A18 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
BULLDOGS:
continued from Page A1
ecuted late in the stretch....
We’re excited, the kids are
excited that they’ll be host-
ing the game. Then we saw
the draw, not too excited.”
The Bulldogs got huge
contributions from new var-
sity players. Vaemu Ena,
who sat out the War on
84 with a shoulder injury,
stepped into a safety role
and had key interceptions
against Sandy and Hood
River Valley, both wins.
Nathan Hunsaker, whom
Neal beat for the starting
job out of fall camp, broke
out against Pendleton with
a huge game on the ground.
Tre Neal has led a defense
that got stronger and tough-
er as the season wore on.
Now, seeded eighth,
the Bulldogs will host the
Wilsonville Wildcats (8-1,
6-1) this Friday at 7 p.m.
at Kennison Stadium. The
Bulldogs and the Wildcats
both played Sandy, who
hails from Wilsonville’s
Northwest Oregon Confer-
ence, Sept. 11 and won 53-
3. Hermiston just slipped by
the Pioneers 13-7 in double
overtime.
“They’re well-coached.
They execute on offense,”
Faaeteete said. “They have
a great defense, have great
kids and they play real-
ly hard all the time. We’re
VETS:
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A short program will in-
clude a presentation by the
American Legion and VFW
Honor Guard, Dance Un-
limited Troupe and special
speakers.
To RSVP, call at 541-
567-6151.
Chuckwagon Cafe
offers veteran specials
The Chuckwagon Cafe
will honor all veterans with
specials and music.
A free S.O.S Lunch Spe-
cial, which also includes
coffee or soda and dessert,
is available to veterans
Wednesday, Nov. 11 from
11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 81027
N. Highway 395.
In addition, veterans may
order an ala-cart 8-oz New
York steak for $2, which
includes coffee or soda for
breakfast from 6-10 a.m.
or supper from 4-8:30 p.m.
The steak is available while
supplies last.
In the evening, the But-
tercreek Boys will play
toe-tapping’ music, includ-
ing famous renditions from
back in the day.
For more information or
to reserve a steak, call 541-
567-6329.
ECHO
Echo students plan
veterans celebration
Students in the Echo
School District from kin-
dergarten though 12th grade
invite all area veterans to a
special celebration Thursday,
Nov. 12.
The event starts with stu-
dents honoring all branches
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2015
FROM PAGE A1
lucky to be able to play a
program like this.”
The Wildcats are an ath-
letic bunch with numerous
weapons. They have two
quarterbacks who are ca-
pable throwers. The starter,
Connor Neville, is a junior
who has thrown a touch-
down pass in each game
this season. Against Liberty
two weeks ago, a game Wil-
sonville lost 40-37, Neville
passed for 507 yards on 31
completions and four touch-
downs. He threw four picks
in that game, though, and he
has ¿ve on the season. The
week before, in a 45-14 win
over Putnam, he threw for
six touchdowns, 407 yards
and had just ¿ve incomplete
passes. Overall, Neville
has passed for 2,198 yards
on 68 percent passing for
30 touchdowns. Neville, a
three-start recruit, currently
has offers from Washington
State and Boise State.
Neville missed Wilson-
ville’s 63-14 win over Park-
rose, and the senior backup
Tom Gomez stepped in ca-
pably. He tossed four touch-
downs — and three inter-
ceptions — while eclipsing
the 300-yard mark.
Whoever plays quarter-
back Friday will have some
serious targets. Harrison
Steiger has been a menace
to secondaries all season.
The junior has caught 40
passes this season for 821
yards and a whopping 18
of the military with a parade,
which will be escorted by lo-
cal police, ¿re and military
personnel. Students have
been making Àoats to honor
each branch of the military.
The parade starts Thurs-
day, Nov. 12 at 10 a.m. in
front of the school at 600
Gerone St. It will continue
down Main Street and circle
back to the school.
