A6 — BAKER CITY HERALD TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2021 SPORTS BAKER CROSS-COUNTRY Baker boys, girls 9th in state meet Baker’s second runner across the line, placing 38th in a time of Baker’s young and inexperienced 18:38.90. Cole said Brown, as most runners cross-country teams ran like veter- tend to do at the state meet, started ans at the biggest meet of the year, with both the Bulldog boys and girls out faster than usual. “It’s hard not to,” Cole said. fi nishing ninth in the team stand- She said Brown recovered well ings at the Class 4A state meet on Saturday, Nov. 6 at Lane Community from his unusually fast start and kept a good pace into the second College. mile. “I thought the kids did an excel- “You never know how freshmen lent job,” Baker coach Suzy Cole said. “I felt like the kids really stepped up.” are going to do,” Cole said. In the girls race, Baker’s two On the boys side, Baker junior seniors, Emma Baeth and Sydney Thaddeus Pepera paced the Bull- dogs, fi nishing 26th overall in a time Lamb, were close as usual, with Baeth, despite dealing with health of 18:05.80. issues, taking the top spot for Baker, “I thought Thaddeus ran really fi nishing 36th overall in 21:31.80. well,” Cole said. Lamb was 40th in a time of She was impressed with Pepera’s ability to adjust to the large number 21:55.50. Between the two seniors was of runners in the state meet, a much freshman Sofi a Kaaen, who placed different experience than most of 37th overall in 21:34.90. Baker’s events during the regular Cole said she wasn’t surprised season. that the trio fi nished so close togeth- Freshman Daniel Brown was By JAYSON JACOBY jjacoby@bakercityherald.com er, as they have had similar placings throughout the year. With most of the boys and girls runners set to return next year, Cole said she’s excited about the prospects for a team that will have the invalu- able experience of competing at the state meet. “It’s super exciting,” she said. Cole said this year’s team was an easy one to coach due to their dedication. “We have optional practices Saturdays, and a majority of this group runs on Saturdays too,” Cole said. “They make it really easy when you have that kind of passion for each other as teammates and for the sport.” Other individual results for Baker boys: • Jordan Mills, junior, 58th, 19:23.10 • Seth Mastrude, junior, 68th, 19:46 • River Clark, junior, 78th, 20:18 • Peyton Waters, freshman, 20:29.90 • Reeve Damschen, sophomore, 82nd, 20:34.60. Other Baker girls individual results: • Katie Spaugh, sophomore, 56th, 23:12 •Emma Timm, sophomore, 60th, 23:54.50 • Annastasia Johnson, freshman, 62nd, 23:41.50 • Paige Marlia, sophomore, 71st, 24:20.10 The Bulldogs who traveled home on the team bus had to spend Saturday night in a Pendleton motel after Interstate 84 was closed due to weather and crashes in the Blue Mountains. Cole said she and her husband, Brian, were in a separate vehicle not far ahead of the bus and they were able to get through before the freeway closed. Assistant coach Ethan Wolston stayed with the team. Ben Lonergan/East Oregonian Baker’s Thaddeus Pepera sprints to the fi nish line of the OSAA Class 4A boys cross country championship, Saturday Nov. 6, 2021, at Lane Community College in Eugene. POWDER VALLEY FOOTBALL Badgers pound Perrydale, advance in Class 1A playoffs this Friday, Nov. 12 at 7 p.m. against Myrtle Point in the quarterfi nal round. NORTH POWDER — It Against Perrydale, Powder was business as usual for the Valley senior quarterback Powder Valley High School football team in round one of Reece Dixon was in top form, the Class 1A state playoffs as throwing for 317 yards and the Badgers cruised past Per- fi ve touchdowns in the fi rst rydale, 70-34 on Friday, Nov. 5. half alone. Senior wide re- ceiver Kaden Krieger hauled The Badgers scored in big chunks of yardage early and often, building an early on and scored a 15-yard insurmountable lead in the fi rst half. The game shifted to touchdown reception in the a running clock in the second second quarter. Freshman running back half as the outcome of the game was all but settled in the Tucker Martin scored two long rushing touchdowns, fi rst two quarters. fi nding the end zone from 56 The Badgers will have and 59 yards. Senior Clay another home playoff game, By DAVIS CARBAUGH The (La Grande) Observer Alex Wittwer/The (La Grande) Observer, File Powder Valley’s Reece Dixon scores a touchdown against Elgin during the Badgers’ 42-14 win on Thursday, Sept. 9, 2021. Martin found similar success on the ground, rushing for a fi ve-yard touchdown run to open the game’s scoring. Junior Cole Martin and senior Case Olson both scored on Dixon passes, with Martin taking a deep ball 75 yards and Olson converting from eight yards out. The Badgers’ offense was a well-oiled machine, as it has been all season, but head coach Josh Cobb emphasized that the team used the game to work on its defensive ef- forts. “They had a pretty good offense, I was impressed with their blocking scheme,” Cobb said of Perrydale. Moving forward into the matchup with No. 7 Myrtle Point (9-2), defense will be the key element at practice this week for Powder Valley. “They’ve got very athletic, strong kids,” he said. “We feel that they have as many straight-up athletes as us.” The Bobcats are averaging 44.6 points per game and have won their last six matchups. “We are expecting them to throw the ball a lot and we’re going to spend a fair amount of time working on pass cover- age this week,” Cobb said. SNOW TIRES are cheaper Your calling was to serve. than a wreck Our calling is you. Come and see us or call to schedule an appointment Happy Veterans Day Lew Brothers Tire Service 541-523-3679 210 Bridge St. Baker City, OR