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VOL. 144
NO. 46 8 Pages
Wednesday, November 20, 2024
Morrow County, Heppner, Oregon
Mustangs overcome Raiders in thrilling
quarterfinal, set sights on state championship
during Grant’s farewell season
The Heppner Mustang
football team won their
OSAA 2A State Football
Playoff Quarterfinal game
against the Lost River Raid-
ers by the score of 16-12.
With the win, the Mus-
tangs, who are 11-0 for
the season, will move on
to the semi-finals where
they will face the St. Paul
Buckaroos. St. Paul is also
11-0 for the season and is
the first-place team from
Special District 3. They
finished as the fifth ranked
team in the OSAA football
rankings. The game will
be on Saturday, November
23 at 2 pm at Caldera High
School in Bend.
Heppner kicked off
to start the game against
Lost River, and the Raiders
went on a long drive of
running plays that ate up
over 8 minutes of the game
clock. The Raiders got to
the Heppner three-yard
line before the Mustang
defense stepped up and
stopped them from scoring.
Heppner took the ball but
couldn’t get much yardage
and had to punt the ball
back to the Raiders. Lost
River got the ball near mid-
field and went on a 12-play
drive that ended in a score.
That made it 6-0 in favor
of the Raiders early in the
second quarter.
The Mustangs were
three-and-out on their next
possession and had to punt
the ball back to the Raiders.
Another long and time-con-
suming drive by Lost River
got the ball all the way
down to the Mustang 22-
yard line. Again, the Hep-
pner defense stiffened and
stopped the Raiders on
downs as the second quarter
ended.
Lost River controlled
the first half of the game,
and the Mustangs only
were able to run a total of
seven plays in the entire
Heppner band prepares
to boost Mustangs in
semifinals clash
the Heppner Band practicing in the Greg Grant Stadium.
-Photo contributed
Heppner, OR – Novem-
ber 17, 2024 – The Heppner
High School Band, un-
der the direction of Brook
Baker, has been a driving
force behind the Mustang
football team’s exciting
run to the semi-finals this
season. With their high-en-
ergy performances at every
home football game, the
band has brought the crowd
to its feet, creating an elec-
tric atmosphere that has
helped propel the Mustangs
energy.
Led by Baker, the
band’s commitment and
passion have been evident
We are excited to in-
troduce a new initiative
at HJSHS to honor our
students for their efforts
and achievements in the
classroom. Each quarter,
we will recognize Mustang
Students of the Quarter.
Congratulations to our
First Quarter recipients!
These students will be cel-
ebrated at our end-of-se-
mester awards assembly
in January. Additionally,
information about the first
quarter will be shared on
our school webpage and
social media platforms.
Mustang Student of
the Quarter
The HJSHS Mustang
Academic Student of the
Quarter award recognizes
students based on vari-
ous criteria. This award
goes beyond just academ-
ic performance; it honors
those who exhibit specific
positive behaviors and a
strong work ethic. As an
educational institution, we
value and celebrate the
growth our students achieve
through their hard work and
dedication.
Students receiving an
HJSHS Mustang Academ-
ic Student of the Quar-
ter award may demonstrate
one, or more, of the follow-
ing characteristics:
HHS to honor students
each quarter
Heppners Tripp Stewart jumps to make a catch in the third quarter of their quarter final
match up against Lost River. -Photo by Tara Eakin Proudfoot
half. But after some half-
time adjustments, the game
flipped, and the Mustangs
controlled most all of the
second half.
Heppner got the ball to
start the half and put togeth-
er a nice drive to near mid
field. They were forced to
punt the ball to Lost River
who would have to start
their possession from deep
in their own territory. The
game of field position had
finally turned in the Mus-
tangs’ favor. The Heppner
defense forced the Raiders
to punt the ball back, and
that gave the Mustangs
great field position at the
Raider 44-yard line. Quar-
terback Mason Orem then
threw a 26-yard pass com-
pletion to Tripp Stewart.
Stewart had to jump high
and twist his body in order
to reach up and bring the
ball into his chest as he
landed on his back for the
completion. It was quite a
catch and seemed to fire the
Mustangs up. On the very
next play Orem completed
a pass to Alakae Rodriguez
for an 18-yard touchdown.
Rodriguez then ran the ball
in for the 2-pt. conversion
to give the Mustangs the
lead 8-6, with just over
five minutes left in the third
quarter.