In addition, veterans and
their families are invited to
a school assembly at 1 p.m.
in the school’s gymnasium.
Veteran guests who have no-
ti¿ed the school will be rec-
ognized during the assembly
with their name, branch of
service and dates served. The
assembly also includes spe-
cial speakers, patriotic songs
and cake following the pro-
gram.
To provide information to
the school, ¿ll out a postcard
at a local VFW hall or call
the school at 541-376-8436.
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
The Hermiston Bulldogs defeat the Pendleton Bucks 28-12 on Friday in Pendleton.
touchdowns. He’s caught
a pass and a touchdown
in each game he’s played
this season, and caught ten
balls for 232 yards and three
touchdowns in the Wildcats’
40-37 loss to Liberty two
weeks ago.
But he’s not alone. Jonny
Neville has been a threat in
the passing game, just not
as worrisome as Steiger. He
still must be accounted for,
however, as he’s caught 29
balls for 548 yards and 11
touchdowns. He, too, has
caught a pass in every game
this season, though he was
held without a touchdown
in Wilsonville’s 59-14 win
over Hillsboro last week.
“The key to stopping
the great offense is keeping
them off the ¿eld,” Faae-
teete said. “We gotta execute
on offense on our end and
play the keep-away game:
run the ball well, throw the
ball ef¿ciently. And when
we are on defense, get to the
quarterback, create second-
and-long,
third-and-long
situations so it’s an easier
game for me to call. That
being said, it’s not gonna be
easy to keep this offense in
check. They’ve been putting
up numbers all year long.”
Wilsonville can run
it, too, though it’s not the
strength of the its offense.
No Wilsonville running
back ever received more
than 11 carries in any game
this year, and no Wilsonville
running back has rushed for
more than 111 yards in any
game. The running game
is mainly a big play threat,
with Elijah Benedick and
Mason Craig each averag-
ing more than 10 yards per
carry. Andrew Merrick is
the Wildcat’s leading rush-
er with 467 yards on just
63 carries and three touch-
downs. Sophomore Taran
Floyd has scored eight times
on the ground.
Hermiston was able
to get a good pass rush
last week against Pendle-
ton and the week before
against Hood River Valley.
Pendleton quarterback Kai
Quinn, who has a strong
arm, couldn’t step into any
throws against the likes
of Neal and Coleman, and
those two will have to do
the same against Neville,
who only has 37 yards
rushing on 23 tries this
season. Once a dual-threat
quarterback, Neville now
wears two knee braces af-
ter a couple of knee inju-
ries. If the Bulldogs can
get a good pass rush, make
Neville uncomfortable in
the pocket, as they did with
Quinn, Hermiston can dis-
rupt the timing passes Wil-
sonville likes and poten-
tially force some mistakes.
But the task, offensively
and defensively, will be a
tall one for the Bulldogs.
“Our guys are gonna look
at ¿lm, and they’re gonna
see that the task at hand is
a large one,” Faaeteete said.
“You go out there and you
¿ght, be courageous and
then at the end, when the
chips fall, you’re holding
your head held high. It’s
football. Someone’s gotta
lose. It’s what’s great about
this game. Anything can
happen on Friday night.
Crazier things have hap-
pened. We just gotta execute
on offense and get home on
defense and have fun.”
Girls’ night in.
STANFIELD
Stanfield honor students
host veterans program
A Veterans Day Celebra-
tion is being hosted by the
Stan¿eld Secondary School
National Honor Society.
The event includes a free
hot breakfast served Tues-
day, Nov. 10 at 8 a.m. in the
school’s faculty room, 1120
N. Main St.
The meal will be fol-
lowed by a school assembly
at 9:30 a.m. All local veter-
ans, their families and com-
munity members are invited
to attend to help celebrate
and recognize those who
have served our country.
For more information,
contact Kirsten Wright at
kirsten.wright#stan¿eldsd.
org or 541-449-2225.
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