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
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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
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Umatilla.
said. “I mean, we’re moving the
“(The players) are really ex-
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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an eight-point win, and turned
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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,
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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.