FOUR - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, September 7, 2016
Mustangs start season strong with
last-minute win against Buckaroos
Mustang senior Trevin Horne blocks a Buckaroo to maintain possession of the ball during last
Friday’s game in St. Paul. -Photo by Kirsti Cason
The Heppner Mustang
football team started its
2016 season with a thrilling
win at St. Paul. The game
was played in the historic
rodeo arena and was a back-
and-forth affair. The Mus-
tangs scored with only 9.3
seconds left to get the win
against the Buckaroos by a
score of 22-18.
Logan Grieb kicked off
the ball to start the season
for the Mustangs. St. Paul
then drove the length of
the field in five minutes to
score a touchdown. Hep-
pner blocked the extra point
attempt and trailed in the
game 6-0.
The Mustangs, who are
starting many new play-
ers this year, couldn’t get
anything going and had
to punt the ball away on
their first possession. The
second time they got the
ball, a short drive ended
when the team scored their
first touchdown of the year
as Grieb ran it in from 18
yards out. Grieb then scored
the two-point conversion
to give the Mustangs an
8-6 lead.
The teams traded pos-
sessions several more times
before St. Paul scored an-
other touchdown with one
minute left in the half. The
extra point attempt was no
good and the Mustangs
trailed at halftime 12-8.
The Mustangs started
the second half with the ball
but had to punt it away. That
punt pinned the Buckaroos
deep in their own territory
at the nine-yard line. They
then tried a backward pass
play that was incomplete
and ruled a fumble. Wyatt
Steagall jumped on the ball
to give Heppner possession
at the six-yard line. Three
straight running plays got
the ball to the three-yard
line. On fourth down, the
Mustangs scored when
quarterback Kevin Smith
threw to Kolby Currin for
the touchdown. That gave
Heppner the lead 14-12.
The teams traded pos-
sessions twice more before
St. Paul scored again to give
them the lead 18-14.
The next Heppner pos-
session ended near midfield
with an interception. The
Mustang defense stiffened
and forced a punt which
gave Heppner the ball at
their own 15-yard line with
just over one minute left in
the game.
With no timeouts left,
and 85 yards to go, it did not
look good for the Heppner
team. A screen pass to Coby
Dougherty gained 23 yards,
then a 16-yard pass comple-
tion to Jake Lindsay got the
ball to the St. Paul 46-yard
line. Another screen pass
to Dougherty picked up 19
more yards to move the ball
to the 27-yard line. A rough-
ing the passer penalty on St.
Paul moved the ball to the
13-yard line with just over
10 seconds left in the game.
On the next play, Smith
threw the ball on a quick
slant to Beau Wolters for
the game-winning touch-
down with only 9.3 seconds
left in the game. Grieb ran
the two-point conversion
in to make the score 22-18.
Grieb then ended the
game with a pass intercep-
tion as time expired off the
clock to give the Mustangs
a 22-18 victory.
The Mustangs ended
the game with 229 yards
of total offense. Smith was
8-19 passing for 94 yards.
He threw 2 touchdown
passes and had 2 intercep-
tions. Dougherty caught 2
passes for 42 yards, Currin
had 2 receptions for 14
yards and a touchdown and
Grieb caught 2 for 8 yards.
Lindsay had 1 catch for
16 yards and Wolters had
1 catch for 13 yards and a
touchdown.
Heppner ran the ball for
93 yards in the game. Grieb
led the team with 67 yards
on 12 carries. Dougherty
ran the ball 13 times for 52
yards and Wolters carried it
2 times for 9 yards. Kevin
Murray packed the ball 3
times for 8 yards.
On defense, Murray
was all over the field and
led the team in tackles with
22. Steagall was next with
13 and Currin had 11. Lind-
say, Wolters and Tim Jaca
each had 8 tackles. Dough-
erty and Derek Howard
both recorded 7 and Grieb
had 5. Peyton Lehman had
3 tackles and Trevin Horne,
Dakota Howard and Gavin
Hanna-Robinson each had
2. Jason Rea saw some time
on defense and had 1 tackle
in the game.
Before the varsity
game, the Mustang JV team
played two quarters against
the St. Paul JV team and
won.
The next game for the
Mustangs will be a home
contest this Friday night
at Les Payne Field. They
will play the Grant Union
Prospectors at 7 p.m.
Community Bank awards nearly $16,000
for good grades in 2016
The sixth year of Com-
munity Bank’s Earn While
You Learn Program has
set an all-time high in cash
awards paid to student-cus-
tomers for their academic
success. For the 2016 pay
out period, the Heppner
branch awarded $1,002 to
41 students. Community
Bank’s student customers
earned a total of $15,910
as 730 students in the East-
ern Oregon and Southeast
Washington area cashed in
on their good grades.
S i n c e t h e b a n k ’s
program began in 2011,
earnings have steadily in-
creased. In the first year
of the Bank’s Earn While
You Learn Program just
five years ago, 190 students
were paid $3,895. A total of
$6,975 was paid to over 275
student-customers in 2012.
