BAKER CITY HERALD • THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2022 A7
SPORTS
BAKER, POWDER VALLEY VOLLEYBALL
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
Lisa Britton/Baker City Herald
Baker senior Jozie Ramos goes up for a kill against Philomath on Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022, in the
Baker gym.
Powder Valley’s volleyball team celebrates its District 7 championship win over Echo on Saturday, Oct. 22,
2022, in the Baker High School gym.
Bulldogs and Badgers head to state tournament
Baker City Herald
The Baker and Powder Val-
ley volleyball teams, which
played each other three times
this season, with Baker win-
ning two, will both vie for state
titles in their respective divi-
sions starting Friday, Nov. 4.
The Bulldogs will travel to
Springfield High School for the
Class 4A tournament.
The Badgers head for Red-
mond’s Ridgeview High School
for the Class 1A tournament.
Both events have eight
teams, with two courts so
matches can be played simulta-
neously.
Baker
The Bulldogs, 17-5 and
ranked fifth in the state, open
the tournament Friday at
8 a.m. against Tillamook. The
Cheesemakers are 16-4 and
ranked fourth. They advanced
to the tournament by sweep-
ing Hidden Valley on Saturday,
Oct. 29.
Baker swept Philomath the
same day.
Baker and Tillamook had no
common opponents. If Baker
wins, it would face the winner
of the second 8 a.m. match, pit-
ting Crook County against top-
ranked Marshfield. The semi-
final match is set for 6:30 p.m.
Friday.
If the Bulldogs lose to Til-
lamook, they would play in a
consolation semifinal Saturday,
Nov. 5 at 8 a.m.
Powder Valley
The Badgers will take on
longtime westside rival St. Paul
on Friday at 10 a.m.
Powder Valley, 24-7, is ranked
sixth. St. Paul is 26-5 and ranked
third.
The teams had four common
opponents this season — Crane,
Stanfield, Damascus Christian
and Perrydale.
Powder Valley was 2-3 against
those teams. St. Paul was 3-1.
If the Badgers beat St. Paul,
they would play Friday at
6:30 p.m. against the winner
of the North Douglas/Crane
match.
If Powder Valley loses to St.
Paul, the Badgers would play in
a consolation semifinal Saturday
at 8 a.m.
SEMIFINALS
Clackamas Christian, 8 a.m.
Crook County/Marshfield winner vs.
Baker/Tillamook winner, 6:30 p.m.
Powder Valley vs. St. Paul, 10 a.m.
SEMIFINALS
Saturday, Nov. 5
Consolation semifinals, 8 a.m.
Umpqua Valley Christian/Damascus
Christian winner vs. Rogue Valley
Adventist/North Clackamas Chris-
tian winner, 6:30 p.m.
4th/6th place match, noon
3rd/5th place match, noon
Class 4A State Volleyball
Championship, 6 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 4
Class 1A State Volleyball
QUARTERFINALS
North Douglas vs. Crane, 10 a.m.
Mazama/The Dalles winner vs. Hen-
ley/Cascade winner, 6:30 p.m.
Powder Valley/St. Paul winner
vs. North Douglas/Crane winner,
6:30 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 5
Consolation semifinals, 8 a.m.
Friday, Nov. 4
Baker vs. Tillamook, 8 a.m.
QUARTERFINALS
Crook County vs. Marshfield, 8 a.m.
Mazama vs. The Dalles, 10 a.m.
Umpqua Valley Christian vs. Damas-
cus Christian, 8 a.m.
Henley vs. Cascade, 10 a.m.
Rogue Valley Adventist vs. North
4th/6th place match, noon
3rd/5th place match, noon
Championship, 6 p.m.
Nix’s profile this season
Gulbranson likely to start again for Beavers rises with No. 8 Oregon
OREGON STATE FOOTBALL
Quarterback has won all
three of his starts
tion in passing yards per game
(366.8).
Smith said Penix is “an ac-
curate and great thrower of the
football.”
“This guy can change his arm
angle, he’s just accurate. Tight
windows. He likes to throw it and
he wants to throw it first. Plenty
of ability to extend (the play). A
lot of quarterbacks have that, but
this guy’s a great thrower of the
football,” Smith said.
BY LES GEHRETT
Albany Democrat-Herald
Oregon State coach Jonathan
Smith said during his Mon-
day, Oct. 31 press conference
that Chance Nolan took part in
practice earlier in the day but
is unlikely to be ready for the
Beavers’ game at Washington
on Friday.
“Still limited, didn’t do the
whole thing, so we’ll see how
he kind of responds and works
through the week,” Smith said of
Nolan’s participation in practice.
If Nolan is not ready to re-
turn, Ben Gulbranson will make
his fourth consecutive start at
quarterback. Oregon State (6-2,
3-2 Pac-12 Conference) is 3-0 in
Gulbranson’s first three career
starts.
