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About Baker City herald. (Baker City, Or.) 1990-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 7, 2019)
8A — BAKER CITY HERALD MONDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2019 WEEK AHEAD IN HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS TUESDAY, OCT. 8 ■ Volleyball: Baker at Ontario, 5:30 p.m. BAKER FOOTBALL AGAINST LA GRANDE Early miscues prove costly as Baker falls to La Grande, 34-21 ■ Tigers turn a Baker fumble and interception into two first-half touchdowns after Baker leads early By Gerry Steele “We gave them a short fi eld a couple of times. You can’t do that against a good team.” gsteele@bakercityherald.com La Grande’s opportunistic defense took advantage of four fi rst-half Baker turn- overs Friday on the way to a 34-21 Greater Oregon League football win at Bulldog Me- morial Stadium. “Our defense was solid,” said La Grande coach Rich McIlmoil. But it was actually Baker’s defense that fi rst lit the scoreboard. Two plays into the game Baker’s Alex Hammans stole the ball from a La Grande runner and scooted 35 yards for the touchdown. Hon Rushton’s extra point gave the Bulldogs a quick 7-0 lead. But it didn’t last long. Less than two minutes later La Grande evened the score when Payton Cooper raced off right tackle and outran Baker defenders for a 51-yard TD. That’s when La Grande’s defense took over. The Tigers recovered a Baker fumble at the Baker 7. Two plays later quarterback Parker Robinson scored the fi rst of his three touchdowns, going 5 yards off left tackle. La Grande’s Dawson Gaertner then intercepted Kaden Myer’s pass, giving the Tigers the ball at the Baker 5. — Baker Coach Jason Ramos did more than fi ne,” Ramos said. Smith fi nished 9-of-19 for 174 yards and tossed a pair of TD passes. Robinson’s third touchdown run gave La Grande a 28-7 lead before Smith connected with Myer for a score with 4:09 left in the third period to cut the Tigers’ lead to 28-14. La Grande added a TD run in the fourth quarter before Smith connected with Riley Flanagan for Baker’s fi nal score. “We challenged the kids to play better in the second half,” Ramos said. “We fi xed some things. I was proud of the kids the way they played hard to the fi nish.” Baker outscored La Grande 14-13 in the second half. Kathy Orr/ Baker City Herld La Grande received a Baker’s Alex Hammans outruns La Grande defenders and Baker teammates for a minor scare when Robinson fumble return touchdown Friday at Bulldog Memorial Stadium. was knocked out of the game twice in the second half. Two plays later Robinson “We got off to a great start,” “We gave them a short fi eld “I think he’ll be fi ne,” Mc- scored again, this time from said Baker coach Jason Ra- a couple of times. You can’t Ilmoil said after the game. the 1. mos. “Then we had too many do that against a good team,” La Grande (2-0 in the GOL La Grande led 21-7 at mistakes, too many turnovers Ramos said. and 5-0 overall) is ranked No. halftime. in the fi rst half. McIlmoil said the Tigers 1 in the Class 4A rankings. took advantage of the Baker The Tigers travel to Ontario miscues, then got its running Friday. La Grande defeated game on track. Ontario 56-6 in its GOL “We made some adjust- opener. ments in the second half and Fifth-ranked Baker (1-1 started pushing the ball up in the GOL and 3-2 overall) the fi eld,” McIlmoil said. “We travels to Pe Eli/Willapa ran the ball pretty well.” Valley, Washington, for a The Tigers outgained Bak- nonleague game Friday. er 220 to 13 on the ground. Grande 14 7 7 6 — 34 In an attempt to jumpstart La Baker 7 0 7 7 — 21 a stagnant offense, Ramos B — Hammans 35 fumble return (Rushton kick) switched to Spencer Smith L — Cooper 51 run (Kick good) at quarterback in the second L — Robinson 5 run (Kick good) L — Robinson 1 run (Evans kick) half. Smith, a senior, had not L — Robinson 15 run (Evans kick) B — Myer 23 pass from Smith (Rushton kick) played quarterback since his L — Shaw 4 run (Kick failed) sophomore season. B — Flanagan 28 pass from Smith (Rushton