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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 25, 2019)
A8 PAGE LABEL Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, September 25, 2019 WEDNESDAY September 25, 2019 Prairie City/Burnt River coach’s ejection from game overturned OSAA official states 6-man snap rule was misapplied By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle An official’s decision to eject the Prairie City/ Burnt River Panther foot- ball coach was overturned after the school appealed to the Oregon School Activities Association. Six-man football has some different rules than 11-man or even 8-man, and one rule was misinterpreted by the officiating crew during the Sept. 13 game between the Panthers and the visiting Sherman/Condon Huskies. Oregon is in its second year of a two-year six-man foot- ball pilot program to allow small schools to continue with the sport. OSAA Assistant Exec- utive Director Brad Gar- rett said Panther coach Scott Dean “was ejected and Prai- rie City appealed, which is allowable, and the commis- sioner granted that appeal.” He added, they see 300- plus ejections by the end of the year, in various sports, and not every appeal is granted. In this case, there was a misapplication of the rules, he said. “No person is perfect,” Garrett said. He said both teams were incorrectly penalized for a direct hand-to-hand snap. The misunderstanding stemmed from a bulletin that reminded officials that the quarterback has to be at least a yard from the line of scrim- mage, and Garrett said the quarterback is indeed a yard behind when they receive the hand-to-hand. The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Prairie City/Burnt River football coach Scott Dean walks off the field after a timeout huddle with his team in the Sept. 13 game against the Sherman/Condon Huskies in Prairie City. “We can’t rewind the clock, but all the correct actions have been taken,” Garrett said. Dean said his team had been practicing their plays under center, where the cen- ter hands the ball directly under him to the quarter- back, rather than pitch- ing it back in the shotgun formation. “We were under center for the prior game and scrim- mage for the most part,” the coach said. “Not one time were we ever questioned.” “Direct or indirect, what got me fired up, on film, Sherman went under cen- ter five times before called on it,” Dean said. “We had a center and snapping issue that under center we would have not had — 12 times in the game we mishandled the snap, which we would have not done if not for the deci- sion (incorrect or not) of the referee.” Prairie City Athletic Director Billy Colson said the ejection came when Dean continued to tell them that they were misinterpret- ing the rule. He said the coach’s frustrations were exacerbated when the other team was allowed to take snaps under center. “Hopefully, this interpre- tation is fixed moving for- ward, so that this type of miscommunication doesn’t happen again,” Colson said. “Everyone makes mistakes, and in working with the referee commissioner and OSAA, we were able to han- dle this situation profession- ally and move forward from it.” “I know that our coach was extremely frustrated, but at no point do I think he was inappropriate in his language and demeanor,” Colson continued. “I also know that our kids showed a lot of perseverance in the game with the difficul- ties of not being allowed to run a majority of their plays because of the misinterpre- tation of the rule.” Prairie City/Burnt River will host the Hun- tington/Harper Locomo- tives at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 27. If the ruling had not been appealed with that appeal granted, Dean would have been sus- pended from coaching that game. Dean said he’s happy the decision was overturned. “I have not been ejected, ever, over rules,” he said. “I will always stand up for my players and have 40-plus years of coaching. An injus- tice was corrected, and it’s time to move on.” Grant Union volleyball defeats Heppner in first league game Prairie City spikers sweep three teams By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle The Grant Union Prospector volleyball team was victorious in its first league game of the season, beating Heppner 3-2 at the Mus- tangs’ home court. Grant Union won with scores of 21-25, 25-13, 13-25, 25-14 and 15-6. “The match is pretty reflective through the scores,” said Grant Union head coach Ali Abrego. “The first game was much closer than any of the rest, but Heppner is a hard gym to play in. The girls really just fought hard to win this week- end which was awesome to see.” Standouts in the match were Grace Taylor, Taylor Allen and Paige Gerry, Abrego said. “Overall, going into the match, we talked a lot about how that par- ticular game would set the tone for the season as far as momentum — wins vs. losses — that type of thing, and we really laid out some posi- tive momentum and mindset going into that,” she said. “The girls really worked hard, and I’m proud of how they are growing together.” After losing a 3-1 match to Grant Union at the Prairie City court on Sept. 17, the Prairie City Panthers went on to sweep three teams on the road, including Harper in the Panthers’ first league game of the season. Prairie City defeated Harper 25-4, 25-11 and 25-15. They also beat Sherman 25-17, 25-18 and 25-21 and Trinity Lutheran 25-10, 25-19, 23-25 and 25-18, both games played at Trinity Lutheran in Bend. The Eagle/Angel Carpenter