EIGHT - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, November 3, 2021
Mustangs clinch state championship number one overall seed
After a 9-0 season, Heppner will host first round matchup with Regis
Conor Brosnan makes a tackle.
By Blake Carter
Friday night Heppner
traveled to Umatilla to fin-
ish out their regular season
and flip the page as the 2021
state championship tour-
nament approaches. With
their win vs Umatilla, the
Mustangs capped off an un-
defeated season at 9-0 and
their performance across
the season earned them the
number one overall seed in
the bracket. They will be
tasked with the 6-3 Regis
Rams in the first round.
Before looking forward to
Regis, Heppner had to take
care of business against
Umatilla. Heppner rolled
from the kickoff as they
were victorious, 45-0.
The Heppner defense
got the game going, after
electing to receive the Vi-
kings possessed the ball
first. A quick four plays en-
sued before Umatilla would
have to give up possession
to the dangerous Mustang
offense. Heppner used eight
plays and drove 45 yards
into the endzone as Brock
Hisler ran six yards for the
opening score. Conor Bros-
nan added the extra point to
give the Mustangs an early
7-0 edge.
Umatilla showed signs
of life on their next pos-
session, driving down the
field. Unfortunately, three
penalties and a sack erased
the drive as Umatilla punt-
ed on a fourth and 54. The
Umatilla defense however
forced a stop as they held
Heppner on a fourth and
two, Heppner would re-
turn the favor with a quick
defensive stop of their
own and give their offense
another chance. Landon
Mitchell connected on two
25-yard pass completions
to drive the Mustangs right
down the field. Mitchell
capped off the drive with
a four-yard run of his own.
Hisler would run into the
endzone on the two point
try to extend the Mustang
lead to 15-0 late in the sec-
ond quarter. The Mustang
defense continued to give
the Vikings trouble, Caden
George would intercept
the Viking quarterback and
give the Mustang offense a
chance to strike on a short
field. On a third and 17,
Mitchell threw a 32-yard
touchdown pass to Jace Coe
and then connected with
George on the two-point
conversion to leave the
Mustangs with a 23-0 lead.
Umatilla once again would
run into a stiff Mustangs
defense and would give
Heppner the ball back with
one minute left in the half.
Heppner would move the
ball but ran out of time be-
fore adding another score,
however Heppner held a
23-0 halftime lead.
The Mustangs would
take the ball right out of
halftime but unfortunately
an interception would cut
the Mustang drive short.
Umatilla couldn’t capitalize
off this turnover, however.
Mitchell would lead the
team down the short field
and score on a six-yard
touchdown run. The ensu-
ing Viking drive would go
much of the same, Heppner
Toledo, and the fourteenth
seed was given to Grant
Union who will travel to
the Lakeview Honkers.
Heppner would be paired
with the 16 th overall seed
Regis Rams, who are 6-3
on the season. They come
from special district two
as number three in their
conference. This first round
matchup will take place at
Les Payne Field on No-
vember 6, with kickoff
scheduled for 4 p.m.
Updated scores, and the
2021
state championship
picked off a pass and set
bracket
can be found on Jace Coe gets the reception for a touchdown in the second
their offense up at midfield.
quarter. -Photos by Damon Brosnan.
A short drive would come to osaa.org.
a close as Mitchell connect-
ed with George for another
Mustang score; George
would also run in on the
two-point try to give Hep-
pner a 38-0 lead. The clock
would begin to run without
stoppage at this point, but
before the time expired
the Mustangs would score
again on a punt return as
Jace Coe scored. Brosnan
added the extra point to cap
off the scoring, as Heppner
cruised to another dominant
victory 45-0.
The Mustang defense
held Umatilla to just 34
yards of total offense and
forced four interceptions
out of the Umatilla quar-
terback. Landon Mitchell
threw 12 times and connect-
ed on ten throws, gaining
155 yards and two touch- Landon Mitchell with his second quarter throw for a touchdown.
downs. Hisler ran for 74
yards and five touchdowns
on the ground.
After their victory,
Heppner waited until the
brackets were released Sat-
urday night and revealed
their next opponent. As the
bracket was assembled, the
Mustangs were granted the
number one overall seed.
Their wins against strong
opponents such as War-
renton, Kennedy, Toledo,
Weston McEwen and Grant
Union set them apart from
the rest. Heppner saw two
league opponents make the
tournament, the number
nine seed was given to the
Weston McEwen Tiger-
Scots who will travel to
Brock Hisler makes a run in the first quarter.
Honors bestowed upon Raymond and Norma French
By Verina (French) Schil-
ler
Editor’s note: The fol-
lowing was written by Ray-
mond and Norma French’s
daughter Verina. It is about
the many honors bestowed
upon her parents by this
c o m m u n i t y. R a y m o n d
passed away September 5.
