Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Mustangs open football season with
crushing win over Panthers
The Heppner Mustang
football team opened its
season with a 42-8 win over
the Imbler Panthers. The
game was held at Eastern
Oregon University in La
Grande.
It was a cool and breezy
evening as the game start-
ed. Just before halftime it
started to rain and it did
not stop the entire second
half. Heppner football fans
huddled under umbrellas
and stadium cover to cheer
on their team to the very
end.
The scoring started fast
for the Mustangs as CJ Kin-
dle took the opening kickoff
back 83 yards for the first
score. The next time Hep-
pner got the ball it only
took a little more than two
minutes to score again. A
six-play drive ended when
Kindle ran the ball in from
four yards out. Quarterback
Kaden Clark found Logan
Grieb in the back of the end
zone for the two-point con-
version and the Mustangs
led 14-0.
The teams then traded
possessions as the second
quarter began. Heppner
mounted a seven-play, 79-
yard drive that ended when
Clark hit Grieb with a 24-
yard touchdown pass. Grieb
kicked the extra point and
the Mustangs led 21-0.
CJ Kindle carries the ball for the Mustangs in Friday’s win
over the Imbler Panthers. –Photo by Sandra Putman
A punt by the Panthers
led to another touchdown
as Kindle ran it back 65 for
the score. The PAT kick by
Grieb was good and Hep-
pner led 28-0 with eight
minutes to go in the first
half. Both teams moved
the ball the rest of the half,
but neither of them could
score. The halftime score
held at 28-0.
The Mustangs kicked
off to start the second half
and quickly got the ball
back. The defense forced
a fumble that was recov-
ered by Wyatt Steagall at
the 24-yard line. Heppner
scored quickly when Clark
threw Kindle a 12-yard
touchdown pass. Grieb
kicked the PAT and the lead
grew to 35-0. The next time
Heppner got the ball, Clark
ran it in for a score from
15 yards out. The PAT kick
by Grieb was good and the
score was now 42-0 with
three minutes to go in the
third quarter.
At this point of the
game, many of the younger
Mustang players were put
in to gain some valuable
varsity experience. The
Heppner team moved the
ball but could not score
again. The defense held
until there were just 26
seconds left in the game,
and Imbler finally scored.
That made the final score
of the game 42-8.
For the game, Clark
was 7-12 passing the ball
for 146 yards and two
touchdowns. Grieb led the
team in rushing with 60
yards on only five carries.
Tommy Bredfield ran for
57 yards, Clark had 54 and
Kindle finished with 31.
Kindle led the receivers
with four catches for 72
yards and a touchdown.
Weston Putman had two
catches for 50 and Grieb
caught one ball for 24 yards
and a touchdown.
The strong Mustang
defense was led by Kevin
Murray with 13 tackles.
Kindle had nine and Tom-
my Bredfield eight. Patrick
Collins and Tim Jaca both
recorded six tackles on
the night. Putman, Saul
Erickson and Kolby Currin
all had four tackles in the
game. Grieb, Beau Wolt-
ers and Coby Dougherty
each had two tackles for
the Mustangs. Finishing
the game with one tackle
each were Jake Lindsay,
Wyatt Steagall, Tre Cim-
miyotti, Zach Bredfield,
Dakota Howard and Derek
Howard.
This Friday, Sept. 11,
the Mustangs travel to John
Day to play the Grant Union
Prospectors.
At 4 p.m. the JV team
will play a two-quarter
game. The varsity game
will be played at 7 p.m.
-Continued from PAGE ONE which takes a lot of time.”
given 30 hours to complete
the race. In fact, Nichols
says the Leadville only has
a 40 percent average finish
rate.
Despite his history
of running competitively,
Nichols, who turned 43
since the Aug. 22 race, says
the leap to endurance racing
wasn’t one he took lightly.
“It was daunting,” he
admits. “I just knew I’d
have to do a lot of training.
When I decided to do it, I
was already in shape, but
I had 10 months to prepare
the first time.”
That’s right, the first
time. This wasn’t Nichols’
first time tackling the trail.
It was his second time run-
ning the Leadville 100, and
he says he has run “several”
50-mile and 50-kilome-
ter races previously. His
first endurance race was
the ultra-marathon Gorge
Waterfalls 50k in March
of 2014.
“It takes a lot of train-
ing,” he adds. “I put in
about 250 miles a month,
Nichols said he was
drawn to endurance racing
out of a desire to get off the
road and into nature.
“They’re all on trails,”
he says of long-distance
races. “I’ve done a lot of
road running but I wanted
to run on trails. A lot of trail
runs are longer.”
As to the challenges,
Nichols seems to shrug off
the actual running, saying
the real challenges are race
specific. For instance, the
Leadville is nonstop, which
adds challenges of its own.
“You’ve got to stay
awake. You’ve got to eat.
You’ve got to drink. That
difficult when you’re run-
ning like that,” Nichols
says.
However, in races like
the Leadville 100, each run-
ner has a crew that meets
him at aid stations along the
way. Nichols’ family served
as his crew, with wife Toni
as crew leader and their
four children helping out.
