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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 16, 2015)
S PORTS Hermiston A10 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015 Umatilla football close to breaking through N othing is better in sports than earning respect. Nothing. Nothing in sports is worse than being a laughingstock. Nothing. Umatilla, now, has experienced those two things, for better or for worse. For all intents and purposes, they were laughingstock SAM BARBEE a last year, blowing FROM THE SIDELINES games and getting blown out on their way to a forgettable 0-9 record. I’ve been there. But they’ve already earned the respect of two teams they played last year. Union, which walloped the Vikings in last year’s debut, went down to Umatilla,7-6, and Pilot Rock, who came back on the arm of a freshman quarterback a year ago, came up short against the Vikings 14-6 this week. Two demons exercised. Two pieces of revenge. However you want to say it, Umatilla is no longer an automatic win on the schedule. And I know just how it feels. After winning a combined one game in two years as a sophomore and junior, my senior class decided that 2008 would be different. And it was. After dropping a rain-soaked game at psuedo-rival (I say that because they thought we were rivals and we didn’t think they were — it was a bad decision on our part) partially due to a blown coverage on my part, I was walking back to the locker room and talking to a guy from the other team named Elijah Denis who I had grown up playing baseball against. I told him all we wanted to do was earn their respect as a football team, “To show you guys we can play football,” was what I said. He nodded and said we did that, that they respect us as a football team. Those are the words you die to hear. Respect of your peers is the ultimate form of something athletes chase. We lost, and it stung. The half-hour bus ride felt like it took all night, but we weren’t a laughingstock any longer. With two wins in two tries to open the 2015 season, Umatilla is getting noticed. Don’t look now, but the Vikings are now the only undefeated team in the Eastern Oregon League! They’re the only team to have a positive point differential, and own the No. 7 spot in the OSAA rankings. It may be unreasonable to assume Umatilla will win the EOL this early in the year. Vale, last year’s league champ and defending state champ, has a loss to 3A Idaho power Homedale on its schedule, so it’s too early to be looking to Weeks 8 and 9. But that’s ultimately unimportant this year. Winning is a process. First you must learn to compete, then you must learn to win, then you must win those games. Umatilla is closer than you think to earning the respect of the EOL. Trust me. Sam Barbee is a sports reporter for the Hermiston Herald and East Oregonian based out of Hermiston. He can be reached by email at barbee@hermistonherald.com or on Twitter @SamBarbee1. Follow Herald Sports @HHeraldSports. HERMISTONHERALD.COM Knights, Vikings both face early test Umatilla, with bruisers such as Kasen Manly, Tristan Sanguino and a big offensive line, will have the advantage in physicality. Meanwhile, the Vikings’ de- fense has been stout. The 12 points allowed by Umatilla is VHFRQGRQO\WR&RTXLOOH3DFL¿F¶V By SAM BARBEE Staff Writer six. But the key for Umatilla will be on the offensive side of the It’s been some time since ball. The Vikings must convert Umatilla was in a big football game. red zone tries into touchdowns. But now, the Vikings get their In 11 trips in two games, the Vi- chance to play under some scruti- kings have come away with just ny when they host the 2A Irrigon one red zone touchdown. Knights Friday night at 7 p.m. in ³:H JRWWD ¿[ WKDW´ 0RVKHU Umatilla. said. “I mean, we’re moving the “(The players) are really ex- EDOO:H¶UHMXVWQRW¿QLVKLQJWKH FILE PHOTO cited,” head coach Mike Mosher deal.” said. “We just gotta keep them Several Umatilla High School football players tackle a Union High School The narrow Viking wins could grounded. We’re 2-0, but we got player during a game last season. have been more comfortable with VRPHWKLQJVWR¿[:HJRWWDOHQW the help of some red zone scores, We know we have talent, We just (eight) in 2A football and scored key this Friday. but Umatilla can’t rely on its de- “They need to keep their eyes fense against the high-powered QHHGWR¿[VRPHOLWWOHWKLQJVDQG the second most (100). They are buoyed by a pair of explosive (disciplined) and not watch the Knights. They must capitalize on well be alright. “I think the energy’s pretty running backs — senior Freddy PDJLFVKRZLQWKHEDFN¿HOG´KH its opportunities or watch Irrigon high. But at the same time, we Vera and junior Carlos Zacharias. said. do it instead. Similarly, these teams match The two rushed for a com- want to keep them grounded. These two teams could not We’re happy we’re 2-0, but we bined 289 yards on just 10 carries up a bit differently. Mosher