FOUR - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, November 26,2008
Hanging up their cleats: lone
football seniors play final game
three lone High School se
nior football players career
played out a little different
for all o f them.
Cory Peterson, look
ing to cap a breakout season,
ended up w atching from
the sidelines on all but one
play due to a collarbone
injury sustained that week
in practice. Luke Bradfield,
an anchor on the line going
both w ays, finally talked
his way into the backfield
and got the thrill o f carry
ing the ball to the end zone
for the only touchdow n
o f his football career. And
Clay Morter, concluded four
years o f play, three years
as a starter, by chasing the
w ildest fum ble you ever
saw into the end zone for
a score and serv ing as the
kicker, yes the kicker, on
lone’s lightly used (make
that never used) extra point
kicking team.
The Cardinals won
that final game, taking a 65-
44 win over Nixyaawii in a
game that w asn't nearly as
close as the score indicates
but a game that provided
an opportunity for a bit o f
reflection on a high school
career and w hole lot o f
fun.
C o ry P e te r s o n ’s
natural speed brought him
quite a bit of playing time
his freshman year and even a
couple o f starts. His sopho
more season took a turn
when he twisted his ankle in
the first game o f the year. On
his first day back at practice
from the ankle tweak, di
saster struck when he blew
out his knee. A year and
two knee surgeries later, he
returned to the gridiron but
played limited minutes and
still favored the knee.
B ut s e n io r y e a r
m eant now or never and
Cory stepped up to provide
a steadying influence and
one heck o f an offensive
punch to the young Cardinal
team. He carried the weight
o f the Cardinal offense this
season, carrying the ball
180 times for 1,133 yards.
Before the Cards were able
to broaden their offensive at
tack, Peterson was carrying
the pigskin 30-40 times per
game. When the Cardinals
played Sherman County in
September, he carried the
ball 40 times for 245 yard,
more than then entire Sher
man County team.
While it was an ef
fort definitely worth not
Pictured left to right are Luke Bradfield, C'orey Peterjon, and
Clay Ylorter. -Contributed Photo
ing, the coaches knew they
couldn’t keep asking for
that kind of production from
him. It wasn't like running
the ball was all he was do
ing either. He had 11 catches
during the season plus 68
tackles (49 solo) and three
quarterback sacks.
A shoulder injury
kept him sidelined for the
majority o f his final game as
a Cardinal, a disappointment
to say the least. However
he put that aside to keep his
younger teammates motivat
ed. “1 had faith in my team
and knew they could pull it
out," Peterson said. “It was
fun watching the younger
kids and seeing how much
they’ve improved.”
For his efforts, Pe
terson was named to the
Big Sky second team as a
defensive back/linebacker
and honorable mention at
running back. More impor
tantly, his team voted him
MVP of the team.
“ People underesti
mated us,” said Peterson
o f the early season doubt
ers. “But the younger kids
stepped up and played well.
They will have a good team
next year.”
W hen asked if he
was happy or sad to see the
end o f his football days,
Luke Bradfield thought a
minute and said “I’m not re
ally sure. ...mainly sad.” The
pain o f sweltering days o f
daily doubles, the day-after-
games, run-over-by-a-truck
feeling, and the agony of de
feats fade when compared to
the loss o f football team ca
maraderie. Bradfield played
lightly his freshman year
and sat out his sophomore
season. His junior year, he
played guard and back up
center. This year, he moved
up to starting guard. High
lights o f his playing years
including picking up a fum
ble last year and this year,
rumbling into the end zone
for a three yard touchdown
run against Nixyaawii. “He
kept asking when he might
get a chance to carry the
ball,” said Coach Dennis
Stefani. When the chance
arose at Nix, Luke was a
bit worried that he might
have blown his chance. “I
was afraid I was going to
get taken out because I lost
a yard,” on an earlier carry.
Not to worry though, the
coaches gave him another
chance and send in some
reinforcement. Senior team
mate, Clay Morter was sent
in to block and clear the
way to the end zone. The
lone crowd roared and Luke
barely restrained him self
from doing a touchdow n
celebration dance.
Luke proved to be
a steady, hard worker who
provided a calming influ
ence on the team. Already
one o f the m ost m ature
p lay ers on the team , he
welcomed the opportunity to
assume a leadership role as
one o f the team captains.
Although big stats
don’t follow him around, the
team will undoubtedly miss
him next year. He noted that
he enjoyed the last game
especially “watching all the
foreign exchange students
get in there."
Clay Morter easily
qualifies as the most enthu
siastic and savvy player on
the Cardinal team as well as
one o f the most resilient. No
one celebrates a good tackle
or a great play like Clay.
