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PAGE LABEL
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, October 16, 2019
WEDNESDAY
October 16, 2019
Prospectors shut out Tigers in homecoming victory
Coach: Team
ready for Riverside
Friday
By Angel Carpenter
Blue Mountain Eagle
The Grant Union Pros-
pector football team shut
out the visiting Stanfield
Tigers Friday in an excit-
ing 32-0 homecoming vic-
tory at Three Flags Field in
John Day.
It was Grant Union’s first
league game and first win of
the season, breaking a five-
game losing streak, after
facing high-ranking teams
in the preseason.
Prospector head coach
Jason Miller said it was
a good win and a great
team performance against
Stanfield.
“Defense was nails and
offense moved the ball and
had some great comple-
tions,” Miller said. “Great
running — up front, the line-
men were awesome.”
Grant Union wasted no
time, with Taylor Hunt scor-
ing on the Prospectors’ first
drive on a handoff from Grant Union Prospectors Taylor Hunt, left, and Justin Hodge tackle Stanfield Tiger running back AJ Keeney in Grant Union’s
quarterback Devon Stokes. Friday, Oct. 11, homecoming win.
Hunt also ran it in on the
2-point conversion.
In the second quarter,
Tiger Ryan Elizares inter-
cepted a pass intended for
Prospector Justin Hodge.
That didn’t sit well with
Grant Union, and the Pros-
pectors rapidly made stops
to move the ball back their
way, including a big fourth-
down tackle by Prospector
Jack Strong.
Grant Union brothers
Russell and Justin Hodge
then combined to add 16
points for Grant Union.
Stokes connected with Rus-
sell Hodge on a 20-yard
Eagle photos/Angel Carpenter Grant Union Prospector running back Russell Hodge (7)
pass. Then Justin Hodge The Grant Union Prospectors huddle with head coach Jason escapes Stanfield Tiger Mario Sanchez’ tackle attempt and
looks to elude Tiger Fernando Garcia (74).
scored a touchdown with his Miller, center, and assistant coach Andy Lusco.
brother scoring the 2-point
a minute left in the half
conversion.
“We went to the locker he added. “We worked our in the fourth with Quinten
The Prospectors again when Justin Hodge scored a room and got some things hardest. Defense did amaz- Hallgarth receiving for the
halted the Tigers’ drive, touchdown on a long catch straightened out and then ing tonight — we shut them 2-point conversion.
Grant Union’s Peyton Neault and run. Russell Hodge was came back out and did it down. The offense did a
Grant Union defensive
in on the stop, deflecting a on the receiving end for again in the second half,” heck of a job.”
lineman Drew Lusco made
After a scoreless third a fourth-down stop, and the
pass from Stanfield quarter- the 2-point conversion, and Russell Hodge said.
back Kaden Comb.
Grant Union had a 24-point
celebrations
“We gave 100 percent quarter, Russell Hodge Prospectors’
There was less than lead at halftime.
all the game, every play,” scored a touchdown early began.
Justin Hodge said they
worked as a team for the
win.
“They’re strong,” he said
of Stanfield, “but we just
played a good game.”
Russell Hodge added,
“They’re physical, but we’re
just as physical, so we came
right back at ‘em.”
Stokes said he was
pleased with the team, espe-
cially after all the distrac-
tions of homecoming week
and coming off of a rough
preseason.
“They came through and
stayed focused during the
game, and we pulled out
a win,” he said. “The line
worked really hard tonight.
They gave us a lot of time
we needed. I was really
proud of Russell — he did
well running the ball. He
always put his head down
and just tried to run through
people.”
Miller said the team prac-
ticed hard all week and had a
good game plan together.
“We had a tough early
season schedule — I talked
to the kids about that a little
bit. It just made us tougher,”
the coach said. “We were
able to stay healthy and keep
pushing, and it just made us
that much more prepared for
this moment which is the
real season.”
He said Stokes has had
a lot of pressure, new in the
quarterback position this
season.
“He just keeps learning,
keeps soaking it up, and it’s
coming together for him,”
Miller said. “It’s good to
see.”
Miller
said
Russell
Hodge’s hard running was
significant.
“The line opened up
some holes for him, but the
second- and third-level tack-
lers that he ran over and just
kept punishing — that was
big,” Miller said.
Next Friday, Grant Union
is on the road for their sec-
ond league game of the
season against the River-
side Pirates at 7 p.m. in
Boardman.
“We’re ready for them,”
Miller said.
