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MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
A9
WEDNESDAY
March 10, 2021
Mustangs run away from Prospectors in first match of season
Lady Pros beat
Stanfield, 3-0
By Rudy Diaz
Blue Mountain Eagle
Volleyball kicked off the sports
season at Grant Union with a match
between the Prospectors and Crane
Mustangs March 3 in John Day.
The Mustangs won with scores of
25-15, 25-16 and 25-12.
In the first set, Grant Union
served to start the game, and junior
Paige Gerry spiked the ball for the
first point of the season.
The set started close, as both
teams rallied and remained within a
point within each other, but Crane
gained momentum with the score at
5-3. The Prospectors worked to nar-
row the lead, but Crane’s defense
held their ground and ended the set
on top by 10.
The Mustangs carried the momen-
tum into the second set, building
an 18-8 lead. Grant Union began to
build their own momentum as the
team scored 4 points in a row with
senior Abby Lusco serving.
However, Crane stopped the
momentum after blocking and dig-
ging several spikes launched by the
Prospectors and won the set 25-16.
Grant Union head coach Shanna
Northway said Crane is a solid team
and the Prospectors were aware they
would need to battle for every point
The Eagle/Rudy Diaz
Grant Union junior Carson Weaver jumps in for a spike against Crane as their defenders prepare to block the attempt
on March 3.
Grant Union junior Lauryn Pettyjohn
returns the ball to Crane as freshman
Sivannah Hodge, right, watches in a
game against The Mustangs March 3
at Grant Union.
against the Mustangs.
“We did that every now and then,
but we’ve got to do that more than
every now and then,” Northway said.
The final set was evenly matched,
but at 7-7, an out of bounds hit by the
Prospectors gave the momentum to
Crane who led the rest of the set.
Northway said they were excited
to have people back in the gym after
the long break from sports.
“It was good to get back on the
court,” Northway said. “It’s good to
be back and have some normalcy in
our lives.”
stronger, hit their spots and passed
really well. She said this helped
because Stanfield could not get their
offense going.
She said junior Carson Weaver
has been an all-around solid player
and a “vocal leader” who stays
“really engaged” whether she is in
the game or on the bench.
Northway said senior Maddie
Spencer has also played well and
been a team leader.
Their next game is against Burns
Thursday, March 11, with junior var-
sity starting at 5 p.m. at Grant Union.
The Eagle/Rudy Diaz
Northway said the game against
Crane helped the team identify
where improvements could be made.
Blocks, tip coverage and serving
were some of the areas they plan to
improve as they develop their prac-
tice plan.
The difficulty this season will
be preparing for the next game on a
shortened schedule.
“It’s going to be tough to make
a lot of adjustments in practices
because with the shortened season
it’s going to be game, game, game,
game,” Northway said. “In a typi-
cal year you usually get two to three
practices before you meet your next
opponent.”
She said it will be a challenge, but
the team has great leaders.
Lady Pros top Stanfield in
three sets
The team got their groove back
in their 3-0 victory Saturday over
Stanfield.
“They played much better on Sat-
urday than they did against Crane,”
Northway said Monday.
Northway said the team served
Tigers defensive dominance delivers decisive win over Rattlers
Dayville/Monument
travels to Joseph Friday
By Steven Mitchell
Blue Mountain Eagle
The Dayville/Monument Tigers
dominated on defense Friday in their
first game of a shortened spring sea-
son, as they defeated the Mitchell/
Wheeler/Spray Rattlers 33-0.
Kyle Hand, the Tigers’ head
coach, said while his team played
stellar defense, the offense was
“embarrassing.”
“We’ll be working on it in prac-
tice on Monday,” he said.
Hand said the team missed blocks
and could not execute plays. He said
the outcome would have been much
different had the Tigers’ defense not
stepped up.
The Tigers’ defense held the Rat-
tlers to roughly 60 yards.
“When you hold any team in any
football game to 60 yards, there’s a
good chance you’re going to end up
winning,” he said.
Hand said the five returning
seniors this season also helped. The
Rattlers, with one returning senior
and a roster of mostly freshmen,
faced a more experienced team.
Hand said the offensive woes
were understandable, given that the
team had just three weeks to practice
before Friday’s game.
“We haven’t talked football since
March, when all of this (COVID-19)
started happening,” he said. “We’re
just getting football back on the mind
again.”
It was mostly seniors who scored
the Tigers’ touchdowns. Senior JT
Hand put the Tigers on the board
while Donavan Schafer, a senior,
scored a 2-point conversion.
