(,*+7+HSSQHU*D]HWWH7LPHV+HSSQHU2UHJRQWednesday, November 15, 2023
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season with an 8-3 record
The Mustangs getting ready to snap the ball in their game
against Regis last Saturday. - Photo By Jeremy McDonald
The Heppner Mustang
football team had their
season come to an end
in the OSAA 2A State
Football Championships
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loss to the Regis Rams.
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season with an 8-3 record.
Heppner received
the opening kickoff and
marched down the field
on a nine-play drive. The
drive was highlighted by
a 25-yard run by Hayden
McMahon, a 40-yard
pass completion from
Mason Orem to Cameron
Proudfoot, and an 11-yard
run by Caden George. The
drive ultimately stalled at
the Regis 3-yard line and
the Rams took over on
downs.
The Heppner defense
rose to the challenge as
Cameron Proudfoot stepped
in front of a Regis pass and
intercepted the ball. He
then sprinted 44 yards for
a Mustang touchdown and
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Heppner led 6-0 midway
through the first quarter.
Just over a minute later,
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touchdown of the game to
take a 7-6 lead.
On the next Mustang
possession, they would
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and Regis recovered it. The
Rams scored on a long pass
play to make the score 14-6
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Heppner moved the
ball on their next possession
but ultimately had to punt
the ball away. Regis scored
their third touchdown of the
game on a short run to make
the score 21-6 early in the
second quarter.
After the Regis
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on a 9-play drive that ended
in a score when Caden
George ran the ball in from
2-yards out. That made the
score 21-12 with seven
minutes left in the first
half. The teams then traded
possessions for the rest of
the quarter and the score at
halftime was 21-12.
Nick Wenberg
intercepted a pass on
the Ram›s second play
of the third quarter. A
long Mustang drive came
to an end with a Regis
interception. Five plays
later Cameron Proudfoot
would intercept another
Ram pass. The Mustangs
were unable to capitalize on
this possession and would
have to punt the ball away.
That was the end of the
third quarter with Regis still
leading the game 21-12.
The tough Mustang
defense stopped the Rams
on downs at the Heppner
15-yard line. On the next
play, Orem would pass the
ball to Cameron Proudfoot
who took it all the way to
the end zone for an 85-
yard touchdown reception.
Caden George ran the ball
in for the 2-pt. conversion
to make the score 21-20
with nine minutes left in
the game.
The quick strike Regis
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next possession to now
make the score 27-20 with
seven minutes left. The
Mustangs then moved the
ball on an eight-play drive
that ended when Regis
intercepted a Heppner pass.
Regis ran out the rest of the
time in the game and got the
win by a score of 27-20.
Heppner had 173
rushing yards and 193
yards passing the ball. The
Mustangs had 366 yards
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had 462. The teams had
the same number of first
downs (19) and the time
of possession was nearly
identical.
Orem was 8-12 passing
the ball for 181 yards and a
touchdown. Caden George
was 1-2 for 12 yards.
Cameron Proudfoot led the
team in receiving with 142
yards and 1 touchdown on
5 catches. Wenberg had
2 receptions for 23 yards,
Caden George had a catch
for 15 yards and Caleb
George caught a ball for 13.
Caden George and
Hayden McMahon both
led the Mustangs in rushing
with 68 yards each. Caden
had 16 carries and scored a
rushing touchdown in the
game while Hayden had 12
carries in the game. Orem
followed with 35 yards
rushing and Wenberg ran
the ball for 2.
On the defensive
side of the ball, Cameron
Proudfoot and Caleb George
led the team in tackles with
5 each. Cameron also had 2
interceptions for the team.
Orem and Wenberg were
next with 4 tackles in the
game and Wenberg also
recorded an interception.
With 3 tackles each in the
game were Caden George,
Jaime Cavan, Owen
Guerra, and Tripp Stewart.
Caden would also have 1
interception. With 2 tackles
each for the Mustangs were
Landon McMahon and
Conner Wilson.
The Mustangs had
a good overall season
and fought through some
adversity when they lost
their three-year starting
quarterback Landon
Mitchell. Some players had
to move to new positions
to make up for the loss
and they stepped up and
performed admirably.
Heppner lost three key
seniors off of this year›s
team, Mitchell, Caden
George, and Cameron
Proudfoot. Their leadership
will be missed in the locker
room, at practice, and on
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The future of Mustang
football still shines bright
as many underclassmen
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this year and gained
valuable experience in
varsity games.
WWW.HEPPNER.NET
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CREZ funds allocated to capital projects
-Continued from PAGE ONE
long to burn through a mil-
lion bucks,” he said.
Morrow County Ad-
ministrator Matt Jensen
said the county will be
looking at several options
for long-term funding for
roads and other projects.
