WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2016
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A7
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BULLDOGS BLANK
THE PIONEERS
Hermiston wins play-in game,
advances to state playoffs
By ERIC SINGER
Staff Writer
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Hermiston’s Dayshawn Neal attempts to leap away from Pendleton’s Aiden Patterson in the Bulldogs’ 13-12 win against the
Bucks on Friday in Hermiston.
Bulldogs survive wild finish
Failed conversion
sinks Bucks in
rivalry battle
By MATT ENTRUP
Staff Writer
Both teams said any-
thing could happen when
the Hermiston Bulldogs and
Pendleton Buckaroos met on
the gridiron for the 91st time
in the cross-county rivalry on
Friday at Kennison Field.
When Pendleton pounced
on an onside kick with 17.3
seconds left in a wild fourth
quarter, it looked like just
about everything had. Then
the Buckaroos lined up for
a 64-yard field goal with the
game on the line.
The craziness stopped
there, though, as the kick
only traveled about half the
distance needed, and Hermis-
ton celebrated a 13-12 victory
that was their fifth in a row
over their rivals.
“It was fun and excit-
ing,” said Hermiston senior
John-Henry Line. “Those
guys work hard, they’re good.
They gave us a fight.
“We knew they were going
to bring their best because it
was their last game, they’ve
got nothing to lose.”
The tone was set early in
the game when both defens-
es came out with aggressive
game plans that had the op-
posing quarterbacks running
for their lives.
Led by the four solo sacks
of Line and two interceptions
by senior Vaemu Ena, the
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Hermiston’s Bradlee Giusti chases down Pendleton’s Nick
Bower in the Bulldogs’ 13-12 win against the Bucks on Friday in
Hermiston.
to make the most of some
good field position on its first
two drives, and quarterback
Andrew James was never
able to get into a rhythm fin-
ishing just 11-of-30 for 122
yards with one interception
and one touchdown.
“(Pendleton) played a re-
ally tough game and you’ve
got to give it to them playing
a game like that,” said James,
Hermiston defense dominat-
ed for three and a half quar-
ters and Pendleton’s offense
had accrued just two first
downs (one on penalty) and
less than 100 yards before its
rally in the final six minutes.
Pendleton’s defense also
came to play, and was con-
stantly in Hermiston’s back-
field.
The Bulldogs were unable
who got his first win in the
rivalry series. “It feels great.”
Unlike the Bucks, the
Bulldogs were at moving the
chains with some success,
and finally broke through on
consecutive passes just be-
fore halftime.
Ena intercepted a floating
pass from Pendleton’s Nick
Bower (8-20-1, 78) at the
Pendleton 39 with 3:28 left
before halftime, then on first
down Jerry Ramirez made a
diving catch on a tipped ball
over the middle to get the
Bulldogs down to the 23.
James lofted a pass to the
corner of the end zone on
the next play, and Dayshawn
Neal hauled it in for his 12th
touchdown of the season. He
entered the game tied for the
season lead in Class 5A.
A missed extra point kept
the lead at 6-0, but with the
way Pendleton’s offense was
playing, it was a lead that ap-
peared safe.
The Bucks had only moved
the chains once in the first
See BULLDOGS, A14
Local teams prepare for playoffs
Hermiston, Stanfield
and Echo play Friday
By ERIC SINGER
Staff Writer
After Hermiston de-
feated Bend three weeks
ago, the Bulldogs were in
the driver’s seat.
The victory bumped
Hermiston up the OSAA
rankings to the No. 6 spot,
ensuring that if Herm-
iston could win its final
two games at Redmond
and then at home against
Pendleton, the Bulldogs
would likely host a first
round playoff game at
Kennison Field.
However the final
two weeks did not play
out like Hermiston had
hoped. The team took a
step back in the loss to
Redmond. Then, even a
See PLAYOFFS, A9
The first 40 minutes of Saturday’s 5A play-in
game against Sandy were frustrating for the Herm-
iston Bulldogs boys soccer team.
Hermiston controlled the ball for almost the
entire first half and put together numerous scoring
opportunities to take advantage of the game. How-
ever, each time the Bulldogs came away scoreless.
Whether it was an unlucky bounce off the goalpost,
or a chip shot attempt that sailed over the crossbar,
Hermiston could not bury the ball into the net.
But in the 49th minute, the Bulldogs’ luck
changed.
Junior Joel Mendez gathered the ball and,
standing nearly 25 yards away to the left of the
goal, he fired a powerful strike off his right foot
that scooted past Sandy’s goalkeeper into the cor-
ner of the net for Hermiston’s first of an eventual
three goal performance to help the Bulldogs beat
Sandy, 3-0, under the lights at Kennison Field.
“(Joel) just kind of pulled that out of nowhere,”
Hermiston coach Rich Harshberger said. “I saw
him get that chance and he took that chance and
wow, what a goal. We needed that goal as a team,
we had lots of opportunities but we weren’t finish-
ing … but to get that, now we can take a breath,
now we’re on the right track and we know what
we’re doing.”
