FOUR - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, September 10,2008
Cardinal football team
drops season opener
The lone Cardinals
played a “very tough defen
sive game" in their season
i pener against Joseph last
Saturday afternoon at the
Dufur Eight Man Classic.
The final score read 16-0
in favor o f the Eagles but
the Cardinals found some
reasons to be encouraged
about the upcoming season
in the outcome.
The C ard in als re
ceived the opening kickoff
facing a stiff headwind. The
first series of plays, all runs
by Senior Cory Peterson,
led to a first and 10. Joseph
clamped down on the next
seiies, forcing the Cards
to punt into the wind. The
teams swapped possessions
before Joseph got a decent
drive going. However the
C ardinal defense played
tough causing the Eagles to
turn the ball over on downs
at the start o f the second
quarter. The second quarter
was played mainly in the
center o f the field w ith the
neither team m oving the
ball far. In the closing min
utes o f the half, the Eagles
broke free for a 48 yard TD
run. A successful point after
run put Joseph up 8-0 at the
half.
The Eagles ran back
the second half kickoff to
lo n e ’s 11, putting them
selves into what appeared
to be a sure scoring position.
But the C ards had other
ideas as they stopped Joseph
from coming any closer. The
Eagles turned the ball over
on downs, pushed back to
lo n e’s 20 yard line. Four
plays later, the Cards punted
but caught a lucky break as
the opponent was flagged
for holding before the punt.
That gave the Cardinals four
more chances but again they
were not able to capitalize.
Joseph gave up some
yards in the second half with
holds, a face mask and a
couple clips. The C ards
were flagged a couple o f
times for being offsides but
gave up more yards on sacks
and hobbled snaps.
With just under two
m inutes rem aining in the
game, Joseph looked to be in
sure scoring position. Start
ing on the Cardinal 46 yard
line, the Eagles were already
thinking about the endzone
on a fourth and goal with
1:16 on the clock. The Car
dinals made a stand, pushing
the Eagles hack and causing
a fumble. Junior Eric Jepsen
recovered the fumble and
the Cardinals lived to fight
another day, starting on their
own 20 yard line. Two plays
later, the Eagles recovered
an lone fumble and got an
other shot at that endzone.
W ith 15 seconds on the
clock, the Eagles ran in the
second score of the day and
followed up with another
two point conversion.
“ We played a very
tough defen siv e g a m e ,”
said assistant coach. Dale
Holland noting that the team
stopped Joseph in the red
zone five times. "That is
almost unheard o f in eight-
man football."
"It felt like a tie
game," said Holland. Until
the very end o f the game,
“we were one big play from
tying it up."
With a lot o f new
personnel filling the ranks,
the Cardinal coaching staff
d id n ’t q u ite know w hat
to expect. However, they
found some positives as well
as some areas to fine tune.
“ I was pleased with the way
the team was flying to the
ball,” said Holland. “ It usu
ally takes half a season to get
that going.” He noted that
the offense has some work
to do on blocking assign
ments and timing but overall
was pleased with the team’s
cohesiveness and efforts to
work together as a team.
The next outing for
the Cardinals is a road trip
to M cK enzie on Friday,
September 6. The team will
play on Friday night and
take advantage of their prox
imity to Eugene to attend a
University o f Oregon game
on Saturday afternoon.
Mustangs fall to Culver
Junior Bryan Holland tackles Culver’s running back Ba
dillo in the Heppner Mustang game Friday Night against the
defending state champions. Culver beat the Mustangs 21-0.
-Photo by Sand\' Matthews
Lady Cards 1-2 at
weekend tournament
The lone volleyball
team got a look at some of
the teams in their league
last weekend at the Summit
Springs Tournament in Con
don. The Lady Cardinals
lost two close matches early
in the day before defeating
South Wasco in their final
match.
T h e L ad y C ard s
took on Condon/ Wheeler in
their opening match falling
25-27, 26-24. “Our serves
killed us,” said Coach Dawn
Eynetich. “ I think that we
could have won easily if
we had made our serves.”
The next match pitted lone
against Arlington and again,
the games came down to the
wire. The Cardinals lost in
two, 23-25, 27-29. Coach
Eynetich again noted serv
ing errors as the most likely
c o n trib u to r to the team s
downfall.