kick) “Spencer did fi ne. In fact he MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER Timbers beat San Jose to clinch playoff berth By Anne M. Peterson AP Sports Writer PORTLAND — Dairon Asprilla celebrated with a fl ip after his goal pulled Portland in front and the Timbers went on beat the San Jose Earthquakes 3-1 on Sunday for a spot in the playoffs. Both teams went into the fi nal match of the regular season vying for a postseason berth. The Timbers (14-13-7) fi nished sixth in the Western Conference and will face Real Salt Lake in the opening round. The Earthquakes (13-16-5) were eliminated with the loss, but Chris Wondolowski’s fi rst-half goal extended his MLS career scoring record. San Jose ended the season with a six- game losing streak. The match was among the most closely watched on Deci- sion Day, the fi nal day of the regular season when all the matches are played simultaneously. In addition to the Earth- quakes and Timbers, FC Dallas and the Colorado Rapids, were also vying for the fi nal two playoff berths in the Western Conference. Dallas took the other spot with a 6-0 victory over Sporting Kansas City. The Timbers, who also got goals from Larrys Mabiala and Sebastian Blanco, were winless in their previous fi ve matches, setting up Sunday’s deciding game. Brian Fernandez, who has 11 goals for the Timbers this season, was suspended for the match because she was shown a red card in last weekend’s 2-2 draw with Sporting Kansas City. Portland also was without Diego Valeri because of a calf in- jury, as rumors continued to swirl about whether the Timbers’ captain would be back with the team next season. Valeri is seeking a contract extension with the team. FRIDAY, OCT. 11 ■ Volleyball: Adrian at Powder Valley, 1:30 p.m.; Jordan Valley at Powder Valley, 4 p.m.; Wallowa at Pine-Eagle, 4 p.m. ■ Football: Dayville/ Monument at Huntington, 1 p.m.; Wallowa at Pine-Eagle, 2 p.m.; Adrian/Jordan Valley at Powder Valley, 7 p.m.; Baker at Pe Eli/ Willapa Valley, Wash., 7 p.m. (no radio) ■ Cross country: Baker at La Grande Invitational, tba SATURDAY, OCT. 12 ■ Boys soccer: La Grande at Baker, 2 p.m. ■ Girls soccer: La Grande at Baker, noon ■ Volleyball: Pine-Eagle at Powder Valley, 1 p.m. AT A GLANCE Linfi eld routs Pacifi c 52-14 FOREST GROVE — Wyatt Smith passed for 303 yards and four touchdowns and Artie Johnson ran for a career-high 98 yards and two scores to spur the Linfi eld Wildcats to a 52-14 Northwest Confer- ence victory over the Pacifi c Boxers Saturday afternoon at Hanson Stadium. The 25th-ranked Wildcats (2-1, 1-0 NWC) rebounded from their fi rst loss of the season two weeks ago, piling up 529 yards on the winless Boxers (0-4, 0-1 NWC). Smith completed 24 of 35 passes without an interception. Keegan Weiss caught eight of Smith’s passes for 97 yards and three TDs. Eight receivers caught passes for Linfi eld, including four grabs by Colton Smith, and three each by Johnson, Connor McNabb, Keaton Wood and Tyler Torger- son. Led by Johnson’s 98 yards, the ‘Cats fi nished with a season-best 186 yards. Cole, Bregman lead Astros win HOUSTON (AP) — Houston’s pair of aces dealt the Astros a pair of wins. Gerrit Cole carried his splendid September into an outstanding October with a 15-strikeout per- formance and Alex Breg- man handed fans chant- ing MVP the mighty swing they craved. The Astros survived a wild ninth inning to beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-1 on Saturday night for a 2-0 lead in their AL Division Series. Houston is one win from reaching the AL Championship Series for the third straight year. Yankees take 2-0 lead over Twins NEW YORK (AP) — The 103-win New York Yankees ran out identical, relentless lineups in consecutive games for the fi rst time all year, and manager Aaron Boone believes he knows what’s next for the A-team Bombers. Didi Gregorius hooked a slump-busting grand slam during a seven- run third inning and the Yankees pummeled the Minnesota Twins again, cruising to an 8-2 vic- tory Saturday for a 2-0 lead in their AL Division Series.