference
with Grant Union, Irrigon, Heppner,
Riverside, Stanfi eld, Umatilla and
Weston-McEwen.
Enterprise, though, still has the
option to continue to play at the
eight-man level if it desires to. Head
coach Rusty Eschler said the school
likely will wait on a decision until a
fi nal plan is set by the OSAA.
Additionally, the committee said
it is fully supporting making six-man
football a sanctioned sport that could
play for an offi cial OSAA title, an
option that was not in place during
the pilot program for six-man.
That would allow Joseph, which
played in the fi rst two de-facto title
games and won one, to again be able
to compete for a championship.
The committee also made a deci-
sion to change its stance on play-
off eligibility for teams that do play
down. The committee elected to
drop its position from the prior meet-
ing and allow teams playing down
eligibility for the postseason.
“Ultimately the group shifted
their stance in this area to recom-
mend that schools meeting the cri-
teria and choosing to play down
would be eligible for OSAA play-
off s, but that these schools would be
reviewed on an annual basis by the
Football Ad Hoc Committee,” the
update from the OSAA said.
The committee is also seeking
feedback on a potential change to the
season schedule.
See Football, Page A10
NIXY POURS IN POINTS
Eagles fall at home
to high-scoring
Nixy; Wallowa
gets fourth win,
Enterprise falls short
GAMES
RESCHEDULED
Last week was ravaged by
postponements and cancella-
tions on the basketball court.
Games that were postponed
and rescheduled last week
included:
Enterprise:
Boys, girls games Jan. 18
against Pilot Rock
Boys, girls games Jan. 21 at
Heppner
Girls game Jan. 22 at Stanfi eld
Wallowa:
Boys, girls games Jan. 21
against Powder Valley
Joseph:
Boys, girls games Jan. 22 at
Powder Valley.
The new dates for the resched-
uled games include:
Enterprise:
Boys, girls at Heppner Jan. 25
Boys, girls at home against
Pilot Rock Jan. 26, 5 p.m. and
6:30 p.m.
Girls at Stanfi eld Feb. 1,
5:30 p.m.
Wallowa:
Boys, girls at home against
Powder Valley Feb. 1, 5 p.m.
and 6:30 p.m.
Joseph:
Boys, girls at home against
Powder Valley Feb. 10,
6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
J
OSEPH — Nixyaawii
piled on the points and
never let up Friday, Jan. 21.
Behind 34 points from
Aaron Barkley, the Golden Eagles
boys basketball team matched
their season high for points in an
88-60 win over Joseph.
“We’re going to work harder
than we have ever worked this
week to improve from this loss,”
head coach Olan Fulfer said. “We
are a better team than we showed
on Friday.”
It was Joseph’s fi rst game in
nearly two weeks, and the Eagles
couldn’t keep pace with Nixy-
aawii, which outscored Joseph in
each quarter.
The Eagles, who were led in
scoring by Blade Suto’s 12 points,
found themselves down 22-13
after one quarter. Nixyaawii con-
tinued its torrid pace, and by half-
time Joseph was down 42-28, and
behind after three, 67-48.
Suto, in leading the Eagles in
scoring, had four of the team’s six
3-pointers.
Jaxon Grover added 10 points
for Joseph, and Reece Nelson
scored eight points, all in the third
quarter.
Joseph (4-7 overall, 2-1 Old
Oregon League) hosts Elgin Jan.
28 and Cove Jan. 29.
Saturday, Jan. 22
Wallowa 53, Griswold 31:
The Wallowa boys basketball
team is getting pretty good at
winning in Helix.
Gabe Nobles scored 16 points
to lead three Wallowa players in
double fi gures as the Cougars
defeated Griswold in Helix for
the second time this season, top-
pling the Grizzlies on Jan. 22,
53-31.
“We just worked on some
stuff . After not playing for a
Ellen Morris Bishop/For the Wallowa County Chieftain
Joseph’s Blade Suto fl ies to the rim against a Nixyaawii defender Friday,
Jan. 21, 2022.
week, (the) boys played hard and
learned some new stuff ,” head
coach Deon Chandler said. “They
are coming along good.”
