SIX - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday,December 2, 2015
MUSTANGS #1 IN STATE
Caden Hedman (#18) leads the charge in taking down a Ken-
nedy Trojan during last Saturday’s championship game.
-Photo by Sandra Putman
-Continued from PAGE ONE their own 12 yard line. The
Mustang offensive line,
which blew open holes for
the backs all night long,
took complete control of
the game at this point. A
long, time-consuming drive
started as Putman ran the
ball through a giant hole
for a 24-yard gain. Then it
was Kindle for seven, Grieb
for six, Kindle for six more
and then Putman for ive.
Clark then threw the ball
to Kindle for a 15-yard gain
the ball in for the two-point-
conversion to make the
score 42-0.
After another Kennedy
punt, the Mustangs fumbled
to give the Trojans the ball
at the Heppner 21-yard
line. This would be quite
a test for the Mustang de-
fense to see if they could
keep Kennedy from scor-
ing. They passed the test
and held Kennedy from
even getting a irst down.
Heppner then took over at
to set up the inal Mustang
score. Kindle ran a post-
route to the end zone and
Clark hit him in stride for
the touchdown. That made
the score 48-0 with just over
seven minutes left in the
game. The rest of the con-
test would be played with
a running clock because of
the 45-point rule.
On the next Kennedy
possession, they complet-
ed a pass and Clark put a
big hit on the receiver. He
knocked the ball free and
Tommy Bredfield picked
it up and returned the ball
to the Kennedy 34-yard
line. At this point in the
game, the Heppner coaches
called a time out and took
the starters out of the game
to loud cheers from the
Mustang fans. Many of the
younger Heppner players
got into to the game at this
point. They ran several
plays to inish out the game.
The inal score of the game
was 48-0.
Heppner controlled the
game from start to inish.
The Mustangs had 20 irst
downs and the Trojans only
four. Heppner rushed for
201 yards and held Ken-
nedy to 100. The Mustangs
passed the ball for 185
yards and Kennedy only
had ive. Total offense in the
game was 386-105.
Putman led the team
in rushing with 110 yards
on 15 carries. Grieb fol-
lowed with 69 yards and
one touchdown on 11 car-
ries. Kindle packed the ball
14 times for 60 yards and
scored four touchdowns.
Clark was 6-8 passing
the ball for 153 yards and
two touchdowns. Grieb
completed one pass for 32
yards in the game. Grieb
caught two passes for 75
yards and one touchdown.
Kindle was next with three
catches for 71 yards and
a score. Putman had two
catches for 39 yards.
The Mustang defense
was led by Murray with
11 tackles and a fumble
recovery. Bredield inished
with 10 tackles and also had
a fumble recovery. Putman
had nine big tackles and
Patrick Collins eight. Wyatt
Steagall inished with six
and Kindle and Tim Jaca
each recorded five. Tre
Cimmiyotti and Kolby Cur-
rin each had three tackles in
the game. Hedman had two
and an interception. Clark
inished with one tackle and
a forced fumble. Grieb had
one tackle and an intercep-
tion for the team.
This game was a tre-
mendous way to inish off
a tremendous season. Hep-
pner inished with a record
of 13-0 and the title of the
“Best of the Best,” the
champions of 2A football
in the state of Oregon.
The combined efforts of team members and dedicated coaches led the Mustangs to their irst football championship since
1992 this year. -Photo by Sandra Putman
SWCD to hold annual Morrow SWCD,
livestock growers to
meeting
The Morrow SWCD report, staff reports and
hold joint program
will hold a regular board partner reports.
The annual meeting
of the district will be held
following the regular meet-
ing to receive the inancial
report for the fiscal year
ended June 30, 2015.
A board position rep-
resenting the Irrigon area
is currently vacant; anyone
interested should contact
the SWCD. Meetings of
Morrow SWCD are open
to the public.
meeting Tuesday, Dec. 15,
at St. Patrick’s Parish Hall,
560 Jones Street, Heppner
beginning at 9:30 a.m.
Time will be set aside
at the beginning of the
SWCD meeting to receive
comments from the public.
The agenda for the
SWCD meeting includes
review and approval of
the minutes of the Nov. 10
meeting, bank reconcilia-
tion for November, budget
Heppner Gazette Times
541-676-9228
david@rapidserve.net
Morrow Soil and Water
Conservation District and
Morrow County Livestock
Growers will co-sponsor an
afternoon program on Tues-
day, Dec. 15, beginning at
1:15 p.m. at St. Patrick’s
Parish Hall in Heppner.
The agenda for the af-
ternoon includes informa-
tion on the Morrow County
Weed Control website, an
update on invasive annual
grasses, and Weed Control
Management Plan require-
ment for lands with “A” list
weeds.
Next on the agenda will
be Bill Duke, ODFW, with
current information on ish
screen requirements for ir-
rigation water withdrawals
Our Annual Charity Drive
Is on Now - December 18th, 2015
Community Bank will match up
to $500 (per branch)
at 50¢ on the dollar.
from streams. Following a
break sponsored by Anipro,
Beau Reynolds with North-
west Farm Credit Services
will present “Protecting
Your Hard Earned Dol-
lar,” insurance information
on Livestock Risk Pro-
tection (LRP) and Whole
Farm Revenue Protection
(WFRP).