A big increase occurred
the following year with
$11,173 paid out in 2013,
and $11,939 to 531 students
in 2014. Last year $12,581
went to 576 students. This
year nearly $16,000 brings
the program’s grand total
of academic award money
to $62,473.
The program is de-
signed to encourage stu-
dents in their academic
success by awarding Com-
munity Bank Youth Savings
accounts customers for their
good grades. During the
months of June and July, all
Community Bank branches
accepted end-of-the-year
report cards from students
in grades one through 12.
For every top grade in a
main school subject (A-,
A, A+ for middle and high
school, and S+, E, etc. for
grade school) that appeared
on the report card, Com-
munity Bank deposited $1
into their Community Bank
Youth Savings Account.
The Earn While You
Learn Program is an annual
reward of $1 per top grade,
up to $50 annually per stu-
dent, with payments given
for the whole school year in
June and July.
Heppner JV brings
home a win from St.
Paul
Reno Ferguson steps up to the ball during the Mustang junior
varsity opening football game last week. It was a close game
with a few turnovers, but the Mustangs prevailed, winning the
two-quarter game 26-22 over the St. Paul Buckaroos. -Photo
by Kirsti Cason
Wheatridge to
sponsor booster
club steak feed
Brandy Sweeney, president, Heppner Jr./Sr High Booster Club
and Becky Kindle, treasurer, holding a check from Wheatridge
Wind Energy for corporate sponsorship of the booster club’s
steak feed. -Contributed photo
Wheatridge Wind En-
ergy has stepped up as
corporate sponsor for this
year’s Heppner Booster
Club steak feed dinner.
The steak feed and auc-
tion is the booster club’s
major annual fundraiser,
and is planned for Oct. 8
this year.
Wheatridge’s Jerry Ri-
etmann said he was happy
to get involved more with
the community where they
will be siting a portion
of their substantial wind
project. The company has
agreed to cover the meal
expenses this year.
Current booster club
president Brandy Sweeney
said she is excited about this
donation to cover the dinner
expenses, as “it leaves more
money for us to spend on
the kids, which is the whole
goal.”
Treasurer Becky Kin-
dle also voiced the club’s
gratitude for long-term con-
tributors.
“We appreciate all of
our loyal and local partners
who have contributed to
this event every single year
for generations of kids,”
Kindle said.
More details on the an-
nual steak feed and auction
will be available closer to
the event.
Oregon Health Policy Board seeks feedback
on coordinated care organizations
The Oregon Health
Policy Board (OHPB), a
nine-member group ap-
pointed by the governor to
oversee health policy at the
Oregon Health Authority,
will hold a series of com-
munity meetings across the
state in September and Oc-
tober to gather public input
about Oregon’s coordinated
care organizations (CCOs)
and how they deliver ser-
vices to Oregon’s most
PLEASE JOIN US FOR THE
ELK'S 19TH ANNUAL NE
DISTRICT GOLF TOURNAMENT
Willow Creek Golf Course
September 24, 2016
Registration - 7:45 AM
Shot Gun Start - 9:00 AM Cost - $40 per Golfer
For registration forms or additional information contact the
Heppner Elk's Lodge at (541) 676-9181, Marvin Brannon (541)
676-5288, Kelly Fox (541) 980-2948 or
Mike Doherty (541) 980-3325
***Proceeds go to the Elk's Children's Eye Clinic***
vulnerable citizens.
A listening session is
planned in Hermiston Fri-
day, Oct. 7, from noon to
2:30 p.m. at the Eastern
Oregon Trade and Event
Center, 1705 E Airport
Rd. Those interested in at-
tending are asked to please
RSVP to HealthPolicy-
Board.Info@state.or.us.
Oregon’s coordinated
care model was created in
2011 as part of Oregon’s on-
going health system trans-
formation. The 16 coordi-
nated care organizations
(CCOs) deliver physical,
oral and behavioral health
services to nearly 90 per-
cent of Oregon’s 1.1 million
Medicaid recipients.
More information will
be posted on the board’s
meeting page at http://www.
oregon.gov/oha/OHPB/
Pages/cc-future.aspx.
Multi-County Veterans
Resource Fair &
Vietnam Veterans 50th
V ETERANS Anniversary Commemoration
Thursday, September 29, 2016 2 pm - 8 pm
Port of Morrow Conference Center 2 Marine Drive, Boardman
Come with your questions about your VA Benefits.
Representatives will be on site to support you with
information and application for services through local,
State and Federal agencies.
Presentations by: Oregon Department of Veterans
Affairs, VA Health Care & more! Veterans Town
Hall at 6:30 pm. Spouses, families and loved ones of
Veterans are encouraged to attend!
Flu shots available for veterans.
For transportation call 1-844-5667 RSVP 541-922-6420