Nobles scored nine in the open-
ing quarter, and Ryder Goller had
fi ve of his 13 points in the fi rst as
the Cougars darted out to a 18-9
lead. Wallowa put the game out of
reach by halftime as it opened up
a 33-14 lead at the break.
In addition to Nobles and
Goller, Isaac Barnum put in 10
points for Wallowa, which also
defeated Griswold on the road
49-19 during the Helix Tourna-
ment in mid-December.
The Cougars (4-11 overall, 2-3
Old Oregon League) host Imbler
Jan. 28 and travel to Pine Eagle
on Jan. 29.
Stanfi eld 58, Enterprise
50: The Enterprise boys basket-
ball team played Stanfi eld much
closer on the road Saturday, Jan.
22, than when the teams met 12
days earlier in Enterprise.
The Tigers, though, who are
battling for the top spot in the
Blue Mountain Conference, held
off the Outlaws to secure a 58-50
win.
“As a team we’ve become
much more disciplined off en-
sively,” Enterprise head coach
Kyle Crawford said. “We’re tak-
ing care of the basketball and
working to fi nd the best shot
rather than the fi rst. I’m feel-
ing really optimistic about the
improvements and I’m hoping it’s
only a matter of time for us to get
our fi rst league win.”
The contest was the latest
example of Enterprise playing
better and staying in games down
See Boys, Page A10
EAGLES TAKEN DOWN BY NIXYAAWII
The Eagles (6-6 overall, 3-1
OOL) host Elgin Jan. 28 and
Cove Jan. 29.
Joseph falls at
home, but defeats
Pine Eagle; Wallowa
tops Griswold
Also Saturday, Jan. 22
By RONALD BOND
Wallowa County Chieftain
Joseph ran into a tough oppo-
nent Friday, Jan. 21, in a battle
of the last two teams who were
unbeaten in Old Oregon League
action.
Nixyaawii, who has been scor-
ing at will as of late, continued
is pace, opening up a 17-point
halftime lead and not letting up,
breaking the game wide open
in the fourth quarter to top the
Eagles, 64-30, in Joseph.
“Our girls came out fl at and I
think a little intimidated, so we
made many unforced errors,”
head coach Lance Homan said.
The Eagles managed just a
Cooper Nave 3-pointer in the fi rst
and was down 16-3 after one. The
lead grew to 29-12 at the break,
and although Joseph won the third
quarter to stay within 15 at 41-26,
the Golden Eagles poured it on in
the fourth, dropping in 23 points
to earn the blowout.
“I thought our girls really com-
peted in the third quarter, cutting
Ellen Morris Bishop/For the Wallowa County Chieftain
Joseph’s Aimee Meyers (10) charges up court during the Eagles’ game
against Nixyaawii on Friday, Jan. 21, 2022.
the lead to under 10, then inju-
ries and fatigue really hurt us,”
Homan said.
Nave and Aimee Meyers pow-
ered the Joseph off ense in the
loss, with Nave scoring 16 points,
including nine in the second half,
while Meyers added nine points.
Wallowa 51, Griswold 33:
The Wallowa girls basketball
team shook off a tough loss and
got back on track.
A week after their 46-point set-
back against Nixyaawii, the Cou-
gars rebounded to take down
Griswold in Helix for the second
time this season, earning a 51-33
victory Saturday, Jan. 22.
“I was happy with the way we
played,” head coach Greg Oveson
said. “Because of some injuries,
we started four sophomores and
a freshman. I thought they played
well the fi rst quarter. Everyone
got to play and I feel like we are
all starting to get on the same
page.”
As has often been the case this
season, a big game from Zoe Her-
mens was part of the equation.
The sophomore fi nished with 19
points and hit half of Wallowa’s
six 3-pointers in the win.
Both she and Sophie Moeller
hit a pair of fi rst-quarter 3s as
Wallowa grabbed a 15-7 lead after
one, which it extended to 26-12
by halftime. The Cougars gradu-
See Girls, Page A10
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