The honors bestowed
upon Raymond and Norma
French from the community
of Heppner that they loved
and lived during their 75
year marriage were many.
The first was in March
of 2020 when they reigned
as the grand marshals of St.
Patrick’s Day. Even though
this is when the pandemic
first came upon us, and the
parade and festivities had
to be canceled, they were
truly blessed to have this
honor and recognition of
their Irish ancestry from the
Heppner community which
also has a deep Irish history.
The second honor was
recognition of their 75 th
Wedding Anniversary of
October 26, 1946 – October
26, 2021, with a Certifi-
cate of Apostolic Blessing
from the Vatican and Pope
Francis in Rome, being re-
quested by Fr. Thankachan
Joseph, pastor of Heppner’s
St. Patrick Church – Ray-
mond a lifetime member
and Norma joining the faith
upon marriage. This was re-
quested before Raymond’s
passing on September 5 at
the age of 94, thereby being
seven weeks short of their
75 th actual date, however
they were in their 75 th year
of married life. Father Jo-
seph presented this to Nor-
ma, who resides at Pioneer
Memorial Nursing and to
Raymond, posthumously.
This is a beautiful certifi-
cate with their names, date
of marriage, and St. Patrick
Church, Heppner, on it.
Also, the Pope’s picture
and Papal Seal are on it,
plus other Vatican pictures
and bordered with ornate
golden trim.
Father Joseph will rec-
ognize, with the Bishop of
the Diocese, their 75-year
Catholic marriage along
with other parishioners’
wedding anniversaries in
the jubilee celebration of St.
Patrick Church, November
21 (being the 50 th anni-
versary of the current St.
Patrick Church in Heppner,
built in 1971).
Raymond and Norma
were married in St. John’s
Catholic Church in Condon,
since Norma was from Con-
don at the time. Raymond’s
parents, Rose Anna Hirl
and James Herbert French,
were married in the old St.
Patrick Church in Heppner
on August 26, 1926, with
an “almost exact” 20-year
time frame between Ray-
mond and Norma’s wed-
ding date of October 26,
1946. Raymond, 19, had
just returned home upon
the end of WW II from one
year of military enlistment
right after graduating high
school in Heppner in 1945
and married his high school
sweetheart, Norma.
Herbert French passed
in 1936 and Rose remarried
William E. Francis in 1938.
Rose’s name, Rose French
Francis is on the honor
board on the Wall of Honor
in St. Patrick Church along
with other parishioners’
names for special services
to the parish. Rose’s con-
tribution was the Stations
of the Cross in the church.
They have been re-painted,
however are the same origi-
nal ones that she purchased
for the church. Along with
his mother, Raymond is
also honored on the board
as of 2011.
Raymond grew up at-
tending Mass at St. Pat-
rick’s and served as an
altar boy for a time. After
Raymond was an adult,
there is a memory of a time
when due to the altar boys
not getting out onto the altar
in time for Mass to assist
Father Gaire, the Heppner
priest at the time. Raymond
filled in until they appeared.
In these earlier times,
Mass was said in Latin,
rather than English, as it is
today. He learned the Latin
at a young age when he
was an altar boy and never
forgot the words to serve
again at this later time. He
was also active in the Holy
Name Service Society and
adult religious education,
and Norma was a member
of the Altar Society, taught
youth Catechism, and sang
in the choir.
Raymond and Norma
made a trip to the ancestral
homeland of Ireland and
enjoyed that trip very much,
actually contacting some
cousins still living there.
Raymond had a par-
ticular desire to visit the
Vatican. He had planned
to make this trip in his
later years; however, he
was never able to do so.
His grandson, Ryan Ray-
mond Schiller, who lives in
Dallas, Texas, and is mid-
dle-named after his grand-
father, Raymond, took a
recent trip with his wife,
Anna, to Rome, Italy with a
special visit to the Vatican.
He took Raymond and Nor-
ma’s wedding picture with
him and received another
special blessing for them
and for Raymond’s passing
from a Franciscan priest at
St. Peter’s Basilica Church,
a most beautiful and largest
church in the world. He
held this picture up under
the huge dome and in front
of the Papal Altar where the Above: Raymond and Norma French’s grandson took their
Pope says mass with the wedding picture to the Vatican.Below: Raymond and Norma
large pillars and beautiful French. -Contributed photos.
golden background which
is the Throne of St. Peter,
his Crypt being in this area.
Ryan explained his
family’s Catholic history
and told the Vatican priest,
who also gave him some
special prayer cards, that
Heppner was the “Irish
Capital of the Northwest. “
So, Raymond did make
his treasured trip to the Vat-
ican through his grandson.
The family believes he
knows this, and the Vatican
knows how special our St.
Patrick Parish and Heppner
Community is-something
we have always known and
continue to celebrate.