A10 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2017
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Dawgs have
home-field
advantage
in Round 1
DAWGS WIN FINAL GAME IN WAR ON 84
Hermiston landed
No. 3 seed entering
playoffs, host La Salle
By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ
STAFF WRITER
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Official Tom Humphreys throws the coin during the opening coin toss of Hermiston’s 42-15 win against Pendleton on Friday in Pendleton.
Hermiston ends regular season on six-game winning streak
By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ
STAFF WRITER
P
endleton and Hermiston met for
the final time — at least for a
while — Friday at the Round-Up
Grounds for the last game of the
regular season. Hermiston made
it a going away party to remember.
Hermiston’s 42-15 blow to Pendle-
ton on its home turf gave the Bulldogs
(7-2, 6-1) the final bragging rights in
the 95-year rivalry.
“I’m super elated,” head coach Da-
vid Faaeteete said. “The guys came out
and competed and did what they had to
do to get a win. Even when Pendleton
tried to make it interesting, we respond-
ed and kept responding. Defense came
away with some big plays. ... They took
the best shots and they marched back
and it was just fun to watch and great to
be a part of.”
Hermiston drew first blood, and put
its first touchdown on the board just two
minutes into the game. Quarterback An-
drew James found Dayshawn Neal for
19 yards, and gave the Bulldogs their
first lead. The score was Neal’s only
catch of the night, but the heavy cover-
age down the field on Hermiston’s top
target did not slow down the offense.
James would take matters into his own
hands and run in a 76-yard touchdown
that put Hermiston up 14-0 going into
the second quarter.
“As an offensive coordinator, you
just take what’s there and they’re tri-
pling Dayshawn,” Faaeteete said. “So,
it was just establishing the run game. ...
Hermiston’s Joey Gutierrez rushes
upfield in the Bulldogs’ 42-15 win against
Pendleton on Fruday in Pendleton.
All of those guys that get to touch the
rock just commit to the run game, and
we can throw it when we need to.”
As it turns out, Hermiston wouldn’t
need to throw that often. James finished
the night 4-for-8 for 142 yards and
three touchdowns.
The Bulldogs ate up the first 12 min-
utes as Pendleton struggled to get any-
thing going. Keaton Mikami played a
big role in that, and sacked Pendleton
quarterback Nick Bower twice, while
Jonathon Hinkle wrapped Bower up to
force one of many Pendleton three-and-
outs just a few plays later.
“He played great tonight,” Faaeteete
said of Mikami’s performance. “He got
off that block and contained the passer
and made some great hits on the quar-
terback. It was just good.”
There was plenty that was just good
on Friday night.
James went on to rush 191 yards and
two touchdowns. Hinkle had 15 carries
for 141 yards and one touchdown.
“There was good play calling all
night, and just players making big
plays,” James said after the win and
earning the Great American Rivalry
Series MVP.
Senior Joey Gutierrez got in on the
action and took a short pass from James
and ran it over 70 yards to put the Bull-
dogs up 29-15 going into the fourth
quarter.
The Bulldogs wore down the Buck-
aroos defense and racked up 505 total
offensive yards — 363 on the ground
and 142 in the air.
The Bucks were able to take advan-
tage of the few mistakes Hermiston
made, and worked their way 68 yards
— with the help of a well executed fake
punt — into the end zone for a score.
Cam Sandford’s three-yard touchdown
reception kept the game close for the
next quarter and a half.
After Gutierrez’s touchdown pass
put the game back in Hermiston’s fa-
vor, he came back on defense to make a
game-changing interception.
From there Hermiston ran away with
the game. Hinkle ran in his lone rush-
ing touchdown — 24 yards on a third
down. James sprinted 54 yards down
the field to extend the Bulldogs’ lead
into the game-ending score of 42-15. It
was the cherry on top of Hermiston’s
OSAA farewell tour as it prepares to
join the WIAA next fall.
ROUNDUP
Heppner sweeps its way through round 1
HERMISTON HERALD
REEDSPORT — The
Heppner Mustangs entered
the first round of the 2A
volleyball playoffs after a
not-so-hot performance in
the Columbia Basin Con-
ference district tournament.
But Heppner didn’t sweat it,
and went to town against the
Reedsport Braves.
The Mustangs (19-8) won
in straight sets (27-25, 25-
21, 25-20) on the road.
“I am very proud of my
team,” head coach Mindy
Wilson said. “They had to
make some adjustments,
which is to be expected.
The gym was loud and they
had to figure out how to be
loud too. Them being able to
overcome all those little ob-
stacles, shows the growth of
this team.”