Starting his sophomore year,
Clay never missed a start
due to injury and played in a
variety o f positions over the
years, filling in for injured
teammates. Clay carried the
ball, caught the ball, kicked
the ball and offered many
Smalley wins gold at Oregon
Special Olympics State Games
helpful suggestions to the
refs and coaches but there is
no doubt he loves the game.
This season, Clay found
success as a defensive end
where he was second on the
team in tackles with 77 (31
solo) and 11 quarterback
sacks.
For his efforts, he
was named to the Second
Team o f the Big Sky in that
position. However a bigger
thrill was being selected to
play in the Oregon Eight-
Man All Star Game to be
held this summer.
Clay found playing
his last game in the Cardinal
uniform to be a little sad but
“ it was good closure. I think
we left the program in better
shape than we found it. Not
that it wasn’t like this before,
but we had a more team-
oriented approach this and
were more focused on one
goal of winning games.” His
season highlights were the
come-from-behind victory
against McKenzie, beating
Condon/Wheeler and play
ing well against Joseph.
“It was a good sea
son for u s,” said C oach
Dennis Stefani. “I enjoyed
seeing the kids have fun and
they enjoyed the learning
process.” He credited the
seniors for being a big part
of making that happen. “Our
success this year comes a
lot from the senior boys.
They gave encouragement
and support to the younger
players.” He noted that the
talent on teams like Sher
man and Condon/W heeler
were good and those games
should have been closer. “It
was their belief in the team
that made us better.”
“ W h at I re s p e c t
about th o se kids is th at
they took every day with a
positive attitude and gave so
much encouragement to the
younger kids,” said Stefani.
“They came in with an at
titude that if we work as a
team, w e’ll do better than
people expect. They were
great leaders and it showed
with the respect they got
from the younger kids. The
seniors helped make this
team what it was.”
With last week’s win
over Nixyaawii, the Cards
were unofficially nam ed
“the best o f the rest” or the
top team from the Big Sky
that didn’t advance to the
state playoffs. “Considering
where we were picked at
the beginning o f the season,
we didn’t do too bad,” said
Coach Dennis Stefani.
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Pictured is Jilli Smalley with her gold medal. -Contributed Photo
Jilli Smalley, daugh
ter o f Mark and Kristi Smal
ley of Hermiston, and grand
daughter o f John and Pat
E dm undson o f H eppner,
won a gold medal at the
Special Olympics State Fall
Games held in Beaverton
and Hillsboro on November
22. Smalley won her gold
medal in the bowling com
petition.
Smalley leaves for
a w eek o f snow training
at Copper Mountain, CO,
in early December. She is
meeting her cross-country
skiing team from around
the USA for training prior
to representing the USA at
the World Special Olympic
Games at Sun Valley in Feb
ruary, 2009. She is one o f 12
Oregon athletes chosen to be
on the USA Team.
Heppner High School
Basketball Schedule
Following is the Heppner High School basketball sched
ule for the 08-09 season:
-Tuesday, Dec. 2: vs. Condon JV/Varsity at Condon, 3
p.m.
-Friday, Dec. 5: vs. Imbler JV/V at Heppner, 3 p.m.
-Saturday, Dec. 6: vs. Mac Hi at Heppner, 1 p.m.
-Thursday-Saturday, Dec. 11-13: Columbia River Clas
sic, Varsity at Umatilla, 3 p.m.
-*Friday, Dec. 19: vs. Irrigon JV/V at Irrigon, 3 p.m.
-*Saturday, Dec. 20: vs. Stanfield JV/V at Heppner 1
p.m.
-Monday-Tuesday, Dec. 29-30: Heppner Tourney vs.
Dufur, Grant Union, Riverside Varsity only at Heppner,
3 p.m.
-Friday, Jan. 2: vs. Imber at Imbler, 1 p.m.
-Tuesday, Jan. 6: vs. Umatilla JV/V at Heppner 3 p.m.
-*Friday, Jan. 9: vs. Union JV/V at Union, 3 p.m.
lone High School
Basketball Schedule
Following is the lone High School basketball schedule
for the 08-09 season:
-Dec. 5-6: lone Basketball Bonanza JV (1 p.m.) & Var
sity (3 p.m.)
-Dec. 9: Pilot Rock, away (GJV, BJV, GV, & BV) at 3
p.m.
-Dec. 12-13: Enterprise Tournament, away, at 3 p.m.
-’•'Dec. 19: Nixyaawii, away (GJV, BJV, GV, & BV) at 3
p.m.
-*Dec. 20: Dufur at home (GJV, BJV, GV, & BV) at 1
p.m.
-Dec. 22: Riverside, away (GJV, BJV, GV, & BV) at 3
p.m.
-Dec. 30: Pilot Rock at home (GJV, BJV, GV, & BV) at
3 p.m.
-Jan. 3: Stanfield, away (GJV, BJV, GV, & BV) at 1 p.m.