A10 • HERMISTONHERALD.COM
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2019
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Hermiston has 5 earn MCC cross-country honors
By ANNIE FOWLER
STAFF WRITER
Hermiston junior Amanda
Nygard was named to the Mid-Co-
lumbia Conference cross-country
fi rst team, while teammate Cydney
Sanchez was named to the honor-
able mention team.
Runners must compete in both
MCC regular-season meets to be
considered for the fi rst and second
teams. Sanchez did not run in the
fi rst race because of an injury.
Sanchez, a sophomore, who
placed 30th at the 3A state meet last
month, ran a personal best 19 min-
Geraldine Correa of
Kennewick, and Natalie
Ruzauskas of Richland
were named Runners of
the Year, while Kenne-
wick’s Josh Eerkes was
named Coach of the Year.
Nygard
Sanchez
Anderson
Sanchez and Nygard
will return next season,
utes, 19 seconds at the MCC/GSL along with the rest of the girls team.
District 8 Championships, placing
“We are not losing anyone,”
seventh.
Hermiston coach Troy Blackburn
Nygard, who was 55th at the 3A said. “We will have another solid
state meet, had a personal best of year of training, and good fresh-
19:29.3 on Sept. 21 at the Brooks men coming in. We talked about
Fort Steilacoom Invitational.
the future, and they are super
Ella Nelson of Walla Walla, focused.”
On the boys team, Hermiston
senior Greg Anderson was named
to the second team, while soph-
omores Logan Springstead and
Jackson Shaver were named to the
honorable mention team.
“I was excited for Logan and
Jackson, who snuck in there,”
Blackburn said. “It was well
deserved; they worked hard.”
Anderson turned in a personal
best of 16:44.9 at the Oregon City
Invitational. He fi nished 29th at the
MCC/GSL District 8 Champion-
ships, missing out on a trip to state.
“Greg has complained that if he
was in our old league, he would
have qualifi ed for state, and maybe
our team,” Blackburn said. “The
MCC is harder, but our kids are
getting faster.”
Springstead’s PR this season
was 17:34.4 at the Oregon City
Invitational, while Shaver had a
17:21 at the MCC/GSL District 8
Championships, placing 31st.
Kamiakin senior Stanford Smith
and sophomore Isaac Teeples
were named Runners of the Year,
while Kamiakin’s Matt Rexus was
named Coach of the Year.
Teeples won the 3A state indi-
vidual title, and the Braves won the
team title.
Former Dawgs help C of I
to perfect season, playoff s
to play.
“People don’t give NAIA or D-II or
D-III much of a look,” Clark-Gammell
said. “We have guys who can play.
People don’t give us much credit. A
lot of guys fall through the cracks, and
they end up here.”
By ANNIE FOWLER
STAFF WRITER
If you would have told Keegan
Crafton fi ve years ago that he’d be
playing college football at this point
in his life, he’d have laughed you right
off the basketball court.
The 6-foot-5 Crafton was a standout
basketball player and golfer for Herm-
iston High School, but only played
football his senior year when the Bull-
dogs won the 2014 state title.
Now, Crafton and former Hermis-
ton teammate Landon Clark-Gammell
are seniors at College of Idaho, and
have helped the Yotes to a 10-0 record,
the Frontier Confer-
ence title, and a spot in
the NAIA playoffs.
“It’s like the same
exact team,” Crafton
said of comparing the
2014 Hermiston team
to College of Idaho.
Crafton
“It’s crazy how similar
the feeling is. I’ll never
forget this my whole
life. The coaches are
telling us to be ready,
to bring the juice and
let them know who the
Yotes are. It’s crazy the
Clark-Gammell memories that come
back.”
Fifth-ranked College of Idaho beat
No. 16 Ottawa (9-2) on Saturday in
the fi rst round of the NAIA playoffs at
Simplot Stadium. It was the fi rst time
the teams have played one another.
“Ottawa has a really good running
back, and their O-line goes three bills
across the board,” said Clark-Gam-
mell, who plays defensive end for
the Yotes before the game. “I think
they will have a lot to handle with our
defense.”
Crafton feels the Spirit may not be
up to the task of stopping the Yotes’
offense.
“They give up 170 rushing yards a
game,” he said. “I don’t think they are
looking for a physical game, but that’s
how we play. We will not roll over.
We will punch them in the mouth the
whole game.”
College of Idaho, which has won 16
games in a row dating to last season,
turned in its fi rst perfect regular sea-
son since 1953 last year, and are 5-0 at
home this season.
“We are super pumped to get a
home game,” said Clark-Gammell
who, like Crafton, is a 2015 Hermis-
ton grad. “Who knows, we might get
two. Our crowd is crazy. We average
about 4,000 fans a game. The people
go absolutely insane.”
