A10 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2017
SPORTS
Nike revamps Mustangs uniforms Bulldogs boys
Kilkenny family
brings latest
uniforms to
Heppner
By ERIC SINGER
STAFF WRITER
For more than two de-
cades, the Heppner Mus-
tangs football team has
been one of the best and
most consistent in Oregon.
Now in 2017, the Mus-
tangs might also be the
best dressed football team
in the state.
This week, the Mus-
tangs received brand new
top-of-the-line uniforms
from Nike thanks to a do-
nation by the family of
Robert Kilkenny, a long-
time Heppner resident and
Mustang football support-
er who passed away in
2016. Nike supplied Hep-
pner with four different
uniform sets and the team
also received four new
helmet colors that give the
team numerous combina-
tions to choose from each
Friday night.
“We couldn’t be more
honored to have the bril-
liant minds at Nike design
these uniforms for these
amazing,
hard-working
kids on our football team
in honor of our father and
our town,” said Kilkenny’s
daughter Kelly Hale in a
press release. “Dad loved
Heppner football — it was
about who we were as in-
dividuals coming together
as one for our community.
It’s what we did growing
up and it represented how
we lived our lives.”
Heppner coach and ath-
letic director Greg Grant
said on Wednesday he was
first contacted in April
about the uniforms and
asked if he was interested
and would accept, which
he was and he did.
“We’re humbled by
the fact that (the family)
would do this for us,” he
said. “We have to realize
that it won’t make us run
faster or jump higher but
it presents the kids with
gifts they’ll never forget
... My No. 1 goal was that
I never wanted the kids
to look around and wish
they’d played somewhere
else and this puts it over
the top.”
The jerseys are part of
Nike’s Vapor Untouch-
able template, which is
being used on the field
CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS
this fall by most NFL and
college football teams as
well. Grant recalled being
blown away when told of
this, because at the time
only the Oregon Ducks
and Clemson Tigers had
worn the Vapor Untouch-
able template, and now the
small rural school of Hep-
pner would be in the same
gear.
“Not many
schools get to
wear this nice of
stuff and we’re so
thankful for it.”
Coach Greg Grant
“I was like ‘My team
gets this?,” he recalled, be-
ing in awe. “And as a par-
ent I knew this was some-
thing that gets kids excited
and getting to watch the
kids reacting would be
special.”
Along with the tradi-
tional royal blue and white
jerseys with blue pants, the
Mustangs will now have a
gold jersey with blue num-
bers and a gray jersey with
blue numbers as well as
gray, white and gold pants.
Nike is also supplying
the team with the latest
cleats and gloves that cre-
ate an image of the up-
dated Mustang logo when
placed together.
On the helmets, the
Mustangs will also be
sporting one of two updat-
ed logos: the letter ‘H’ in-
side a circle branding iron
and an image of a Mustang
wrapping from side-to-
side on the helmets. The
‘H’ logo also appears on
the chest of the jerseys.
“We’re going to be the
envy of Oregon and maybe
the nation,” Grant joked.
“Not many schools get to
wear this nice of stuff and
we’re so thankful for it.”
The team will also wear
a decal on the back of the
helmets of a three-leafed
clover with the letters
‘BB’ inside it, honoring
“Bad Bob” Kilkenny and
his Irish roots.
“The Heppner football
uniform was a special
project for the Nike design
team to work on, meant
to honor Bob, his contri-
butions to the community
and the Kilkenny family,”
Nike Creative Director
Todd Van Horne said in
the release. “We look for-
ward to the Mustangs tak-
ing to the field in Nike’s
latest football innovation
and wish them all the suc-
cess during the upcoming
season.”
The Mustangs got their
first look at the uniforms
in person on Wednesday
night, and senior Beau
Wolters, whose favorite
combination is the gray-
on-blue, said he is so
thankful to have grown up
in a town that supports him
and his friends as much as
the town and people of
Heppner do.
“We are super fortunate
to have sponsors like we
do and to get brand-new
Nike gear,” he said. “We
had heard about them and
didn’t really know how
they were going to turn
out. I honestly love the
feel of the new jerseys,
they are nice and snug and
will fit very well on our
pads.
“I’m very excited to see
what’s in store.”
But as Grant pointed
out on Wednesday, the
Mustangs football team is
not the only ones affected,
as the other teams such as
volleyball, girls basketball
and cross country received
new uniforms and equip-
ment from Nike as well.
And as a school adminis-
trator as well as a parent
to athletes (Grant’s son,
Kellen, plays football and
his daughter, Sophie, is on
the volleyball team), Grant
feels blessed that the stu-
dent-athletes were treated
so well.
“Being able to just also
provide
opportunities
for all kids on all sports
was special,” Grant said.
“All kids in Heppner got
a new pair of shoes; not
one person had to buy
cross country shoes, or
volleyball shoes or foot-
ball cleats and that’s real-
ly special.”
The jerseys will be
unveiled to the public at
Heppner’s home opener
on Friday when the Mus-
tangs host St. Paul at Les
Payne Field. The Kilkenny
family will be on hand for
the game, and then will
join fellow supporters at
Bucknum’s Tavern follow-
ing the game.
