A12
NEWS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, October 5, 2022
Dale Valade/Contributed Photo
Approach downed animals from
behind and be ready to give a fin-
ishing shot if necessary.
SHOOTING
THE BREEZE
Make sure
they’re down
Justin Davis/Blue Mountain Eagle
Dayville/Monument running back Ethan Thompson looks for running room during the Tigers’ homecoming game on Friday, Sept. 30, 2022, at Monument
High School.
Tiger comeback bid fails
Dayville/Monument falls 47-20
to South Wasco County
By JUSTIN DAVIS
Blue Mountain Eagle
M
ONUMENT — The Day-
ville/Monument Tigers found
themselves down 20-0 in the
first quarter of their home-
coming game with the South
Wasco County Redsides on Friday, Sept. 30,
ultimately falling 47-20 after failing to claw
their way back into the six-man football
contest.
The start of the game would be a harbin-
ger of things to come as Dayville/Monument
went three and out on their opening drive.
That was followed up by a 30-yard touchdown
pass on the very first play of the game by the
Redsides. South Wasco County would go on
to score touchdowns of 20, 50, and 28 yards
on their next three possessions to push a 20-0
first quarter lead to 27-0 at halftime.
By JUSTIN DAVIS
Blue Mountain Eagle
Pros pick up first win
of season
JOHN DAY — The Grant
Union football team got into the
win column this week with a
30-12 victory over the Lyle/Wish-
ram Cougars on Friday, Sept. 30,
at Grant Union High School. The
win is the first for the Pros after
starting 0-4 in the inaugural sea-
son of nine-man football at the
Class 2A level.
Prospector coach Jason Miller
said the team didn’t really do
anything differently this week in
comparison to previous weeks.
“Nothing really different this
week,” he said. “We moved some
personnel and continued to rep
our offense and defense. With a
young team like this, it takes time
and repetition.”
There are things the team can
still improve upon, however.
Miller cited tackling and limit-
ing turnovers as things he’d like
to see cleaned up. “Riverside is a
quality opponent with good speed.
We need to shore up our pass cov-
erage and continue to improve our
tackling. Offensively, we need to
limit our mistakes and turnovers,”
Miller said.
The Pros will look to say in the
win column when they visit Riv-
erside in Boardman on Friday,
Oct. 7. Kickoff is scheduled for
7 p.m.
Panthers crush Huntington
for second straight win
PRAIRIE CITY — The Prai-
rie City/Burnt River football team
won its second straight game in
rebounding from a two-game skid
with a resounding 62-0 blank-
ing of the Huntington Locomo-
tives on Friday, Sept. 30, in Prai-
rie City.
Panther coach Nick Thomp-
son first praised Huntington’s
improvement from last season.
“I have to commend Hunting-
ton, they had a few kids that were
competitors and they’ve gotten
much better (compared to) last
season.”
The key to the lopsided win
was physicality and blocking,
according to Thompson. “Our
guys did a good job of playing
physical and staying with blocks.
Our front three guys, Cody Rea-
gan, Trey Brown and Eli Wright,
are all really key to any success
The Tigers would finally find the end zone
with just over 17 seconds left in the third quar-
ter via a 33-yard touchdown reception by Tyler
Thompson to edge themselves closer to South
Wasco County at 27-7. The Redsides would
respond to that score with a 27-yard touchdown
strike to push their advantage to 33-7 with just
under eight minutes left in the contest.
Roughly one minute later the Tigers
would find the end zone again. This time,
a 55-yard touchdown reception by Ethan
Thompson would bring the deficit down to
33-14 with just under seven minutes left in
the game.
Once again the Redsides would pre-
vent the Tigers from drawing closer, using
a 55-yard touchdown scamper to bring the
score to 40-14 with 6:32 left in the game.
South Wasco would add another 50-yard
touchdown strike with just under 1:30 left to
push their advantage to 47-14.
The Tigers wouldn’t quit, adding Gauge
Jenks’ 75-yard kickoff return for a touch-
down to narrow the South Wasco County lead
to 47-20. The Redsides would get the final
possession, however, kneeling on the ball
to run the clock to zeroes and leave Mon-
ument with a 47-20 High Desert League
win.
Dayville/Monument coach Chris Carlin
said his team wasn’t concentrating on the fun-
damentals in the first half and that is what led
to the lopsided score at halftime. “We just
had to stick to our fundamentals and wrap up
and tackle and start blocking,” he said. “We
weren’t doing any in the first half. That’s
pretty much the difference.”
Carlin also praised the South Wasco
coaches and team following the game on Fri-
day. “Great group of guys across the field.
Hats off to them, coaches and players. Prob-
ably one of my favorite teams to play in our
league. Stand-up character all around,” he
said.
