Stolen pick-up truck totaled
HEPPNER
G T
50¢
azette
imes
VOL. 138
NO. 47 10 Pages
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Mustangs win quarterfinal
Moving on to semifinal game
A stolen pickup rolled several times near Heppner.
Drion Mark Donner,
30, Heppner, was arrested
and lodged at the Umatilla
County Jail after stealing
and wrecking a pickup near
Heppner on November 14.
The Morrow County
Sheriff’s Office commu-
nication center received a
call from a local resident
advising her pickup had
been stolen just after 11
p.m. on the 14 th . Deputies
on duty in south Morrow
County began searching for
the vehicle.
Less than an hour lat-
er, the subject who was
ultimately charged with
stealing the vehicle, called lance transported the driver
to advise he had been in to Pioneer Memorial Hospi-
an accident near Upper tal, where he was medically
Rhea Creek Rd and
cleared.
Lunceford Canyon
Donner was trans-
Rd. The pickup
ported from Heppner
was traveling on
to the Umatilla Coun-
Lunceford Canyon
ty Jail on charges of
Rd when it left the
unauthorized use of
roadway and rolled Drion Mark a motor vehicle and
several times, com- Donner
driving while under
ing to rest near Up-
the influence of in-
per Rhea Creek Rd.
toxicants with a bail of
The driver made his $15,000. He was also cited
way out of the pickup and for driving while suspended
walked to a nearby resi- violation, fail to drive with-
dence where he called the in lane and refusal to take a
Sheriff’s Office. An ambu- breath test.
Flood evacuation test to be
conducted Thursday
Senior Matt Orem (71) led the way for defense with 11 tackles Saturday. -Photo by Damon
Brosnan.
The Heppner Mustang
football team won their
OSAA 2A State Football
Championship quarterfinal
game against the Warrenton
Warriors by the score of
32-7. The Mustangs now
advance to the semi-final
round and will take on
the Knappa Loggers. The
Loggers were the first-
place team from the North-
west League. They finished
league play with a 6-0 re-
cord and were 7-2 during
the regular season. The
teams shared two common
opponents this season and
they both beat Grant Union
and Warrenton. The Mus-
tangs will play Knappa this
Saturday, November 23 at
Hillsboro Stadium. Game
time has been set for 2:15
p.m.
Every round of the
playoffs gets tougher and
the game with Warren-
ton certainly proved to be
that for the Mustangs. The
Warriors team was big and
athletic and it took a while
for the Mustangs to take
control of the game.
Heppner kicked off to
start the game and the teams
traded possessions. The
second time the Warriors
had the ball, Kason Cim-
miyotti stepped in front of
a pass and intercepted it for
the Mustangs. The offense
couldn’t get anything going
after that and had to punt
the ball away.
Two Warrenton posses-
sions later, Jace Coe picked
off a Warrior pass that gave
the Mustangs the ball near
midfield. Heppner then
went on a long 13 play drive
that resulted in a score when
Blake Wolters pounded the
ball in from three yards out
for the touchdown. The
Mustangs had the lead 6-0
with five minutes left in the
first quarter.
On the next Warren-
ton drive, Wolters forced
the Warrior quarterback to
fumble the ball and Hayden
Hyatt pounced on it to give
the Mustangs possession.
Heppner couldn’t move
the ball and Gavin Han-
na-Robinson had to punt it
away. The Mustang defense
stopped the Warriors and
the half ended with the
Mustangs in the lead by the
score of 6-0.
Heppner got the ball
to start the second half but
couldn’t move it and punted
to Warrenton. The Warriors
scored on this possession
when their quarterback ran
the ball in from 13 yards
out. The extra point try
was good and the Warriors
took the lead 7-6 midway
through the third quarter.
On the ensuing kickoff,
Jackson Lehman caught the
ball and sprinted through
the Warrenton kickoff team
64 yards for a touchdown.
Heppner took the lead back
in the game 12-7. This
touchdown seemed to fire
the Mustang team up and
the rest of the game was
controlled by the “Beast of
the East”, as the Warrenton
coach had called the Mus-
tang football team earlier in
the week.
Jayden Wilson inter-
cepted a Warrenton pass on
their very next possession
to give Heppner the ball.