SPORTS ROUNDUP
Prairie City/Burnt River
football defeats Crane JV
Prairie City/Burnt River
Panther head coach Scott Dean
said last Wednesday’s 22-6
win over the Crane Mustang
junior varsity team was a good
warm-up for Friday’s home-
coming contest.
The Panthers are a six-man
team, and the Mustangs play
eight-man.
Panther quarterback Jayden
Winegar’s 56-yard rushing
touchdown was just one of
many exciting moments on
what was a cold and windy day.
Prairie City/Burnt River
was ahead 16-0 at the half and
held Crane to just one touch-
down for the contest.
Dean said Boe Workman,
Opie McDaniel, Jake McHat-
ton, Skyelar Evins, Sammy
Allen and Austin Catron stood
out on defense with tack-
ling, and Winegar and Cole
Teel picked off passes. Declan
Zweygardt, Marcus Judd and
Georgiy Georgiyev also helped
control Crane’s offensive effort,
the coach said, adding Emman-
uel Stephen helped carry the
ball during the game.
“I appreciate (athletic direc-
tor Billy Colson) for arrang-
ing this game,” Dean said. “We
came out of it healthy and look
forward for the preparation for
Dayville/Monument Tigers.”
Friday’s game between the
Panthers and Tigers will decide
the first-place team for the
south in 1A Special District 5
six-man football. Currently, the
Panthers are 2-0 in the district,
3-2 overall, and the Tigers are
1-2, 2-2.
Dean said Friday’s win-
ning team will face the No.
1 team from the west (either
Gilchrist or Triangle Lake) in
a state semifinals game to be
held at 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct.
26, at Sherman County High
School in Moro.
The winner there will play
in a finals game Saturday, Nov.
2, in Madras.
“We are healthy going into
Friday’s game and must get
mentally prepared to contain
a tough Dayville/Monument
team for homecoming here,”
Dean said.
Dayville/Monument
Tigers steamroll
Locomotives in 47-8 rout
Five interceptions made by
Dayville/Monument football
players propelled the Tigers in
Friday’s 47-8 victory over the
Huntington/Harper Locomo-
tives in Huntington.
The interceptions were
made by Tell Cox, Jordan Hull,
Mark Thomas, Donovan Scha-
fer and Zachary Ferguison.
Dayville/Monument
led
20-0 at the half.
“Our offensive line, led by
DJ Howell and Wesley Adams,
controlled the middle of the
field all day,” said Tiger head
coach Kyle Hand. “The boys
played tough with a lot deter-
mination and intensity.”
Quarterback JT Hand made
a handoff to Ferguison who
covered 55 yards for a rush-
ing touchdown, and Gauge
Jenks had a 10-yard receiving
touchdown.
Thomas rushed for two
touchdowns, and Hand scored
two receiving touchdowns and
also hit the end zone for one
rushing touchdown.
Snap receiver Schafer threw
all the receiving touchdowns.
“Jordan Hull had another
great game at middle linebacker
and was in on many tackles and
reading the game very well,”
coach Hand said.
“Defensively, we domi-
nated,” Hand said. “It was a
great game. Everybody got into
the game.”
Now, the Tigers are pre-
paring to face the Prairie City/
Burnt River Panthers at 7 p.m.
Friday in Prairie City.
into the district tournament.”
Dayville/Monument
Tiger spikers go 1-1 on
the road
The Prairie City Panther
volleyball team dropped a
match to the Crane Mustangs
and beat the Burnt River Bulls
on the road Saturday in Unity.
The Mustangs accom-
plished their win in three sets,
25-18, 25-18 and 25-18.
“The game against Crane
was a good battle for our team,”
said Panther head coach Jordan
Bass. “It was back and forth for
the majority of all three sets,
but Crane pulled away in the
end of each.”
Prairie City had 93% serv-
ing as a team.
“Our middle hitters, Hailee
Wall and Samantha Workman,
are working really hard and are
becoming strong assets to our
offense,” Bass said. “Overall,
it was a good competition, and
although we didn’t come out on
top in the end, the girls played
tough.”
The Prairie City junior var-
sity team played the game
against Burnt River, gaining
some good experience, Bass
said.
She added, “We are focus-
ing on Dayville/Monument this
week and also identifying some
weaknesses to improve on
before the district tournament.”
Prairie City has a 3-3 league
record and is 10-7 overall.
Dayville/Monument is 2-3,
8-9.
Crane and the Adrian Ante-
lopes lead the High Desert
League with 6-0 records, fol-
lowed by Jordan Valley, 5-2.
The Dayville/Monument
Tiger volleyball team was chal-
lenged by a long road trip to
Huntington on Friday, but fin-
ished with a sweep with scores
of 25-11, 25-12, 25-17.
