A6 BAKER CITY HERALD • TUESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2022 POWDER VALLEY VOLLEYBALL SPORTS OREGON FOOTBALL Ducks hand UCLA first loss Bo Nix throws 5 touchdown passes in 45-30 win over Bruins BY ANNE M. PETERSON Associated Press Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald Powder Valley’s Sky Nesser, left, and Ayla Bingham combine for a block against Echo in the championship match at the District 7 tournament on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022, in the Baker High School gym. Badgers advance to playoffs after tournament win Powder will host Perrydale on Oct. 26 Baker City Herald Powder Valley enters the Class 1A state volleyball playoffs on a roll after beating Joseph and Echo to claim the District 7 tournament championship on Saturday, Oct. 22 at Baker High School. The Badgers, 22-7 overall, will play host to Perrydale on Wednesday, Oct. 26 at 6 p.m. Powder Valley, which had a bye in the opening round of Saturday’s district tournament, drew Joseph in the second round. The Badgers beat the Eagles in four sets in their two regular season meetings, but Joseph proved a formidable foe in the district tourna- ment with a berth in the state playoffs on the line. Powder Valley prevailed in five sets. “Joseph was just as tough as we had anticipated, with both teams playing well,” Powder coach Marji Lind said. “We fell off our game in the third set but could not be prouder of the girls bouncing back and fighting to finish that match.” The championship against Echo was the rubber match in the teams’ season series. Powder swept the Cougars on Sept. 24, but Echo avenged that loss with a 2-0 win on Oct. 1. On Saturday the Badgers won in four sets, 21-25, 31-29, 25-14, 25- 21. “Echo has such great hustle and court coverage it is hard to get the ball to the ground,” Lind said. “But again, after dropping a set, the girls refocused and played great volleyball to take the district cham- pionship. We are so proud of this group of young women, they fight through adversity and challenges as a true team.” If the Badgers beat Perrydale on Wednesday, they will play the win- ner of a match between South Wasco County and Southwest Christian in the second round on Saturday, Oct. 29, also at North Powder. The time for that match would be determined after Wednesday’s matches. EUGENE — Bo Nix made Oregon’s win over UCLA look nearly effortless. He said it felt that way, too. Nix threw for 283 yards and five touchdowns and No. 10 Oregon handed No. 9 UCLA its first loss of the sea- son with a 45-30 victory Sat- urday, Oct. 22 in a highly an- ticipated showdown for the top of the Pac-12 standings. “To be honest, when I’m out there it feels like I’m not doing a whole lot because I don’t have to,” Nix said. “I just have to get the ball to the playmakers around me.” The win extended Ore- gon’s winning streak at Au- tzen Stadium to 23 games, matching a school record. It is the third-best active home streak in the nation. The Ducks (6-1, 4-0 Pac-12) have won six straight since a sea- son-opening loss to Georgia and are the lone remaining undefeated team in Pac-12 conference play. The loss snapped a nine- game winning streak for the Bruins, who have not won in Eugene since 2004. UCLA (6-1, 3-1) hasn’t defeated the Ducks since 2017. Nix, a transfer from Au- burn, is a mobile threat who has thrown for 17 touch- downs and rushed for eight this season. He completed 21 of 28 passes against the Bruins. His favorite target on Saturday was Troy Franklin, who had eight catches for 132 yards and two scores. “He’s making great deci- sions with the ball, he’s not putting the ball in jeopardy,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said about Nix. “He’s playing really smart football, unself- ish football. That’s going to lead to opportunities for us to win. If he continues to do that, I think we’ll continue to see success.” Sean Meagher/The Oregonian Oregon quarterback Bo Nix (No. 10) rolls out to avoid pressure as the No. 10 Ducks face the No. 9 UCLA Bruins in a Pac-12 college football game at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon on Saturday, Oct. 22, 2022. UCLA’s Dorian Thomp- son-Robinson, who was completing nearly 75% of his passes going into the game, threw for 262 yards and two touchdowns and