Senior Mark Thomas caught a
Hail Mary pass that put the Tigers on
the Rattlers’ 20-yard line, then a cou-
ple of downs later ran the ball to the
end zone on a handoff.
Thomas got into the act on the
defensive end when he ran back
The Eagle/Steven Mitchell
Senior Mark Thomas (22) evades a tackle Friday during the second half of the Tigers 33-0 win over the Rattlers at Monument Field.
a Rattler fumble for a 20-yard
touchdown.
JT Hand said the team will need
to “focus” and “execute” much bet-
ter than they did Friday as they pre-
pare for their game against Joseph
next week.
He said, for him and the other
seniors, just getting the opportunity
to play together meant a lot.
“We’re so thankful to be able to
have a season,” he said. “A lot of us,
to be honest, were not counting on
it. So to be able to be out here today
means everything.”
Next up, Joseph will host the
Tigers at 4 p.m. Friday, March 12, at
the Joseph Charter School.
The Eagle
Steven Mitchell
Monument/
Dayville senior
Mark Thomas
intercepts a pass
Friday over Mitch-
ell/Spray/Wheeler
freshman Carson
Conlee.
Mark Thomas,
a senior
DJ Howell,
a senior
SPORTS ROUNDUP
Last week, with spring around
the corner, Grant County’s high
school athletes kicked off their
fall seasons after a year and a half
layoff.
With shortened seasons, strict
guidelines and short practice win-
dows, high school sports programs
across the county were in full swing
over the weekend.
Heppner blanks Prospectors
in season opener
Grant Union head football coach
Jason Miller said in a Monday
email that he was, for the most part,
proud of the team’s effort in their
35-0 loss to Heppner.
Miller said “lack of experience”
played a big role in Friday’s loss.
“We definitely need to improve
our blocking and tackling,” Miller
said. “The good news is that the
players are eager to improve.”
Grant Union will host McLough-
lin (1-0) in a non-league play at
4 p.m. Friday.
Redsides rout Panthers in
league action
The Prairie City Panthers foot-
ball team fell to South Wasco
County 55-6 Friday at their home
opener.
First-year head coach Nick
Thompson said the team, a majority
of them freshmen, played a good
first half.
Thompson said the “well-
coached” Redsides forced turn-
overs on defense early in the sec-
ond half that led to a deficit they
could not recover from.
He said freshman Wes Voigt, in
his first varsity game, made plays
on both sides of the ball.
Thompson said on offense
Voigt was the team’s quarterback
for most of the game. He said on
defense, Voigt’s pass deflections
and “big tackles” as a safety kept
the Panthers in the game.
Thompson, a teacher for Prai-
rie City School District, said he
was proud of everyone on his team.
He said South Wasco, in addi-
tion to being the more experienced
team, also outmatched the Panthers
physically.
“When you combine size, speed
and knowledge, it’s pretty hard to
come out and produce a win against
a team like that,” he said. “What
better test than to play arguably
one of the better teams that we’re
going to face all year right out of
the gate.”
Grant Union cross country
competes in Heppner
The Grant Union Prospectors
cross country teams competed in
their first competition of the year
at the Heppner Ice Breaker Meet in
Heppner March 3.
Senior Sisay Hurty from Stan-
field/Echo led the boys 5,000 meter
open with a time of 17:19.5.
For Grant Union, sophomore
Brady Dole was the top finisher in
sixth with a time of 20:11.4. Soph-
omore Quinn Larson was 10th
at 20:53.4, sophomore Max Bai-
ley was 16th at 22:27.7, freshman
Skylor Boyd was 20th at 23:28.8,
freshman Landon Boyd was 21st at
23:51.3, senior Jesse Randleas was
23rd at 24:10.6 and junior Cole Ash-
ley was 25th at 28:07.8.
Junior Kallyn Wilkins from Con-
don led the girls 5,000 meter open
with a time of 22:27.3.
For Grant Union, junior Katelyn
Hughes was the top finisher in sev-
enth with a time of 27:18.0. Fresh-
man Abbie Justice placed ninth at
28:15.7, freshman Aliciana Archibald
placed 10th at 28:39.0, junior Riley
Robertson placed 13th at 30:31.8 and
junior Audrey Walker placed 15th at
31:25.7.
The teams next compete March
11 at the Stanfield Fun Country
meet in Stanfield, with the time to be
announced.