The Tigers fell to Jordan
Valley the following day, the
Mustangs winning with scores
of 25-7, 25-12 and 26-24.
“In Jordan Valley, we had
a hard time hustling and cov-
ering,” said Tiger head coach
Treila Osborne. “We also
missed many serves, which
we do not usually miss. Jordan
Valley is definitely a beatable
team, but we just could not fin-
ish in the third set even though
we had a lead on them.”
Osborne said, if her team
had won the third set, they
could have “definitely taken
them to five games.”
Both were High Desert
League games, and the district
tournament is just around the
corner, set for Saturday, Oct.
26, in John Day.
First, Dayville/Monument
will face Prairie City on Friday
during the Panthers’ homecom-
ing festivities. A junior varsity
game starts at 4 p.m., followed
by varsity. The Tigers will also
face the Burnt River Bulls
beforehand at 3 p.m. in Prairie
City.
Osborne said her team will
be in the gym this week condi-
tioning for quickness.
“We are so strong this
year and have a lot great tal-
ent, but most of all we have
a lot of desire and commit-
ment,” she said. “That will
help us finish strong coming
Prairie City volleyball
goes 1-1 Saturday with
league foes
cold, windy conditions at the
Tiger Invitational in La Grande
Friday, held at the La Grande
Country Club.
“We actually had a branch
break out of a tree during the
meet,” said Grant Union head
coach Sonna Smith.
The course, which looped
three times around the golf
course, was flat with a few roll-
ing hills, she said.
Although conditions were
not conducive to setting per-
sonal records, Smith said her
athletes performed well.
“We had hoped for some
PRs but the wind was strong
and the times were slightly
affected,” she said. “We still
had some great efforts.”
Grant Union varsity runners
have two meets this week with
the Kyle Burnside Wildhorse
Invite in Pendleton on Thurs-
day at 3 p.m. and Burns High
School’s Idlewild Invite on Sat-
urday at 11:45 a.m.
Grant Union’s middle
school runners will compete on
Friday at the Eastern Oregon
XC Championship at McKay
Park in Pendleton.
Grant Union seventh-grader
Grant Hall placed fourth for
middle school runners at the
Tiger Invite in a 2-mile run.
GIRLS
Erika Dickens, 12th place, 22:31
Rylee Browning, 33, 24:49
Amelia Hall, 35, 25:04
Katelyn Hughes, 37, 25:20
Tiler Voigt, 52, 28:42
Riley Robertson, 54, 28:53
BOYS
Brady Dole, 32, 19:31
Quinn Larson, 62, 21:36
Jesse Randleas, 63, 21:46
Max Bailey, 66, 22:00
Donavan Smith, 76, 23:56
Gavin Lopez, 79, 26:18
Grant Union cross
country endures biting
wind at Tiger Invite
Ukiah/Long Creek
volleyball competes
at Condon, and Fossil
Tourney
The Grant Union Prospec-
tor cross country runners faced
Although the Ukiah/Long
Creek Mountain Lion junior
varsity team fell 3-0 to the
Condon Knights, the Moun-
tain Lions improved over-
all compared to their first
match-up with the Knights
earlier in the season.
The Knights won with
scores of 25-18, 25-14 and
25-22.
“We are happy with their
performance,” said head
coach Linda Studtmann.
On Saturday, Ukiah/Long
Creek faced four teams at
the Fossil Tournament. Each
match was best two out of
three.
The Mountain Lions beat
Mitchell/Spray/Wheeler,
25-18 and 25-11 and Ione
25-13, 23-25 and 15-13.
In another matchup with
Ione, Ukiah/Long Creek lost
25-19 and 25-17. The Moun-
tain Lions also fell to Sher-
man 25-17 and 25-19.
“It was a tiring day, but I
think they all had fun,” Studt-
mann said. “We had a few
struggles, and they had to pull
themselves together. They
did, and they played hard and
did well. ”
Ukiah/Long Creek will
hold their final game of the
season at 1 p.m. Saturday,
hosting the Harper Hornets in
Long Creek.
Ukiah/Long Creek
soccer drops home game
to Four Rivers
The 1A Ukiah/Long Creek
Mountain Lions soccer team
was bested by 1A Four Riv-
ers of Ontario in Long Creek
on Friday, the visitors win-
ning 10-0.
The Mountain Lions
hosted the 3A Umatilla
Vikings Monday, losing 15-0.
Ukiah/Long Creek will
host the 3A Nyssa Bulldogs
at 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17, in
Long Creek.