TWO - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, September 30,1998
Shaoe Mathenv injured
Mustangs trounce Wahtonka 48-6 in bittersweet victory
By Rick Paullus
It was a bittersweet victory for
the Heppner Mustangs as they
beat the Wahtonka Eagles 48-6
on Fnday, Sept. 25 at the
fairgrounds. Senior quarterback
Shane Matheny went down with
a severely separated shoulder in
the first quarter to dampen what
was a great game by senior
running back Derek Gunderson.
Gunderson ran for 198 yards
and three touchdowns, caught a
15-yard touchdown pass and
ended the scoring with an
amazing 82-yard kick-off return.
Levi Gear got the Mustangs
rolling on their second offensive
play of the game, taking the ball
up the middle for an 85-yard
touchdown. Blake Knowles
kicked the extra point and, with
9:41 left in the first quarter,
Heppner led, 7-0.
The Mustangs got the ball back
at the Eagle 46 after a bad snap
on a punt went over the punter's
head. The Mustangs couldn't get
anything going as two holding
penalties helped to stall the drive,
giving the Eagles the ball at their
own 23.
On Wahtonka's first play Jared
Eckman intercepted a pass and
brought it back to the 30-yard
line.
Gunderson ran for 22 yards on
the first play down to the eight.
Gunderson then got his first
touchdown of the game on an
eight-yard run. After a penalty on
the Eagles on the point after,
Gunderson ran in the two-point
conversion, giving Heppner a 15-
0 lead with 1:13 left in the first
quarter.
The Mustang defense held and
took over at their own 37 after a
punt. Ryan Matteson picked up
four yards on first down to the
41. Gunderson then took a pitch
around end and down the sideline
for a 59-yard touchdown run.
Knowles' kick was good, giving
Heppner a 22-0 lead with 10:50
left in the first half.
The Eagles then went on a 10
minute dnve down to the
Mustangs one-foot line before
the defense stiffened, giving the
offense the ball.
The Mustangs received the
kick-off
with
Gunderson
returning the ball to the 24-yard
line. Michael Schonbachler ran
for three yards, then a motion
penalty took the ball back to the
22. Gunderson then took off
around end and tightroped down
the sideline again for a 78-yard
touchdown run. Knowles kicked
the extra point, giving the
Mustangs a 29-0 lead with 10:44
left in the third quarter.
The Eagles took over at the
Mustang 47 after the short kick
off. Gunderson then intercepted a
pass and returned it to the 31
yard line of Wahtonka.
Two screen passes to Geer took
the ball down to the one-yard
line. Matteson then hit Casey
Evans for a one yard touchdown
pass. Knowles kicked the extra
point to increase the lead to 36-0
with 8:24 left.
Wahtonka took over at their
own 19 after a deep kick-off by
Knowles and good coverage by
Tim Dickenson and Craig Scott.
The Mustang defense held and
took over at the 42 of Wahtonka.
The running of Schonbachler
and Geer took the ball to the 15-
yard line. Matteson then hit
Gunderson on a nice pass across
the middle for the touchdown.
The kick was no good and the
Mustangs now led 42-0 with 3:45
left in the third.
Wahtonka then went on their
only scoring drive with the help
of a 52-yard run by James Baird.
Gunderson scores one o f his three touchdowns
ftrvin
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Jeb Miller ran the ball in from
three yards out. The conversion
run failed and Heppner then led
42-6 with 53 seconds left in the
third quarter.
That lasted all of 17 seconds as
Gunderson took the kick-off at
the 18 and started out to the right
side then cut across the grass at
midfield and scampered in to the
end/zone for a 82-yard touch
down. The kick failed and the
Mustangs led 48-6 with :36 left
in the third.
The fourth quarter saw both
teams unable to mount a serious
scoring threat until Wahtonka
moved to the Mustangs' 5-yard
line as time ran out.
The defense was led by Clint
Bellamy and Levi Geer with 21
defensive points and 20 points
respectively. In his first game of
the year, Stanley Cutsforth had a
good game, scoring 16 points.
Tim Dickenson had 15 points
and Michael Schonbachler and
Craig Scott each had 14. Derek
Gunderson had 12 points and an
interception. Jake Roy had 10
points and Blake Knowles had
nine points and a fumble
recovery. Jared Eckman had
seven points and an interception.
The offense was obviously led
by Gunderson scoring 32 points
with five touchdowns and a two-
point conversion. He rushed
eight times for 198 yards, and
106 return yards including the 82
yard kick-off return. Geer rushed
five times for 101 yards.
Ryan Matteson was five of
nine for 44 yards and two
touchdowns.
Gunderson caught two passes
for 25 yards and Geer had two
receptions for 18 yards. Casey
Evans had one catch for a one
yard touchdown.
Coach Greg Grant was pleased
with the win but disappointed in
losing Matheny saying, "It's hard
to take a win when you lose a
player ¡ike Shane."
The Mustangs are back in
action with another home game
on Friday, Oct. 2, as Weston
McEwen comes here.
Wahtonka 0 - 0 - 6 -0 -6
Heppner 15-7-26-0-48
-
First
Hep. - Levi Geer 85 yard run (Blake
Knowles kick) 9:41
Hep - Derek Gunderson 8 yard run
(Knowles Kick) 1:13
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Second
Hep.-Gunderson 59
(Knowles kick) 10:50
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Rushing
Wah- Baird 16-105, Hager 18-47,
Findley 6-5, Schmidt 5-8, Miller 2-3.
Hep Gunderson 8-198, Geer 5-101,
Shane Matheny 2-13, Michael
Schonbachler 3-8, Michael McCabe
2-7, Craig Scott 2-6, Travis Bellamy
1-0.
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run
Third
Hep-Gunderson 78 yard run
(Knowles kick) 10:44
Hep- Casey Evans 1 yard pass from
Ryan Matteson 8:24 (Knowles kick)
Hep-Gunderson 15 yard pass from
Matteson (Kick failed) 3:54
Wah- Jeb Miller 3 yard run (run
failed) :53
Hep-Gunderson 82 yard kick-off
return (kick failed) :36
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Extraordinary Adventures
For Ordinary Life H
OWGON
lOTTTPY
Wah.-Miller 5-12-2-1-40
Hep- Matteson 5-9-0-44, Matheny 0-
1-0
Receiving
Wah- McGuire 2-19, Hinatsu 2-16,
Hager 1-6.
Hep- Gunderson 2-25, Geer 2-18,
Evans 1-1.