Heppner wore the fa-
miliar all-royal blue look
for Friday’s game against
St. Paul and will always
wear white on the road, but
after that they’ll “see how
much fun we can have.”
“We’ll live it up and
enjoy the privilege we’ve
been given,” Grant said,
“and we’ll wear these with
pride and dignity.”
————
Contact Eric at esing-
er@eastoregonian.com or
541-966-0839.
PREP FOOTBALL
Umatilla, Echo win season openers
Few successes in
season-opening
games
By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ
STAFF WRITER
It was a busy week for
high schools across the
state. Not only did last week
bring the beginning of the
2017-18 academic year, but
football teams took the field
for the first time. However,
for the schools in Eastern
Oregon, it wasn’t the start
many hoped for.
HERMISTON
21,
UNION (WA) 35 — It was
a tough Friday night for
Hermiston. The Bulldogs
(0-1) were hoping to avenge
last year’s season-opening
loss to Union (WA), but
again their late efforts were
too little too late.
The Titans (1-0) took the
early lead, and by the half
had a two-score advantage.
Hermiston’s only first-half
score came from a one-yard
carry by junior quarterback
Andrew James. The Bull-
dogs remained scoreless
until the fourth quarter,
when they cut the deficit
and put up back-to-back
touchdowns.
The first was with 7:12
left on the clock. James
found senior wide receiv-
er Dayshawn Neal for
16-yards and then convert-
ed the two-point pass to fel-
low senior Joey Gutierrez.
Later, Neal once again
found the end zone with
barely any time left. The
three-yard touchdown pass
from James came in the fi-
nal 11 seconds of play.
Hermiston will have
a chance to bounce back
from this loss as it hosts
Lewiston (ID) for its home
opener Friday at 7 p.m.
UMATILLA
28,
UNION 15 — The Uma-
tilla Vikings didn’t have a
problem pulling out a win
on Friday. Under the bright
lights, the Vikings’ (1-0)
defense shined, and held off
a last ditch effort from the
Bobcats (0-1).
While the defense did its
part to help secure the win,
senior quarterback Kaden
Webb and the offense lit
up the scoreboard. Webb
finished the night complet-
ing 9-of-12 passes for 149
yards and four touchdowns.
He also racked up 13 yards
on five carries.
Webb was aided by ju-
nior running back Trent
Durfey, who tallied eight
carries for 37 yards and was
on the receiving end of five
completions for 101 yards.
All in all, he ended with a
team-high of two touch-
downs.
The Vikings will spend
another Friday on the road,
this time facing non-con-
ference opponent Rainier at
7 p.m.
AMITY 14, IRRIGON
0 — Irrigon’s efforts on de-
fense were not enough to
take down Amity at Hood
River on Friday, when the
Warriors (1-0) ground out
a shutout victory over the
Knights (0-1)
Amity scored on its first
possession of the game and
then again in the second
quarter. While the defense
was able to contain the
Warriors for the remainder
of the game, the Knights’
offense had trouble find-
ing the end zone due to its
youth and inexperience.
Statistics from the game
were not available. Irrigon
will host Pendleton junior
varsity on Thursday at 7
p.m.
ST. PAUL 40, HEP-
PNER 0 — Nothing went
Heppner’s way in front of
its home crowd on Friday.
The Mustangs (0-1) opened
their season with an ad-
vantage, and played host
to the St. Paul Buckaroos.
Equipped with brand new
uniforms from Nike, Hep-
pner certainly looked the
part but just didn’t play the
part.
The Buckaroos (1-0)
slowly built up their lead,
scoring only one touch-
down in the first quarter.
A 20-point quarter and
13-point quarter followed,
respectively, to leave Hep-
pner in the dust.
St. Paul kept the ball
moving, scoring in all but
one quarter. Heppner did
not have the same success.
Led by freshman quar-
terback Jayden Wilson,
the Mustangs only moved
120 yards the entire night
and Wilson threw for 70 of
those yards. Senior running
back Coby Dougherty led
Heppner in rushing with
38 yards on eight carries
and Beau Wolters added 35
yards on eight carries.
The Mustangs will now
have to rebound from this
loss and travel for their first
road game of the season
this week. Heppner will
face Grant Union on Friday
at 7 p.m.
ECHO 34, ARLING-
TON/CONDON 20 —
The Echo Cougars opened
the season with a win on
Thursday, Aug. 31, over
Arlington/Condon by a
score of 34 to 20. The Cou-
gars next travel to Ione to
play the Cardinals at 7 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 8.
soccer drop first
game of season
Hermiston’s first
loss comes at the
hands of the La
Grande Tigers
By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ
STAFF WRITER
The Hermiston boys
soccer team returned home
to a scorching Kennison
Field Friday afternoon af-
ter a brief one-game road
stint looking to add to its
hot start.
It entered the match
against La Grande 2-0 with
shutout victories to open
the season, but fell 1-0 in a
defensive battle.
