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