SPORTS
MyEagleNews.com
Steven Mitchell/Blue Mountain Eagle
Prairie City junior Cole Teel carries the ball in the team’s playoff
game against Alsea on Saturday, Oct. 30. The Panthers fell to
the visiting Wolverines, 51-48.
Wednesday, November 3, 2021
A11
Community Health Beat
Prairie City’s strong
season ends in playoff loss
By STEVEN MITCHELL
Blue Mountain Eagle
PRAIRIE CITY — The
Prairie City football team’s
playoff run ended in a 51-48
loss to Alsea on Saturday, Oct.
30, closing the books on a
strong season that saw the Pan-
thers dominate the High Desert
League with a 6-1 record.
Heading into postseason
play Saturday, Prairie City and
Alsea had both won fi ve games
in a row, and both teams won
each of those by double digits.
The Panthers started out fl at
on Saturday but clawed their
way back from an 18-point defi -
cit to make it close at the end,
Prairie City coach Nick Thomp-
son told the Eagle in a Monday
interview.
Late in the game, Alsea
returned a Panthers kick to
roughly the 50-yard line. The
referee called pass interference
on the Panthers’ safety, which
led to a 20-yard penalty and
better fi eld position for Alsea,
Thompson said. Junior safety
Doyal Lawrence, in a heads-up
defensive play, swatted away a
pass in midair, but the ball rico-
cheted off a couple of his team-
mates and ultimately dropped
into the hands of Alsea’s center
in the end zone.
After Alsea’s touchdown,
the Panthers found themselves
eight seconds from elimination.
They put the ball in the hands of
Cole Teel, the team’s top off en-
sive threat and the Off ensive
Player of the Year in the High
Desert League. Thompson said
Teel made a good run but came
up short of a game-winning
touchdown.
Thompson, in his sec-
ond year at the helm of Prairie
Steven Mitchell/Blue Mountain Eagle
Prairie City’s
junior, scores
Saturday, Oct.
a hometown
the Panthers’
against Alsea.
Eli Wright, a
a touchdown
30, in front of
crowd during
playoff game
City’s football team, was named
the league’s Coach of the Year
but tried to keep the award
a secret when the honor was
announced. While the coaches
and players were happy when
they heard about the award, he
told them the Panthers’ success
was a collective eff ort, from the
assistant coaches to his play-
ers, the school superintendent,
the athletic director and the
community.
In a Monday conference
call, Teel, who dominated on
yards rushed in the league,
shared Thompson’s sentiment,
pointing out that the off ensive
line and the entire team made it
possible for him to have a stel-
lar season.
Panther football is a group
eff ort, according to Thompson.
“Unfortunately,” Thomp-
son said, “one name gets put
on an (award), but it’s a group
eff ort always here.”
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SHOOTING THE BREEZE
The princess and the buck
nce upon a time (actu-
ally, just a couple
weeks ago), in a land
pretty darn near here, there
lived a princess.
A few years ago she went
on a deer hunt with her queen
mum and the court jester and
loved it. Ever since, the court
jester had been scheming to
get the princess her very own
deer.
Sadly, the political events
of the kingdom and life in
general had conspired against
him. However, he was per-
sistent and was determined to
make it happen this year.
With just a little luck, the
golden ticket appeared in the
post and planning began.
The jester wanted the prin-
cess to use the same model
98 7x57 Mauser that he, his
father, and his sons had all
used to take their fi rst deer.
To that end, he loaded some
reduced-recoil bullets using
TrailBoss for her to practice
with. The range sessions went
well, and some 140 grain
Nosler Partitions were created
for hunting.
The week before sea-
son, a picture of a deer was
posted on the stable wall and
the princess did some dry
fi re practice every day after
school.
Finally the big day arrived.
After making sure they had
rifl e, bullets, hunter orange
and a knife, they were off .
The plan was to catch the
deer as they came out to feed.
When they snuck up on the
fi eld, no deer were to be seen,
so they settled down in the
tall grass to wait. The prin-
cess was very patient (mostly),
and didn’t fi dget (too much) as
they waited.
After two lifetimes (or was
it 45 minutes?), the jester saw
a deer appear at the far edge
of the fi eld. He quickly deter-
mined that it was a good buck.
Unfortunately, they had no
shot from their perch.
O
November 6th - Light Up a Life 5:00pm (Thadd's Place)
They
slowly belly
November 20th - Walk with a Doc 8:00am (GUHS Gym)
crawled to a
better posi-
tion without
November 25th & 26th - Closed for Thanksgiving Holiday
being spot-
ted, and the
Rod
princess got
December 3rd - Medicare Annual Wellness Visit Day
Carpenter
set up on
her bipod. In
an amazing display of calm,
December 4th - Auxiliary Christmas Bazaar 9am - 3pm
the jester told her to take her
(Grant County Fairgrounds)
time and only shoot if she was
comfortable.
The jester was sure he
was going to have a stroke
and a heart attack before the
buck fi nally turned broad-
side and she pulled the trigger.
The princess made a beauti-
ful 150-yard shot and the buck
dropped in his tracks.
The jester and princess
were overjoyed and congrat-
ulated each other on their
success.
When they looked up, there
Billing & Collection Specialist - Business Office (Full Time)
stood a buck! The jester was
beyond puzzled. Surely that
Claims & Billing Specialist - Business Office (Full Time)
couldn’t be their buck. Should
he have her shoot again? No,
Clerical Assistant - Rehabilitation Services (Full Time)
he had heard the bullet strike
and saw the buck fall.
Community Health Worker - SWCC (Full Time)
They watched the buck
leave and went to look for
Dietary Services Cook w/CDM Duties - Nutrition Services (Full Time)
her deer. Panic set in when
no buck was found in the ini-
tial search. There was much
rejoicing when further search-
Many other full-time, part-time & casual positions available, visit our
ing found a beautiful 4x3 buck
website for more information & to apply.
lying in the tall grass.
The Partition had taken
him through both front shoul-
ders and kept on going. The
princess may need to work
on diff erent shot placement to
decrease meat damage.
The jester was overjoyed, Walk with a Teacher
BMHD
recently had a deficiency-free Trauma Survey from
aturday November
20th 8:00am
and the princess announced
the Oregon
Health Authority, recertifying as a Level IV
that it had been a wonder-
rant Union High School
Gym
ful experience. The jester is
Trauma Center. Surveryors were very complementary of
already scheming on an elk
BMHD's Trauma Program and the staff performing trauma
hunt.
care.
Have a great hunting
story? Drop us a line at shoo-
tingthebreezebme@gmail.
com.
S266931-1
Rod Carpenter is a husband,
father and huntin’ fool.
We're Hiring!
pcoming walks:
Outstanding
Trauma Survey
www.bluemountainhospital.org