S PORTS
Hermiston
A10
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2015
HERMISTONHERALD.COM
Colbray not practicing with the team
A broken jaw and concussion issues likely
to keep Colbray away from gridiron
the summer while wres-
tling, and a potential con-
Entering the 2015 foot- cussion problem.
ball season, the defend-
“We hope for good
ing 5A state champion QHZV DQG KLV UHFRYHU\¶V
Hermiston Bulldogs had VSHHG\´ ¿UVW\HDU KHDG
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ers from last year’s team. said after practice Thurs-
&XUUHQWO\ WKH\ KDYH MXVW day. “We can always use
four.
a great athlete like that
Running back/defen- RQ WKH ¿HOG ² D UHWXUQ
V L Y H ing All-State kid, tough,
FOOTBALL t a c k - tough competitor and
le and just a physical specimen
w r e s - WKDW PDNHV WHDPV KDYH WR
tling standout Sam Col- gameplan for him.”
bray, a senior, is currently
In two seasons, Colbray
not participating in fall rushed for 1,088 yards on
football camp because of FDUULHVDQDYHUDJHRI
DEURNHQMDZVXIIHUHGRYHU 5.1 yards per, and scored
By SAM BARBEE
Staff Writer
Colbray, in addition to
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sustained a serious con-
cussion last season during
Hermiston’s 31-27 loss at
Coeur d’Alene last fall,
and teammate, and fel-
low senior, Bob Coleman
said Colbray’s history of
concussions jeopardizes
his desire to wrestle colle-
giately.
“We knew coming into the
season that Sam was a wres-
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FILE PHOTO
The news comes as a
Hermiston’s Sam Colbray avoids the grasp of a defending Pendleton
blow to the Hermiston
Buckaroo in the rivalry War on 84 last season at Kennison Field. An
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injury over the some has kept Colbray from fall football practice.
one returning starter from
last year’s offense: re-
21 touchdowns. Last sea- DYHUDJH DQG VFRUHG FHLYHU (WKDQ 6QRZ 7KH
son was his best by far, times. Colbray also had quarterback battle is still
coming two yards shy of IRXU FDWFKHV IRU VHYHQ a two-man race between
1,000 on 198 carries (5.0 yards last season.
senior righty Nathan Hun-
saker and sophomore lefty
Dayshawn Neal. It was
assumed that Colbray
would be joined by either
of the them, but Colbray’s
YDFDQF\ MXVW IRUFHV )DHH
teete and staff to replace
yet another body.
That said, Colbray isn’t
barred from the team.
Though he declined to
attend a team barbecue
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MDZ ZLUHG VKXW )DHHWHHWH
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possibility open for Col-
bray to return.
“If he wants to come
out, he can come out,”
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no closed doors. Our pol-
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come. It’s just when we’ll
see him in action depends
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Hermiston
Super Oval has
big, fun night
announcement they would get
their free rides, they hustled
SAM BARBEE
to the bus and were two of the
FROM THE
SIDELINES
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three buses, which performed
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he smell of burnt rubber wildly out the windows like
isn’t something I’m
they were on a cruise ship at
used to. The force of
the turn of the century. They
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were excited.
engines pounding against my
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chest took some getting used
was time for the actual main
to, and the noise tickled my ear HYHQW
strangely.
With the sun long down,
It’s Saturday night at
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+HUPLVWRQ6XSHU2YDODQGWKH behind them took the track.
VWDQGVDUHSDFNHGIRUWKH¿JXUH One car had a little skiff with
eight trailer races set for that
no trailer attached, another
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car had a trailer with only one
stock, bomber and super stock wheel, yet another had a boat
UDFHVDUHKROGLQJFRXUWJLYLQJ on a trailer that no one cared
a good show to the anxious
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crowd.
track for a time.
A couple weeks ago I spoke
Things deteriorated quickly
with Dan Nelson, director
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of operations, and Bryson
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Tarr, the owner, about their
blinding dust that made it hard
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IRUGULYHUVDQGVSHFWDWRUVWR
out to the race track by using
see. There were a few narrow
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races, trailer races and an
plowed through the dust and
upcoming demolition derby, to some carefully picked through
get that younger audience not
it.
only to the race track, but also
But the clean didn’t last
get them excited about racing.
long. The car pulling the
The night began with some boat-and-trailer combo got
trophy sprints. Three cars from hung up with a truck pulling
each class raced three laps for
an empty trailer, rendering
a trophy, and it was exciting
it crippled. The bus, though,
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into some heat races that saw
fun. After lining itself up with
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close calls. One car failed to
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in the sand bank, and another
throughout the crowd. It was
time a car got loose coming
the loudest of the night.
around Turn 1 and was spun
The truck continued around
out. Each time smoke billowed without a tire for the rest of the
from a car’s tires, the energy
race, its wheel being ground to
in the crowd rose just enough
nothing. The sparks and red-
to sense it. They wanted to see hot metal were a sight to see.
carnage.
