TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2021
BAKER CITY HERALD — A7
SPORTS
POWDER VALLEY FOOTBALL
Powder Valley crushes St. Paul, advances to state championship
 Badgers will play
top-ranked Adrian on
Saturday, Nov. 27 at
Baker High School
Once again, the Badgers
held the Buckaroos on fourth
down and stopped St. Paul
at the Powder Valley 15-yard
line. The Badgers were able
to capitalize off the possession
change, scoring on the ensuing
drive. On a trick play, Cole
Martin threw a 39-yard touch-
down to Case Olson to put the
Badgers up 16-0 with 5:27
remaining in the fi rst half.
St. Paul managed its lone
score of the game with just
over four minutes left in the
fi rst half, as Warren Rose
hauled in a 40-yard touch-
down pass. The Buckaroos
cut the lead to 16-8, but the
Badgers would go on to score
30 unanswered points.
After a big pass to Kaden
Krieger moved the ball into St.
Paul territory, Dixon fi nished
off the drive with a 17-yard
rushing touchdown with just
50 seconds left in the fi rst
half. The Badgers headed into
halftime leading 24-8.
“Reece’s performance was
good, but he’ll say it. It’s all be-
cause of his front three guys,”
Cobb said.
In the second half, it was
all Powder Valley as the
Badgers secured their spot in
the championship game. Cole
Martin scored a nine-yard
touchdown to end a methodi-
cal drive that started off the
second half, pushing Powder
Valley’s lead to 32-8 with 5:37
remaining in the third quarter.
At this point in the game,
St. Paul began to feel the ur-
gency. The Buckaroos started
taking deep shots and going
for it on fourth down in order
to make a comeback. However,
Powder Valley stood its ground
and kept St. Paul out of the
end zone in the second half.
Tucker Martin scored on a
one-yard rushing touchdown
with two minutes left in the
Ryan Brennecke/The (Bend) Bulletin third quarter to extend Pow-
Powder Valley’s Reece Dixon (No. 7) drops back for a pass during the second quarter der Valley’s lead to 40-8. St.
of the Class 1A state semifi nal game against St. Paul at Caldera High School in Bend Paul drove toward midfi eld on
on Saturday, Nov. 20, 2021. The Badgers are set to square off with top-ranked Adrian the following drive but turned
Josh Cobb said. “Our de-
fensive preparedness was
outstanding.”
Powder Valley took the
lead early and never looked
back. This was not the case
the fi rst time these two teams
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
played this year, when Powder
The (La Grande) Observer
BEND — After a resound- Valley topped St. Paul 50-40
ing victory, the Powder Valley on Sept. 17. The Buckaroos’
season ended in the semifi -
Badgers are heading back to
nals at 10-2, with both losses
the 1A football title game for
coming at the hands of the
the fi rst time since 2003.
Badgers.
Powder Valley took care
“They’re very good at what
of business in the OSAA 1A
they do, but our boys just
state semifi nals, blowing out
St. Paul 46-8 at Caldera High played more physical,” Cobb
said.
School on Saturday, Nov. 20,
Dixon set the tone for Pow-
in Bend. A strong defensive
der Valley on the team’s fi rst
showing, along with three
touchdowns from quarterback drive, scoring an eight-yard
rushing touchdown to give
Reece Dixon, tilted the game
the Badgers an 8-0 lead just
heavily in the favor of the
minutes into the game.
Badgers. Powder Valley has
St. Paul looked to bounce
now held its last two playoff
opponents to a combined eight back on the ensuing drive,
hauling in a huge screen pass
points.
“That was a true marvel,” that moved the ball down to
the Powder Valley 30-yard
Powder Valley head coach
line. A chase-down tackle by
Cole Martin saved a touch-
down on what would have
likely tied the game.
Just when it looked like
the Buckaroos might level
the score after driving to the
11-yard line, Powder Valley
came away with a huge stop
on the fourth down to change
the possession. Points would
prove to be hard to come by
for St. Paul, as this drive
was one of the few times the
Buckaroos made it deep into
Powder Valley territory.
“The defense was unreal,”
Cobb said. “The effort and
game plan was incredible.”
Still, the Buckaroos
showed life on the following
drive when Powder Valley
fumbled at its own 25-yard
line. This would prove to be
Powder Valley’s only drive in
the game that did not end in a
touchdown, besides kneeling
out the fi nal seconds off the
clock at the end of the game.
Ryan Brennecke/The (Bend) Bulletin
Powder Valley’s Kaden Krieger (No. 5) pulls in a
reception over a St. Paul defender during the fi rst
quarter of the Class 1A state semifi nal game at Caldera
High School in Bend on Saturday, Nov. 20, 2021.
the ball over on downs again
as the third quarter winded
down.
One last rushing touch-
down from Dixon with 10:39
remaining in the fourth
quarter pushed the Badgers’
lead to 46-8. The 38-point ad-
vantage led to a running clock,
which allowed the Badgers to
effectively close out the game.
Powder Valley held St.
Paul to 217 total yards of
offense and had a 10-minute
advantage in time of posses-
sion. Cobb credited Olson
for leading the charge on
defense, as the senior tallied
10 total tackles and four pass
breakups.
“Case Olson probably had
the best defensive game I’ve
ever seen a high school kid
play,” the coach said.
For Powder Valley, the
team is back in the 1A state
championship game for
the fi rst time since 2003.
The Badgers will confront
Adrian, which defeated
Powder Valley 38-0 on Oct.
1. Both teams have been on
a collision course, ranking in
the top two of the 1A state
rankings for most of the
season.
The Badgers and Ante-
lopes will face off on Nov. 27
at 1 p.m. at Baker Bulldog
Memorial Stadium.
“We’re peaking at the
right time, and hopefully we
have enough to come out on
top,” Cobb said.
in the 1A state championship at Baker Bulldog Memorial Stadium on Nov. 27.
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