A10 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2018
Herald Sports
First fall season
going swimmingly
for Hermiston girls
Morfin has qualified in the
100 butterfly and the 200
freestyle.
Moving its swim sea-
Rounding out the
son from winter to fall group are junior Savan-
hasn’t been an issue for the nah Marsengill (100 but-
Hermiston High School terfly), and freshman twins
girls. The success in the Mattison Christensen (200
freestyle, 100 butterfly)
pool speaks for itself.
The Bulldogs,
and McKenna Chris-
under first-year
tensen (200 IM).
coach Sara Sar-
“I think they
gent, have seven
enjoy being separate
swimmers
who
from the boys (who
have reached dis-
swim in the winter
trict
qualifying
in the MCC),” Sar-
gent said. “It’s a con-
times just three
fidence booster, and
weeks into their Sharon
they are getting more
first season in the
individual time with
Mid-Columbia
coaching.”
Conference.
Sargent has 22
Sargent,
who
swimmers in her
grew up in Califor-
nia and swam in high
program,
with
school, took over the
sophomores Abby
swim program from
Sharon and Geor-
gia Stevens lead- Stevens
Kevin Hamblin.
ing the way.
“I had been inter-
Sharon eclipsed the dis- ested in being an assis-
trict mark in the 100 back- tant coach when I started
stroke by 17 seconds, and at the school district,” she
also earned a spots and said. “When the position
in the 100 butterfly, 100 opened up, I applied and
breaststroke, 200 individ- crossed my fingers.”
ual medley relay, and the
The move to the MCC
50 and 100 freestyle.
has come with a few chal-
Stevens has qualifying lenges, mainly the size of
times in the 100 breast- the teams they are com-
stroke, 100 butterfly, and peting against, and the fact
the 50, 200 and 500 free- the Bulldogs do not have
style events. Her 500 time any divers.
is 51 seconds faster than
“I did not know what I
the district standard.
was getting myself into,”
“Abby and Georgia are Sargent said. “I didn’t
definitely rock stars,” Sar- know if we would have
gent said. “I had no idea five girls or 40. We have
they were that good.”
a range of experience
While the pair has qual- from really good to not
ified in several events, a lot. They are willing to
they each will have to pick learn, which is all I ask. I
their top four for district.
would love to get a dive
Senior Aiya Hart has coach in the future. That
qualified in the 100 butter- is uncharted territory for
fly, while freshman Laly me.”
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DAWGS DOWN DEVILS
By ANNIE FOWLER
STAFF WRITER
Southridge comes to Hermiston
looking for first conference win
The
high-octane
offense and stingy
defense of the Hermis-
ton Bulldogs is likely
to pose problems for
the Southridge Suns,
who still are looking for
their first Mid-Colum-
bia Conference win.
The Suns (0-4), who
have been shut out three
times, average just 100
yards of offense per
game, while allowing
384 yards. The have
been outscored 165-6.
Southridge
has
minus-5 yards rush-
ing this season, and
has gone to two quar-
terbacks — Trent Slat-
ter and Brendan Beck-
with — but neither have
been able to put a spark
in the offense.
Hermiston, on the
other hand, loves to run
the ball. Senior Wyatt
Noland has a league
best 689 yards rushing
and nine touchdowns,
while versatile quar-
terback Andrew James
has run for 282 yards
and four touchdowns,
while throwing for
551 yards and six TDs.
Defensively, the Bull-
dogs have allowed an
average of 13.5 points
a game.
Fans likely will
see Southridge kicker
Natalie James, who
made her varsity debut
last week, on Friday.
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Hermiston’s Wyatt Noland gets tackled by Walla Walla’s Jerad McAlvey in the Bulldogs’ 42-7 win against the Blue Devils on
Friday in Walla Walla.
Noland powers
Hermiston to road
win
By ANNIE FOWLER
STAFF WRITER
Until someone finds a
way to stop Wyatt Noland,
the Hermiston Bulldogs will
continue to ride their senior
running back to victory.
