A8 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2016
Herald Sports
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Lions rally past
the Bulldogs
St Helens knocks
Hermiston
from playoffs
Hermiston Herald
Hermiston led for most
of the game, but couldn’t
stop St. Helens on their
home field with the game
on the line and fell, 12-7,
in the 5A first round to
bring their football season
to a heartbreaking close
on Friday.
A five-yard touchdown
pass with 16 seconds re-
maining lifted No. 7 St.
Helens into the state quar-
terfinals and ending the
season for No. 10 Herm-
iston.
The Bulldogs had gone
into the lead on a two-
yard run by Peter Earl
with 8:24 left in the sec-
ond quarter, but the No. 7
Lions’ defense had plenty
of success getting them
off the field the rest of the
game.
Hermiston
finished
with just 178 total yards
and eight first downs, but
didn’t turn the ball over
and kept St. Helens out
of the end zone until the
fourth quarter.
The Lions (7-2) broke
up the shutout with 9:51
to play in the game on an
eight-yard run up the mid-
dle by Dylan Brady, but
Hermiston (5-5) blocked
the extra point to retain a
7-6 lead.
Even with their offense
stalled, the Bulldogs had
a chance to close out the
Lions on a fourth-and-
nine with just over a min-
ute left to play but Lions
running back Myles Terry
picked up just enough for
the first down on a pass
from Levin Norton.
St. Helens capped the
drive with a five-yard
touchdown pass from
Norton to Ben Eldred.
Hermiston’s desperation
passes in the closing sec-
onds came up empty.
The Lions finished
with 335 yards of of-
fense led by Terry with
18 carries for 96 yards.
Norton was 10-of-14 for
107 yards and an inter-
ception.
Hermiston
quarter-
back Andrew James was
6-of-14 for 94 yards and
Dayshawn Neal caught
four passes for 79 yards.
James was Hermiston’s
leading rusher with 47
yards on eight carries.
The Bulldogs were pe-
nalized five times for 30
yards while St. Helens
drew eight flags for 45
yards.
———
HHS
0 7
0
0 — 7
SHHS
0 0
0 12 — 12
Scoring plays
2nd Quarter
8:24 — HHS, Peter Earl 2 run
(Dayshawn Neal kick), 7-0
4th Quarter
9:51 — SHHS, Dylan Brady 8 run (Jacob
Hawkins kick blocked), 6-7
0:16 — SHHS, Ben Eldred 5 pass from
Levi Norton (pass failed), 12-7
Individual statistics
PASSING — Hermiston (6-15-0, 94):
Andrew James 6-14-0, 94; Dayshawn
Neal 0-1-0. St. Helens: Levi Norton 10-
14-1, 107, TD.
RUSHING — Hermiston (22-84, TD): An-
drew James 8-47; Johnathan Hinkle 6-19;
Peter Earl 5-18, TD; Dayshawn Neal 3-(-4).
St. Helens (48-228, TD): Myles Terry
18-96; Tyler Rea 12-89; Dylan Brady 8-44,
TD; Haidon Allen 4-15; Austin Dragoo 1-2;
Jax Ogle 2-0; Levi Norton 3-(-16).
RECEIVING — Hermiston: Dayshawn
Neal 4-79; Tucker Salinas 1-11; Johnathan
Hinkle 1-4. St. Helens: Haidon Allen 5-64;
Myles Terry 4-38; Ben Eldred 1-5, TD.
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Stanfield’s Thyler Monkus stiff arms Central Linn’s Dakota Ruiz in the Tigers’ 55-14 win against the Cobras on Friday in
Stanfield.
TIGERS BREEZE INTO
QUARTERFINALS
Stanfield thumps
Central Linn 55-14
in first round game
By ERIC SINGER
Staff Writer
STAFF PHOTO BY KATHY ANEY
Mustang running back Colby Dougherty (24) looks for an
opening during Saturday’s state playoff game in Heppner
against Gold Beach.
Heppner runs
over Gold Beach
Heppner runs
over Gold Beach
By ERIC SINGER
The Stanfield Tigers
played the school’s first
home playoff game in more
than a half-century on Fri-
day night, and the team did
not disappoint its faithful
fans.
