TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2021
BAKER CITY HERALD — A5
SPORTS
Baker football, volleyball players earn all-state honors
Baker’s lone senior, Lacy
Churchfi eld, was an hon-
orable mention all-state
pick. She was a fi rst-team
all-league selection for the
Greater Oregon League.
Baker City Herald
Four Baker High School
athletes were named to
all-state teams recently, two
from the Bulldog football
team and two from the vol-
leyball squad, both of which
advanced to the Class 4A
state playoffs.
Football
Senior Gauge Bloomer
was named to the honorable
mention team as a linebacker.
Volleyball
Baker junior Jozie Ramos Bloomer also was one of the
top running backs in the
was named to the second
team. Ramos was honored as league.
Fellow senior Alex Ritter
the player of the year for the
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
was an honorable mention
Greater Oregon League in
Baker senior Gauge Bloomer carries the ball against
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
helping lead the Bulldogs to all-state pick as an offensive La Grande during the Bulldogs’ Homecoming game
Baker junior Jozie Ramos tips the ball during a match
lineman.
the league title.
Friday, Oct. 29.
against Ontario on Oct. 4, 2021, in the Baker gym.
Bears’ late rally stuns Seahawks BMS intramural
hoops teams
fi nish season
By TIM BOOTH
Associated Press
SEATTLE — Nearly
a year after he last took a
snap in a game, Nick Foles
showed he still has some
of that Super Bowl MVP
talent in his right arm.
Jimmy Graham caught
a 15-yard touchdown
pass from Foles with 1:01
remaining, Damiere Byrd
made an acrobatic recep-
tion for the 2-point con-
version, and the Chicago
Bears beat the Seattle Se-
ahawks 25-24 on Sunday,
Dec. 26.
“The last couple years
haven’t been the easiest,
but at the end of the day
you can still fi nd joy in
little things each and every
day,” Foles said. “So going
to work and being in a
locker room with the guys
that care for one another,
that’s what I look at and
that’s what I’m grateful
for.”
Making his fi rst start
since last season, Foles led
the Bears 80 yards in the
closing minutes, capping
the drive with his TD toss
to Graham, who spent
three seasons with the Se-
ahawks. Graham posted up
a pair of smaller defensive
backs to make the catch in
the corner of the end zone,
his third TD of the season.
On the 2-point attempt,
Foles threw late, but Byrd
got his knee down in the
end zone with multiple
Seattle defenders trying
to push him over the back
line.
Foles started seven
games for Chicago last
season before a hip injury
suffered in Week 10. His
only other action came in
a Week 16 blowout win
over Jacksonville on Dec.
27, when he was in for a
handful of snaps and threw
one pass.
Foles started against
the Seahawks after rookie
Justin Fields was ruled
with an ankle injury.
“I’m happy for Nick
that he got an opportunity
today,” Bears coach Matt
Nagy said. “Not happy
for how it happened with
Justin and Andy (Dalton),
but Nick’s always going to
be prepared and for him
to be able to come into this
moment, he’s been there,
done that a lot of different
ways.”
Foles fi nished 24 of 35
for 250 yards, and David
Montgomery and Khalil
Herbert each had rushing
touchdowns. Montgomery
had 21 carries for 45 yards
and seven receptions for
61 yards. The Bears (5-10)
had lost three straight and
seven of their previous
eight.
Baker City Herald
Armando L. Sanchez-TNS
Chicago Bears wide receiver Damiere Byrd (No. 10) celebrates after scoring a
two-point conversion during the fourth quarter against the Seattle Seahawks at
Lumen Field on Sunday, Dec. 26, 2021, in Seattle.
“I don’t really care what
the record looks like. It
is what it is. But to get
a win with the guys in
there knowing the kind of
character they’ve got feels
amazing,” Montgomery
said.
It was a stunning
conclusion to a rare snow
game in Seattle that elimi-
nated the Seahawks (5-10)
from the NFC playoff pic-
ture. Seattle was already
assured of a losing season,
and coach Pete Carroll
reached double-digit losses
for the fi rst time in his
tenure.
Russell Wilson was 16
of 27 for 181 yards and two
touchdowns, including the
fi rst TD for DK Metcalf
since Oct. 31, a 41-yarder
in the fi rst quarter. Gerald
Everett caught a 24-
yard TD late in the third
quarter that gave Seattle a
24-14 lead.
Rashaad Penny rushed
for 135 yards and a score
for the Seahawks, who lost
for the second time in fi ve
days. Last Tuesday’s game
at the Rams was pushed
back two days because of
Los Angeles’ COVID-19
issues.
“That was about as
disappointing a loss as
we’ve had,” Carroll said.
“We were in control in so
many ways in that game to
go win it and put it away
and we just never did, and
A Smarter
Way to Power
Your Home.
REQUEST A FREE QUOTE!
ACT NOW TO RECEIVE
A $300 SPECIAL OFFER!*
(844) 989-2328
*Off er value when purchased at retail.
Solar panels sold separately.
let them stay alive. They
found a way to make their
plays.”
