S PORTS
Hermiston
A10 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2015
Bulldogs’
win a good
¿UsW sWHS
T
he interception happened
right in front of me in
near the east goal line, and
as Vaemu Ena ran up the near
sideline, I forgot myself. I started
running. I don’t know where, or
why, but I didn’t get very far.
Perhaps I was excited by the
play, a clutch interception that
kept Hermiston in the game after
a missed yard ¿eld goal in the
¿rst overtime. Perhaps I was as-
suming Ena would score, and was
trying to get down to the other end
zone to get photos or whatever.
Perhaps I was excited for this
Hermiston team, so beleaguered
after climbing the
5A mountain last
season. With rather
high expectations
for themselves —
realistic or other-
wise — the season’s
¿rst ¿ve games had
Sam
been dif¿cult to
Barbee
endure: a 23-point
FROM THE
SIDELINES
loss to a Hanford
team that went win-
less last year; a 48-point loss to
.amiakin, losses to 6pring¿eld,
Lewiston and Coeur d’Alene saw
Hermiston make critical mistakes
or fail to seize opportunities hand-
ed it, all resulting in double-digit
losses.
But then Friday happened.
Finally players had something
to celebrate, something to smile
about, something to remember.
Friday’s 13-6 double-overtime
victory over the Sandy Pioneers
is just one win, true. But it was
the ¿rst win of a season that is
largely forgettable, especially
since it comes on the heels of last
year’s magical run. But it was
how Hermiston won — not sim-
ply that it did — that will have an
impact on this season.
After missing that chip shot, a
¿eld goal Freddy 5odriguez most
certainly can and will make, Ena
came up with a play he’ll never
forget. 5emember, he had two
sure interceptions slip through his
gloved hands on a misty Septem-
ber night against Hanford, and he
told me he wanted to make up for
those. And boy, did he. His sec-
ond interception, in roughly the
same spot as the ¿rst, gave Herm-
iston the upper hand in amateur
football’s Kansas overtime rules,
and an Omar Garica touchdown
from 2 yards out sealed the win.
That ¿rst interception was
massive, too big to accurately
describe. It saved the prospects
of league play. It saved the con-
¿dence of a defense that hasn’t
played four full quarters all sea-
son.
After the missed ¿eld goal in
overtime, Hermiston’s nonverbal
communication was off-the-charts
negative, and Sandy’s was off-the-
charts positive. One play entirely
changed that. For Hermiston and its
young team, that success was just
what it needed: backs up against
the wall, do-or-die situation, stakes
as high as can be, and they made a
play. Two plays, in fact.
It’s a step forward by the
Hermiston Bulldogs, and the
size of it doesn’t matter. After
coming somewhat close against
Spring¿eld, then closer at Lewis-
ton and closer still against Coeur
d’Alene, to ¿nally break through
and make the critical plays when
the time calls is a big deal. With a
winnable game at The Dalles this
Friday, Hood 5iver at home next
week at the War on 84 in Pendle-
ton Halloween weekend, Hermis-
ton has just as good a shot as any
in the Columbia 5iver Confer-
ence to wear the crown.
That would sure be something
to run around about.
Sam Barbee is a sports report-
er for the Hermiston Herald and
East Oregonian based out of
Hermiston. He can be reached by
email at sbarbee@hermistonher-
ald.com or on Twitter @SamBar-
bee1. Follow Herald Sports @
HHeraldSports.
HERMISTONHERALD.COM
Colbray to get national shot Saturday
Hermiston senior and
3-time state champ
flies to Pennsylvania to
compete in FloWrestling.
org’s Who’s #1 event
By SAM BARBEE
Staff Writer
Three-time 5A champ at
195 pounds Sam Colbray has a
chance to make a national state-
ment.
On Oct. 17 in Bethlehem,
Pennsylvania, a city about 70
miles north of Philadelphia, Col-
bray will wrestle in FloWres-
tling.org’s Who’s #1 event, an
attempt to ¿nd the best amateur
wrestlers in the country.
Colbray, who was the run-
ner-up at 195 pounds in both
FILE PHOTO
Hermiston senior Sam Colbray (top) heads to Pennsylvania this week for
FloWrestling.org’s Who’s #1 event.
freestyle and Greco-5oman at
2015 Cadet-Junior National
Championships in Fargo, North
Dakota this summer, will wres-
tle Pennsylvania’s Nick 5eenan,
who is moving up from 182
pounds. Colbray will be coached
by Shaun Williams, who re-
signed as Hermiston head wres-
tling coach this summer and took
a job at West Valley High School
in Spokane, Washington.
At the moment, 5eenan, a se-
nior, is the top-ranked wrestler at
195 according to FloWrestling.
Colbray is second. Colbray is the
second-highest ranked Oregon
wrestler after top-ranked heavy
weight Osawaru Odighizuwa
from Douglas. 5oseburg’s Layne
Van Anrooy is 10th at 152, Bran-
don Kaylor is 16th at 106, and
Travis Wittlake is 19th at 170.
Meanwhile, Pennsylvania owns
the top spot in eight weight class-
es with top threes in ten classes.