From the first whistle,
La Grande maintained
control of the ball. The Ti-
gers gave up few posses-
sions early on and when
the ball was in their own
final third, the Bulldogs
couldn’t find the net. They
had enough chances, tak-
ing more than 10 shots
on goal, but saves by La
Grande’s junior goalkeep-
er Christian Waugaman or
shots too wide and too high
plagued the team.
“We just weren’t play-
ing at our pace, we weren’t
playing our game,” head
coach Rich Harshberger
said. “[The] first couple
of games we came out and
played our game and for
some reason tonight we
just couldn’t get it click-
ing. I’m not going to use
any kind of excuse, it’s just
a tough one.”
The lone goal came off
the head of junior mid-
fielder Aaron Corsini. Af-
ter a free kick near mid-
field went deep into the
box, Hermiston’s senior
goalkeeper Antonio Cam-
pos charged towards the
ball. Before Campos could
come close to it, Corsini’s
head already made contact
and the ball sailed into the
back of the net in the 16th
minute.
Despite the loss, the
Bulldogs have the oppor-
tunity to bounce back and
find their rhythm before
league play begins in late
September.
“This is a big test,”
Harshberger said. “We’ve
got a lot of season left and
so we can decide how the
rest of that season is going
to go based on this.”
According to Harsh-
berger, to bounce back
from the loss the boys
have to take a look at their
goals, which are to repeat
last season’s success and
make a strong run in the
post season. To do this, he
added, the Bulldogs can’t
dwell on Friday evening’s
performance.
“We’re going to get out
and if we’re going to go
down, we’re going to go
down playing our game
and the way we know
how,” Harshberger said.
———
Contact
Alexis
at
sports@hermistonherald.
com or 541-564-4542.
Follow her on Twitter at @
almansanarez.
PREP ROUNDUP
Irrigon tops Hermiston
junior varsity in volleyball
VOLLEYBALL
Stanfield falls to
Helix on Thursday
HELIX — Helix top-
pled both Stanfield and
Mac-Hi with 3-0 victories
in a tri-match on Thursday
night, giving the Grizzlies
five shutout victories on
the season.
Against Stanfield (0-1),
Helix (5-1) won 25-8, 25-
21, 25-15 and then beat
Mac-Hi 25-12, 25-15, 25-
15. Sadie Wilson had a
big night for the Grizzlies
with 14 combined kills and
seven serving aces picked
up against Mac-Hi (0-2).
Charmayne Bennett was
also a standout perform-
er from the serving line,
coach Dianna Melton said.
Helix competed without
senior hitter Kailey Mize,
who was out with an ankle
injury but libero Kyleen
Stahancyk was back and
that was a huge boost to
the Grizzlies, Melton add-
ed.
Helix now has a week
off until they host Riv-
erside on Thursday eve-
ning.
IRRIGON 3,
HERMISTON 1
IRRIGON — The
Knights remain unbeaten
in 2017 after beating the
Hermiston junior varsity
by a 3-1 score on Thursday
night.
Irrigon (3-0) took the
first set 25-8 and then
dropped the next set 25-16,
but finished off the Bull-
dogs 25-14 and 26-24.
“Our team battled, I am
very proud of the perfor-
mance of each and every
girl,” Irrigon coach Lisa
Connell said.
HEPPNER SWEEPS
TWICE IN DUFUR
DUFUR — The Hep-
pner Mustangs picked
up a pair of victories on
Tuesday afternoon, Aug.
29, sweeping both the Du-
fur Rangers and Vernonia
Loggers, 3-0 in Dufur.
Against the home Dufur
team, Heppner (3-2) won
25-12, 25-18, 25-12 and
then beat Vernonia 25-23,
25-16, 25-16. Stats were
not available for the Dufur
match, but against Verno-
nia it was Nicole Propheter
that led the Mustangs with
eight kills and Jacee Cur-
rin had five, while Sydney
Wilson led with 16 digs.
As a team, Heppner
was a stellar 94 percent
on its serves and Madison
Combe led the team with
seven aces.
“Everything
seemed
to fall into place today
for these girls,” Heppner
coach Mindy Wilson said.
“They continue to work on
the little things and are im-
proving daily.
GIRLS SOCCER
UMATILLA 3, MAC-HI 3
UMATILLA — Ce-
leste Rodriguez scored two
goals and Devina Monreal
added one more as their
Umatilla Vikings drew a
3-3 tie with the Mac-Hi
Pioneers on Tuesday after-
noon, Aug. 29.
“It was a fun match,”
Umatilla coach Tim Lee
said. “Our fitness level is
still on the upswing ... we
got tired early and Mac-Hi
battled back, but we still
saw some good things.”
Rodriguez and Monreal
traded goals as the Vikings
(0-1-1) took a 2-0 lead
early, but Mac-Hi (0-1-1)
scored two to tie the game
up before the half. The Pi-
oneers scored a go-head
goal out of the break, but
the Vikings tied the game
on Rodriguez’s second
of the game. Lee said the
Vikings had a few oppor-
tunities to take a lead, but
couldn’t finish the kicks.
“We’ll look at what we
did well,” Lee said. “It was
a step in the right direc-
tion.”