A8 BAKER CITY HERALD • THURSDAY, AUGUST 25, 2022
NFL PRESEASON
SPORTS
BAKER VOLLEYBALL
“As we progress as an
offense — we want to
continue to have the gas
pedal down and find ways
to continue to score. I like
where we’re going. I like
where we’re headed.”
—Marcus Mariota,
Atlanta Falcons
Mariota
impresses
in 2nd
game with
Atlanta
BY GEOFFREY C. ARNOLD
oregonlive.com
Marcus Mariota can seem-
ingly do little wrong with the
Atlanta Falcons.
The former Oregon Ducks
quarterback, whose debut per-
formance was impressive in the
preseason opener, produced an
even better performance in his
second preseason game Mon-
day night, Aug. 22.
Mariota, who displayed his
dual-threat ability in the first
preseason game, stayed in the
pocket and showed off his arm
during the Falcons’ 24-16 loss
to the New York Jets. Mariota,
who started, led the Falcons
on scoring drives in two of the
three offensive series when he
played.
“I thought we were efficient
— made some plays and got
some points on the board,”
Mariota told reporters after the
game. “But we can always be
better.”
Mariota displayed his ability
to throw the deep ball by com-
pleting a 52-yard pass to tight
end Kyle Pitts on the second of-
fensive play of the game.
While Mariota completed
the pass, a better pass of plac-
ing the ball in front of Pitts
would’ve likely resulted in a
touchdown. The Falcons ended
the drive with a field goal after
Mariota completed 3 of 4 passes
for 67 yards during the drive.
“He just brings a lot to it,”
Pitts told ESPN Monday night.
“The pocket moves, that makes
it pretty fun.”
Mariota, who signed a two-
year, $18.75 million contract
with the Falcons in March,
completed another pass for a
chunk play during their second
offensive series, finding tight
end Anthony Firkser wide open
deep down the left sideline for a
39-yard gain to the Jets’ 14.
Mariota ended the drive
with a laser-like 13-yard touch-
down pass in a tight window
to wide receiver Olamide Zac-
cheaus. Mariota completed 3
of 4 passes for 65 yards during
that drive.
Falcons coach Arthur Smith
said he saw a lot of positives
from Mariota’s performance.
“I’m pleased with Mar-
cus,” Smith told reporters af-
ter the game. “He got into a
good rhythm. The only drive I
thought wasn’t very good was
where we tried to simulate a
two-minute situation, we got
backed up and it wasn’t really
clean there, but other than that
I thought he was really clean
when he was in there. I think
he got into the offense, got into
a rhythm, made a big-time
throw.”
Mariota’s night wasn’t com-
pletely error free. He un-
der-threw running back Qa-
dree Ollison on a short pass
to his left and threw behind
Zaccheaus on a slant pattern
during the Falcons’ third offen-
sive series. Mariota was pulled
after the third series, finish-
ing the night completing 6 of
10 passes for 132 yards and a
touchdown.
“It was great that we got
points early,” Mariota told re-
porters after the game. “As we
progress as an offense — we
want to continue to have the
gas pedal down and find ways
to continue to score. I like
where we’re going. I like where
we’re headed.”
Ian Crawford/Baker City Herald
Baker volleyball during a preseason practice on Aug. 17, 2022, in the Baker gym.
Bulldogs ready to defend GOL title
Coach Ali Abrego
excited about
veteran team
BY IAN CRAWFORD
icrawford@bakercityherald.com
With a senior class lead-
ing the way, Baker volleyball
coach Ali Abrego is looking
to repeat as Greater Oregon
League champions and re-
turn to the Class 4A state
playoffs.
“We will be putting a lean
on the majority of the se-
niors, and we are returning
with the player of the year
from the 2021 season, Jozie
Ramos,” said Abrego, who
is starting her third year as
head coach. “This senior
class has a remarkable work
ethic, and is a group of girls
that is hard to come by in
terms of class, kindness, and
character. This group I’ve
had for the last three years,
and so we are cohesive and
have a lot of fun together.”
Ramos will be joined by
fellow seniors Taylor Dal-
ton, Makenzie Flanagan and
Campbell Vanderwiele, who
is recovering from a broken
arm sustained in June during
summer volleyball.
Seniors Rylee Elms and
Macey Moore won’t return
to the court for the Bulldogs,
but Abrego said she’s excited
about the Bulldogs’ prospect
for improving on last year’s
10-3 record, which included
a 6-0 mark in the GOL and a
first-round playoff win over
Marshfield.
