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About Hermiston herald. (Hermiston, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 2, 2019)
A10 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2019 HeraldSports Follow sports on Twitter @HHeraldSports DAWGS FALTER Staff photos by Ben Lonergan Hermiston running back Daniel Faaeteete (28) runs the ball during the fi rst half. The Walla Walla Blue Devils defeated the Hermiston Bulldogs 14-3 at Kennison Field in Hermiston Friday night. By ANNIE FOWLER STAFF WRITER Ugly might be too good of a word for what was seen at Ken- nison Field on Friday night. Hermiston hurt itself offen- sively and defensively with penalties (10 for 100 yards), and the offense sputtered on more than one occasion as the Bulldogs dropped a 14-3 Mid-Columbia Conference game to Walla Walla. “It’s disappointing and frus- trating,” said Hermiston coach David Faaeteete, whose team dropped to 0-4. “We seem to be making the same mistakes. They played well enough to beat us. Give them credit — they played with more heart than we did.” The Blue Devils, under fi rst-year coach Greg Lupfer, improved to 2-2 in MCC play. “Number one, we played really well defensively,” Lup- fer said. “We were faster on the D-line and that made a dif- ference. Offensively, we have to make more plays and quit jumping offsides.” Tied at 0-0 at the half, the Bulldogs came out, moved the ball down the fi eld, bolstered by a 19-yard run by Daniel Faae- Hermiston wide receiver Garrett Walchli (5) outruns a dive by Walla Walla’s Hunter Polley (4). teete, and a 13-yard pass play from Sam Schwirse to Trent Pitney. Once inside Wa-Hi ter- ritory, Hermiston could not get the ball over the goal line. The Bulldogs settled for a 22-yard fi eld goal from Trevor Wagner to get on the board with a 3-0 lead. Walla Walla took the lead on its ensuing possession, driving 62 yards on six plays, capped by a 1-yard TD run by quarter- back Ryan Martuscelli as the Blue Devils went out front 7-3. Hermiston quarterback Sam Schwirse lets out a pass during the fi rst half against the Blue Devils. Jakob Humphrey, who ran for 99 yards on the night, had 52 yards on three carries in the drive. Hermiston punted on its next possession, and Wa-Hi took over at its own 26. Martuscelli connected with Humphrey for 38 yards to put the ball at the Hermiston 19. Five plays later, Humphrey took off for a 6-yard touch- down run and a 14-3 lead with 9:05 left in the game. The Bulldogs had the last drive of the game, and got down inside the Blue Devils 30-yard line, but simply ran out of time. “We just couldn’t fi nish,” coach Faaeteete said. “We played well defensively, but they were too much for us at the end.” The Bulldogs managed 244 yards of offense on the night. Daniel Faaeteete ran for 66 yards, while Schwirse threw for 183. Wagner had six recep- tions for 77 yards, while Gar- rett Walchli had four for 42 yards. There were big plays in the fi rst half, but there were no points to be had for either side. Midway through the sec- ond quarter, Schwirse hit Wag- ner with a 33-yard pass to get Hermiston into Wa-Hi territory. Seven plays later, the Bull- dogs were on the Blue Dev- ils’ 19, but were out of downs. Wagner attempted a 36-yard fi eld goal, but the wind carried the ball past the right upright. Walla Walla’s Seamus Hall missed two fi eld goals in the fi rst half of 28 and 39 yards. “Our guys played hard for four quarters,” Lupfer said. “Can’t ask for more than that.” BOX SCORE Walla Walla 0 0 7 7 — 14 Hermiston 0 0 3 0 — 3 SCORING H — FG Trevor Wagner 22 W — Ryan Martuscelli 1 run (Seamus Hall kick) W — Jakob Humphrey 6 run (Hall kick) INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Passing – H, Sam Schwirse 22-27-1-183; WW, Martuscelli 12-22-0-203, Dylan Ashbeck 0-1-0-0-0. Rushing – H, Schwirse 15-(-5), Daniel Faaeteete 12-66, Garrett Walchli 1-10; WW, Humphrey 22-99-1, Martuscelli 3-1-1, Ryan Moore 5-8. Receiving – H, Garrett Walchli 4-42, Broc Rem- mer 2-25, Trent Pitney 4-35, Trevor Wagnor 6-77, Daniel Faaeteete 1-(-1); WW, Hunter Pol- ley 3-40, Dylan Ashbeck 5-103, Jakob Hum- phrey 2-40, Joe Terry 1-5, Anthony Parish 1-15. Dawgs head to Southridge in search of fi rst win Hermiston and Southridge each are 0-4 in the MCC By ANNIE FOWLER STAFF WRITER There was nary a soul left at Kennison Stadium on Friday night when Garrett Walchli came out in full gear and started running up and down the yard lines. From the goal line, he weaved his way up to the 5, to the 10 and so on until he reached the 50. He then made a loop from the 50-yard line to the 40. Over and over again. “I was angry, so I was work- ing off some steam,” said Wal- chli of the disappointment of los- ing a 14-3 game to Walla Walla that night. “I knew I could do better.” The Bulldogs (0-4) will have a chance to right the ship Thursday night when they travel to Lamp- HH fi le photo Southridge’s Ryan Strayrook spins through the line of scrimmage in the Suns’ 56-0 loss to the Bulldogs in Hermiston in 2018. son Stadium to take on the South- ridge Suns (0-4). One team will earn its fi rst win of the season. “It’s a whole new month,” Hermiston coach David Faaeteete said. “We have to get better. Last week, we did not play very well. Walla Walla is a lot better than they were last year. It was 0-0 at the half — we just didn’t fi nish the game.” Walchli, for one, is ready to put the past four games behind him and move on. “You have to look at the next week as a whole new week,” he said. “We are at the tip of the ice- berg — I think everyone is start- ing to get mad.” The Dawgs are averaging 249 yards a game. Of their 999 yards of offense, only 290 have come on the ground. Daniel Faaeteete has 225 of those yards. “We have got to be able to run the ball,” coach Faaeteete said. “(Daniel) tore his ACL last year and only played in three or four games (behind Wyatt Noland). With G (Guiomar Garay) hurt, we have limited weapons. We have to execute better and the line has to block.” Junior Sam Schwirse has played the past three games at quarterback after Chase Elliott broke his leg in the opening game against Pasco. Schwirse has thrown for 521 yards and three touchdowns, but poor decisions at times have halted the offense. “It’s just inexperience,” Faae- teete said. “Not enough reps. Plays are there to be made, we just have a lack of experience and depth.” The Suns have had their strug- gles, as well. Southridge has lost 16 con- secutive MCC games. The Suns’ last conference win was Sept. 29, 2017 — an 18-14 win over Walla Walla. That being said, Faaeteete is not taking them lightly. “They are athletic,” he said. “They have a tall receiving corps and their quarterback can extend plays with his feet. This will be huge for us. We need to establish the run game, if not, it will be a short season for us.”