The No. 2 seed Tigers
(9-1) totaled more than
600 yards of offense in the
game as the team thumped
the No. 15 seed Central
Linn Cobras 55-14 in front
of a big crowd at the Hory-
na Athletic Complex.
“Not going to lie I was a
bit nervous at first,” Stan-
field senior lineman Hunter
Barnes said of the game, “I
didn’t want to let the town
down. But once we settled
down halfway through the
first quarter it just felt like
it flowed real easy for us.”
Barnes, Stanfield’s start-
ing left tackle, was a big
factor for the Tigers offense
as he was part of a unit that
opened big holes all night
for the Tigers offense to run
through, picking up 489 of
their yards on the ground.
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Stanfield’s Thyler Monkus locks up with Central Linn’s
Mason Sloan in the Tigers’ 55-14 win against the Cobras on
Friday in Stanfield.
And the line did so against
a large Central Linn (3-7)
defensive front that fea-
tured two players weighing
more than 300 pounds.
“We knew we were go-
ing to put the team on (our
backs) so we just had to
step up,” Barnes said. “We
didn’t drive the blocks
as much as we could’ve.
We tried a lot more shield
blocks instead, but we prac-
ticed that all week and just
came out and got it done.”
“They did great,” Stan-
field senior Dylan Grogan
said of the offensive line.
“We knew when we were
watching film and saw the
(big guys) we just thought
‘Well, we’ll have to do the
best we can’ and those guys
did it. The holes were huge
for us to run through and it
was nice.”
Grogan benefited the
most from the blocking
performance, as the quar-
terback ran for a team-high
223 yards on 16 carries and
two touchdowns on the
ground, and also threw for
187 yards and two touch-
downs through the air.
Running back Thyler
Monkus also followed his
blockers well, and ran for
166 yards on 16 carries
with a pair of touchdowns
as well.
Stanfield wasted no time
in the game to show their
offensive prowess, as on
the Tigers second play from
scrimmage Grogan took the
snap and ran to the right,
straight through the Cobra
defense and down the side-
line for a 40 yard gain. And
on the next offensive play,
Monkus took a sweeping
handoff to the left side of
the field before making his
cut right through the de-
fense and then sprinted 30
yards for the touchdown to
give the Tigers a 6-0 lead
with just 28 seconds ex-
pired off the game clock.
Monkus added his sec-
ond touchdown on Stan-
field’s next drive, when he
took a sweeping handoff to
the right side of the field,
broke through a few arm
tackles and then bounced
back to his left to find the
crease and sped 29 yards
for the touchdown and the
12-0 Tiger lead.
Central Linn responded
to the score with one of its
few successful offensive
drives in the game, as a
drive that started at its own
37 quickly advanced down
inside the Stanfield five.
And with a little more than
five minutes remaining in
the first quarter the Cobras
See TIGERS, A9
Staff Writer
The Heppner Mustangs
knew the road to defend
their 2A state champion-
ship would not be an easy
one in 2016, even if the
first playoff game was on
their home field.
The Mustangs returned
all of four starters on of-
fense and three on de-
fense, and earning a play-
off spot is never a given
— even for a program
as storied as Heppner.
But through some ups
and downs of the season
Heppner showed gradual
maturity and still earned
a 6-2 record and a No. 4
seed in the state playoffs.
On a cool Saturday
afternoon at Les Payne
Field, the Mustangs took a
big step toward their title
defense with a 55-20 vic-
tory over the Gold Beach
Panthers in a first round
playoff game.
“After losing all those
guys last year we didn’t
really know what we were
going to be this year but I
think we really found our
identity this game,” Hep-
pner senior Logan Grieb
said. “(The young guys)
stepped up big, being in
their first playoff game.
Pirates strike fast, advance to semifinals
STAFF PHOTO BY KATHY ANEY
Mustang Beau Wolters
snatches a fumble during
Saturday’s state playoff
game in Heppner as Taylor
Bright, of Gold Beach,is
thwarted.