“We will need to have
a discussion with the board
of commissioners in the
near future about where to
dedicate some of the funds
that we have,” he said.
He added that they cur-
rently are anticipating a $5
million allotment for com-
munity development from
the Amazon structure on
Bombing Range Road. That
allotment is supposed to be
geared toward infrastruc-
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districts.
“That’s something that
we need to have a discus-
sion with the BOC (board
of commissioners) to say,
does that get dedicated to
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things,” Jensen said. “But
it is one of those available
ones to go to roads or build-
ings, however, the BOC
commits to that.”
“We do have the mil-
lion dollars that just came
in. It’s just sitting there
waiting to be allocated,” he
added. “We do need some
additional money in the
circuit court building, so I
was all right with the rec-
ommendation toward that
fund for this, knowing that
we have some others that
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some consideration from
the board of commissioners
to designate.”
Wenholz referred to
the $5 million communi-
ty development allotment
toward infrastructure in
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“Would that be split
amongst the taxing dis-
tricts? Do they have a vote
on that?” he questioned.
Jensen responded that
the wording implied it only
needed to be used on proj-
ects within the county, not
for district-specific proj-
ects.
“If we wanted to dis-
burse it to other capital in-
frastructure projects that the
districts wanted to do, open
up, more or less, a grant
program or disbursement,
or if the county says, ‘These
bridges satisfy needs of all
the county in one way or the
other,’” Jensen said. “Those
are some decisions that we
do need to have some dis-
cussions on.”
He added that it would
continue to be even more
important as tax-abatement
programs continue with
both the enterprise zone and
county programs like Stra-
tegic Investment Program
(SIP) agreements.
Morrow County Com-
missioner Chair David
Sykes said the discussion
echoed what he had been
thinking about funds com-
ing in that were outside the
budgeting process. He said
he would prefer to have the
commissioners sit down
with the county administra-
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talk through the decisions.
“I don’t like ad hoc or
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Sykes. “I like to have a pro-
cess. CREZ III’s going to be
busy, and this isn’t the last
we’re going to get.”
“The shotgun approach
to me doesn’t feel right,” he
added. “I think we need to
sit down and talk about it.”
Ince said he fully sup-
ported a more strategic
capital plan that would roll
into the budgeting process.
“There will be revenues
that are received outside of
the budget process, and this
is not something I would
ever include in resources
for a budget, because we
don’t have any guarantee of
a distribution of funds from
the CREZ,” said Ince.
On the other hand, he
said, funding sources such
as SIP agreements provided
more certainty.
“Those are by contract.
We can forecast with reg-
ularity and certainty that
we’re going to receive those
in an upcoming year, so
those would be included
as a resource in a budget,”
he said.
Sykes responded that
he understood there would
be times when revenue
could not be budgeted in
advance, but he was con-
cerned with having a pro-
cess in place so that both
the board of commissioners
and various entities un-
derstood what funds were
available and where they
could go.
“So that everybody
knows. Everybody knows,
this is how you put in an
application, this is how the
decision is going to be made
to get it disbursed, are we
doing it correctly within
the budgeting or whatever
process,” said Sykes.
Wenholz agreed that
a work session would be
helpful, especially if the
county assessor could pro-
vide projections of what
they could expect for both
income and planned proj-
ects.
“To my point of roads
and bridges, include Eric,
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road plan?” Wenholz said,
referring to Morrow Coun-
ty Public Works Director
Eric Imes. “What could be
reasonably accelerated by
hiring contractors to do it?
While we have the money,
get it spent, get the project
done, and then it’s done.”
Ince reminded the com-
missioners that any board
action would commit the
funds, but that board action
could also uncommit those
funds in the future.
Wenholz said he was
comfortable allocating the
funds to capital improve-
ments without designating a
project. With Commission-
er Roy Drago Jr. absent, the
commissioners voted 2-0 to
commit the $1 million to the
capital improvement fund
but to leave it unallocated
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time being.
Meanwhile, the com-
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to plan for a work session
in late December or early
January to further discuss
processes that could be put
in place for future deci-
sion-making.
Broker
Chris Sykes
$275,000
375 W Union Ave, Heppner
NEW LISTING
This single family home, spanning 1641 square
feet, boasts a spacious dining room and living
room along with 3 bedrooms and 1.5 bathrooms.
Situated in a peaceful neighborhood, it is
conveniently located close to the swimming pool,
KLJKVFKRROEDVHEDOO¿HOGDQGGRZQWRZQDUHD
The property sits on a large lot with street access
and also features a shop. Lot size0.25 Acres.
MLS#: 23224220
177 N. Main
P.O. Box 337
Heppner, OR 97836
Chris@sykesrealestate.net