Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 15, 1977)
I FOUR The Gazette-Times, Heppner, Ore., Thursday, September 15, 1977 THI GAZETTE-TIME S rows Mustangs shine in opener r J- I - UJ 1 I . i l Heppner combined the out side running of junior half backs Bryan Marlin and Dennis Peck with four quar ters of turnover-free football to post a 35-12 opening game home win over Pilot Rock Friday. With the Mustang passing attack hinging on the condi tion of injured quarterback Jerry Cutsforth's knee, the Mustangs stuck to the ground with both Peck and Marlin consistently breaking long gainers around the ends. Filling in for Cutsforth, quarterback Bruce Young directed the Heppner offense which totaled 299 yards. Young only went to the air five times, competing three for 30 yards and one touchdown. Marlin and Jim Wishart were unsuccessful in three attempts at the halfback option pass. But the Mustangs hardly needed an aerial game as Peck ran for 133 yards on 14 carries and Marlin picked up 129 yards on 20 carries. Peck scored one time on a 29-yard run and Marlin added four touchdowns on runs of 4, 9 and 41 yards and a 33-yard pass from Young. Defensively, Heppner shut down the Pilot Rock passing attack as the Rockets could manage only 12 yards on 2 out of U attempts. Jim Kenney picked off one of the throws while Dale Holland was credit ed with one knock down and Don McEwen got the only sack of the game. The Rockets gained 163 yards on the ground including a 65-yard TD run by Dean Jobes. Heppner's Joedy Mar lat racked up two unassisted and seven assisted tackles while Holland was in on 10 tackles and three unassisted stops. Kenny had two solo stops and four assists to go with his interception. Heppner took the opening kickoff and marched all the way for a score with Peck and Marlin both sweeping left and right for 10 and 15 yards a shot. Marlin punched the ball over the goal line from the four. " " " After , Heppner held on downs, a Pilot Rock punt rolled dead at the Mustang 45. Heppner began another scor ing drive which was kept alive when Peck broke loose for 20 yards on a third down play. Marlin again ran the ball for the score, this time from the nine. The Mustang defense again birddogged the Rockets as Kenny stopped a Pilot Rock runner in the backfield and Don McEwen showed good pursuit of the passer to bring up a fourth and seven situa tion. After exchanging punts, Pilot Rock found itself in another fourth down hole and Marlatt and Holland chased down the punter to give Heppner the ball on the Rocket 30. Marlin hauled in a scoring pass from Young to boost the lead to 20-0. A Heppner penalty v gave Pilot Rock the ball on the Heppner 43 and the Rockets finally found the endzone as time ran out in the first half. The second half began with another exchange of punts before Jobes broke loose to close the gap to 20-13. Heppner came back with another drive as Peck picked up 30 to the left to bring the ball to the Rocket c? 29. On fourth and nine, Peck again put on the moves to coast into the endzone. A fake kick resulted in a two point conversion as Jack Vocurn, caught Marlin's pass. nlj Marlin later closed the scoring with a 41-yard ru,n through traffic on first down SDorseen. We 11 take whatever they give us. Riverside QB Dan Bozarth hurries to get a pass off before being sacked by a Columbia defender. The Coyote defense gave Bozarth a rough time all afternoon Friday as they picked off four of his passes. Columbia won the contest, which was played at Boar dman, 31-7. ' "Their defense was stacked in the middle and gave us the outside so we took it," Heppner coach John Sporseen said of his team's 35-12 win over Pilot Rock Friday. "We'll take whatever we can." Sporseen said he was pleas ed that his Mustangs had established a potent ground game so early in the season The Heppner running attack led by Dennis Peck and Bryan Marlin racked up 269 yards against the Rockets. "Last year our running game was pitiful until the second half of the second game," Sporseen said. Although most of the yard age came on sweeps and pitches, Sporseen is confident his team can also hurt an oponent up the middle. "Bryan is a slashing-type runner he can fight for yards in the middle," Sporseen said. "We'll run more traps and draws when we have to." Sporseen said the blocking and ball handling of the a i;i Mustangs was good for season opener. f,;i "We made some mistakes,-!, especially defensively, but ourv.l quickness on both sides paid.'