At home on the court
Photo courtesy of Inside the Lines Photography
College of Idaho tight end Keegan Crafton (88) is the Yotes’ second-leading receiver
with 24 catches for 373 yards and four touchdowns.
Built to play football
Clark-Gammell, 23, has played
football since Grid Kids. Now at 6-2,
230 pounds, he starts for the Yotes at
defensive end. He said the team prides
itself on its defense, which gives up an
average of 17 points per game, while
scoring 37.
“We’ve got a veteran group on
defense,” Clark-Gammell said. “We
pride ourselves on stopping the run,
which opens up some blitzes. Every
game, we give up less than 100 yards
rushing (83.3 yards).”
Though Clark-Gammell has had
a standout senior season, it wasn’t
always smooth sailing.
“I came to College of Idaho right
out of high school,” he said. “I had too
Photo courtesy of Inside the Lines Photography
College of Idaho defensive end Landon Clark-Gammell (42) closes in on Southern
Oregon quarterback Wyatt Hutchinson during their Sept. 14 game in Caldwell, Idaho.
big a head coming in. I thought I was
better than what I was. We won a state
title and I played in the Shrine Game,
but there are a lot of those guys here.
I had a talk with (Mark) Hodges (for-
mer Hermiston coach). My junior year,
I got some some special teams time,
and then I was seeing time on the pass
rush.”
His persistence and hard work paid
off.
“This year, I have started every
game, and have been a captain a cou-
ple of times,” Clark-Gammell said.
“It’s nice to see myself start as a scrub,
to where I am now. I’m ecstatic that I
stuck it out.”
Clark-Gammell has 13 solo tackles,
28 assists, and 6.5 quarterback sacks
this season, along with two forced
fumbles, and fi ve quarterback hurries.
The Yotes are the NAIA leader in sacks
with 38.
“(David) Faaeteete was the hard-
est coach I ever had,” Clark-Gammell
said of his former high school defen-
sive line coach. “Now I appreciate it.”
And, he appreciates the opportunity
Like Clark-Gammell, Crafton
played youth football, but once he got
to high school, he put his efforts into
basketball, until his senior year.
“If I could go back, I would have
played (football) from my freshman
year on,” Crafton said. “The spring
before my senior year, coach Hodges
took the time to show me how to play.
He made me who I am today.”
It just took Crafton a while to get
there.
After playing football his senior
year, Crafton turned his attention back
to basketball, earning fi rst-team all-
league honors. He then signed a let-
ter of intent to play basketball at
Wenatchee Valley College.
“I was playing quite a bit at
Wenatchee, but I knew I didn’t have
the skills to play at a higher level,”
Crafton said. “I had talked to Landon,
and he said they would be needing a
tight end in a year. I took a chance and
went down.”
The move did not go as smoothly as
Crafton had hoped. He played behind
all-conference tight end Marcus Len-
hardt and felt ill-prepared for the col-
lege level.
“I thought I would never play,”
Crafton said. “When I got here, I didn’t
know what a Cover 1 defense was. I
was intimidated. My fi rst year, I got
yelled at a lot because I didn’t know
the playbook. I never thought I’d play,
so it wasn’t a big deal. It was.”
Once Crafton started putting his
efforts into the game, it paid dividends.
“Marcus was a senior and he was
good,” Crafton said. “I watched him
run routes. He helped me; that guy
made me into the player I am today.
I’m glad I found this place.”
Crafton, 23, is the second-leading
receiver for the Yotes this year, haul-
ing in 24 passes for 373 yards and four
touchdowns.
“I have contributed all three years
I have played,” he said. “There’s only
been one game where I haven’t had a
catch. A lot of games, I am getting dou-
ble covered. If we need a fi rst down on
third-and-10, it’s very seldom that I
don’t convert.”
The 6-5, 235-pound Crafton, and
Connor Richardson (23-336, 4 TDs)
may get a little more work thrown
their way in the playoffs after leading
receiver Hunter Juarez (41-811, 7 TDs)
broke his foot.
“We were the three amigos,” Craf-
ton said. “Now we are down to two
amigos.”
Crafton’s size has gotten him a
little interest from a few NFL teams,
and with offensive lineman Josh
Brown (6-7, 305) drawing an NFL
crowd, Crafton said he’s shaken a
few hands.
“I’ve gotten a little recognition
from scouts from the Falcons, Browns,
Lions and 49ers,” he said. “I hope so
bad they send someone out and they
want me. Being 6-5, I don’t see why I
can’t get a shot.”
Until that day comes, Crafton and
Clark-Gammell will focus their efforts
on the game at hand.