From a piece by 5yan Holmes
on FloWrestling.org:
“Colbray is a very strong
wrestler that can attack with the
best of ‘em. He’s going to be a
lot for 5eenan to handle in his
See COLBRAY, A12
Tigers get shot at local Goliath
By SAM BARBEE
Staff Writer
There is an old cliché in sports
that describes a road. This road
is the fabled road to a champion-
ship, and it’s usually said to run
through the site where the favor-
ite resides.
For the 2A Columbia Basin
Conference, that road runs right
through Heppner, where the
Mustangs hold the seat of lo-
cal 2A football. This week, the
Stan¿eld Tigers, fresh off a 49-
41 come-from-behind victory at
Irrigon, comes calling in a game
that Tigers head coach Davy
Salas will decided the confer-
ence title.
Salas, though, wasn’t lacking
in praise and respect for the Hep-
pner program.
“If you want to be the best,
you’ve got to beat the best,” he
said. “Heppner’s been the best
in this area.
Greg Grant,
to my eyes, is
the best coach
this
area’s
ever seen at
all
levels.
You can’t
disregard
what
the
man’s done
in the last
30 years of
coaching Hep-
pner. Stuff like
that just doesn’t hap-
pen.”
But with all that
praise, this game still will
have something to say about
which school emerges from the
CBC as champions.
“This will determine it,” Salas
said. “You couldn’t have written
a better script.”
The ever-present stalwart,
STAFF PHOTO BY SAM BARBEE
StanÀeld TXarterbaFk 'ylan *rogan (left) and rXnning baFk 7hyler 0onkXs lead the
7igers into a possible leagXe titledeFiding game Friday night against Heppner in
StanÀeld.
Heppner (6-0,
2-0), looks to
continue its dominance
over the CBC when the
long-smoldering
upstart,
Stan¿eld (6-0, 2-0), plays host.
Both teams are playing well.
Both teams are mostly healthy
with all the key players in the
lineup.
Most of all, Heppner sits in
the chair Stan¿eld wants to oc-
cupy.
+HUPisWon will Sla\
7KH 'allHs WKis wHHN
By SAM BARBEE
Staff Writer
The Hermiston Bulldogs
and The Dalles 5iverhawks
will play in The Dalles this Fri-
day, Hermiston Athletic Direc-
tor Blaine Ganvoa announced
Monday.
The date was in question af-
ter the 5iverhawks (1-4) can-
celed last week’s game against
Nyssa that was scheduled to be
played at Kennison Stadium in
Hermiston. The Dalles Athletic
Director Michael Somnis said
player safety was a factor in
the decision not to play Nyssa
last week. With short numbers
and injuries both a problem,
Somnis and his staff decided
last week wasn’t a viable op-
tion for his students.
“After looking over the
injury reports from the var-
sity team, with student safety
in mind, we feel it is best to
re-evaluate the status of our
varsity team on a weekly ba-
sis for the remainder of the
Fall 2015 season,” the release
said.
Friday’s football game is the
Columbia 5iver Conference
opener for both schools. Herm-
iston (1-5) enters after winning
its ¿rst game of the year after a
13-6 double-overtime win over
Sandy. The Dalles’ one win is
a 43-0 effort over Mac-Hi on
Sept. 18.
“We gotta beat them,” junior
quarterback Dylan Grogan said.
“They’re in our way to getting
where we want: to win league
and go through state.”
Last season after Stan¿eld
beat Pilot 5ock at home, then-
head coach Dominique Cof¿n
equated the Mustangs to Goli-
ath and his team David, evoking
one of the greatest underdog sto-
ries ever told. This season, it’s a
much more even matchup.
Stan¿eld, now at the top of
the CBC and ranked third by
OSAA, has scored 244 points
while allowing 114, with 41 of
those coming last week. Hep-
pner meanwhile, has scored 305
points and allowed just 72, the
third-fewest in 2A.
Both teams have effective run-
ners, with Stan¿eld running back
Thyler Monkus and quarterback
See TIGERS, A12
(na adds iFing Wo
'awgs’ ¿UsW win
Hermiston downs Sandy
in double overtime
By SAM BARBEE
Staff Writer
Friday night against Sandy,
Vaemu Ena intercepted Sandy
quarterback Kelly Sanders twice
in two different overtime peri-
ods, and Omar Garcia powered
in from two yards out to give
Hermiston a 13-7 victory, its ¿rst
win of the year.
“I just saw an opportunity
to do something great for my
team,” Ena said. “I just wanted to
avenge myself and make the DBs
look good for once.” In Hermis-
ton’s season opener against Han-
ford, Ena missed two intercep-
tion opportunities.
The two overtime periods
were icing on the proverbial cake
for the Hermiston defense, which
has struggled to hold down of-
fenses this season. The Bulldogs
held the Pioneers to just 18 yards
rushing on 31 attempts, and kept
bruising back Grayson Fenwick
from getting anything going. He
¿nished with 19 yards on 21 car-
ries and four catches for 27 yards
and a touchdown.
After the Bulldogs missed a
See DAWGS, A12