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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 30, 2016)
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2016 HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A9 Herald Sports Follow sports on Twitter @HHeraldSports Tigers fall to Regis in title game Stanfield finishes as Class 2A runner-up By ERIC SINGER Staff Writer The Stanfield Tigers walked onto the turf of Ken- nison Field on Saturday night determined to bring home the town’s first foot- ball state championship in nearly six decades. Instead, the 59-year drought will continue for at least one more year. The No. 2 Tigers were pushed around by the No. 1 Regis Rams in all four quar- ters and it was the Rams that ended a title drought, win- ning the 2A championship, 53-14, over Stanfield. It is Regis’ sixth state champion- ship and the first since 1987. “Regis just outplayed us and their effort was better than ours,” Stanfield coach Davie Salas said follow- ing the game. “We were in a position to make some plays early on but I think they (Regis) just wanted this game more than we did. “When you’re dealing with kids sometimes the moment can get too big and I think tonight it might have gotten too big for us.” Stanfield (11-2) was done in by numerous mental mis- takes in the game, turning the ball over five times — two fumbles and three inter- ceptions — as well as seven penalties for 68 yards. “In a state championship game you just can’t afford to have miscues,” Salas said, “and tonight we just had too many against a great team.” The field position battle played a big part of Regis’ fast start on Saturday. The Rams average starting spot was in Stanfield territory STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS Stanfield’s Thyler Monkus looks to make a move off the block of Regis’ Brandon Piete from Justin Keeley in the Tigers’ 53- 14 loss to the Rams in the state 2A state championship game Saturday in Hermiston. STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS Stanfield’s Thyler Monkus (21) takes the handoff from quarterback Dylan Grogan as Makiah Blankenship runs a fake in the Tigers’ 53-14 loss to Regis on Saturday in Hermiston. Winter sports Look or our annual winter sports preview section in the Wednesday, Dec. 7, editions of the Hermiston Herald and East Oregonian. while the Tigers average spot was its own 23. “You can’t give a good team a short field,” Salas said. “When they only have to go 40-50 yards to score a touchdown it makes it easi- er and (Regis) took advan- tage.” Quarterback Dylan Gro- gan led Stanfield’s offense with 107 passing yards on 7-19 passing with three in- terceptions. He also added 47 rushing yards on 15 car- ries with two touchdowns. Grogan scored Stan- field’s first touchdown of the game with less than 10 seconds left in the first half, running a perfectly-called quarterback draw 36 yards up the middle and into the end zone. The score capped a 73 yard drive, which Stan- field covered in just four plays and 31 seconds to cut the deficit to 27-7. “It was a designed call,” Salas said of the touchdown run. “Regis opened the field a bit and we saw it and just went for it. It was a momen- tum shift for us, we felt good at the time but just made too many mistakes and when you’re trying to get momen- tum back you can’t shoot yourself in the foot and we did that.” Regis (11-2) had its way with Stanfield’s defense, averaging nearly seven yards per-play and gaining 343 total yards in the game. Quarterback Brandon Piete completed eight passes in the game and five of them ended in touchdowns — all to receiver Eric Gustin, who caught seven passes for 136 yards and five scores. Regis coach Kyle Mc- Grath said that he did not envision his team winning in the manner that they did on Saturday to win the title. “Last week we had 37 rushing yards and relied on two big special team plays to help us through,” he said. “We were biting our nails and hoping we could score on offense coming in. We knew our defense was good we just needed to score points on offense and oh man did those kids put up points in a hurry.” The game was also a far cry from the 20-14 one that played out between the two teams in September, though McGrath said he was very confident that his Rams squad was going to get its revenge for the title. “In the film session on Thursday, Dec. 1st Starting at 9am Visit the Hermiston Winter Festival Tree Lighting from 5:30-8pm Monday we thought that they (Stanfield) didn’t get better,” he said. “They didn’t get any worse, but they were stagnant the rest of the year. I thought we played really bad the first time but we’ve gotten a whole lot better over the year and I think that was the big difference. “I didn’t see anything new from them and we just played a whole lot better.” Many tears were shed by Tiger coaches and players in the postgame huddle, under- standably disappointed in the result. But Salas told his team that a second place tro- phy is nothing to hang their heads for. “It’s special, regardless,” he said. “Win or lose, what we did this year hasn’t been done in 58 years in Stan- field. I told my kids before the game that if you would have told me a few years ago that I’d be coaching Stanfield in the state cham- pionship I would’ve said you were crazy. “I grew up around here, went to Umatilla, and I saw Stanfield teams struggle over the years and what we did was special.” Seniors say goodbye The loss ends the football careers for the 12 Stanfield seniors who compiled a 30-14 career record and a 5-3 mark in the postseason. Salas emphasized following the game that those seniors are one of the best groups of kids he’s ever been around. “This group of seniors I love them to death and I’m going to miss them,” he said. “I told them next summer when I open the weight room and they’re not there, it’s going to be an odd feeling. We went through a lot together and I’m not sure if I’ll ever have a bond with a team like this again, not because I won’t care about my teams but because of what we went through ... we’re bonded for life now.” ———— SHS 0 7 0 7 — 14 RHS 14 13 20 7 — 53 Statistics PASSING — SHS: D. Grogan 7-19-3, 107. RHS (9-16, 173, 6 TD) Bry. Piete 8-15, 139, 5 TD; A. Wiltsey 1-1, 34, TD. RUSHING — SHS (32-116, 2 TD) D. Grogan 15-47, 2 TD; T. Monkus 9-52; M. Blankenship 3-6; J. Keeney 3-2; A. Renner 2-9. RHS (34-170, 2 TD) Bra. Piete 19-117, 2 TD; A. Pelayo 5-27; E. Gustin 2-17; A. Wiltsey 1-23. RECEIVING — SHS: B. Woods 5-75; T. Monkus 1-31; A. Renner 1-0. RHS — E. Gustin 7-136, 5 TD; B. Woodcock 1-34, TD; C. Gescher 1-3. PENALTIES — SHS: 7-68. RHS: 4-30.
