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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 4, 2015)
S PORTS Hermiston A11 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2015 November power rankings I t’s yet another month, so that means it’s time for yet another edition of the monthly sports power rankings. Let’s jump right in. . 6tan¿eld footEall . , 26$$ , Last month 7he 6tan¿eld footEall team, eYen with a loss to Heppner, stays atop the power rankings for 1oYemEer. 7hat game against the 0ustangs entire ly got away from the 7igers, as a game turned into a game in a heartEeat. 6tan¿eld Flosed its sFheduled with two wins oYer 3i lot 5oFk and &ulYer, FlinFhing the seFond spot in the &olumEia %asin &onferenFe. In the playoffs, 6tan¿eld gets 9ernonia, a team that has Fruised through its sFhedule to a reFord inFluding a throttling of &ulYer. 9ernonia’s sFhedule, though, Sam is Fonsidered weak as the Loggers are Barbee ranked ninth while 6tan¿eld is ¿fth FROM THE SIDELINES after playing in the FompetitiYe &%&. The Loggers are gonna throw — a lot — whiFh has Eeen 6tan¿eld’s weakness defensiYe ly. That said, the Tigers are still deserYing of the top spot right now. :hat a season and what a EounFe EaFk year after the struggles of . . Hermiston Eoys soFFer . , 26$$ , Last month It’s tough to gauge how good Hermiston is Ee Fause of Hood 5iYer 9alley dominating the $ ranks. %ut the %ulldogs are good. :hile hosting Hood 5iYer a Fouple of weeks ago, Hermiston gaYe Hood 5iYer all it Fould handle in a draw, a matFh head FoaFh 5iFh HarshEerger would take any day. The %ulldogs haYe e[erFised one minor demon al ready, winning the playin round game to moYe into the team tournament. That plus their reFord will make this one of the Eest Hermiston Eoys soFFer teams in reFent memory. . Hermiston Fross Fountry %oys th in state, *irls two partiFipants Last month To the Hermiston Eoys Fross Fountry team, a ¿fthplaFe ¿nish at state was disappointing. That’s just where the internal e[peFtations are of the pro gram. They e[peFt to Fompete for state titles year in and year out, and just wasn’t their year. 1ag ging injuries and illnesses kept the %ulldogs from reaFhing peak form and it showed at Lane &ommu nity &ollege in the rain and muddy Fonditions. %ut the faFt that the %ulldogs sent two girls to state as indiYiduals is a step in the right direFtion for the pro gram as a whole. The girls were onFe an afterthought to the powerful Eoys program, Eut that appears to Ee eYening. . Hermiston footEall , , 26$$ , Last month: NR <eah, I know they’re under ., Eut I don’t Fare. These guys deserYe some reFognition for how they ¿nished the regular season. I mean, how Fool is it that they lost their ¿rst ¿Ye games — whiFh weren’t Flose, mind you — then win their last four and get a home playoff game" $nswer: Really, really Fool. The %ulldogs knew they would haYe a FhanFe to do something like this, as they play in one of just ¿Ye fourteam leagues and the only one in the $ ranks. :ilsonYille will Ee an e[tremely tough test for Hermiston as the :ildFats’ TuarterEaFk, a junior named &onnor NeYille, is a topleYel reFruit with offers from %oise 6tate and :ashington 6tate. The %ulldogs think they Fan win. )riday night will Ee fun. . 8matilla Eoys soFFer , , 26$$ , Last month: NR %efore the season started, head FoaFh 3edro 2r ti] said it would Ee a long season. :ell, it Fertain ly didn’t liYe up to the reFent suFFess to whiFh the 9ikings haYe grown aFFustom. %lowout losses to RiYerside demonstrate who’s Eest in that league, Eut 8matilla was still a good team, ¿nishing seFond in the league with two losses to RiYerside’s none. They really missed 'any $yala and the rest of the multi tude of players who graduated from last year’s league titlewinning FluE. It took some time for 8matilla to get rolling and eYen then it Fould neYer get oYer the RiYerside hump. The 9ikings get 6t. 0ary’s in 0ed ford, and the &rusaders haYe won straight with si[ shutouts, inFluding and wins. HonoraEle mention: (Fho YolleyEall Last season, the &ougars started strong and fal tered down the stretFh. This season, the &ougars started strong Eut didn’t falter, ¿nished third in the 2ld 2regon League and adYanFed to the playoffs, where they Fouldn’t get past 'ufur, , in the play in round. $fter a matFh in early 2FtoEer, I asked head FoaFh -aniFe 6Fott what was different aEout the season and why they wouldn’t ruin the good start. 6he said eYerything. The leadership was Eetter. The attitude was Eetter. The suFFess the Eas ketEall team had last winter would help in playing late meaningful games. It all worked. It was too Ead they Fouldn’t get into the EraFket proper, Eut that’s ¿ne. HaYing a Eetter season than the last is always a good thing. Sam Barbee is a sports reporter for the Hermis- ton Herald and East Oregonian based out of Herm- iston. He can be reached by email at sbarbee@ hermistonherald.com or on Twitter @SamBarbee1. Follow Herald Sports @HHeraldSports. HERMISTONHERALD.COM Bulldogs score three unanswered, advance with win Hermiston plays either Marist or Woodburn on Saturday By SAM BARBEE Staff Writer It was a nightmare start. $t least, that’s how Hermis ton Eoys soFFer FoaFh RiFh HarshEerger desFriEed it. In the opening round of the $ state playoffs, the Yis iting &resFent 9alley Raiders sFored in the third minute when junior defender IsaaF Wilson headed in a Forner kiFk. It was reminisFent of Hermiston’s last matFh against Hood RiYer 9alley, when the (agles sFored ear ly. In that matFh, Hermiston responded to take a lead in a matFh that ended . Tuesday eYening, Hermis ton sFored thriFe unanswered to down the Raiders, , at .ennison 6tadium. The %ull dogs will play the winner of 0arist and WoodEurn. “I wasn’t worried aEout it, EeFause I rememEered Hood RiYer,” HarshEerger said. “We Fame EaFk and did the e[aFt same thing tonight ... I was just like, µ2., nightmare start again.’ %ut then I was like, µWait a minute, I’Ye had a nightmare start Eefore this season, and we reFoYered from that.’ 6o I had full Fon ¿denFe we Fould Fome EaFk from it.” He said his players were mindful of it, too. “They understood there was a lot of game left and it doesn’t take long to sFore a goal,” he said. Two of Hermiston’s goals were utilized Ey onthe ground through Ealls. &res Fent 9alley had more size than Hermiston, Eut the %ull dogs were TuiFker and more STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS Hermiston’s Freddy Rodriguez and Crescent Valley’s Isaac Wilson chase down the ball in the Bulldogs’ 3-1 win against the Raiders on Tuesday in Hermiston. skilled. They Fapitalized on those adYantages Ey sending Ealls low and letting for wards )reddy Rodriguez and (dwin Rosales go get them. In the si[th minute, (n riTue Leal found )reddy Ro driguez streaking down the near sideline and all the way to the end line. He spun and dumped it to (dwin Rosales, who was all alone in the Fen ter of the Eo[, and he drilled it into the net to eTualize. “6inFe we see we haYe a shorter team against taller teams, we think it’s smarter to play on the ground instead of through the air,” Rosales said. “So, I went and I knew my teammate )reddy would giYe it to me right where I needed it.” Hermiston added its seF ond goal not too long after wards when, off a Forner, Leal hooked one to Rodri guez at the far post, Eut Wil son stepped in front to try to Flear it. Instead, it EounFed off his Fhest and past Raid ers keeper Logan 2lEriFh for Hermiston’s seFond. Rodri guez added Hermiston’s third See SOCCER, A13 Cardenas repeats as champ Hermiston boys finish fifth By SAM BARBEE Staff Writer (8*(N( — )aEian &ardenas rounded the ¿nal FurYe at Lane &ommuni ty &ollege with nothing Eut Elue traFk in front of and Ee hind him. $fter winning last fall’s $$$ state Fhampi onship and last spring’s ,meter run, the 8matil la senior had just meters Eetween him and his third state Fhampionship and seF ond straight Fross Fountry title. No one would FatFh him. &ardenas pulled away from the ¿eld in the ¿rst mile and neYer looked EaFk, FloFking a time of min utes seFonds to win Ey seFonds oYer -efferson sophomore Hassan IErahim and seFonds Eetter than :eston0F(wen’s Hayden 6Fott. “It’s just like last year, it feels really good to win PHOTO BY JOSHUA BESSEX/EO MEDIA GROUP Umatilla senior Fabian Cardenas receives his medal as OSAA 3A/2A/1A cross country state championship Saturday at Lane Community College in Eugene. again,´ &ardenas said. “(s peFially EeFause this year was a little tougher, it’s a little windier than it was last year. This year there were a Fouple more guys up there with me, like Hassan. He was the only guy with me at meters, I knew he was gonna Fhallenge me, at least for part See RUNNERS, A13 Bulldogs beat Bucks for league crown Hunsaker, defense lead Hermiston over Pendleton By ERIC SINGER Staff Writer )or the fourthstraight season, the Hermiston %ull dogs are &olumEia RiYer &onferenFe Fhampions. $nd for the fourthstraight year, the %ulldogs defeated the 3endleton %uFkaroos in their riYalry game to do so, defeating the %uFks on )riday night. “It feels great,” said Hermiston TuarterEaFk Na than Hunsaker after the game. “:ay Eetter than earli er this season. We’re digging ourselYes out of the hole.” The road the %ulldogs , &R& took to get here was littered with potholes early, Eut it still Farried them to the playoffs. 2n 2Ft. , Hermiston suf fered a loss to &oeur d’$lene to drop the %ull dogs to an start to the season and made a playoff spot near impossiEle. Now fastforward days later STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS Hermiston quarterback Nathan Hunsaker breaks out out the pocket and rushes the ball Friday in the Bulldogs’ 28-12 win against the Bucks in Pendleton. and the %ulldogs rattled off fourstraight wins to wrap up the season and giYe the team some steam heading into the postseason. “It keeps momentum Euilding and Fon¿denFe for players,” said Hunsaker “We were pretty ine[perienFed players Foming into the sea son, and Fon¿denFe helps and keeps our streak aliYe.” Hunsaker’s performanFe propelled the %ulldogs to YiFtory, Farrying the Eall times for yards and three touFhdowns as well as toss ing for yards and one touFhdown. “He did a great joE, we’re really e[Fited aEout him,” said Hermiston FoaFh 'aYid )aaeteete. “He did a great joE running the offense and had some Eig running touFh downs. It was Eeautiful.” While Hunsaker had a Eig game offensiYely in the ¿rst half, the %uFkaroo defense Flamped down on the %ull dogs run game in the seFond half, limiting them to just yards on Farries, and lim iting the %ulldogs offense to zero points as well. “I think it was just gut FheFk time for them,” said 3endleton FoaFh (rik 'aYis. “The things were already in plaFe for them to Ee suFFess ful, and I think they just e[ See BULLDOGS, A13