The team could not move
it and punted it away once
again. Warrenton couldn’t
get anything going as the
stout Mustang defense
force another three-and-
out to give Heppner the ball
right back.
The Mustangs would
not let another opportunity
be missed as they scored on
this possession. After a 32-
yard run by Mason Lehman
and a bruising five-yard
gain by Wolters, Wilson
took off with the ball and
did a tight rope run down
the right sideline for a 38-
yard touchdown. Wolters
scored the 2-pt. conversion
to give the Mustangs a 20-7
lead as the third quarter
came to an end.
Cimmiyotti intercepted
another Warrenton pass
attempt on their next pos-
session to give the Mus-
tangs the ball. After Wolters
punished the Warrenton
defense with runs of 25 and
seven yards, Mason Leh-
man scored on a 28-yard
touchdown run. The score
The U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers and Morrow
County Emergency Man-
agement will conduct a live
siren test of the Heppner
flood evacuation warning
system on Thursday Nov.
21 at 12 p.m.
Sirens are located at
the Columbia Basin Elec-
tric Co-Op and at the U.S.
Forest Service compound.
Residents located near
these locations should take
precautions (hearing pro-
tection) as the siren will be
very loud. The siren will
sound for approximately 10
seconds. County and feder-
al officials are conducting
the test to ensure the sirens
are functional at the two
locations within the town
of Heppner.
The sirens are part of
a basin-wide flood early
warning system which col-
lects rainfall and stream
data from Balm Fork and
Willow Creek above Wil-
low Creek dam as well as
Shobe and Hinton Creeks
which flow through Hep-
pner downstream of Willow
Creek Dam.
Floods can occur at
any time of the year but are
most likely in the Willow
Creek Basin during spring
and summer months. Wil-
low Creek dam maintains
flood storage throughout
the year to reduce the poten-
tial of flooding to communi-
ties downstream. The U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers
works closely with the Mor-
row County Emergency
Management to monitor
flooding potential in the
Willow Creek Basin. Please
heed all warnings and evac-
uation notices from local
officials.
For more information
contact John A. Bowles at
541-676-5317.
was now 26-7 only three
minutes into the fourth
quarter.
Jackson Lehman then
intercepted a Warrior pass
near midfield and ran it
all the way down to the
10-yard line. Wolters took
over from there and scored
on a 10-yard touchdown
run on the very next play.
That made the score 32-7
with eight minutes left in
the game. The teams traded
possessions and Warrenton
had the ball as time ran out.
The Mustangs got the quar-
terfinal win by the score of
32-7.
Heppner had 276 yards
rushing and 14 passing for a
total of 290 yards of offense
in the game. Warrenton had
233 total yards of offense
with 148 rushing yards
and 85 yards passing in the
game.
Wilson was 2-11 pass-
ing in the game for 14 yards.
Mason Lehman caught both
of the passes for 14 yards
receiving.
Mason Lehman led the
team in rushing with 106
yards on 10 carries and
scored a touchdown. Wolt-
ers ran over Warrenton
defenders all game long
and finished with 93 yards
and two touchdowns on
15 carries. Wilson finished
with 53 yards and a score
on six carries in the game.
Coe finished with 17 yards
rushing, Jackson Lehman
ran for five and Kannon
Wilkins had two.
Leading the way for
the defense was Matt Orem
with 11 tackles for the Mus-
tangs. Wolters and Jason
Rea both finished with nine
tackles in the game and Ma-
son Lehman recorded eight.
Conor Brosnan stepped up
and had seven tackles while
Hanna-Robinson and Coe
finished with five each.
With four tackles each were
Wilson, Cimmiyotti and
Jackson Lehman. With two
tackles each in the game
were Kellen Grant, Kevin
Rea and Hyatt. Recording
a tackle each for the Mus-
tangs were Evan Kollman,
Nate Maret and Roy Col-
lins.
The entire Heppner
defense was outstanding
once again in this game as
they have been all season
long. The defensive line
and linebackers did an out-
standing job of dealing with
the size of the Warrenton
line and running backs.
Heppner also recorded six
take-a-ways in this quar-
terfinal game: one forced
fumble by Wolters that was
recovered by Hyatt and they
also intercepted the Warren-
ton quarterback five times.
Cimmiyotti had two picks
in the game and with one
each were Wilson, Coe and
Jackson Lehman.