WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2017
HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A11
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HERMISTON AT PENDLETON | FRIDAY, 7 P.M.
AFTER DOMINANT WIN AT HOME,
BULLDOGS SET SIGHTS ON RIVALRY
Bulldogs prepare to face
the Buckaroos for what
could be the final time
with no time left on the clock.
All sides of the ball were clicking,
and that continued well into the sec-
ond half with some No. 2 and 3’s in.
Senior Garron Anderson would be the
last Bulldog to score. His 6-yard run
put the nail in the coffin and secured
Hermiston’s 48-point victory.
By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ
STAFF WRITER
Next up: The big game
H
ERMISTON — This year’s
matchup between Hermiston
and Pendleton is shaping up to
be one of the best yet, which
is fitting seeing that the two
teams will end their 95-year rivalry
Friday. At least for the near future.
With Hermiston’s move to the
WIAA next year, it’s highly unlikely
the Bulldogs (6-2 overall, 5-1 Spe-
cial District 1) will have time in their
schedule to extend the War on 84,
making this week’s game all the more
exciting.
The regular season finale for both
teams has also gained national recog-
nition as the Great American Rivalry
Series announced Monday that the
contest will be featured in the Series’
11th weekend of the 2017 season.
With bragging rights and a playoff
berth already on the line, the winning
team will also claim the Great Ameri-
can Rivalry Series Champions trophy.
Both teams are coming off big
wins, as Pendleton defeated Bend on
the road 39-20 and Hermiston cel-
ebrated its seniors with a dominant
victory in the Bulldogs’ regular sea-
son home finale.
The 62-14 win over Redmond
was a salute to the solid season of the
Class of 2018. Senior Joey Gutierrez
was one of five Bulldogs to score,
and his two-yard rush put Hermiston
up 55-7 half way through the third
quarter. By that point the Bulldogs’
fate was sealed behind a commanding
first half.
Junior Youbani Razon opened the
game with a 82-yard punt return, and
put fellow junior Andrew James and
the rest of Hermiston’s offense in the
red zone for their first drive. Seconds
later senior Jonathan Hinkle ran eight
yards to the end zone to give Hermis-
ton an early 7-0 lead.
The Bulldogs put one more
touchdown on the board — anoth-
er short eight-yard rush from senior
Dayshawn Neal — before breaking
through in the second quarter.
Hermiston scored in rapid fire be-
fore halftime — three touchdowns in
a five-minute span and two more just
two minutes apart.
Hermiston’s defense had one of its
better outings, and held the Panthers
to only 180 yards on the ground, and
31 in the air — its fewest allowed of
the season. The last time the Bulldogs
allowed fewer yards on the ground
was the 34-14 win over Summit
(where the Storm was held to 64 rush-
ing yards).
The Bulldogs only allowed two
scores, both from Redmond senior
Jack Taylor off a 78-yard run in the
second quarter and another run for 49
yards in the third.
STAFF PHOTOS BY E.J. HARRIS
Hermiston’s Jonathan Hinkle rushes the ball chased by Redmond’s Cooper
Browning in the Bulldogs’ 62-14 win against the Panthers on Friday in Hermiston.
Hermiston defenders Cole Campbell (81), Tayler Arnold, and Keaton Mikami wrap up
Redmond’s Jack Taylor in the Bulldogs’ 62-14 win against the Panthers on Friday.
Redmond’s second quarter score
was sandwiched in between five
Hermiston touchdowns. A 39-yard
connection from James to senior
Luke Walchli started things off. Neal
and Hinkle took care of the rest. Both
of Hinkle’s touchdowns in the sec-
ond quarter were on the ground — a
36-yard rush followed by a 12-yard
run — and Neal would once again be
James’ favorite target and bring home
a 39-yarder and a 16-yard reception
With the Bulldogs fresh off their
biggest win, they will head 30 miles
up the highway with the hopes of
sealing their postseason fate.
“I just think we’re ready,” Guti-
errez said after Friday’s win. “We’re
excited, even more excited after this.”
Defeating the Buckaroos (5-3, 4-2)
will be no easy task as their postsea-
son hopes are also riding on a win
Friday night. Pendleton is having
one of its better seasons since its last
playoff berth in 2014, winning four
of its last five games. Its only hiccup
during that stretch was against Moun-
tain View at the beginning of October,
which seemed to have lit a fire under
the Bucks as they have gone on to de-
feat their last two opponents 71-26.
Leading their efforts is senior
quarterback Nick Bower. Bower has
completed 64 percent of his passes for
a total of 1,563 yards and 19 touch-
downs. But he’s thrown seven inter-
ceptions, and can’t afford any more
turnovers against a Hermiston defense
that is known for big plays and catch-
ing quarterbacks off guard. The Bull-
dogs have picked off quarterbacks 10
times this season, and set up a number
of Hermiston’s scoring drives.
Hermiston’s defense continues to
progress and seems to clean up mis-
takes one game at a time. Bower and
Pendleton’s offense, which has many
play makers of its own, have been
able to control the pace of play and
most recently ate up almost 30 of the
48 minutes against Bend.
One of the Bulldogs biggest strug-
gles this season has been stopping
the run. Between Bower and juniors
Shawn Yeager and Aiden Patterson,
Hermiston’s defensive line will be
tested once again.