Smith also noted that start-
ing left guard Marco Brewer
suffered a season-ending injury
against Colorado. Redshirt ju-
nior Heneli Bloomfield is next
up on the depth chart at that
position.
The coach also announced
that defensive back Alton Julian
will not return this season. He
has been working his way back
from the leg injury which took
him off the field last season.
“Wasn’t recovering the way
we wanted, took another direc-
tion and so he will not play this
year,” Smith said.
Neither running back Trey
Sean Meagher/The Oregonian
Oregon State quarterback Ben Gulbranson (No. 17) throws on the run
as the Beavers face the Washington State Cougars in a Pac-12 college
football game at Reser Stadium in Corvallis on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022.
Friday Night In
Seattle
Oregon State returns
from its bye week by travel-
ing to Seattle to take on the
Washington Huskies Fri-
day, Nov. 4 at 7:30 p.m. Both
teams are 6-2 overall and 3-2
in Pac-12 games.
The game will be televised
on ESPN2.
Lowe nor tight end Luke Mus-
grave will be available this week.
Kicker Atticus Sappington
was able to practice on Monday
and depending on his progress
this week may be able to return
to action against the Huskies,
Smith said.
Bye week
Smith said the team prac-
ticed twice during the bye week
and coaches also spent a lot of
time going over video of the
first eight games of the season.
This process of self-scouting is
important to help coaches see
how opponents might approach
these final four weeks of the
season.
“I don’t think we’re far away
in the passing game to be more
explosive. We’ve taken some
shots and we’ve got a ways to
tighten that up,” Smith said. “I
think defensively, you can start
to see trends of how people
want to attack us.”
The team also started early
preparation for the upcoming
game at Seattle. What quickly
becomes clear is that Washing-
ton quarterback Michael Penix
Jr. is a unique talent.
He has completed 68% of his
pass attempts this season with
22 touchdowns and four inter-
ceptions, and he leads the na-
Beavers ranked 24th
Oregon State entered the As-
sociated Press Top 25 poll this
week at No. 24.
This is the first time the team
has been in the Top 25 during
Smith’s tenure and this is the
program’s first appearance in
the poll since the season-ending
ranking in 2013, when the Bea-
vers were 25th.
Smith downplayed the signif-
icance of the midseason rank-
ings. He acknowledged that it
might be helpful as coaches talk
to recruits, but he stressed that
the team’s goal is to see where it
can in the final rankings.
“It’s a little bit like presea-
son rankings. Midseason rank-
ings we’re not into and paying
a bunch of attention to,” Smith
said. “I will say, though, I think
it’s a recognition of the work
these guys put in and progress
we’re making. But we’re defi-
nitely into postseason rankings.”
EUGENE — Bo Nix is fit-
ting right in at Oregon with
flashy plays and gaudy stats.
The transfer from Auburn
is even getting some Heisman
buzz with 31 touchdowns so
far this season — 20 via pass
and 11 more on the ground.
He had six touchdowns
this past weekend in No. 8
Oregon’s 42-24 victory at Cal-
ifornia, the latest in a run of
seven straight victories for the
Ducks.
Nix threw for 412 yards and
three touchdowns, and ran for
59 yards and three more. On
Monday, he was named the
Pac-12 Offensive Player of the
Week. He’s the only FBS quar-
terback who has had three
games this season with three
rushing touchdowns.
His 11 rushing touchdowns
are the most for Oregon since
Marcus Mariota had 14 in
2014. Mariota finished with 38
passing touchdowns that year
and won the Heisman.
“I don’t think anyone can
sit here and watch football
right now and watch our quar-
terback play and not tell me
he’s an elite quarterback. This
guy’s playing at an extremely
high level and he makes great
decisions for our team. He’s
an elite competitor, an elite
leader, he has phenomenal
character, he’s throwing the
ball really well and making
great decisions,” Oregon coach
Dan Lanning said.
It didn’t appear at first that
this season would be a career
year for Nix.
The Ducks stumbled in
their season opener to Geor-
gia. But since then Oregon
has been on a roll and is the
only undefeated team in the
Pac-12, averaging 48 points
per game over their winning
streak.
Nix insists he’s only as good
as the players around him.
“I think it’s just scheme, and
the players around me. I think
we’ve done such a good job
of just reading the play that’s
called. When I’m out there
when I’m doing it, if feels like
I’m not doing a whole lot be-
cause I don’t have to: I’ve just
got to get the ball to the play-
makers around me,” he said
after Oregon’s victory over
UCLA two weeks ago.
Alabama’s Bryce Young is
vying to win a second con-
secutive Heisman Trophy.
Other quarterbacks in con-
tention include Tennessee’s
Hendon Hooker, Ohio State’s
C.J. Stroud and USC’s Caleb
Williams. Michigan running
back Blake Corum is also in
the mix.
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