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.