A10 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2019
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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.”