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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 15, 2017)
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2017 HERMISTONHERALD.COM • A9 Herald Sports Hermiston’s Tyler Rohrman and Eli Nafziger, of South Albany, battle for the ball during Friday’s playoff game at Kennison Field. TOUGH TEST AHEAD IN SEMIS Bulldogs take on No. 2 Willsonvile in Hillsboro By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ STAFF WRITER H ERMISTON — The Hermis- ton Bulldogs are hoping to pro- long their goodbye as long as possible. The football team extended its “OSAA Farewell Tour” another week with a 40-22 win Friday over South Albany, and will travel Sat- urday to Hillsboro to take on No. 2 Wilsonville. The No. 3 Bulldogs enter the semi- fi nals with a 9-2 record and an eight game winning streak. “It feels great but at the same time we still have to get through what we’re supposed to do, and make sure the kids are ready to go Saturday,” head coach David Faaeteete said. Hermiston is going up against one of its toughest opponents to date. Since their lone league loss on Sept. 15 against No. 1 Mountain View, the Bulldogs have been on a tear. In all but two of those wins the Bulldogs defeated their opponents by 20 or more points by peaking in the second quarter and scoring almost half of all their points in the second half. “They’ve got an opportunity to make a dream a reality,” Faaeteete said. “Everyone in the quarters and the semis are good football programs ... but our approach doesn’t change.” Repeating that steady perfor- mance, however, will be tough against Wilsonville. The Wildcats are coming off 31-7 win over Lebanon, the defend- ing Class 5A champions. The game was a rematch of last season’s fi nale when Lebanon defeated Wilsonville STAFF PHOTOS BY KATHY ANEY Hermiston’s Dayshawn Neal makes the catch in the endzone as Eli Nafziger, of South Albany, tries to defend during Friday’s playoff game at Kennison Field. 34-17 for the title. Wilsonville had its revenge and held the No. 10-seeded team to only one touchdown. That’s been a theme for the 10-1 team throughout the year, as they bounced back from a season-open- ing loss to South Medford, a Class 6A team with only one loss on the season. During that time, Wilsonville has shut out three opponents — two in back- to-back weeks — and allowed the fewest points (132) in the entire 5A class. The most any team has scored against the Wildcats is 21, which hap- pened in Round 1 of the playoffs during a 41-21 win over Bend. The defense is led by two upper- classmen at the line, senior Aiden Burkhead and junior Caleb Baker. The duo totals a mass of 475 pounds and leads the team with 46 and 45 total tackles, respectively. Burkhead also has a team-high seven sacks. “I don’t think we’ve seen anything similar to this football team,” Faae- teete said. “They’ve got a Divison-1 lineman, and a great quarterback. They’re defensive front seven is as good as they come.” Wilsonville’s success doesn’t just come from the line. A pair of line- backers, seniors Manav Raghubansh and Chance Hansen, sit in the heart of the defense and are good for 80 com- bined tackles while the secondary has also done their job and recorded six of the team’s 12 interceptions. “We have to be tenacious, we have to be physical and keep their offense off the fi eld as long as possible,” Faaeteete said. Last week, Hermiston quarterback Andrew James’ trust in the process led to one of his best games as of late. Even though he wasn’t the most accu- rate — completing 14-of-22 passes — he threw for over 200 yards and four touchdowns. It was Hermiston’s fourth consec- utive game scoring 40 or more points, and its sixth of the season. The high scoring affair was thanks to big plays on all three sides of the ball. Senior Dayshawn Neal that set up Hermiston’s fi rst scoring drive with 60-plus-yard kickoff return. Fellow seniors Jonathan Hinkle and Joey Gutierrez each had 80-plus-yard runs to the house, and the defense won the turnover game recovering four fum- bles and nabbing two interceptions. Faaeteete