Although Bower isn’t as much of
a dual threat as James, he isn’t afraid
to leave the pocket and pick up yards
when necessary. Bower has 71 carries
for 235 yards and five touchdowns,
while Yeager and Patterson combined
for over 650 yards and eight rushing
touchdowns.
A key for Hermiston on Friday will
be to finish plays on defense, which is
one of the main reasons the Bulldogs
have given up so many yards on the
ground.
“We had a couple lapses,” head
coach David Faaeteete said of Herm-
iston’s defense performance last
week. “We had guys wrapped up, but
didn’t finish tackles. We have to get
those things fixed.”
The outcome of the game will de-
pend on which team is able to clean
up its mistakes, and for Hermiston
that means a near perfect perfor-
mance to keep its five-game winning
streak alive.
PREP ROUNDUP
Local runners compete in last meet before districts
BY HERMISTON HERALD
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Hermiston’s Amanda Nygard crests the top of a hill while competing in the
Kyle Burnside Wildhorse Invite on Thursday in Mission.
The Hermiston girls made the
podium against stiff competi-
tion Thursday at the Kyle Burn-
side Memorial Wildhorse Cross
Country Invite in Mission.
More than 200 runners from
15 high schools across Eastern
and Central Oregon gathered at
Wildhorse Resort Golf Course
for the annual race. The girls
took third, while the boys fin-
ished fourth.
Union sat atop the leaderboard
in the boys standings with 36
points, followed by Hood Riv-
er Valley (65), The Dalles (79),
Hermiston (145) and Baker (157)
to round out the Top 5.
On the girls side, The Dalles
(66) was first followed by Hood
River Valley (66), Hermiston
(68), Enterprise (72) and Union
(123).
Individually, Union’s Alex
Graffunder (15:35.0) and Tim
Stevens (15:40.2) blew away
the field in the boys competition
to take the top two spots with a
45-second cushion. Heppner’s
Hunter Nichols finished third at
16:25.8 and Hermiston’s Isaac
Sanchez was fourth with a time
of 16:32.1.
For the girls, Hood River’s
Josephine Dickinson (19:27.3)
and Frances Dickinson (19:33.3)
earned the top two spots with
Hermiston freshman Amanda
Nygard finishing in fourth with a
time of 19:47.8.
————
HERMISTON — (BOYS) 4. Isaac Sanchez, 16:32.1;
22. Gregory Anderson, 17:33.4; 36. Emanuel Ibarra,
18:02.5. (GIRLS) 4. Amanda Nygard, 19:47.8; 8. Mela-
ny Solorio, 20:08.8; 17. Julianna Joyce, 20:47.0.
STANFIELD — (BOYS) Sisay Hurty, 17:11.8; 33.
Elias Esquivel, 17:59.4; 65. Garrett Wiggins, 19:29.1.
(GIRLS) 36. Izabella Garcia, 21:59.8; 55. Chelsy
Lemmon, 23:01.7; 59. Valerie Martin, 23:24.4.
HEPPNER — (BOYS) 3. Hunter Nichols, 16:25.8;
30. Hayden Qualls, 17:52.5; 59. Leo Waite, 19:10.1.
(GIRLS) 14. Madelyn Nichols, 20:39.5; 28. Mackenzie
Heideman, 21:24.7; 82. Hannah Palmer, 26:07.2.
RIVERSIDE/IRRIGON — (BOYS) 108. Andrew Bark-
er, 21:14.7; 116. Brian Franco, 21:46.3; 118. Connor
Graham, 21:47.4; 129. Darnell Woods, 25:21.7.
UMATILLA — (BOYS) 23. Zayne Troeger, 17:35.4;
96. Trevor Reiner, 20:33.3; 117. Alex Ibarra, 21:46.7.
(GIRLS) 54. Abigail Cardenas, 22:59.0; 57. Jacqualine
Brown, 23:14.7; 72. Cecilia Cardenas, 24:40.2.
Boys Team Results
1. Union, 36; 2. Hood River, 65; 3. The Dalles, 79; 4.
Hermiston, 145; 5. Baker, 157; 6. La Grande, 191; 7.
Stanfield, 221; 7. Ontario, 221; 9. Heppner, 230; 10.
Enterprise, 252; 11. Pendleton, 277; 12. Nyssa, 300;
13. Helix, 348; 14. Elgin, 353; 15. Mac-Hi, 410.
Women’s Team Results
1. The Dalles, 66; 1. Hood River, 66; 3. Hermiston,
68; 4. Enterprise, 72; 5. Union, 123; 6. La Grande,
155; 7. Pendleton, 193; 8. Helix, 208; 9. Baker, 218;
10. Stanfield, 256.
Echo earns playoff spot at
league tourney
In the Old Oregon League
volleyball district tournament on
Saturday in La Grande, Joseph
may have emerged as the district
champions, but Echo and Helix
both locked up postseason spots
as well with upset victories.
The Cougars and Grizzles both
beat the No. 1 seed Powder Val-
ley Badgers to clinch the final two
playoff spots in the district. Echo,
coming in as the No. 3 seed, swept
Powder Valley 25-21-25-19, 25-
See ROUNDUP, A12