Heppner will play Cul-
ver on Friday at Ridgeview
High School in Redmond
in the state tournament. The
match will begin at 8 a.m. on
Court 1. The Mustangs will
get a chance to redeem them-
selves against the Bulldogs,
who delivered the sweep in
the CBC district tournament.
COUNTY CHRISTIAN
3, ECHO 0 — Echo was
ready for Round 1 of the
1A state championship after
a big 3-0 victory at home
Wednesday. But the tables
turned when the Cougars
went to visit County Chris-
tian.
Echo was handed the
same fate it delivered just
three days ago, and fell in
three straight sets (25-13, 25-
16, 25-17).
County Christian will
play North Clackamas Chris-
tian/South Wasco County on
Nov. 3 at Ridgeview High
School in Redmond. The
match will begin on Court 2
at 3:15 p.m.
BOYS SOCCER
RIVERSIDE 1, CATLIN
GABEL 1 — The Riverside
Pirates still have yet to be de-
feated this season, but their
perfect record was tarnished
Saturday after a 2-2 draw
against No. 3-ranked Catlin
Gabel.
Riverside still holds on to
the No. 1 ranking, and will
host Creswell in the first
round of the 3A/2A/1A boys
soccer playoffs on Wednes-
day at 5 p.m.
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Echo’s Marti Huff goes up to block a shot from
Jordon Valley’s Regann Skinner in the Cougars’
3-0 win against the Mustangs on Wednesday in
Echo.
After a long nine weeks, the
Hermiston football team will
begin its run at a last chance
for an Oregon state title.
The Bulldogs ended the sea-
son on a hot streak, winning six
in a row to claim a 7-2 record.
Last week’s win over Pend-
leton highlighted the progress
they have made over the sea-
son, and after the math worked
out in Hermiston’s favor, the
experienced group was seeded
higher than it expected.
“We’re excited about that,”
head coach David Faaeteete
said. “They are jumping at the
bit. We’re excited, but being
a three seed team also comes
with challenges. You can’t
overlook any opponents, be-
cause every team in the play-
offs is a good team and every
team has a winning record.”
Hermiston will have home-
field advantage in Round 1 of
the playoffs Friday when it
hosts the La Salle Falcons at 7
p.m.
La Salle is going to make
the three-hour trip fresh off a
loss last week. The Falcons
(5-4) were bested by Wilson-
ville 44-20 after allowing five
touchdowns on the ground.
The loss, however, is not indic-
ative of La Salle’s season.
“They are an athletic foot-
ball team that is very balanced
in their offensive attack,”
Faaeteete said after studying
film on the Falcons. “But we
match up pretty well across the
board. They have got quite a
few guys that are bigger than
our guys, but that’s the story of
the season.”
The Falcons’ defensive ef-
forts have been led by a trio of
seniors, linemen Tony Huynh
and Ben Wease and linebacker
Chris Bianca, whose combined
mass is 650 pounds. They have
given up 203 points on the sea-
son, one of the lowest totals of
any No. 3 seeded team in Class
5A — only Pendleton has giv-
en up fewer (168).
Their efforts propelled La
Salle to a blowout victory in
Week 7 when they defeated St.
Helens 45-6, and played a big
role in two back-to-back wins
in Weeks 3-4 — including a
41-31 comeback victory over
Hillsboro in which the Spar-
tans were held scoreless in the
second half.
But shutting out Hermiston
will be no easy task. The Bull-
dogs pack an offensive punch
that has led to four wins by 25
points or more and have scored
in 27 of 36 quarters this sea-
son.
With quarterback Andrew
James at the helm, La Salle
cannot leave a single stone un-
turned when preparing for this
week’s match up.
James is good for 1,608
yards in the air and a whop-
ping 874 on the ground. His
ability to scramble, bob and
weave through defenders has
extending the minutes Herm-
iston’s offense is on the field.
And even when they aren’t, the
defense is just as potent.
La Salle senior Justin Ow-
ens and junior Ethan Edgerly
have traded starts at quarter-
back, and have both relied on
senior receiver Tae Brooks.
Brooks is to La Salle’s offense
what Dayshawn Neal is to
Hermiston’s, and the scoring
charge in the wins over Put-
nam, Hillsboro, and St. Helens
— recording a punt return of a
touchdown against Putnam and
turned his only two receptions
into scores against St. Helens.
But with a Hermiston de-
fense that has 12 interceptions
of the course of the regular
season led by Gutierrez’s five,
La Salle’s pass game will have
to be sharp to beat the Dawgs.