said have had different intersecting in the Knights’ 53-0 win over En- Irrigon, with the blazing speed paths. Umatilla found itself in want to be 3-0, 4-0.” To get to 3-0, though, Umatil- terprise last Friday in Hermiston. of Zacharias and Vera and the a couple of slugfests. The Vi- la has to get through a hot Irrigon The tricky wing-T attack fooled strong, tough running of senior kings narrowly edged Union/ team. The Knights (2-0) have al- Enterprise with regularity, and quarterback Nate Verley, will lowed the second fewest points Mosher said that’s going to be a have the speed advantage. But See PREVIEW, A12 Resurgent programs get their first big trial of the year in Umatilla Late goal lifts Bulldogs Sophomore Hannah Thompson scored in the 79th minute ‘out of nowhere’ By SAM BARBEE Staff Writer For 78 minutes on Tuesday, Herm- iston and David Douglas played to a scoreless draw. Neither team could ¿QGDQDGYDQWDJHGHVSLWHQXPHURXV attempts at the net, and with just a minute remaining, it seemed as if nei- ther would get a goal. But Hermiston sophomore Hannah Thompson took a long SDVV IURP WKH PLG¿HOG DQG EHDW Scots keeper Ainsley Dolton to the far post for the only goal of the night and an improbable 1-0 win in a non-league, inter-division soccer match at Kennison Field. “It’s nice to get the win, but sometimes it’s scary waiting that long,” Thompson said. “We just had to know that there was still a minute left after my goal, and keep up our work to make sure they didn’t score.” David Douglas (1-3) had a scor- ing chance and a corner kick in the ¿QDOPLQXWHEXWWKHFRUQHUFRP- See SOCCER, A12 STAFF PHOTO BY SAM BARBEE Hermiston’s Alysia Garcia (10) and Hannah Thompson (21) battle a David Douglas player for a loose ball in the second half of Hermiston’s 1-0 win Tuesday afternoon over the Scots. Echo volleyball off to another strong start By SAM BARBEE Staff Writer Eight games into Echo’s 2014 volleyball season, the Cougars were 5-3 and playing rather well, but it didn’t last. Echo lost 10 of LWVQH[WPDWFKHVWR¿QLVK and fourth in the Old Oregon League. This year, Echo is hoping it can sustain its fast start, and it proved it can with a pair of sweeps over the Irrigon Knights (25-9, 25-18, 25-16) and the Pine Eagle Spar- tans (25-16, 25-17, 25-12) Satur- day afternoon in Echo. “Since I’ve been coaching (in Echo), we always start off really good in the preseason stuff, then we kinda teeter off and every- body else gets better as we are going downward,” head coach Janice Scott said. “I think this year’s going to be a little bit dif- ferent.” Now eight games into the 2015 slate, Echo has again put itself in a good position as league play looms. The Cougars had a four-game winning streak STAFF PHOTO BY SAM BARBEE Echo’s Hannah McCarty (12) tips one past a Pine Eagle Defender and in front of Spartan Ashley Taylor (2) for one of 10 kills during the Cougars’ 3-0 win over Pine Eagle on Saturday in Echo. snapped Friday night at Ione, but rebounded with the two sweeps. Echo has now won six of its last seven matches after starting the season with a loss at Pilot Rock. After starting each game slow- ly, the Cougars (6-2, 1-0) roared back to take big leads. Echo and Pine Eagle (1-3, 0-1) trad- ed points in Game 1, but Echo scored three straight points twice to lead by as many as eight before ¿QDOO\WDNLQJWKHJDPH In Game 2, Pine Eagle jumped to a quick 3-0 lead, and, Scott said, that might have caused a collapse on Echo’s sideline. Not Saturday. “They don’t want to be a fourth place team in league,” Scott said. “They have a goal that they want to meet, and they want to go into district and do the best that they can. We’re just gonna keep go- ing. They’re not letting up at all. I call them gas pedal girls. “When they get down, they come back and they don’t lose. They come back and they win.” Echo was down 3-0 in Game 2 and 3-1 in Game 3 before mount- ing rallies in each game to, again, roar back and win by big margins. (FKR WXUQHG WKH GH¿FLW LQWR an eight-point win, and turned WKH GH¿FLW LQWR D ZLQ Junior middle blocker Hannah McCarty, who led the Cougars with 10 kills, two blocks and an assist, said communication was a key aspect to the Cougars’ win. “We worked well together, we communicated really well,” she said. “Kelsey (Ranger) and Lizzie (Cox) (gave) amazing sets and everyone else was getting good hits off it and we were able to work well as a team.” As Echo moves past the eight- game mark of the season, last year’s season-ending slide lurks in the background, but Scott, McCarty and the Cougars aren’t worried. With strong leadership, DVHQLRUV¿UVWPHQWDOLW\DQGVKRUW memories, the Cougars are put- ting themselves in a position to be contenders in the Old Oregon League. “We just take it a day at a time, every point at a time, ev- ery serve,” McCarty said. “So we take it one at a time and if we fo- cus through that the whole game, we’ll do pretty good together.” Echo hosts Cove Friday at 4 p.m.