Seattle entered with
a mathematical shot at
reaching the playoffs but
couldn’t hold on to a 17-7
halftime lead. Jason My-
ers missed a 39-yard fi eld
goal try midway through
the fourth quarter that
would have given Seattle
a 10-point lead. That came
after Wilson was sacked by
Robert Quinn with Seattle
inside the Chicago 10 on
third down.
Given the chance to ral-
ly, Foles came through. The
Bears took over at their
own 20 with 2:56 left. Foles
hit Darnell Mooney for
30 yards, and a roughing-
the-passer penalty moved
Chicago to the Seattle 35
in one play. Foles connected
with Montgomery on con-
secutive plays and Chicago
was at the Seattle 11 with
2 minutes remaining.
After a strip-sack by
Carlos Dunlap that Chi-
cago recovered, Foles hit
Graham on third-and-14
and Nagy didn’t hesitate to
go for 2.
“We locked eyes and he
ended up throwing it and
I just knew I had to go up
and get it,” Byrd said.
Snow bowl
Seattle played its third
home game with snow since
Lumen Field opened in
2002. The storm hit the Se-
attle metro area in the early
hours of Sunday morning
and dropped a few inches of
snow throughout the Puget
Sound region. Roads were
diffi cult to traverse and the
stadium was as empty as
it’s been in recent memory
for a Seahawks game.
Most of the snow stopped
falling by halftime, but a
small layer covered most of
the fi eld throughout. Seattle
also played snow games
in December 2008 and
November 2006.
Wagner’s record
Seattle linebacker Bobby
Wagner set a franchise
record when he recorded his
168th tackle of the season
late in the third quarter.
Wagner entered the week
leading the NFL in tackles
and had 12, giving him 170
for the season.
Sack attack
Quinn has 17 sacks,
tied for the second most
in Bears history behind
Richard Dent’s 17½ in 1984.
Quinn has 15 career sacks
against Seattle.
The Baker Middle School
boys intramural basketball
season ended with a pair of
games on Dec. 16.
In game one, coach Bryan
Dalke’s team beat coach
Jimmy Howerton’s team 46-
40 in a game that was close to
the end.
Dalke’s team led 24-22 at
halftime. Logan Crawford
from Howerton’s team made
three of fi ve 3-point tries in
the second half to keep his
team close.
Dalke’s team was led by
Tyler Wirth with 16 points
and William Spriet with 14
points. Tristan Klecker had
six points, Colton Shank
scored four points, Johndale
Buniag had three points, and
Isaac Berry scored two points.
Howerton’s team was led
by Logan Crawford with his
game-high 19 points. Dallin
Stocks had 11 points, Damien
Knie had eight points and
Connor Norton had two
points.
In game 2, Howerton’s
team came away with the
32-30 victory. A last-second
shot to tie the game by team
Dalke’s Dominic Redman was
long as time expired.
Howerton’s team had a
14-8 lead at halftime and
Dalke’s team came within
two, but that was a close as
they would get.
Howerton’s team was led
by Isaac Berry with 10 points.
Dallin Stocks scored eight
points, Dean Jobes had six,
Anthony Mack had four, and
Taylor Lee and Parker Phil-
lippi both scored two points.
Dalke’s high scorer was
Braydon Anderson with
11 points. Caedmon Myers
scored six points, Karson
Karolski and Caden Ballou
had four points, Dominic Red-
man and Alex Nicholson both
scored two points.
It was a great year for
the intramural teams, Dalke
said.
“It was a great bunch of
boys and both teams im-
proved so much,” he said.
“It was fun seeing the boys
root each other on, even the
boys on the opposing teams.
They were really a fun group
and it was a great experi-
ence watching them improve
throughout the season.”
COVID-19 means
teams batt le two
opponents weekly
By ROB MAADDI
AP Pro Football Writer
Josh Johnson joined the
Ravens 10 days ago, and the
well-traveled quarterback
started his fi rst game in
1,092 days with fi rst place
in the AFC North on the line
Sunday, Dec. 26 at Cincin-
nati.
The Chargers didn’t
have outside linebacker
Joey Bosa, running back
Austin Ekeler, receiver Mike
Williams and center Corey
Linsley when they faced the
Texans. The Vikings were
missing running back Dalvin
Cook for their matchup
against the Rams.
Blame COVID-19.
Several other teams also
were missing key players on
the reserve/COVID-19 list.
As the NFL’s regular sea-
son winds down, expect more
teams to play important
games without some of their
starters because players con-
tinue to test positive despite
the league’s revised protocols
requiring less testing.
Baltimore, already miss-
ing 2019 NFL MVP Lamar
Jackson and 10 other players
due to injuries, lost backup
quarterback Tyler Huntley
and four others to the CO-
VID-19 list, forcing Johnson
to start against the Bengals.
The Ravens had no
chance, even though Johnson
was 28 of 40 for 304 yards
with two touchdowns and
one interception. They lost
41-21 to the Bengals and
fell to 8-7, decreasing their
playoff odds.
Don’t text and
drive... you
won’t have to
come see us!
Baker City's
Newest Brewery
Taproom Hours:
Wed-Fri 4pm to 8pm
Sat 2pm to 8pm
Closed Sun-Tues
Snacks | Beer | Cider
541-519-1337 | 1935 1st St, Baker City, OR
2390 Broadway, Baker City
541-523-5223