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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 31, 2018)
A10 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2018 Herald Sports Follow sports on Twitter @HHeraldSports Kamiakin outlasts Hermiston Dawgs ready for final game By ANNIE FOWLER STAFF WRITER The Hermiston Bull- dogs will wrap up their football season Friday, hosting Central Valley in a Mid-Columbia Con- ference-Greater Spokane League crossover game at Kennison Field. The Bulldogs (6-3) have a powerful offense led by running back Wyatt Noland (1,451 yards, 21 touchdowns) and quar- terback Andrew James, who has thrown for 1,273 yards and 14 touchdowns, and ran for 641 and 11 touchdowns. But as strong as their offense has been, the Bull- dogs have struggled defen- sively as the late. They are allowing 303 yards per game. Last week in a loss to Kamiakin, they gave up 275 yards and four touch- downs to Braves running back Tuna Altahir. The Bears (5-4), who finished third at the 4A state level last year fin- ished 2-3 in GSL play this fall. CV is led by 6-foot- 5, 220-pound quarterback Matt Gabbert, who threw for 227 yards against Lewis and Clark and 175 against Mt. Spokane. Hunter Chodorowski has been a threat out of the backfield. He ran for 175 and three touchdowns against Mt. Spokane, and for 137 yards against Fer- ris. Zack Jongeward also has been a threat, rolling up 197 yards against Lewis and Clark, and 116 against Ferris. Hermiston, finishing its first season in the Mid-Co- lumbia Conference, had many highlights, including a win over defending 4A state champion Richland. The Bulldogs beat four of the five 4A schools on their schedule, but losses to fel- low 3A schools Kenne- wick and Kamiakin kept them out of the playoffs. Noland was the MCC’s leading rusher and led the league in scoring with 140 points - 54 points bet- ter than Hanford’s Jared Devine. Jordan Ramirez was the league’s leading receiver with 37 catches for 491 yards. As a team, Hermis- ton had the second-best offense with an average of 394.9 yards per game. STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS Hermiston quarterback Andrew James looks to throw the ball in the Bulldogs’ 34-27 loss to Kamiakin on Friday in Hermiston. STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS Hermiston’s Wyatt Noland gets wrapped up by Kamiakin’s Benjamin Hollenberg and Blake Fabbri (33) in the Bulldogs’ 34-27 loss to the Braves on Friday in Hermiston. STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS Hermiston’s Garrett Walchli gets crushed by a host of Kamiakin defenders in the Bulldogs’ 34-27 loss to the Braves on Friday in Hermiston. Hermiston can’t connect in final minutes, loses heartbreaker By BRETT KANE and DANIEL WATTENBURGER HERMISTON HERALD The Bulldogs had the ball in their hands with a 7-point deficit, nearly the full field ahead of them and less than two minutes on the clock. Despite a valiant effort to score a game-tying touchdown, a trip to the Mid-Columbia Confer- ence playoffs eluded Hermiston on Friday night in a 34-27 loss to Kamiakin. “It hurts,” said coach David Faeteete after the game. “This was one of those tough ones. We had opportunities, but slipped. It was a mixture of things — they made big plays, and we missed some tackles. But that’s football.” Hermiston strung together a late drive that included two fourth- down conversions, but quarter- STAFF PHOTO BY E.J. HARRIS Hermiston’s Andrew James wrapped up Kamiakin quarterback Lucas Casilleja in the Bulldogs’ 34-27 loss to the Braves on Friday in Hermiston. back Andrew James and his receiv- ers couldn’t connect on the final four plays. Kamiakin took posses- sion after a fourth down pass fell short and sealed its own trip to the playoffs. Sophomore Tuna Altahir led the way for Kamiakin, running for 275 yards and four touchdowns. Hermiston opened the game with a long, plodding drive that included two third-down conver- sions, but settled for a 31-yard field goal by Juan Carlos Navarrete for a 3-0 lead. Kamiakin responded with a long drive of its own, but Hermiston’s Zane Davis broke up a would-be touchdown pass on fourth down to get possession back. Hermiston drove nearly the length of the field, and after two touchdowns were called back on penalties finally found the end zone on a short pass from Andrew James to Youboni Razon. Nava- rette split the uprights again to give Hermiston a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter. Kamiakin answered with a quick score on a rushing touch- down by Altahir, but Hermiston blocked the extra point to maintain a 10-6 lead. Hermiston’s next drive sput- tered around midfield, but a punt with a few fortunate bounces pushed Kamiakin back near its own goal line. After three plays, the Braves attempted a punt out of their own end zone but the punter bobbled the snap and the Bulldogs tackled him for a safety and a 12-6 lead. Altahir then scored a 44-yard touchdown and an extra point put the Braves up 13-12. Hermiston’s next drive ended abruptly when a See FOOTBALL, Page A11 PREP ROUNDUP Heppner beats Stanfield on way to playoffs HERMISTON HERALD STANFIELD — The Mus- tangs wrapped up league play on Friday with a 51-12 road win over Stanfield. Heppner held the Tigers score- less in the opening and closing quarters, and only allowed one touchdown each for the second and third for an overpowering victory. Jayden Wilson put 176 yards in the air and three touchdowns. Blake Wolters rushed for 181 yards and two touchdowns. Mason Lehman rushed for 107 yards and three touchdowns. The Mustangs (6-2, 3-0) fin- ished the season off at No. 8 in the 2A Special District 6 and will host Kennedy at 7 p.m. on Friday. Volleyball HANFORD 3, HERMIS- TON 0 — The Bulldogs volley- ball team suffered its second loss to Hanford on Thursday night. The road loss came in three sets — 25-23, 25-17, and 25-18. But it didn’t hinder Herm- iston’s chance at the play- offs — the Bulldogs (5-12, 4-10) are headed to Southridge High School to face Spokane’s North Central for a District 8 3A playoff match on Thursday. Boys Soccer UMATILLA 2, NYSSA 0 — A home shutout against Nyssa closed league play for the Umatilla Vikings on Saturday afternoon. Forward Alexis Ruiz put the team on the scoreboard in the first half, and midfielder Jose Alanis scored in the second to seal the victory. “It was a really tight game in the first half,” said coach Pedro Ortiz. “We improved a lot in the second — we had more shots- on-goal, had better passing, and found openings in their defense.” The Vikings (7-5-1, 5-2) trav- eled to play No. 1 Oregon Episco- pal on Tuesday. The results were not available at press time. Girls Soccer UMATILLA 1, NYSSA 0 — The Vikings closed out their sea- son with a home victory over Nyssa on Saturday. Junior forward Lizzy Burres led the team with Umatilla’s only goal, scoring during the first half of the game. “We possessed well and defended well, but got a little lazy in the second half,” said coach Tim Lee. “Overall, it was a pretty decent performance and a good way to end the season. Umatilla finished the year off with a 4-8 overall record and 2-3 in the 3A/2A/1A Special District 6.
