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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 11, 2015)
A12 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2015 SPORTS Mustangs trample Dragons Clark, Putman lead Mustangs into the Quarterfinals slow. After forcing a quick three-and-out by Monroe (4-6), Heppner took over at its own 43 yard line and began trying to establish its run game. On the 13th play of the drive, senior C.J. Kin- dle took a direct snap and plunged into the end zone from three-yards out to give the Mustangs a 6-0 lead with 4:23 left in the quarter. A few possessions later after the teams traded fum- bles, Heppner took over at Monroe’s 42-yard line with 1:35 left in the quarter. And on just the second play of the possession, run- ning back Weston Putman busted a handful of Monroe tacklers and scampered his way to a 35-yard touch- down run to put Heppner up 14-0. “Offensively sometimes we struggled to ¿nd our rhythm and ¿nd out e[act- ly what we need to do and want to do,” said coach Greg Grant after the game. “And to our kids’ credit we found it, ¿gured out how we needed to block and took care of things, so I was very pleased.” The Mustangs forced another Monroe fumble two plays into the Drag- ons’ drive and recovered it inside the Monroe 10 yard line. Heppner didn’t waste By ERIC SINGER Staff Writer The No. 2 seed Heppner Mustangs forced four turn- overs and dominated every facet of the game as they pummeled the No. 15 seed Monroe 'ragons in the ¿rst round of the OSAA state playoff game, 55-14, at Les Payne Field. “We came out and set the tone early,” said Hep- pner senior lineman Patrick Collins. “We knew what (Monroe) was going to run, we capitalized on their mis- takes, started fast and just never looked back.” The game was long over at halftime, as Heppner (10-0) held a 49-0 lead. The de¿cit kicked in a running clock for the entire second half which limited each team to just three posses- sions in the half. ,n the ¿rst half, Heppner gained 276 yards on 31 of- fensive plays and seven touchdowns, while its de- fense held Monroe to just 44 yards on 28 offensive plays. As rapid as the scoring was in the ¿rst half, the pace started out relatively STAFF PHOTO BY KATHY ANEY Mustangs’ Weston Putman (20) goes in for a touchdown Saturday during the state playoff game with the Monroe Dragons in Heppner. any time at all as Putman knifed through the defense for a nine-yard touchdown run to give the Mustangs a 22-0 lead with 30 seconds left in the quarter. Putman ¿nished the game as the Mustangs’ leading rusher, carrying the ball nine times for 88 yards and those two touchdowns. He also had a solid game defensively, registering si[ tackles and an interception. A play that epitomized Area athletes recognized with all-league honors Athletes from several area schools have been recognized with all-leage honors for their respective sports conferences. The Echo Cougars foot- ball team received a num- ber of all-league selections for both football and vol- leyball. The Cougars foot- ball team earned si[ selec- tions with the volleyball team earning four. Senior wide receiv- er/defensive end Brock Mof¿t was named a ¿rst- team wide receiver and an honorable mention defen- sive end. Senior Hayden Sather was a ¿rst-team guard and ¿rst-team line- backer, and senior Tanner McPherson was named ¿rst-team nose guard. Sophomore Zach Gehrke is the honorable mention kick returner. McPherson, Mof¿t and Sather were also each named to the eight-man all- star list. With three selec- tions, Echo tied Wallowa for most of any one school. Echo’s volleyball team saw senior Kelsey Rang- er named to the ¿rst team and senior Erika Parks named to the second team. Senior Lizzie Co[ was an honorable mention. Ju- nior Hannah McCarty was named to the Old Oregon League district tourna- ment all-tournament team. The Stan¿eld Tigers volleyball team received a handful of honors after the 2015 season. Larissa Castellanos was named to the second-team all-Columbia Basin Con- ference after a stellar senior season. Maddie Grif¿n, Shyanne Connell and Kenzie Blankenship joined Castellanos as hon- orable mentions. The Umatilla Vikings earned a number of all- league selections for foot- ball, girls and boys soccer, and volleyball. The football team, which completed one of its best seasons in re- cent memory, earned 27 selections in all. Junior offensive lineman Alec Williams and senior kick returner Josh Dever were the only ¿rst-team se- lections, junior running back Hunter Cook, junior defensive linemen Elijah Pine, freshmen line backer Trent Durfey, Dever and senior safety Tristen San- guino were second-team selections. Isiah Hart and Sangui- no were honorable men- tion running backs, Justin Maret, Diego Soto and Brylee DuÀoth were hon- orable mention receivers, Jared Adams, Aaron Sim- mons, Alvin Jamie-Gar- cia, Antonio Moreno and Blas Zepata were honor- able mention offensive linemen, and Williams and Sebastian Trujillo were honorable mention linebackers. Hunter Cook, Fabricio Garcia and Cody Sampson rounded out the football selections as hon- orable mention defensive backs. Junior Jocelyn Guar- dado, Umatilla’s lead- ing goal scorer, was a ¿rst-team selection for the Special District 2 all- league team. Itzel Rodri- guez was Umatilla’s only second-team represen- tative, and Mayra Ortiz, Jailin Colula and Maria Moreno were each honor- able mentions. the way the game played out came early in the sec- ond quarter, when Monroe forced Heppner to punt for the ¿rst time in the game. But on the punt, the Monroe returner fumbled the catch and Heppner’s Collins dove in to recover the fumble