Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, September 21, 2016
B1
WEDNESDAY
September 21, 2016
Nine Tigers ready to tame season
Monument/Dayville football
team showing dedication
2016 Monument/
Dayville schedule
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
A young Monument/Dayville Tiger football
team is ready to let their hard work play out on
the fi eld this season.
Although the team was handed a 56-24 loss
by McKenzie in their fi rst game Sept. 3 at the
Dufur Classic, Tiger head coach Nathaniel
Ashley had plenty of praise for his athletes.
“We lost but played really good,” he said.
“I was happy with a lot of the things we did.”
Monument/Dayville, a junior varsity team,
ran the eight-man game with eight players —
one was out due to injury — against McKen-
zie’s varsity team of 12.
“That says a lot about them and their dedi-
cation as a team,” Ashley said of his athletes.
Tiger senior Tanner Walczyk played quar-
terback for the fi rst time.
GW
Clark
Tanner
Walczyk
Jess
Hoodenpyl
“He did very well for us in the game,” Ash-
ley said.
He said the team made a few mistakes, and
they’re ironing those out in practice, as well as
shuffl ing some positions. The player out with
an injury is now back in the game, and another
player may join the line, the coach said.
Ashley, in his sixth year coaching the team,
is joined by second-year assistant coach Darrin
Dailey.
The roster consists of two freshmen, three
sophomores, one junior and three seniors, and six
are returning players. The seniors, all returners,
are Walczyk, Jess Hoodenpyl and GW Clark.
Sept. 23: @ Prairie City/Burnt River in
Unity, 1 p.m.
Sept. 30: @ Adrian, 6 p.m. (Pacifi c Time)
Oct. 7: @ South Wasco in Maupin, 7 p.m.
Oct. 14: @ Harper/Huntington in
Huntington, 1 p.m.
Oct. 20: vs. Crane in Monument, 1 p.m.
Oct. 28: vs. TBA in Dayville (senior
recognition), TBA
Walczyk said although they have a young
team this year, he’s excited for the season.
“We’re doing a good job of executing,” he
said. “I’ve known all these kids since we were
little.”
See TIGERS, Page B10
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Monument/Dayville Tiger Hunter
Hopkins in practice last Wednesday
on the Dayville field.
HILTON HALF HEROES
10-year-old
completes half
marathon and
then some
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
Ten-year-old Grant Hall and
his dad, Dave, celebrated as
they crossed the fi nish line of
Saturday’s Hilton Half, running
from downtown Prairie City
to Seventh Street Complex in
John Day, along with 16 other
half marathon runners.
“My legs were aching af-
ter, but it was mostly fun,”
said the Humbolt Elementa-
ry fi fth-grader, who was the
youngest half marathon com-
petitor.
A total of 71 participants
honored everyday heroes in Sat-
urday’s Hilton Half and Family
Fun Run, which included a half
marathon, 5K and Kids K.
See HILTON, Page B10
Kids and adults take a steady
pace as they begin the 5K
portion of the Hilton Half in
John Day, near Dog Creek
Road. From left: Shanniyah
Hall, Jessica and Ted Hilton
(back), Katrine Bogardus,
Madelyn Bailey, Heather
Bailey pushing Sam Bailey
(back), Logan Randleas and
Malachi Bogardus (back).
The Eagle/Angel Carpenter
Grant Union Prospector Kellen
Shelley works his way past
Stanfield opponents with help from
teammate Dillon Maley.
Prospectors
can’t catch
the Tigers
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
The Grant Union Prospectors entered
the fray with the Stanfi eld Tigers on a som-
ber note Friday, starting the night’s game
in a 10-person, missing-man formation for
the starting kickoff in honor of teammate
Justin Baker, who passed away Sunday,
Sept. 11.
Grant Union pulled together, but fell 41-
20 in a physical contest with Stanfi eld.
While the teams held each other off in
the fi rst quarter, Stanfi eld came back to
dominate in the second, and the score was
13-0 at halftime.
Grant Union then turned it up a notch.
“We fi xed a few mistakes, making it a
different game,” said Grant Union head
coach Jason Miller.
Prospectors Russell Hodge and Wade
Reimers broke up Tiger passes, and Re-
imers pressed again, causing Stanfi eld to
miss a fourth-down touchdown pass.
Grant Union’s Roen Langum scored on a
pass during the Prospectors’ next drive.
Stanfi eld answered back, scoring twice
with conversion points, and the third quar-
ter ended 28-6 Stanfi eld.
Prospector Billy Copenhaver gave Grant
Union a good fi eld position on the kickoff
return as the third closed.
The home team pushed forward in the
fourth, and quarterback Wade Reimers con-
nected with Zack Deiter for a touchdown.
Although the Prospectors added eight
more to the scoreboard on a keeper from
Deiter with Mason Gerry’s carry for con-
version points, they were unable to over-
come the Tigers’ strength.
“They’re a talented team — big, strong
and fast,” Miller said. “It was an emotion-
ally rough night on our guys. They battled
through it, and we’re always proud of them.
Teamwise, we did all right.”
The Prospectors host the Burns Hilan-
ders at 7 p.m. Friday.
G RANT C OUNTY SPORTS ROUNDUP
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
Contributed photo
Monument eighth-grader
Mark Thomas placed first at
the Sept. 3 Runner’s Soul
Fest in Hermiston with a
time of 9:17.2, racing against
82 middle school boys in
the 2,500-meter contest.
Rodeo
In last week’s Pendleton
Round-Up rodeo action, Mt. Ver-
non cowboy Ty Holly fi nished
third in tie-down roping. Holly is
fi fth in the Columbia River Circuit
standings. Also for the Columbia
River Circuit, Trevor Knowles
of Mt. Vernon is second in steer
wrestling, Tucker Wright of Can-
yon City is 23rd in steer wrestling
and Chad Finley of Mt. Vernon is
25th in tie-down roping.
Monument Cross Country
Mark Thomas is making waves
for the Monument School middle
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school cross country team. He
placed fi rst at the Sept. 3 Runner’s
Soul Fest in Hermiston with a time
of 9:17.2, racing against 82 mid-
dle school boys in the 2,500-meter
contest.
At the Sept. 9 Catherine Creek
Scamper near Union, he raced
against 92 boys for third, with a
personal record of 9:12.
He placed second in Umatilla
last weekend with a season record
of 8:26.38.
Coach Chuck Thomas said
Mark ran a smart race in Hermis-
ton, passing the lead runner with
about 800 meters left.
“He outran him to the fi nish
line, beating him by about 10 sec-
onds,” the coach said. “He’s doing
very well this season.”
Mark and three other middle
school runners on the team — Au-
breianna Osborne, Nic Ciochetti
and Paul Hays — will take on the
Nike Portland XC race on Satur-
day.
Prairie City/Burnt River
football
The Panther/Bulls enjoyed
the thrill of victory at Saturday’s
Powder Valley Jamboree in North
Powder.
After being handed a 34-6 loss
by Echo, Prairie City/Burnt River
turned their game around and top-
pled Cove, 22-6.
See ROUNDUP, Page B2
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