The Heppner defense
forced a three-and-out punt
by the Raiders on their
next possession. Again, the
Mustang got a great field
position to start their next
drive near mid field. The
Heppner offensive line real-
ly started to take control of
the game, and the Mustangs
began to control the time
of possession in the second
half. Heppner went on an
eight-play drive and got
another score when Orem
handed the ball off to Zach
Brown. Zach then powered
his way in from 7 yards
out for the touchdown. A
direct snap to Caleb George
saw him blast his way into
the end zone for the 2-pt.
conversion. That gave the
Mustangs a 16-6 lead as the
third quarter ended.
Lost River went on
a 12-play drive that ate up
half of the fourth quarter
clock and saw them score
a touchdown on a 13-yard
pass play. That made the
score of the game 16-12 in
favor of the Mustangs.
Heppner started their
next drive deep in their
own territory at the 15-yard
line. But they put together
a drive of punishing runs
that ate up five minutes of
the game clock. Heppner
got the ball out to the 49-
yard line before they were
-Continued to PAGE SIX
National Flood Insurance
Program (NFIP) to comply
with the Endangered Spe-
cies Act.
Heppner City Manag-
er John Doherty said the
move by FEMA goes back
to a 2016 biological opin-
ion in which environmen-
tal groups stated that flood-
plain development does
harm to endangered spe-
cies. For Columbia River
tributaries, that includes
salmon and steelhead.
Doherty told the coun-
cil that, under PICM, com-
munities may choose one
of three compliance mea-
sures. The first option is to
prohibit all new develop-
ment in the flood plain.
The second is to in-
corporate the Endangered
Species Act performance
standards into local flood
plain ordinances through a
model ordinance provided
by FEMA.
Third, a city may use
a permit-by-permit model
that requires permit appli-
cations to develop a flood-
plain habitat assessment to
show that proposed devel-
opment in the flood plain
hazard area will create no
net loss. “No net loss” fo-
cuses on flood plain stor-
age, water quality and veg-
etation.
“Whichever way we
go, it will involve some
changes to our zoning and
flood plain ordinances at
some point,” he said.
Doherty said the Ore-
gon League of Cities has
challenged the move be-
cause the cities are being
forced to alter course with
little time to prepare and
before a corresponding
study is completed.
“This was sprung on
us July 25, was the first
email,” Doherty said.
For now, though, cit-
ies are still faced with se-
lecting one of the three
options to move forward.
The deadline is Dec. 1, and
Oregon communities are
trying to navigate the new
requirements with little in-
formation to guide them.
“I have raised many
questions. Other cities
have raised many ques-
tions,” said Doherty, add-
ing that he had to read 300-
400 pages of documents
to try to figure it out. “It’s
very confusing.”
Doherty said one of
his big questions is why
Heppner is included in the
requirement, since Willow
-Continued to PAGE EIGHT
Collaboration among
local and state agencies
leads to successful flood
siren test in Heppner
New FEMA requirement creates even more hassles for
floodplain development
By Andrea Di Salvo
Getting permits to
build in the floodplain
will be even more difficult
thanks to FEMA and the
Endangered Species Act,
the Heppner City Coun-
cil learned at its Nov. 12
meeting.
The City of Heppner
will need a floodplain
habitat assessment for all
floodplain permits going
forward—a huge lift, since
most of Heppner’s level
ground is within the flood-
plain.
In July 2024, the Fed-
eral Emergency Manage-
ment Agency (FEMA) sent
a letter to cities and coun-
ties in Oregon instructing
them to make short term
changes to how the city or
county regulates develop-
ment in flood hazard areas.
These Pre-Implemen-
tation Compliance Mea-
sures (PICM) are short-
term actions that FEMA
wants cities to adopt before
FEMA fully implements
long-term changes to the
-Continued to PAGE SEVEN
The Heppner flood siren .
-Photo contributed
Heppner tested its flood
warning system on Thurs-
day, Nov. 14, at 1 p.m. The
coordinated effort involved
the Morrow County Emer-
-Continued to PAGE SEVEN gency Management, Hep-
pner Fire Department, the
Operations Project Manag-
er for the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers, the Oregon
Department of Emergen-
cy Management, and the
Morrow County Sheriff’s
Office.
As many Heppner
residents likely noticed,
the flood warning siren
was tested and lasted for
three minutes. This test
was conducted to ensure
the system’s efficiency and
preparedness in the event of
an actual flood. According
to Morrow County Emer-
gency Manager Steve Free-
land, who led the test, the
-Continued to PAGE EIGHT
CALL
541-989-8221
ext 204
for more
information