to give the Mustangs new life. On Heppner’s ¿rst play after the fumble, quarter- back Kaden Clark con- nected with receiver Logan Grieb on a 29-yard touch- TIGERS: continued from Page A10 for a an 8.8 yards per carry average and 20 touchdowns. Quarterback Dylan Gro- gan, also a junior, has added another element to the rush- ing game with his size and athleticism, giving Stan¿eld a legitimate short down option. He’s rushed for 976 yards on 123 carries (7.9 ypc) and 21 touchdowns. He’s also passed for nine touchdowns on 44- of-62 passing for 708 yards. But the Tigers have oth- er options, as well. Makiah Blankenship has 449 yards on 87 attempts and four touch- downs, and Justin Keeney has 400 yards on 59 carries and four scores. “We have a ¿ve-headed monster at running back that are worried about who gets the ball,” Salas said. “And we know who’s gonna get the ball. It’s no secret to nobody. Everybody knows who’s gonna get the ball — my running back and my quarter- back. We’re not hiding them anywhere. We’re running power football.” Both Stan¿eld and Cen- tral Linn come from tough leagues, setting them both up for potentially deep playoff down pass — Grieb’s 10th touchdown reception of the season — to put Heppner up 28-0. The Mustangs scored three more times in the quarter, on a seven-yard pass from Clark to receiver Kaden Hedman, a 16-yard screen pass from Clark to Kindle, and a ¿ve-yard touchdown run on an end- around by Grieb to give Heppner the 49-0 lead at halftime. Clark had a very ef¿- cient game directing Hep- pner’s offense on Saturday, completing 9 of 15 pass- es for 132 yards and three touchdowns, as well as 58 rushing yards on four car- ries. “It’s what he does, he throws the ball e[tremely well,” said Grant. “I don’t know if I’ve ever coached a better thrower. He puts the ball on the money and did that tonight, and hit a few shots early that really set the tone and set up some things for us.” Heppner’s only score of the second half came on a 44-yard touchdown run by Kindle to increased the Mustangs’ lead to 55-0 with eight minutes left in the third quarter. Kindle ¿nished the game with 53 rushing yards and 64 re- ceiving yards and three to- tal touchdowns. “I’m happy we played well,” Grant said. “It’s re- ally a great thing for the community, the school, and our kids love home play- off games and they worked their tails off all year long to really capitalize on these.” Monroe did not get on the scoreboard until the 10:42 mark of the fourth quarter, when Kyle Bateman out- ran the Heppner defense for a 47-yard touchdown run. The Dragons scored their second touchdown on a 1-yard plunge by Joseph Ballard with just seconds remaining in the game. Heppner held Monroe to just 169 total yards in the game, and forced four punts to go along with the four turnovers. The units’ performance got a rave re- view from Grant following the game. “I really liked those guys tonight,” he said. “I liked that we were ready and we stepped up to it. I was pleased that the kids stepped up physically to play like that.” With the win, Heppner advances in the Class 2A bracket to play No. 7 seed Reedsport Friday in Hep- pner. The Braves (9-1) de- feated Weston-McEwen on Saturday, 14-0, to advance in the 2A bracket. runs. Stan¿eld hails from the Columbia Basin Conference, which at one point in the sea- son had three teams at 5-0 and a fourth at 4-1. The CBC sent four teams to the playoffs this season, with just league champ Heppner and Stan¿eld advancing rounds. Meanwhile, Central Linn calls the ¿ve-team Tri-Riv- er Conference home. There, the Cobras dropped just one game — a 35-18 loss to league champ Regis — and still managed to win the league and take the top seed in the bracket. Statistically, Stan¿eld’s offense is better than Central Linn’s but the Cobras have a better defense. The Tigers have scored 409 points so far this season, the third most in the state behind Heppner (501) and Vernonia (500), who Stan¿eld beat 56-26 last week. Central Linn, though, has demonstrated a stout defense by allowing just 14 points per game this season, including two shutouts. “What we’re good at, is we sustain 10-, 12-play drives and we eat clock,” Salas said. “We’re not worried about the big play.” Stan¿eld is going to need to do something like that to keep Central Linn’s big-play on-the-ground offense on the sideline. The rushing offense is similar to Stan¿eld’s in that it has multiple options to which it can turn. Three Cobras have more than 100 carries and a fourth has 74. All four guys have more than 500 yards, all four have had a 100-yard game this season, and all four have scored. Senior Ale[ Pettner leads the way for Central Linn with 1,117 yards on 164 carries (6.8 ypc) for 13 touchdowns. Hiss 23-carry, 187-yard game in the Regis loss was the most productive rushing game by a single Cobra this season. But Braden Nightengale and his 11.4 yards per carry aver- age will have to be accounted for, as well. The junior has carried just 74 times for 845 yards — second-most on the team — and 11 touchdowns. Chandler Jeppson (619 yards, 8 TDs) and quarterback Jesse Wibbens (504 yards, 7 TDs) are also viable options to run. Wibbens has also passed for 483 yards on just 20-of-34 passing for 10 scores and one interception. Salas is con¿dent in his bunch. “I respect everybody,” Salas said. “But I’m not scared of anybody.” www.edwardjones.com McKay Creek Estates presents: SAFETY FIRST S Join us as we host a lecture series to increase safety awareness on fall prevention, common home injuries and provide solutions to keep you and your loved one safe! 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