Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, September 29, 2021 -- SEVEN
Mustangs prove resiliency on
the road, as they take down
Kennedy
Cody Fletcher leads the way for Caden George. -Photo by Damon Brosnan.
Conor Brosnan leads Caden George through a wall of defenders enroute to a first down. -Photo
by Damon Brosnan.
By Blake Carter
The Mustangs traveled
to take on the Kennedy Tro-
jans, their toughest matchup
of the season where they
pulled off a 34-28 win in
comeback fashion. Heppner
and Kennedy have become
very familiar foes, these
two teams have faced off in
the last two playoffs. Back
in 2018 Kennedy came to
Heppner and took the Mus-
tangs down in convincing
fashion, 34-0 in a first round
playoff game. This was
the Mustang’s last defeat
before they rattled off 21
straight wins, going 13-0
in 2019, 5-0 in 2020, and
starting off 3-0 this season.
Heppner remembered that
loss as they came back
the following year in 2019
and took the Trojans down
12-7 in the state title game.
Heppner and Kennedy have
been picked as the two best
teams, by the coaches, in
the state of Oregon for 2A
football. This game was a
highly anticipated match-
up; it previewed a possible
playoff game.
Fans filed in to watch
this matchup of the top two
teams in the state. Heppner
stood to the north with
blue and gold covering the
stands and the sidelines
behind them. The Kennedy
faithful did the same as their
home grandstands were
filled. This game had the
feeling of a state playoff
game, and it did not disap-
point. Entering the game
as the underdogs, Heppner
looked to grab the momen-
tum early, Kennedy wasn’t
going to let that happen.
After receiving the opening
kickoff, Trojan quarterback
Riley Cantu connected with
Brett Boen for a three-yard
touchdown. Down early the
Mustang offense needed to
respond, but on just the sec-
ond offensive play, Landon
Mitchell’s screen pass was
intercepted by Trojan de-
fensive back Elijah Traeger
and returned 25 yards for
a touchdown. Facing their
largest deficit of the season
the Mustangs were reeling,
but Landon Mitchell and the
Heppner offense responded
with a five-yard touchdown
throw to Jace Coe. Mitchell
would sneak in for the two-
point conversion inching
Heppner closer with 14-8.
Kennedy struck pay dirt
again in the second quarter
as Cantu escaped the pock-
et and cashed in a 11-yard
run to put Kennedy ahead
21-8. Again, the Mustang
team would not back down,
Mitchell hooked up with
Coe on a 56-yard touch-
down throw to shrink the
Trojan lead back down
to 21-14. The two teams
would trade punts, and
Heppner was able to stand
strong as the second quarter
expired leaving Kennedy
on top 21-14.
Heppner received the
second half kickoff, and
immediately drove down
and slashed the Kennedy
lead down to just 21-20.
Mitchell was able to throw
a 28-yard touchdown pass
to Kason Cimmiyotti. Ken-
nedy looked to add to the
lead early in the fourth
quarter, as Owen Bruner
cashed in on a two-yard
touchdown rush to extend
the Trojan lead back out to
28-20. Heppner fired right
back as Mitchell tossed his
fourth touchdown to Cim-
miyotti on a 40-yard strike.
However, the two-point
conversion would fail leav-
ing Heppner behind again,
28-26. With their backs
against the wall the stin-
gy Mustang defense came
alive, forcing a punt and
giving the Mustang offense
a chance with 4:26 showing
on the clock. Knowing this
was most likely their last
chance the Mustang offense
took the field at their own
45-yard line. Using just six
plays, Brock Hisler put the
Mustangs on top for the
first time in the contest, on
a five-yard touchdown run,
with 1:39 remaining in the
game. Mitchell and Cimmi-
yotti connected again on the
two-point conversion, leav-
ing the score 34-28. Again,
the Mustang defense would
come through and get the
ball back, allowing Mitchell
to take a knee as Heppner
celebrated a huge win.
Statistics for the game;
Landon Mitchell put to-
gether an impressive per-
formance passing for 225
yards and four touchdowns
on 12-14 passing. Mitchell
added five yards rushing,
Caden George rushed for 41
yards and Brock Hisler ran
for 72 yards and one touch-
down. Jace Coe led the
Mustangs in receiving as he
brought in four catches for
107 yards and two touch-
downs. Kason Cimmiyotti
also had four receptions,
racking up 82 yards and two
touchdowns. Caden George
brought in three receptions
for 37 yards. The Mustang
offense was able to bring
in a total of 336 yards of
offense on just 34 plays.
The Mustang defense was
big when the team needed
it the most, they allowed
264 yards of offense on 59
plays. Brock Hisler led the
way with 12 tackles, Conor
Brosnan added nine, while
Toby Nation, Kason Cim-
miyotti and Derek Smith
all had seven tackles. Jace
Coe had four tackles, Caden
George, Ty Boor, Blaine
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Mustangs Celebrate their victory. -Photo by Damon Brosnan.
Mahoney and Tucker Ash-
beck all added three tackles.
Cade Cunningham, Cody
Fletcher and Blake Carter
all had a tackle each.
This win allowed the
Mustang winning streak
to grow to 22 wins, they
will now shift their atten-
tion to their league sched-
ule, beginning with the
Weston-McEwen Tiger-
scots (3-0). That game is
scheduled for a 7 p.m. kick-
off on Friday, October 1.
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