Image provided by: Morrow County Museum; Heppner, OR
About Heppner gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1925-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 20, 1977)
TWO Special Section, The Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon, Thurs., Oct. 20, 1977 Mustangs face WT (Tk primed for play tough Trojans in Come Friday night there will be either a long, quiet bus ride back to Lyle, Wash, or a downcast crowd at the Hepp ner Homecoming dance. Mustang players and fans would much prefer the former to the latter. But standing in the way of a successful Homecoming is a Lyle Trojan team sporting an undefeated record and the leading high school scorer in the state of Washington. Coach Dan Schutz brings his 7-0 Trojans to Heppner with the scalp of one Columbia Basin Confer ence team already h aging from his belt. Earlier in the Lyle dealt Pilot Rock a cross -state shocker, 34-7. "We really expected a much tougher battle from Pilot Rock," Schutz told the Gazette-Times Monday. A tougher battle they will probably have this week since the Mustangs also set back the Rockets by a similar score in the season opener. Schutz has an idea of what his team is up against having scouted the , Mustangs 7-6 win over Sher man County two weeks ago. "I was impressed with their defensive execution," Schutz said. "They really shut down Sherman's passing game." Schutz said the Mustangs are a team that "does a lot of things right" and added that they are also "very well coached." The. second-year Trojan boss said he will not carry a steadfast game plan into the contest but will rely on the hope that his team is "prepar ed enough to adjust to the game situation and exploit any weaknesses of the other team that may be uncovered." "We like to mix things up as much as possible," Schutz said. The top Trojan mixer should be quarterback James Hilzer who currently leads the race for the Washington prep scoring titile. In the Trojans seven victories this year, Hilzer has rushed for more than 800 yards and thrown for more than 400. Joining Hilzer in the backfield will be a brother duo Randy and Jeff Kamp who have combined for more than 1,200 rushing yards this year. Tight end Randy Schlangen leads the Lyle receiving corps while Hilzer, Home coming bout iff J, r. K " f-VW " John Sporseen Jeff Kamp and John Stan stand out on defense. The Trojans present an interesting situation known as a "football co-op" which brings together three nearby high schools to form a single team. Klickitat, student body - 1 . 1 . . i . t . , - V ' -' If V . ' . .. f- " - . - s - " . , 4t . ' V V- , - 1 -ii-'IBiifti i T ' n It iiimwim in i "-imiiii I ail -n' '( , t " . x 5 - jr. . - - - ' i - . we.'" V'. "-" , jf . w ' (, ' . ' r - ' ,5 . 70; Wishram, student body 30; and Lyle, student body 80 combine forces for the football season but compete separate ly for other sports. To counteract the co-op, Heppner coach John Sporseen has had to rely on information a1- provided by the Pilot Rock coach since he has not been able to free a scout for any of Lyle's games. We'll have our hands full. I'm sure," Sporseen said. "We're going to have to contain their quarterback and keep playing like we have the last few weeks." "They've racked up a lot of yardage but it has been - -.(.- . - ' ' ' ' V , , '., t I George Not Pictured: against some teams that aren't real strong," Sporseen said After holding opponents to only one touchdown in the last three games Sporseen said his defense should be primed for the game. The fact that it happens to be Heppner's Homecoming shouldn't hurt the team's morale too much either. "nun iiiniiiinnrn i iriiniiiiinMinimii innA '3 t-r". V Koffler Les Payne Dale Conklin