..) off," Sporseen said. "The U( quickness was important." One facet of the game that in could have hurt the Mustangs ;m was the halfback option pass, j Three times the play wasSfi attempted and at least twice,.,; the floaters came dangerously,;;) close to being picked off. continued on page & 1 1 . tf Players of the Week "X A" f Sports Log Varsity Football FRIDAY, SEPT. 16 Oregon Trail at Heppner, 8 p. lone at North Powder, 2 p.m. Condon at Riverside, 8 p.m. m. J V Football MONDAY, SEPT. 19 Oregon Trail at Heppner, 6 p.m. Umatilla at Riverside, 6 p.m. Girls Volleyball TUESDAY, SEPT. 20 Heppner at Sherman County, 5 p.m. lone at Wasco County, 5 p.m. Riverside at Condon, 5 p.m. Dennis Peck, offensive half back for Heppner. Joedy Marlatt, defensive guard for Heppner. r Barney Rea, quarterback for lone. ! 2 LJ PEERLESS Starting with this issue of the Gazette-Times and for the duration of the football season appears the Peerless Picks. Each week five individuals from the community will predict the football contest scores just for fun and we'll let you know how they do next week. Follow their prognostications or use your own but enter the Gazette-Times Football Contest. Entries must be in by Friday at 5 p.m. rlWhW l I I I TERRY HAGER JIM SUMMERS MIKE SWEENEY ROBB RUSH JIM ROGERS Oregon Trail at Heppner Heppner Heppner Heppner Heppner Heppner lone at North Powder lone lone lone ;. North Powder North Powder Condon at Riverside Riverside Condon Condon Condon Riverside Oregon at Texas Christian Oregon Oregon Oregon Oregon Texas Christian Southern Cal at Oregon State Southern Cal Southern Cal Southern Cal ' Southern Cal Oregon State Washington State at Mich State Washington State Michigan State Michigan State Michigan State Michigan State Kansas at UCLA UCLA UCLA UCLA UCLA UCLA Duke at Michigan Michigan Michigan Michigan Michigan Michigan Alabama at Nebraska Nebraska Nebraska Alabama Nebraska Nebraska Florida State at Kansas State Kansas State Kansas State Florida State Florida State Florida State Air Force at California California California California California California Notre Dame at Missisippi Notre Dame Notre Dame Notre Dame Notre Dame Notre Dame J IMf CASH EVERY WEEK West of Willow 172 M. Main Oregon Trail at Heppner 676-5149 HEPPNER OREGON 217 N. Mem 676-9158 Condon at Riverside 3. LOTT'S ELECTRIC 369 II. Main 676-5811 Oregon at Texas Christian 4. 11 to LES SCHWAB Southern Cal at Oregon State $10 FIRST PRIZE 55 SECOND PRIZE $25 GRAND PRIZE AT END OF CONTEST OFFICIAL I ENTRY BLANK urn mmr name ADDRESS PHONE . 1 I TIE BREAKER GAME: PREDICT SCORE Stanford at Tulane 8. f . Readers should look to advertiser's boxes for games, predicting winner by writing prediction on appropriate K iiuniucicu line. O Qnra i .1 1 1 1 t Ka rt i . 7 n n f . i: I. t . IB uwtv muok given iui uc-uj cdRtrr game. 3. Entry forms must be received at the Gazette-Times by Friday at 5 p.m. id ENTRY FORM MUST Bt BROUGHT IN OR MAILED TO THE GAZETTE TIMES BEFORE FRIDAY AT 5 p.m. 5. Washington State at Michigan State CgIs Arco N. Mcin & W. Center 676-5062 6. Alabama at Nebraska THE GAZETTE-TIMES 147 W. Willow 676-9228 10. Morrovj Count y Grain roirjerSiNC Lexington 989-8221 lone at North Powder 9. Turner, Van Marter Bt Bryant 187 II. Main 676-9113 Kansas at UCLA 8. Florida State at Kansas State Columbia Basin Electric Co-op 171 V. Linden Way 676-9146 7 Notre Dame at Missisippi Heppner Hor-Gas 770 W. Riverside 676-9450 1