Tarr and Nelson both
Next on the docket was the
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VSHFWDWRUGUDJUDFHV(YHU\
race track with a younger
UDFHGD\IDQVDUHJLYHQWKH
audience using these kinds
opportunity to take their daily
of races to drum up new
GULYHUVRQWRWKHWUDFNDQGVHW
interest. Preliminarily, at least,
a lap time. A diesel pick-up
it’s working. After the anti-
truck tried a lap, so did a Mini
climactic end to the bus race
Cooper, a Volkswagen Golf
during the rodeo (it’s coming
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EDFN6HSWZLWKWUDLOHUV
DQGHYHQDPLQLYDQ,WZDV
+HUPLVWRQ6XSHU2YDOQHHGHG
DQLQWHUDFWLYHVHJPHQWDVWKH
a big and fun night to stay on
crowd would guess the lap
track, pun intended.
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And it looks like they are.
and laugh when they were
Let’s see how the demolition
close and tease when a friend
derby goes this Saturday.
wasn’t. It was good fun.
— Sam Barbee is a sports
An intermission followed
reporter for the Hermiston
the fan laps, and children were Herald and East Oregonian
ORDGHGLQWREXVHVDQGGULYHQ
based in Hermiston. He can be
around the track. This greatly
reached by phone at 541-564-
excited a couple little guys to
4542 or by email at sbarbee@
my left who kept wondering
hermistonherald.com. Follow
DERXWWKHEXVWKDWKDG³)UHH
him on Twitter @SamBarbee1
Rides” painted in red across
and follow Herald Sports @
one side. When they heard the
HHeraldSports.
T
STAFF PHOTO BY SAM BARBEE
'avid Faaeteete is handed a football Zhile throZing sZing routes last Zeek at Hermiston football practice. He is in his À rst year
as the Bulldogs’ head coach.
Faaeteete easing into new role
After seven years as an assistant, David Faaeteete takes over Hermiston’s football program
of Oregon alumnus is the
head coach of Hermis-
'DYLG)DDHWHHWHVWUROOHG ton’s football program fol-
from one end of the turf lowing the best season in
¿HOG DW .HQQLVRQ 6WDGL school history. The Bull-
um to the other. On the dogs went 12-1 last year
fourth day of fall practice and capped the historic run
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year coach wasn’t focused 6LOYHUWRQ )R[HV LQ WKH $
solely on the linemen and state championship game
their position drills as he LQ1RYHPEHU
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“I got a taste of (head
under departed head coach FRDFKLQJ GXULQJ VSULQJ
Mark Hodges.
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1RZ WKH 8QLYHUVLW\ ing to Tri-Cities and what-
By SAM BARBEE
Staff Writer
not. It was easy to plan a
practice in the spring then
go scrimmage. But fall
camp is a whole different
animal.”
)DDHWHHWH JRW D WDVWH
of that last week. He had
to hand out gear, assign
lockers, get new guys sit-
uated. It added yet another
element to head coaching
that he’s had to learn since
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May. He’s already ordered
new helmets and new prac-
tice jerseys. But now, the
fun starts. Now he gets to
coach football.
“The football aspect of
it’s the same,” he said. “It’s
fun coaching. It’s just that
there’s a managing piece
to it that I’m adjusting to.
:H¶YHJRWYHWHUDQFRDFKHV
to help out. One of the big
things that Coach Hodges
taught me was you gotta
delegate responsibilities
See COACH, A11
Coaching positions open in Hermiston
Jake McElligott’s only season at the
helm.
McElligott had come to Hermis-
ton off of a 2A state championship
at nearby Irrigon. McElligott was
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$XJDQGLVFXUUHQWO\EHLQJLQYHVWL
HERMISTON HERALD
gated by the Teachers Standards and
)RU WKH VHFRQG \HDU LQ D URZ Practices Commission for a potential
Hermiston High School is search- XQVSHFL¿HGYLRODWLRQ
ing for a new head boys basketball
A ruling is expected to come re-
coach.
garding McElligott’s status in “early
7KHVFKRROGLVWULFW¿UVWDGYHUWLVHG fall,” said Wade Smith, deputy su-
the opening on its web site on Aug. 6. perintendent for the district.
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Hermiston is looking for a coach
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Conference in what ended up being OHQW OHYHO SURJUDP DV D KHDG FRDFK
Three vacancies at high
school, including head
basketball post
or an assistant from a successful
5A/6A program.
The listed yearly salary for the po-
sition is $5,398-$6,094.
In addition to the boys basketball
position, the district is also still look-
ing for new head softball and boys
golf coaches.
Listed salaries for those positions
are $4,005-$4,701 for softball and
$2,960-$3,656 for boys golf. Appli-
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FRDFKDWWKH$$OHYHORUHTXLYD
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)RU PRUH LQIRUPDWLRQ RQ WKH MRE
openings, or to apply, go to Hermis-
ton.tedk12.com/hire/index.aspx.