The loss leaves Dayville/Monument at 1-4
on the season overall, with an identical 1-4
league record. The Tigers have a bye this week
and will be in action next at Monument High
School against Pine Eagle. Kickoff for that
game is scheduled for 1 p.m.
SPORTS ROUNDUP
ning the game 25-22 and setting
SPORTS
up a fourth game between the two
teams.
SCHEDULE
The fourth game would be the
THURSDAY, OCT. 6
Grant Union volleyball @
Stanfield, 5 p.m.
Grant Union cross coun-
try Mustang Invite @Thompson
Ranch in Heppner
FRIDAY, OCT. 7
Prairie City football @ Pine
Eagle, 2 p.m.
Prairie City volleyball @ Pine
Eagle, 4 p.m.
Grant Union football vs.
Riverside, 7 p.m.
SATURDAY, OCT. 8
Prairie City volleyball vs.
Dayville/Monument, noon
Dayville/Monument volley-
ball vs. Crane @ Prairie City
HS, 1:30 p.m.
Prairie City volleyball vs.
Crane, 4 p.m.
TUESDAY, OCT. 11
Grant Union volleyball @
Weston-McEwen, 4 p.m.
we have on both sides of the ball,”
Thompson said.
The win was a team effort with
everybody on the roster getting
game time. “Cole Teel had a career
day rushing the ball. Mason Teel,
a freshman, had a touchdown-sav-
ing tackle to keep the game at a
shutout. Everyone got into the
game, including our five foreign
exchange students that came to us
from Burnt River High School in
Unity,” Thompson added.
The pros will head to Pine
Eagle in Halfway on Friday, Oct.
7, looking for their third straight
win. Kickoff for that game is
slated for 2 p.m.
Fifth-ranked Lady Pros
take trio of matches
JOHN DAY — The fifth-
ranked Grant Union Lady Pros-
pector volleyball team won a trio
of home matches in dominant
fashion, notching a match win on
Thursday, Sept. 29, before emerg-
ing 2-0 in a doubleheader on Sat-
urday, Oct. 1.
The match on the 29th was
a Blue Mountain Conference
matchup with Weston-McEwen
that saw the Lady Pros emerge
with a 3-1 victory.
The Lady Pros won the first
two games 25-22 and 28-26 to
head into the third game look-
ing for a sweep. The Lady Tiger-
scots prevented the shutout, win-
end of the line for the Lady Tiger-
scots. The Lady Pros rebounded
from their Game 3 loss to close
out the match with a 25-23 win in
Game 4 to win the match 3-1.
The first match of the dou-
bleheader on Oct. 1 was another
league matchup, this time with
Enterprise, and the Lady Pros once
again emerged with a 3-1 win. Like
the matchup on Sept. 29, the Lady
Pros would take a commanding
2-0 match lead following 27-29
and 25-8 wins in Games 1 and 2.
The Lady Pros would fall in
the third game 25-13 to find them-
selves once again looking to stop a
rally after being up two games to
none. The Lady Pros would once
again blunt a rally in the fourth
game, taking the game 26-24 and
the match 3-1.
The second game of the double-
header was another Blue Mountain
Conference showdown, this time
against Heppner. There would be
no drama in this match as the Lady
Pros would win 3-0 with in games
of 25-23, 25-23 and 25-22.
The trio of wins leave the Lady
Pros sitting at 13-6 on the season
with a perfect 4-0 league record.
The Lady Pros will look to keep
their momentum going when they
travel to Stanfield for a league
matchup on Thursday, Oct. 6. The
match has a 5 p.m. tipoff.
Lady Panthers continue
winning ways
PRAIRIE CITY — The sixth-
ranked Prairie City Lady Panthers
shook off their first High Des-
ert League loss of the season with
a trio of 3-0 victories on Friday,
Sept. 30, and Saturday, Oct. 1. The
first match of the three-game series
was a home matchup with league
foe Huntington.
The Lady Panthers were dom-
inant, posting scores of 25-11,
25-11 and 25-15 to win the match
3-0 with little drama. The second
and third matches took place at
Monument High School on Oct. 1
and were largely one-sided affairs
as well.
The early matchup pitted the
Lady Panthers against Jordan Val-
ley. The first two games were very
one-sided with scores of 25-15 and
25-18, leaving the Lady Panthers
seeking a sweep in the third game.
The pivotal Game 3 was much
more competitive than the first
two but still saw the Lady Pan-
thers emerge victorious with a
score of 26-24 and a 3-0 sweep of
the match.
The final matchup of the three-
game stretch for Prairie City
saw the team face off with Grant
County rival Dayville/Monu-
ment. The Lady Panthers were
again dominant, posting scores of
25-15, 25-13 and 25-14 to take the
match 3-0.
The wins push Prairie City’s
record to 16-4 on the year with a
3-1 High Desert League record.
The Lady Panthers will look to
add more matches to the win col-
umn when they travel to Halfway
for a non-league matchup against
Pine Eagle on Friday, Oct. 7.
Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.
Young D/M volleyball squad
falls to Jordan Valley
MONUMENT — The Day-
ville/Monument Lady Tigers
gained experience but ultimately
fell to the Jordan Valley Lady
Mustangs 3-0 on Saturday, Oct.
1, at Monument High School. The
matchup between the Lady Tigers
and Lady Mustangs was the first
of two games the Lady Tigers
played on Saturday.
The other was a 3-0 defeat at
the hands of the Lady Panthers of
Prairie City. Game scores for the
matchup with Jordan Valley were
25-4, 25-23 and 25-9. The two
losses leave the Lady Tigers at 2-8
on the season with an 0-4 record
in the High Desert League.
The Lady Tigers are in action
next on Saturday, Oct. 8, when
they travel to Prairie City to face
the red hot Lady Panthers. The
match has a noon tipoff.
Grant Union cross country
teams run in Baker
BAKER — The Grant Union
boys and girls cross country teams
competed in the Champs Invite in
Baker City, with both teams fin-
ishing in 10th place. The boys
finished the meet with 247 team
points while the girls finished
with 260 team points.
Pacing the boys team was
Brady Dole, who placed 14th
overall with a time of 18:35.0.
Pacesetter for the girls was Mad-
die Bailey, who finished 55th with
a time of 25:36.4.
Next up for the Grant Union
cross country squad is a trip to
Thompson Ranch in Heppner on
Thursday, Oct. 6, for the Mustang
Invite.
I
s he dead or only incapacitated?
Make certain it’s the former.
What you are about to read
are true stories. The names have
been omitted or changed to protect
the innocent and the infamous. A
basic truth amongst hunters is that
while we firmly believe that our
shot was true, sometimes outside
influences — or inside influences —
have caused have caused us to not
make a good shot. The discerning
hunter will finish his quarry before
walking up on it. Others do not.
A childhood
friend recounted
that his uncle had
been charged two
consecutive sea-
sons in a row by
wounded, revenant
deer. The first time
Dale Valade
included a graphic
struggle, worthy
of any Hollywood action film. After
enduring it, “Uncle Larry” cursed
his previously untarnished shoot-
ing iron, blaming it for such out-
house luck. By the following Octo-
ber, Uncle Larry had purchased a
newer, supposedly much more pow-
erful hunting rifle before hitting the
woods. As outhouse luck gener-
ally goes, Uncle Larry shot another,
much smaller buck and again was
forced to resort to hand-to-hand
combat to rule the day. I do not
remember what his excuse was for
the second go-round.
Another story took place years
ago in the Steens. Three local fel-
las decided to hit the hills for a
buck hunt. One was a construction
worker; we will call him Henry.
The second was a Marine; we will
call him Will. The third was a bar-
ber, and we will call him Jack. On
opening day Henry had stalked into
a four point buck with deep-forked
antlers that were spindly and sharp.
After Henry shot the buck, he pro-
ceeded towards the animal as it
began to stir. As he got closer the
buck was able to waller itself up
onto a sagebrush and get on its hind
legs. Despite being shot, the buck
charged Henry and impaled him
through the manhood and up about
six inches into the stomach. Luckily
Henry was able to fight off the buck
and kill it. Will and Jack helped him
back to camp. After a few days they
made their way to the local horse vet
who advised Henry to seek imme-
diate medical attention. He declined
and thereby earned himself the nick-
name “bandaids.”
I once read a story in one of the
various gun rags wherein a whitetail
deer hunter had shot a wall-hanger
buck. After arranging it for a photo-
graph, he draped his rifle across the
horns. Next he set the timer delay on
his camera and turned just in time to
see the buck quickly vacating with
his rifle still resting across the ant-
lers. I do not remember if he ever
saw the buck or his gun again.
Sloppy shooting, whether with
a .22 or a howitzer, is usually to
blame, and although I wasn’t there
I feel safe in laying that one at both
Henry and Uncle Larry’s feet. Bad
shots can happen to anyone. But the
secret to avoiding this altogether
is to approach every deer ready to
shoot. Walk up behind it, never in
front. If he is uphill, walk a semi-
circle around until you are both
on higher ground and behind him.
Touch the animal on the eyeball
with the muzzle of your rifle. If it
blinks, it is still alive and will need
an appropriate finisher. If it doesn’t
blink, it is dead.
Making sure they’re down for
good will save you any unpleas-
antries like the aforementioned.
Whether you are just starting out
or a seasoned veteran, it pays to be
patient and careful. We owe our
quarry a quick death. But if we
don’t give him one, he may under-
standably try to return the favor.
How do you make sure they’re
down? Write to us at shootingthe-
breezebme@gmail.com and check
us out on Facebook!
Dale Valade is a local country
gent with a love for the outdoors,
handloading, hunting and shooting.