The final match of
the day pitted lone against
South Wasco County and
the lone team pulled out a
25-14, 25-20 win. “It came
down to who made more
mistakes,” said Eynetich.
“ T h is side o f the
league is going to be close.
I think it will come down
to the end o f the season,”
said E y n etich . She also
noted that the team has a
pattern o f playing well at
the beginning and the end
o f games but seems to lapse
in the m iddle, especially
if they have a lead. “The
girls have shown they can
stick with these teams but
they just have to believe in
themselves.”
T h e L ad y C a rd s
have a busy week o f vol
leyball on tap, hosting Helix
on Tuesday, trav elin g to
Heppner on Thursday for a
doubleheader with Heppner
and Riverside and traveling
to Joseph for a tournament
on Saturday.
M ustang JV team
loses to Pendleton
ill**,«.
Cheerleaders to host soup feed
The Heppner High School cheerleaders will host a
soup feed on Friday, September 19, from 4-7 p.m. before
the football game.
WCCC Benefit Scramble to be held
Willow Creek Coun
try Club will be holding a
benefit scramble on Sunday,
September 14. Sign-up will
begin at 8 a.m. and a shot
gun start tee-off will begin
at 9 a.m.
This event will be a
four person scramble w ith a
limit of 18 teams. The cost is
$25 per person. Team sign
up sheets can be picked up
at the Pro Shop and you can
pre-register your team at the
Pro Shop.
Food and sn ac k s
will be on sale throughout
the day. There w ill be a
50/50 pot and a Yellow Ball
Contest.
Mustang Shane Smith takes a hit during the JV Mustangs
game against Pendleton Freshman in Heppner. The Mustang
s lost 42-12. -Photo by Sandy Matthews
Heppner High School FFA
students complete project
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The lone Cardinals
got their first win o f the sea
son on the road at McKenzie
last Friday night, downing
the host team 32-16. The
Cards traveled to Blue River
with two purposes in mind;
playing a new opponent
from out o f the area and po
sitioning themselves in the
Eugene area so they could
attend the UO-Utah State
game as a team the follow
ing day.
The road was a rocky
in the early going Friday
night as McKenzie scored
on their first two posses
sions. With only 2:15 off the
clock in the first quarter, the
Eagles scored on a 36 yard
touchdown run. The point
after was good to give them
the lead 8-0. After an lone
punt, the Eagles from their
first play from scrimmage,
connected on an 83 yard
TD pass. With the point af
ter good, the shell-shocked
C ards found th em selv es
down 16-0.
At that point, the
Cardinals woke themselves
up and went to work. Alex
Rietmann brought back the
M cKenzie kickoff all the
way to the Eagles 32 yard
line, giving the Cardinals
good field position. lone
ground its way downfield
and w ith 2:59 rem aining
in the first quarter, Cory
Peterson punched in with a
two yard TD run. The point
after was no good.
Then the Cardinal
defense got fired up. The
Eagles were forced to punt
on a 4th and 11 after Clay
Morter sacked the McKen
zie quarterback deep in their
own territory. The Cards
took over on their own 47
and moved steadily down
field. Cory Peterson had a
great jumping catch on a 17
yard pass from RJ Ramos
for the first first-down o f the
series. He then ran for two
more first downs setting the
Cards up first and goal on
the one yard line. Tanner
Rietmann used a tough sec
ond effort to get into the end
zone and with the PAT good,
the Cards were right back in
the game 14-16.
The next series for
McKenzie might have been
what spelled disaster for the
Eagles or it might have spo
ken o f how determined the
Cardinal defense was. Start
ing on their own 20 after a
kickoff into the end zone, the
Eagles were on the move.
On their third first down
o f the series, the Eagles
covered 9.5 yards, leaving
them about 18 inches short
o f another first down on the
lone 43. But the Cards dug
in and shoved them back
ultimately leading to a turn
over on downs.
T h e C a rd s w e re
forced to punt on their next
offensive series but the ball
took an lone bounce and was
downed on the McKenzie
five yard line. The Eagles
had moved the ball to their
20 when tackle, Eric Jepsen
chased down the McKenzie
quarterback for a killer 16
yard loss, putting the Eagles
back on their own two yard
line. The Eagles punted but
the Cardinals took advan
tage o f this favorable field
position when RJ Ramos
and C ory Peterson c o n
nected on a 27 yard pass
with 13 seconds remaining.