Noland ran for 180 yards
and four touchdowns, and
caught another as the Bull-
dogs ran away with a 42-7
Mid-Columbia
Confer-
ence win over Walla Walla
on Friday night at Borleske
Stadium.
“It was a good team win,”
Hermiston coach David
Faaeteete said. “We just
wanted to play better than
we did last weekend, and we
did that.”
Noland, the MCC’s lead-
ing rusher, credited his
offensive line for opening
holes and holding off the
defense.
“I just wanted to come
out with a bang,” Noland
said. “The key is to run hard
every time. I couldn’t have
done it without my line.”
The win soothed the Bull-
dogs after losing a 26-25
heartbreaker to Kennewick
last week.
“We had the mindset we
had to bounce back and show
what we have,” Noland said.
Hermiston led 22-7 at
the half, but it was far from
done.
After a scoreless third
quarter, the Bulldogs hung
20 points on the board in
the fourth. Noland caught
a 6-yard touchdown from
Andrew James, then ran for
a 2-yard score 3 minutes
later for a 36-7 lead.
James finished the scor-
ing with a 15-yard scamper
with 2:56 left in the game.
The touchdown was set
up by a Guiomar Garay
interception that put the ball
at the Walla Walla 20.
James ran for 61 yards
and threw for 185.
It was not the game Walla
Walla’s Patrick Utschinski
had hoped for.
“We couldn’t wrap up on
D,” said Utschinski, who
verbally committed to Wash-
ington State last week. “We
couldn’t run the ball. You
have to be able to fall back on
fundamentals, and we didn’t
do that tonight. (Noland) is a
good player and they are dis-
ciplined up front. It’s hard to
have a complete game when
you play in spurts.”
The Bulldogs needed
just two plays on their first
series of the game to find the
end zone, as Noland burst
through the line and outran
the defense for a 48-yard
touchdown.
The snap on the PAT
went over kicker Juan Car-
los Navarrete’s head, but he
grabbed the ball and threw
a conversion pass to Ryan
Arnold for an 8-0 lead just
3:10 into the game.
“That surprised the crap
STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS
Hermiston’s Cody Wizner grabs Walla Walla quarterback
Ryan Martuscelli as lineman attempts to assist in the
Bulldogs’ 42-7 win against the Blue Devils on Friday in Walla
Walla.
out of me,” Faaeteete said.
After a Wa-Hi punt on its
ensuing possession, Hermis-
ton went back to work.
Back-to-back
penal-
ties, including an inten-
tional grounding by Andrew
James, put the Bulldogs
on the Walla Walla 46. On
third down, James hit Jordan
Ramirez with a 41-yard pass
to put the ball on the 5-yard
line.
From there, Noland
bulled his way into the end
zone and a 15-0 Hermiston
lead that would stand at the
end of the first.
Walla Walla got on the
scoreboard 1:23 into the
second quarter as Jared
McAlvey hauled in a 13-yard
touchdown pass from Ryan
Martuscelli.
It look like a game for a
brief second, but a 36-yard
run by Noland, and a James-
to-Noland 16-yard pass play
put the ball on the Blue Dev-
ils’ 5-yardline. Two plays
later, Noland took the ball in
from the 3 for a 22-7 lead.
The lead held until the
half.
Hermiston
15
7
0 20 - 42
Walla Walla
0
7
0
0 - 7
First quarter
H - Wyatt Noland 48 run (Ryan Arnold
pass from Juan Carlos Navarrete)
H - Noland 5 run (Navarrete kick)
Second quarter
W - Jared McAlvey 13 pass from Ryan
Martuscelli (Seamus Hall kick)
H - Noland 3 run (Navarrete kick)
Fourth quarter
H - Noland 6 pass from James (Navarrete
kick)
H - Noland 2 run (Navarrete kick)
H - James 15 run (kick failed)
Statistics
Passing – HHS, Andrew James 10-21-1-
185; WWHS, Ryan Martuscelli 14-26-2-
119-1.