Baker was eliminated from
the playoffs by Philomath.
“Last season was a great
season for us, the girls
worked really hard and were
able to make it to the elite
eight, losing our playoff
game against Philomath,”
Abrego said. “This year the
girls are back at it and very
eager to show off all of their
hard work. They have put in
a lot of time and effort over
the summer, and I’m excited
to see their upcoming suc-
cess.”
Baker started practice
Aug. 15, and the Bulldogs
will open the season Thurs-
day, Aug. 25 by playing host
to Vale.
The varsity match is set for
6:30 p.m.
In addition to the return-
ing seniors, Baker’s ranks are
bolstered by a big turnout of
underclassmen — enough,
Abrego said, to fill JV and
JV2 squads as well.
Sonny Gulick is back as
JV and assistant coach, and
Jayme Ramos, a BHS grad-
uate, will lead the JV2 team
and serve as an assistant.
“Jayme and Sonny run
their practices, help foster
skill development and ulti-
mately help me make coach-
ing decisions at the varsity
level,” Abrego said.
“Sonny and I have been
coaching together for a few
years now, and have created
an awesome dynamic, we are
very excited to add Jayme to
the mix as she was a standout
athlete and Baker alum.”
Other returning varsity
players include junior Ryann
Paulsen and sophomores
Sofia Hanson, Ashlyn Dal-
ton, Lilly Wilson and Taylor
Churchfield.
Abrego is in her seventh
year as a coach. A 2013 grad-
uate of Powder Valley High
School, she was an all-state
player in volleyball, basket-
ball and track.
She competed in volleyball
and track at Northwest Naz-
arene University in Nampa,
Idaho, from 2013-15.
“I moved back to East-
ern Oregon University in
2015, and began coaching
La Grande JV2,” Abrego
said. “I graduated from EOU
in 2017, and took my first
teaching job in John Day
which began in the fall. I
took over the program in
2018, and moved back to
Baker in 2020 after finishing
my second master’s degree.”
This year Abrego says
she wants to focus on help-
ing players keep cool heads
during hard matches and in-
tensive game schedules.
“We have added more em-
phasis on the mental strain
of volleyball,” she said.
“I always tell my girls vol-
leyball is 70% mental, 30%
physical, and they have to
be prepared to fight through
pressure situations.”
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Changing Pac-12
still seeking next
playoff appearance
BY JOHN MARSHALL
Associated Press
The last major change in
the Pac-12 came with the ad-
dition of Colorado and Utah
in 2011, an expansion met
with excitement.
The latest bit of realign-
ment feels a lot different.
UCLA and Southern Cal-
ifornia aren’t leaving for
the Big Ten until 2024, but
there’s already an uncom-
fortable air out West.
“It’s an awkward situation
for everybody,” UCLA coach
Chip Kelly said.
The Pac-12’s future is still
up in the air, whether it’s
standing pat with 10 teams,
expanding or losing more
schools to other major con-
ferences.
The main goal will remain
no matter what schools are
still there: getting through to
the College Football Playoff.
The Pac-12 has put two
teams through to the CFP
and none since Washington
lost to Alabama in the 2017
national semifinals. The con-
ference’s last national cham-
pion was USC in 2005.
The Pac-12 has three
teams ranked in the presea-
son AP Top 25 to start this
season: No. 7 Utah, No. 11
Oregon and No. 14 USC.
“This conference has been
really deep and it’s really
hard to run the table in this
conference,” Stanford coach
David Shaw said. “Maybe
other conferences it’s eas-
ier playing eight conference
games, maybe the confer-
ence is not quite as deep. You
have three games to get up
for every year. Our confer-
ence, if you slip up, you’re
going to get beat.”
FAVORED UTES
Utah won the Pac-12
championship a year ago and
is favored to win it again,
picked first in the preseason
media poll.
Quarterback Cameron
Rising’s return is a big rea-
son why.
As a sophomore, he
threw for 2,493 yards and 20
touchdowns with just five
interceptions. Rising had the
Utes in position to knock off
Ohio State in the Rose Bowl
on New Year’s Day, but went
out in the fourth quarter af-
ter his head slammed to the
turf as he was sacked. The
Buckeyes won 48-45 with
Rising on the sideline.
Rising completed nearly
64% of his passes last season
and has added arm strength
so he can take more deep
shots down the field this year.
“Cam means so much
to our football team,” Utah
coach Kyle Whittingham
said. “Off the field he’s the
leader of the leaders, the
alpha dog of our team, re-
ally sets the standard. You
couldn’t ask for a better
leader.”
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