The Cardinals led 20-16 at
the half.
lone scored again
early in the third quarter
on a 35 yard Cory Peterson
run. The Cardinals provided
a comfortable cushion with
5:22 remaining in the game
when Cory Peterson ran in
for his fourth TD o f the day
from 16 yards out. Peterson
finished the day with 119
rushing yards and 52 in the
air.
“ I was totally im
pressed w ith the kids,” said
Coach Dennis Stefani. He
noted that the team was able
to get back into the game
“after walking into a buzz
saw” in the first quarter with
a throwing and running at
tack. “We were able to open
our game up and 1 felt good
about that.”
D e fe n s iv e ly , th e
Cards got good efforts across
the board. Senior defensive
end, Clay Morter, led the
team with 12 tackles. “He
did a terrific job at defensive
end.” said Stefani. Freshman
Micah Stillman also had an
outstanding effort with 11
tackles. "He disrupted their
whole offense going up the
middle.” Tanner Rietmann,
G unner Jessen, Alex Fet-
terhoff and Luke Bradfield
each had eight tackles. “The
people up front were doing
their job,” said Stefani. He
also noted that freshm an
punter Zac Orem averaged
over 40 yards on his punts.
“That helped us consider
ably.”
Besides the win and
the good stats, Coach Ste
fani is most excited about
the enthusiasm and excite
ment his team is showing. “1
have not walked in a locker
room and found a team so
excited to play a second
half. They are starting to
believe in themselves.”
T h is F rid a y , th e
Cards host Touchet (WA)
for their home opener. “It
will be a tough one but I
told the kids to just look at
getting better and getting
ready for league.” Game
time is 6 p.m.
Rushing: Peterson
27-119;T. Rietmann 5-14;
Emmel 2-9; A. Rietmann
1- 7; Ramos 6 -22; Stillman
2 - 15.
P a s s in g : R am o s
8-16-102 1 TD .O int. .
Receiving: Peterson
3- 52; Morter 3-31; Jessen
2-19.
Total Offense: Ione-
176 rushing, 102 passing,
total 278; McKenzie- 114
rushing, 121 passing, total
235.
Cheer
clinic to be held
Heppner High School varsity cheerleaders will
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Cardinals take first win of season
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Students from Heppner High School’s FFA recently
completed a project in which the students cleaned up the
Mustang signs just inside the Heppner city limits.
After digging up the soil and weeding the area,
the workers laid irrigation lines, weed matting, bricked
the area, and planted plants, including yellow roses. The
students spent 18-20 hours on the projects. This will be an
ongoing project as weeding, pruning, etcetera, and will be
done by the FFA class each year.
Students involved in the project were: Joe Pranger,
Spencer Palmer, Stephanie Rill, and Kirsten Stephens.
These students spent time outside o f class and after sum
mer break began. Other students involved in the project
were Charles Stuber, Taylor Disque, and Brittany Booth.
FFA instructor Beth Dickenson and her husband Tim also
worked on this project. All are students at HHS and rep
resent the FFA o f HHS.
The Heppner Garden Club suggested this project
and gave the FFA $100 to help fund the project.
hold a cheer clinic on Monday and Tuesday, September
15 and 16, for grades K through third.
Cheer clinic hours are 4:15-5:15 on September 15
and 3:45-4:45 on September 16. The clinic will be held in
the high school cafeteria.
Students who attend the clinic will perform at half
time during the football game on September 19. This clinic
is sponsored by the HHS varsity cheerleaders.
For more information contact Virginia Grant at
676-5257.
Justice Court
Morrow County Justice Court Judge Charlotte
Gray has released the following report:
-Kim M. Simmons, 39, North Plains, violation of
the basic rule by going 63 mph in a 45 mph zone, $ 113
fine.
Senior Center Menu
Christian Life Center members will be serving
lunch on Wednesday, September 17. The menu will include
pork roast, sage dressing with gravy, mixed veggies, apple
sauce, hot rolls, and chocolate peanut butter pie.