Hermiston (11-3-1) played add-on first in the
63rd minute when Freddy Rodriguez headed in a
Hermiston free kick over the Sandy (7-5-3) goal-
keeper’s head and into the net for the 2-0 lead, and
then in the 65th minute Hermiston had the most
impressive goal of the night when junior captain
Mark Mejia lined up a shot from more than 30
yards out and blasted one past the goalkeeper for
the 3-0 lead.
“Yeah I was just feeling it,” Mejia said of his
goal. “We had a set play planned out but (Sandy’s)
defensive line was just a little bit behind the wall so
I had to think of a different plan so I just decided to
shoot it and the odds went my way I guess.”
Harshberger jokingly said Mejia’s goal was just
the way the play was drawn up.
“It was awesome, that’s all I could say. We
know Mark has that quality but it’s tough to be that
consistent from that distance and he was just feel-
ing it, he took it, and what a goal.”
The Bulldogs also had strong play from goal-
keeper Antonio Campos on Saturday, stopping all
five shots he faced to pitch the team’s eighth shut-
out this season, which was a big positive in Harsh-
berger’s eyes.
“It’s always important, it’s a game-by-game
goal to come out and get a shutout,” Harshberg-
er said. “Antonio was huge getting a couple key
saves in there because (Sandy was) going, they
were fighting for pride and all the props to Sandy,
they brought it tonight and played a great game.”
Hermiston now advances to the 5A state play-
offs, where they slot in as the No. 7 seed and will
host No. 10 Ashland on Wednesday afternoon.
The Bulldogs made it to the quarterfinals in 2015,
but are determined to make a deeper push this year.
“Our mentality is just do better than we did last
year,” Mejia said. “Go in, give it all we got and
come out with the win every game, that’s all it is.”
———
Contact Eric Singer (541) 966-0839. Follow
him on Twitter @ByEricSinger.
Hermiston bounces Milwaukie in hard fought battle
Bulldogs keep
season alive in
5A play-in win
By ERIC SINGER
Staff Writer
Saturday’s girls soccer
play-in game for Class 5A
was mostly a defensive affair,
as neither Hermiston nor Mil-
waukie were able to get many
clean shots at the net.
Milwaukie’s defense final-
ly made a mistake at the 45th
minute, when the Mustangs’
goalkeeper squibbed a rolling
ball off the side of her foot
which spun backward off the
turf and rolled into the net for
an own goal and a 1-0 Herm-
iston lead.
“You don’t like to take
own goals, but it’s a goal,”
Hermiston coach Danielle
Turner said.
That goal proved to be
the game-winner, though the
Bulldogs did add an insur-
ance goal later in the game
and hung on for a 2-0 shutout
over Milwaukie on a chilly
day at Kennison Field.
The game was also an
exciting moment for Herm-
iston senior Makayla Akers,
who saw the first postseason
STAFF PHOTO BY KATHY ANEY
STAFF PHOTO BY KATHY ANEY
Shaelynn Gilbert (8), of
Hermiston, races toward
Milwaukie’s Alice Mendez
(18, )who prepares to kick
the ball during Saturday’s
game at Kennison Field.
action of her career on Sat-
urday. Akers spent the first
three years of her career at
Pendleton High School and
transferred to Hermiston for
her senior year.
“Honestly this feels amaz-
ing,” Akers said after the
game. “It’s wonderful playing
with this team and I’m excit-
ed to see where we go next.
We’ve been working really
hard for this.”
Akers has been a consis-
tent force for Hermiston this
season and proved it again
on Saturday, using her speed
Makayla Akers (4), of
Hermiston, prepares to kick
the ball during Saturday’s
game against Milwaukie High
School at Kennison Field.
to beat Milwaukie defend-
ers and make some plays in
space. Akers nearly gave her
team a lead in the 30th min-
ute, when she got behind the
Mustangs’ back line of de-
fense with the ball and fired a
shot at the net — but it sailed
wide right.
Then with her team al-
ready up 1-0 in the 76th min-
ute, Akers repeated the same
situation from earlier, got be-
hind the defense and dribbled
towards the net. But this time
Akers fired a grounder to the
left of the Mustang goalkeep-
er that rolled into the corner
of the net for the 2-0 lead.
“It felt really great,” Akers
said. “These past couple games
I haven’t been making as many,
but as soon as I made that goal
I was like, ‘I know I got this
again,’ and now I’m just ready
to go to the next level and
(score) some more goals.”
Milwaukie registered all
of seven shots on goal for the
game, though none were real
scoring threats as goalkeeper
Kylie Harrison stopped all of
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them with relative ease.
Hermiston advanced to the
5A state playoffs, but drew
the unlucky No. 16 seed.
The draw means they played
Tuesday in first round game
against No. 1 seed La Sal-
le Prep (11-1-2), but results
were not available at press
time.
S TUDENT
OF THE
WEEK
Katherine
Soto
S TANFIELD S ECONDARY S CHOOL
Stanfield 11th grader, Katherine Soto, has rightfully earned the
honor of Student of the Week. She is nominated by her
Strength and Conditioning teacher who says her work ethic
and drive in the weight room is AMAZING. She is goal-
oriented and incredibly focused on improving each week.
Katherine is excelling in the classroom this year and is an
example for others in her ability to overcome obstacles and
adversity. We are very proud of Katherine and so pleased to
have her represent Stanfield Secondary School as our Student
of the Week.
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