Defense extends
shutout streak
against Gervais
By MATT ENTRUP
Staff Writer
I’m sure most of them
were nervous but you
couldn’t really tell after
that first snap.”
“I think if you saw us
play in St. Paul (Week
1) and saw us play today
you’d have seen two dis-
tinctly different teams,”
Heppner coach Greg
Grant added. “I had hoped
to have that maturation
take place and I think that
it says a lot about the kids,
they’ve really worked
hard and it’s paying off.”
Heppner (7-2) domi-
nated every facet of the
game on Saturday, and it
all started with its play in
the trenches. On offense,
Heppner ran a mere 14
See MUSTANGS, A9
Riverside jumped out to
another early lead in Satur-
day’s boys soccer state quar-
terfinals against Gervais, and
the defense posted its eighth-
straight shutout to lift the Pi-
rates to a 2-0 victory.
The Pirates took the
lead for good in the second
minute when Luis Olvera
tracked down a long pass
from Alejandro Llamas in-
side the penalty box and
beat Gervais goalkeeper
Ivan Borja with the first shot
of the game.
“It was a great pass, right
behind the defender and I was
able to just tap it in,” Olvera
said.
It was the second straight
playoff game in which the Pi-
rates took the early lead after
scoring in the fourth minute
of their 5-0 first-round win
over Western Mennonite.
“That’s definitely a morale
booster to get that first goal,”
said Riverside junior Miseal
Madrigal.
The Cougars pushed back
and found themselves in front
of Riverside’s goal several
times during the game, but
couldn’t get off any clean
shots as Riverside senior goal
keeper Adolfo Bedolla need-
ed just two saves to notch his
11th shutout of the season.
“My defense, they’re the
best,” Bedolla said. “I’m only
here when they need me.
There’s only like a few games
where they needed me and
I’m OK with that if it gets us
the win.”
The Pirates (12-3-1) add-
ed their insurance goal in the
36th minute when Madrigal
out-jumped his defender and
headed a corner kick from
Quincy Castillo into the back-
side corner of the net.
“From the previous cor-
ners I had always recognized
that Quincy would always
send it to the second post,
so I said I’m going to go for
the second post and luckily
it turned up there,” Madrigal
said.
Gervais (13-4) came out
pushing the tempo in the
second half but still couldn’t
break through Riverside’s
back line. The Pirates wait-
ed them out, then took over
in the final 20 minutes when
the Cougars began wearing
down.
“They have spirit, we
could tell they had that fire
in them, and (Coach Fran-
cisco Velazquez) told us, ‘If
we let them take advantage
of us they’re going to score
and tie it up,’” Olvera said.
“We’re constantly running in
practice, and our coach just
stresses a lot about endurance
in the game. The more we run
we’re going to outrun the oth-
er team. … I guess all those
hours in practice and all that
sweat paid off in the end.”
The Pirates had 30 shots
to Gervais’ five, and River-
side had chances to extend
the lead in the 54th, 56th,
58th and 60th minutes but ei-
ther shot just wide or off the
framework each time.
“We can’t have those, any
chances we get we need to
make them,” said Madrigal,
who had one of the near miss-
es on a rebound.
The No. 4 Pirates will ad-
vance to the state semifinals
for the second time in four
season, where they will play
No. 1 Catlin Gabel on Tues-
day in Portland at 5 p.m.
The teams met earlier this
season, which ended in a 0-0
tie on Sept. 10.
“Catlin Gabel’s going to
be a really tough team, and
we’ve got to capitalize on
everything our else they’re
going to score on us and it’ll
be the end of us,” Olvera
said. “It’s going to be really
difficult getting through their
defense, but the slightest mis-
take, we’ll take advantage of
it.”
———
GHS
0
0 —
0
RHS
2
0 —
0
Goals
2’— Luis Olvera (Alejandro Llamas)
36’— Miseal Madrigal (Quincy Castillo)
Saves — GHS Ivan Borja 6; RHS Adolfo
Bedolla 2.
Yellow Cards — GHS Daniel Gray