Steve Puntenney, Dis-
trict 3 Vice President with
Oregon Cattlemen’s Asso-
ciation, will have an update,
and Mary Corp, Oregon
State Extension Service,
will have a report on the
status of the livestock agent
for Umatilla and Morrow
Counties and the 4-H Ex-
tension position in Morrow
County.
The final speaker for
the afternoon will be Jake
Franke, PhD with Premium
Nutrition Network, present-
ing information on market-
ing for cattle.
Heppner Mustangs:
A Year in Review
By winning the 2015
OSAA 2A State Football
Championship last week-
end, the Heppner Mus-
tang football team fulilled
not only their dream, but
also the dreams of many in
the Heppner community.
When this group of young
men was playing in junior
high school they had the
look of champions. Many
people predicted that the
day would come when this
group would bring home a
state championship.
Logan Grieb runs it into the endzone Saturday in Hermiston.
-Photo by Sandra Putman
Most people also know
that winning a champion-
ship is a hard thing to do.
No matter how much skill
or talent you may have,
there are many outside fac-
tors you have to conquer
in order to win it all. Last
year’s team made it to the
inal game of the season. In-
juries to four starters, who
played both offense and
defense, made it impossible
for them to be able to play
in the game. So that was
really eight positions that
had to be illed by someone
else. It is nearly impossible
to win a title when you are
not at full strength. This
year’s team had no signii-
cant injuries to slow them
up on their quest. You need
to have some luck to reach
your inal goal. Who you
play and where you play are
also factors in your success.
This year’s team worked
hard to win the conference
and inish in the top four
in the OSAA rankings so
they would get two home
playoff games. That was
a signiicant factor in their
playoff run.
You also need tremen-
dous coaching to bring it
all together. This team cer-
tainly has that on their side.
They have coaches who
have been here and helped
these boys develop from
the time they were in ifth
grade. This team was so
well prepared for each and
every team and game they
faced this year. They watch
films of the other teams
religiously and they know
what that team will do and
what to expect from them.
All of the Heppner coaches
contribute in their own way
to make the entire program
successful.
This year’s team started
the year ranked number
one in the coaches’ poll.
They fell as low as number
four, but were back up to
number one on week nine.
When the irst OSAA poll
came out, Heppner was
ranked number one. With
the formula they use, it
didn’t matter that the team
Funds collected at the Heppner branch will be donated to:
The Heppner Neighborhood
Center
www.communitybanknet.com
Memorial Service
& Ladies Night
Thursday, December 3rd
DINNER: STEW AND
CORNBREAD AT 6:00 PM
Make your donation go further!
Offer your helping hand by donating at:
Heppner
127 N Main St
541-676-5745
www.communitybanknet.com
Member FDIC
Milton Freewater
504 N Main St
Local Money
Working For Local People
541-938-6361
kept winning. The strength
of your schedule plays a big
factor in the poll. By week
six the Mustangs had fallen
to number 10 in the poll.
They started to play some
of the better teams on their
schedule and they started to
climb. By week eight they
had risen to number four,
and they were second on
week nine when the inal
poll came out.
The team scored the
second most points in the
state before the playoffs
Memorial Service @ 8PM with lodge following
In remembrance of:
Shirlee Sweigart
Robert C. Kelly
Howard Mullins
Alvin Vinson
"The faults of our members we write upon the sand;
their virtues upon the tablets of Love & Memory"
with 446. They also gave
up the second least amount
of points on the year at
92. The Mustangs placed
more players on the all-
conference team, 19, than
any other team in our con-
ference. There will surely
be several Heppner players
that make it on to the all-
state teams.
Success generally leads
to more success. This year’s
freshman class inishes the
year 13-0. The sophomores
have a two year record of
25-1. The junior class of
players has a three year
record of 36-2. The senior
class has a four year re-
cord of 43-6. The seniors
have hosted eight playoff
games. That is unheard of
anywhere else around the
state. In their high school
careers they played in a
quarterinal game, played a
semiinal game, played in
a state championship game
and this year won a state
championship. That’s quite
an accomplishment for this
group of young men.
The eight seniors on
this year’s team will cer-
tainly be missed in the
future. Their leadership,
hard play and enthusiasm
will be missed by the foot-
ball program. The seniors
are Patrick Collins, CJ
Kindle, Weston Putman,
Ryan Smith, Kaden Clark,
Tommy Bredfield, Saul
Erickson and Tre Cim-
miyotti. They have helped
shape a “Mustang Tradition
That Never Graduates.”
They helped their younger
teammates achieve a magi-
cal goal this season. They
also worked with them
every day in practice to
make them better players
in the future. They treated
the younger players with
respect and helped make it
the best year of their lives
for some of them. As great
as they are on the football
ield, they may be an even
better group of young men
off the ield.
There is still a bright
future ahead for the Mus-
tang football program next
year. Heppner returns eight
players who started games
at one point or another
during the season. Many of
them were all-conference
selections. In addition,
many of the younger play-
ers saw signiicant action in
varsity games this year. The
JV team had a successful
season as well.
While we don’t know
what the future will hold,
we do know this group of
coaches and players will
spend the off season work-
ing hard. They will work
hard to achieve the goals
they set for themselves and
for the team next season.
We also know that it will be
a season Mustang fans ev-
erywhere can be proud of.