is hoping for a repeat of that performance when Wilsonville’s junior quarterback Nathan Overholt and his offense is on the fi eld. “(We have to) win the turnover takeaway battle,” he said. “Win fi rst downs and make second downs more manageable. At the end of the day the game of football comes down to hit- ting and tackling. We have to be ready to go.” The semifi nal contest will be held at a neutral site, Hillsboro Stadium, and kickoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Riverside brings state title back to Boardman By ALEXIS MANSANAREZ STAFF WRITER HILLSBORO — It was the rematch for the ages. The No. 1 Riverside Pirates pitted against the No. 2 Catlin Gabel Eagles, both teams undefeated with a tie on the books from earlier this month. On Saturday, the two schools met at Liberty High School in Hill- sboro for the Class 3A/2A/1A title, and the Pirates sunk the defending champion Eagles 4-1. “I’m shocked, about the score — that’s the only thing I’m shocked about is the score,” assis- tant coach Jose Duenas said. “We knew we had a really good team — we had the right pieces for the right team and everything worked out.” The victory didn’t come with- out some heart-stopping moments. To start, the Eagles (12-1-5) and Pirates (17-0-1) were trading attacks which put both goalies to work. Riverside’s freshman keeper Gerardo Lopez made two key back- to-back stops that easily could have given Catlin Gabel the lead. A shot from Armando Ramirez-Cardenas in the 17th min- utes found the net to give Riverside a 1-0 lead, with senior Kevin Mad- rigal on the assist. “We needed that (goal),” senior Jose Peralta said. “They were attacking well, but our goal set them back. ... We were expecting them to come in hard, and knew they wanted to defend their title.” Riverside opened the second half with goals on back-to-back possessions to push its lead to 3-0. The fi rst came off the foot of sophomore Ulyces Lopez after he beat three Catlin Gabel defenders. Lopez ended up a few feet away from the goal line before he turned and fi red to the inside post. “The keep was expecting it to go far post,” Lopez said, “and I trusted my gut and went near post, and it went in.” Peralta would send another one in on the ensuing attack after he beat the keeper and was charging toward an open goal, and senior Misael Madrigal scored on a pen- alty kick shortly afterward. Riverside brings its second title back to Boardman, and the fi rst under head coach Francisco Velazquez. “It’s my dream,” he said. “I had the state championship when I was the assistant coach and now I have my state championship as the head coach.” PHOTO COURTESY OF TODD VEENHUIS/THE OREGONIAN Riverside Pirate players celebrate with the 3A/2A/1A state championship trophy after defeating Catlin Gabel 4-1 on Saturday at Liberty High School in Hillsboro. EASTERN OREGON marketplace Place classified ads online at www.eastoregonmarketplace.com 104 Special Notices 110 Announcements CLASSIFIED LINE AD DEADLINES See local events at: easternoregonevents.com Hermiston Herald 10am Tuesday 1-800-962-2819 classifieds@eastoregonian.com 157 Events Lularoe Party November 11th 2017 10am-4pm Specialty Leggings Available 511 New Despain, Pendleton OR (541)969-2450 East Oregonian 3pm the day prior to publication Eastern Oregon Events 1-800-962-2819 WHATEVER YOU ARE looking for, don’t buy until you’ve checked the Classifieds! Looking for a new place to live? The classified ads offer a complete section of homes, apartments, and mobile homes to fit your needs. Check daily for new listings! 166 Good Things to Eat Davis Orchards Fruit Stand 9am-5pm Closed Saturday Apples: Gala, Golden & Red Delicious, Granny Smith, Fuji, Cameo, Brae- burn, Pink Lady; Bosc and D’Anjou Pears 53285 Appleton Road Milton Freewater, Oregon 541-938-7093 181 Lost & Found Vinnie Lost Dog GREATLY MISSED! Long haired dachshund/mix Lost in Boardman rest stop west bound. Could be anywhere! Please call (209)256-1444 184 Personals Contact Dayle or Grace at classifieds@eastoregonian.com 1-800-962-2819 to place your classified ad! Classified Ads work hard for you!