The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Prairie City Panther Rilee Emmel spikes the ball as Grant Union Prospectors Grace Taylor (13) and Kaytlyn Wells (15) attempt to block. “The matches in Bend were more challenging, but the team did well and came out on top,” said Panther assistant coach Louanne Zweygardt. “We had 95% serv- ing as a team against Sherman with Rilee Emmel, Hailee Wall, Emily Ennis and Samie Workman all serving 100%.” Katie Hire had three aces and only one error on 17 serves. Emmel had six kills, and Ennis had five. “Shaine Madden continues to dominate our back row, which is allowing our setters to get the ball to our hitters,” Zweygardt said. “The girls got a little tired in the second match, particularly since Trinity Lutheran did a good job of keeping the ball in play. We still had strong serving.” Emmel had six aces and only one error on 22 serves. Laken McKay had five aces and one error on 23 serves. and Hailee Wall had five aces and two errors on 18 serves. Hire and Emmel each had 10 kills. “We were able to get playing time for everyone, which makes a difference for developing players,” Zweygardt said. The 1A Panthers hosted the neighboring 2A Prospectors Sept. 17 with the Prospectors winning 3-1. Grant Union won the first two sets 25-18 and 25-16. Then Prairie City took a stand, taking the third set 25-21. Grant Union went on an 11-0 run in the fourth to overtake Prai- rie City 25-9 in the final set for the victory. “The last game showed how we should be playing all season,” Abrego said. She was happy with good serv- ing runs from sophomores Taylor and Gerry, and said seniors Allen and Kaytlyn Wells both hit well. “It’s a good win for us going into the weekend,” Abrego said. “It’s always good to have a posi- tive swing going into the start of league.” She said they’d need to focus on being disciplined and controlling the momentum of the game. “We struggled in the beginning, but we came back, hitting well,” she said, adding they also played good defense. Prairie City coach Jordan Bass said her team has the skills to win. “We’re still working on start to finish and keeping that energy and drive to win the whole game, not just a set,” she said. “If they want it, they’ve got to play like they want it,” she added. Emmel said they didn’t play Grant Union Prospector Grace Taylor spikes the ball over the reach of Prairie City Panther Hailee Wall (5) on Sept. 17 in Prairie City. to the full potential against Grant Union they’ve shown previously. “We need to stop being so timid and be aggressive to everything and learn how to battle, be strong and maintain throughout,” Emmel said. “We’d rather compete against these teams, because that’s the level that we’re at.” Allen, the Prospector senior, said their defense and hitting was strong and she is looking forward to league play. The Prospectors continue with league competition this week, facing Stanfield at noon and Weston-McEwen at 2 p.m. Sat- urday at Stanfield, then Union at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 1, on the road. “We are looking forward to meeting them, and putting our dis- cipline to the test,” Abrego said. “Union has a tough environment to play in as well, and I think they will provide our girls with an opportu- nity to prove what we want.” Tigers attack Mountain Lions at Dayville volleyball court By Angel Carpenter Blue Mountain Eagle The Dayville/Monument Tiger volleyball team may have swept the Ukiah/Long Creek Mountaineers in Day- ville Friday, but both teams played with heart. The Tigers won with scores of 25-17, 25-14 and 25-16. Dayville/Monument pulled away early in the first set, Tiger senior Aubrey Bowlus had three good serves, includ- ing two aces, when her team gained an 18-7 point lead. Ukiah/Long Creek sopho- more Lilly Cave answered with four good serves and two aces to narrow the gap to 7 points, but Dayville/Monument came back swinging for the 8-point win. The teams tied the score four times in the second set before the Tigers started to pull away. Dayville/Monument fresh- The Eagle/Angel Carpenter Dayville/Monument sophomore Aubreianna Osborne sends the ball back to Ukiah/Long Creek in Friday’s game, her teammate Katie Barker in back. man Hannah Hand was instru- mental in the push forward with seven good serves, includ- ing three aces. A gentle tip at the corner from Tiger sopho- more Aubreianna Osborne had the Mountain Lions unable to return. “We had some players step up and work on their transition- ing and offense and defense,” said Dayville/Monument head coach Treila Osborne. “Haylee Collins and Hannah Hand did a great job and served very well — they all served well.” Early in the third, Ukiah/ Long Creek junior Kitty Vaughn had an ace, then Bowlus hit hard on the next play to get the ball back, and Tiger senior Denali Twehues added two aces. The Mountain Lions kept their fight strong, keeping within 1-2 points until the halfway point. Dayville/Mon- ument senior Katie Barker closed the game with two good serves. “This week we worked really hard on teamwork and talking to each other,” said coach Osborne. “Denali, Aubrey and Aubreianna were our anchors this week,” she said. “They were talking to our other play- ers and were very consistent.” She added that junior Samantha Adams “did a great job and was coachable, eager and she hustled,” and Katie Barker “hit well in the front row and had lots of great kills.” The Eagle/Angel Carpenter See VB, Page A9 Ukiah/Long Creek junior Jenny Kim saves the ball in Friday’s game against Dayville/Monument.