Rushing – HHS, Wyatt Noland 26-180,
Andrew James 15-61, Guiomar Garay 1-5,
Derrick McBride 2-5; WWHS, Josiah Wik
13-75, James Moore 1-1, Adan Escobar
2-(-5), Ryan Martuscelli 6-(-28), Anthony
Parish 1-(-1).
Receiving – HHS Jordan Ramirez 1-41,
Youbani Razon 3-49, Ryan Arnold 1-2,
Trevor Waggner 2-2, Wyatt Noland 1-6, Trent
Pitney 2-54, Chase Bartley 1-10; WWHS,
Dylan Ashbeck 2-19, Jared AcAlvey 9-92,
Anthony Parish 3-8.
Tiebreaker breaks Bulldogs’ chances
By BRETT KANE
STAFF WRITER
Hermiston and Clarkston
proved to be evenly matched
in their nonleague match on
Saturday afternoon at Ken-
nison Field in Hermiston.
Both girls soccer teams
held each other off and kept
their goals safe until the
clock ran out, ending regula-
tion in a 0-0 tie.
Clarkston (3-2, 1-2) won
an equally intense shootout,
4-2, to take the win over the
Bulldogs (0-8, 0-6 MCC)
Hermiston’s
Sydney
Seavert and Elsa Torres took
several shots on goal in the
first half, missing wide.
Clarkston midfielder Cort-
ney Bogar fired a high-fly-
ing kick toward Hermiston
goalie Lanie Gomez, but
Gomez was quick to dive in
the ball’s path.
The second half was
brutal. Bulldog midfielder
Jayden Ray went for a
header after a kick from
Clarkston center-back Tay-
lor Bogle and was injured.
She was then taken out of
the game. And that wasn’t
the only head injury: Bogar
and Hermiston midfielder
Cyndey Lind collided in an
attempt to possess the ball
after a free throw, and both
were taken out of the game.
The Lady Bulldogs were
already down two key play-
ers going into the game —
defenders Giselle Cisneros
and Maralyne Pacheco were
both absent from the field
on Saturday. Cisneros hurt
her ankle during Thursday’s
game against Walla Walla,
and Pacheco bruised her foot
during a recent practice.
“Ray is one of our key
center-mids, and Syd is one
of our captains,” said Herm-
iston coach Freddy Guizar.
“That kind of blow really
took a toll on our team.”
When regulation ended,
both teams returned to the
field to face off in a “golden
goal” overtime — the first
team to score a goal in the
allotted five minutes would
win. It’s a different format
than OSAA, where games
can end in a tie.
But those five minutes
came and went, as did a sec-
ond five-minute overtime. To
declare a victor once and for
all, it was time for a shootout
— both teams lined up along
the 50-yard line and watched
as individual players each
took a shot at a 10-yard goal.
Hermiston midfielders
Lana Torres and Jizelle Gon-
zalez both found the net for
the Bulldogs, but thanks to
Clarkston center-backs Lau-
ren Johnson and Mackayla
McCabe, and midfielders
Luella Skinner and Jenna
Allen, the Bantams came
out on top, handing Herm-
iston their eighth loss of the
season.
“It was something differ-
ent that we’re not used to,”
Guizar said of the tiebreaker
round. “The pressure’s
really on, and you can’t rec-
reate that in practice. It’s
nerve-racking, especially for
Lanie. It was a great game
for her — they didn’t have
many shots on us, and she
blocked most of them.”
Hermiston is now 0-8
overall and 0-7 for the dis-
trict. They’ll host Hanford
on Tuesday — the team that
beat them in their season
opener.
“These girls are a fam-
ily, no matter what,” Guizar
said. “I always tell them,
‘Those are your sisters out
there.’ They’ll get each other
back up and ready to face
Hanford again.”
STAFF PHOTO BY BRETT KANE
Hermiston’s Jayden Ray rushes to steal the ball from
Clarkston’s Lauren Johnson on Saturday afternoon at
Kennison Field.