Momentary stops at aid
stations gave runners like
Nichols the chance not only
to refuel but to see to other
needs, like changing shoes
that were wet from running
through rivers, or throwing
on another sweatshirt in the
middle of a cold night in the
Rockies.
Despite the rigors of the
race, Nichols made a good
showing, finishing the race
in 27 hours, 22 minutes and
33 seconds, and placing
125 th of the 319 overall con-
testants. Anyone is allowed
to run the last mile with the
runners, and he says his
children were there running
beside him to the finish line.
Nichols says he wanted
to participate in the Lead-
ville because of the history
behind the race.
“It’s the second-oldest
100 mile in the world,” he
says, adding that the West-
ern States race is the oldest.
“It’s got a lot of history to
that race. It’s also one of
the toughest, going from
10,200 feet to 12,600 feet,
twice.”
Nichols says you have
to apply to enter both races,
service territory during the
next few months.
Jensen’s Tree Service
is scheduled to begin trim-
ming in mid-September,
with a target completion
date toward the end of the
calendar year.
Any inquiries about
trees obstructing power
lines or the removal of
Morgan Correa keeps her eye on the ball during the Volleyball
Invitational Sept. 5 in Heppner. Heppner took two wins over
Wallowa and Enterprise during the invitational, losing only to
Imbler. That gives them a 3-2 record so far in the season. They
next face Pilot Rock and Ione Saturday in Condon starting at
10 a.m. The girls’ first league game will be Sept. 22 at Weston-
McEwen. –Photo by Sandra Putman
LOCALS IN
SHRINE GAME
“It is humbling to see
the challenges these kids
overcome,” he added.
Kellen Grant, son of
Coach Grant, spent the
week as manager and ball
boy for the game. He said
the experience was a lot
of fun.
“Everyone there was
really nice, and it was pretty
independent,” said Kellen,
who added that he liked the
freedom he had outside of
the two practices the team
held every day. “I’m ball
boy for (my dad) all the
time, so I’m used to him.
It’s fun to be around him
Dr. Russ Nichols during the
Leadville Trail 100 Race.
-Contributed photo
but he hasn’t been accepted
into Western States.
“It’s a tough one. So is
the Leadville. I got lucky,”
he says.
As for his future plans
for running? Well, he
doesn’t plan to give it up
any time soon.
“I’m applying for the
Western States 100 again
this year,” he says.
Electric co-op to conduct area tree trimming
Columbia Basin Elec-
tric Co-Op and its sub-
contractors, Jensen’s Tree
Service, will be conducting
its biennial tree-trimming
operation throughout the
Mustangs take
invitational 2-1
-Continued from PAGE ONE
TEST OF ENDURANCE
them may be made to Brian
Kollman at 541-676-9146,
briank@columbiabasin.
cc or Josh Coiner, joshc@
columbiabasin.cc.
when he coaches, and it’s
fun to help him during the
practices. It was just really
fun and it was a great ex-
perience.”
“Sharing that week
with those great kids was
a real highlight of his sum-
mer,” said Grant. “We had
a great time with 30 great
kids and three other fine
coaches.”
“I always come home
a little smarter than when I
left,” he added.
The East squad con-
trolled the game, winning
with a score of 25-0. This
ended a five-year winning
streak by the West team.
Boardman creates
‘Online Safe Zone’
BOARDMAN—
Boardman Police Chief
Rick Stokoe has announced
that the Boardman Police
Department has implement-
ed a new program aimed
at facilitating a safe and
secure meeting place for
residents to meet strangers
and complete online trans-
actions on websites like
Craigslist.
While the Boardman
Police Department stresses
that it cannot guarantee
the quality or authenticity
of items purchased online,
the department has cre-
ated the “Safety Zone”
at the Boardman Police
Department to ensure that
residents have a safe, secure
Please join us for
Ione Education
Foundation’s
13th Annual Dinner
and Auction
Saturday, September 26, 2015
Ione American Legion Hall
Social Hour 6:00 PM / Dinner 7:00 PM
Prime rib and salmon dinner
Auction to follow including raffles & grab bags
Tickets available at Ione branch of
Bank of Eastern Oregon or at the door
$25 adults / $10 ages 7-12 / free under 6
- THREE
and public meeting place to
conduct purchases and sales
of items.
Boardman residents
and business owners who
wish to complete an online
transaction made via Face-
book, Craigslist, or another
medium can arrange to
meet at the “Online Safe
Zone” —a location at the
Boardman Police Station.
The location is covered
by security cameras.
“Our primary duty as
police officers is to ensure
public safety. Online pur-
chases are very popular, but
completing these transac-
tions can make a person feel
uncomfortable, and there
have been reports all over
the country of meetings
going wrong,” Stokoe said.
“We hope that residents
take advantage of the new
Online Safe Zone as a new
program aimed at keeping
people safe.”
The Boardman Police
Station is staffed Monday
through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5
p.m. During the weekends
an officer can be called to
the station as long as they
are not on a call.
“There are great deals
online, but we want to make
sure our residents feel safe
and actually are safe when
they go to pay for or sell an
item,” Chief Stokoe said. “I
hope our residents enjoy us-
ing the Online Safe Zone.”
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