an inter- ception. Zach Charbonnet rushed for 151 yards and a score. Oregon slowed UCLA’s ground game, allowing 186 rushing yards. The Bruins were ranked second in the Pac-12 with an average of 211.5 yards. In contrast, the Ducks piled up 262 rushing yards. “He’s making great decisions with the ball, he’s not putting the ball in jeopardy.” — Dan Lanning, Oregon coach “I came back with expec- tations being very high for myself as well as this team,” Thompson-Robinson said. “When you don’t meet those expectations, obviously it hurts. I think it will fuel us stronger than ever.” The Ducks went up 10-3 early in the second quarter on Nix’s 17-yard touchdown pass to Terrance Ferguson. UCLA answered with Thomp- son-Robinson’s 36-yard scor- ing pass to Keegan Jones. Franklin caught a 51-yard scoring pass from Nix to put the Ducks back in front. Or- egon recovered an onside kick and went on to extend its lead with Jordan James’ 2-yard touchdown carry. After Nicholas Barr-Mira kicked a 44 yard field goal for the Bruins, the Ducks’ final drive before halftime was pushed back by a pair of penalties but Franklin caught a 2-yard touchdown pass for a 31-13 lead at the break. The Ducks padded their lead with Nix’s 17-yard scor- ing pass to tight end Cam McCormick. Charbonnet rushed for a 1-yard touch- down to open the final quar- ter but the Nix found Bucky Irving with a 37-yard touch- down catch. Irving finished with 19 carries for 108 yards. Nix became the third Oregon quarterback since at least 1996 with multiple games of five or more touch- downs in a season. He joins Justin Herbert (2019) and Marcus Mariota (2014). UCLA added a late touch- down on Thompson-Rob- inson’s 22-yard pass to Jake Bobo, who finished with eight catches for 101 yards. “It was just a complete team win, as we’ve been do- ing,” Nix said. “I thought of- fensively we were just great on all cylinders, running, throwing. Everything was just kind of working for us today. When you can stay balanced like that, usually you put a lot of points up. ” IN THE TOP 10 The last time a UCLA team ranked in the top 10 played a top-10 opponent was on Oct. 13, 2001, when the No. 7 Bruins beat No. 10 Washington 35-13 in Pasa- dena, California. It was the first meeting be- tween two top-10 teams at Autzen since No. 3 Oregon beat No. 7 Michigan State in 2014. The last matchup between two Pac-12 teams in the top 10 was No. 4 Ore- gon’s victory over No. 9 Stan- ford in 2010. POLL IMPLICATIONS UCLA, which rose in the polls to No. 13 last sea- son, had not been ranked in the top 10 since 2015 be- fore this past week. Oregon opened the season ranked No. 11, but the loss to Geor- gia dropped them out of the poll. The Ducks were ranked as high as No. 3 last season. SHANE ALDERSON FOR BAKER COUNTY COMMISSION CHAIR My family has called Baker County home since 1935. We are enjoying raising our young daughter in this beautiful community surrounded by small town values. I promise to work hard for all citizens, do the work that needs to be done and to provide the vital services taxpayer deserve. I want to be your Baker County Commission Chair to mend the relationship between Baker County and Baker City and other small cities and jurisdictions. I pledge to: • Work hard to to maximize fire and ambulance service throughout Baker County • Continue to support local law enforcement agencies to reduce crime and hold offenders accountable for their actions • Be a strong supporter for water issues and other matters facing our local agricul- tural producers • Work to protect jobs at Ashgrove Cement and other mining entities • Continue to work with all local entities (Chambers, Baker City Downtown, Interpretive Center, local Museums, Economic Development Committee, etc.) to provide resources to enhance our local tourism industry. • Advocate and work with State and Federal agencies to provide affordable work- force housing in our community. • Work hard to bring traded sector jobs to our County that provide family wage jobs for working families. • Work with local entities to make sure that we have affordable day care for fami- lies with working parents I am not beholden to any special interest groups and will bring honest and open communication to the County Commission. 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