Kennedy’s Elijah Traeger (12) takes a hard hit into the end zone and scores a touchdown Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023, against home team Stanfield.

STANFIELD — Stanfield met its match, and then some, against Kennedy in nonleague football action Saturday, Sept. 2, at the Horyna Athletic Complex.

The Trojans took a 21-0 lead at the half en route to a 43-0 win over the Tigers.

“They had some really big, strong players,” Stanfield coach James Stradley said. “They had a running back (Jaydon Estrada) who was elusive, and it felt like we could not tackle him. We had them tackled in the backfield five to eight times and they still got positive yards out of it.”

The Tigers, who play nine-man ball in the Blue Mountain Conference, played 11-man ball against Kennedy, last year’s 3A state runner-up.

“It was a really good game,” Stradley said. “We had to put some really young kids in, and beat ourselves more than anything. I’m proud of the way the kids played. I’m looking forward to seeing what this team can do.”

Stanfield’s Zeus Arellano ran for 80 yards, while Israel Monkus had 40.

“Zeus broke off a couple of big runs, and so did Israel,” Stradley said. “It was just flashes. We just couldn’t get anything going.

Stanfield will host Enterprise Thursday, Sept. 7.

IRRIGON 66, NEAH-KAH-NIE 44 — Mason Harrison ran for three touchdowns, and threw for three more, as the Knights beat the visiting Pirates in nonleague play.

“Overall, we came out really hot and capitalized on some key mistakes by them,” Irrigon coach Andrew Castillo said. “The defense came out hot, and the offense was rolling. Mason Harrison’s big plays allowed us to maintain a large lead in the first half.”

Harrison had 115 yards rushing, including a 68-yard run for a touchdown, and 35 yards passing. Brock Locey was on the receiving end of three catches for 68 yards and two touchdowns.

Lee Harrison had 55 yards rushing, a fumble recovery, and nine tackles — two for loss — while Josiah Moreno ran for 31 yards, and had eight tackles and two quarterback sacks.

Koebe Campos returned a kickoff for a touchdown, Paul Sanchez had a fumble recovery for a touchdown to start the game, and Zach Parton had two tackles for loss and a sack.

“They had a good team, but we played a very incomplete game, lost focus at times and just didn’t finish the game the way we wanted to,” Castillo said. “Neah-Kah-Nie deserves credit for that. A ton to learn from. Excited to sit down and break the film down and try to fix our issues. On to Week 2.”

HEPPNER 42, GOLD BEACH 14 — The Panthers scored the first and last touchdowns of the game on Friday, Sept. 1, but in between, the Mustangs scored six touchdowns to roll to a nonleague victory in their season opener at Les Payne Field.

In a battle of two of the top 2A teams, Landon Mitchell threw for 196 yards and five touchdowns for Heppner, with three going to Caden George.

“Everything is early, and no one should jump to any major conclusions after one game,” Heppner coach Greg Grant said. “I’m very happy with the younger kids who stepped up, however, the game could have swung the other way. I had some young kids who were new and stepped up in the moment.”

After a scoreless first quarter, the Panthers scored on a 2-yard run by Jake Westerman. The 2-point conversion failed, giving Gold Beach a 6-0 lead.

Mitchell followed with a 33-yard touchdown strike to Cameron Proudfoot, and then hit George with a 25-yard touchdown pass to take a 14-6 lead.

Heppner finished the second quarter with a 4-yard touchdown pass from Mitchell to Mason Orem for a 20-6 lead at the half.

The Mustangs would score twice in the third quarter and one more in the fourth to put the game out of reach.

George caught five passes for 114 yards, and ran for 84 yards. Hayden McMahon ran for 79 yards and one touchdown.

On the night, the Mustangs rolled up 450 yards of offense.

Defensively, George led the way with 11 tackles and one quarterback sack, while Mitchell had nine tackles, Proudfoot had eight, McMahon seven, and Nick Wenberg had four tackles and an interception.

“I thought the kids did a good job of executing things,” Grant said. “We played well as a team defensively.”

TRI-CITIES PREP 42, UMATILLA 0 — The Jaguars were more than the host Viking could handle in their season opener.

“They probably had 20 guys they went out and recruited that we did see last year,” Umatilla coach Kyle Sipe said. “They were a problem. We pretty much struggled in every facet of the game.”

Justus Zamudio led the Vikings with 48 yards rushing and 16 tackles.

“I have a really good group of kids,” Sipe said. “There is no quit in them. They responded to the coaches after the game, and are ready to get back to practice next week.”

The Vikings will travel to Lincoln City on Sept. 8 to play Taft.

“It’s our first 3A matchup in some time,” Sipe said. “They are back at 3A, too, after being at 2A.”

JOSEPH 58, ECHO 28 — Sam Wyse caught three touchdown passes, but it wouldn’t be enough as the Cougars fell to the Eagles on the road.

Wyse caught two touchdowns from his younger brother, Kohlvin Wyse, and one from Dom Curiel. Curiel also connected with Ryder Simpson for a touchdown.

“Mack Murdoch had a good game on defense, blocking several passes and scooping up a fumble for a 50-yard gain,” Echo coach Thomas VanNice said.

Prep girls soccer

HANFORD 4, HERMISTON 1 — The Bulldogs opened their Mid-Columbia Conference season with a road loss to the Falcons.

“It was a good, hard-fought game, for sure,” Hermiston coach Omar Medina said. “We made a couple of mistakes and they scored early on. We were playing catchup from the get-go. It was closer than the score reflects.”

Cross-country convert Jackie Garcia, with an assist by Alondra Risueño, scored the Bulldogs’ lone goal at the end of the first half to make it 3-1.

“She is a very good athlete,” Medina said. “I was really excited when she started coming out this summer. She’s a nice addition to the solid team we had. Madeline Franke, who played soccer growing up, also made the move from cross-country.”

Andrea Sanchez hit the post twice and had a breakaway, but the Hanford goalie blocked her shot.

“We settled in, but weren’t able to find the back of the net,”Medina said.

Freshman Kianna Gutierrez was in goal for Hermiston and finished with six saves.

“It was a harsh introduction into the MCC,”Medina said. “She made some great key stops.”

Cross-country

The Hermiston girls won the Hanford Jamboree at Leslie Grove Park in Richland, led by Elizabeth Newman’s second-place finish.

Newman covered the 2-mile course in a time of 12:51.48. Hanford’s Mia Beightol won the race in a time of 12:38.94

Also scoring for the Bulldogs were Megan Joyce (5th, 13:20.15), Maggie Meenderinck (6th, 13:20.96), Lillian Fields (13th, 13:50.97), and Sukhrprit Kaur (19th, 14:11.88).

In the boys race, Hermiston senior John Mills finished second, covering the 2-mile course in a time of 10:17.41 seconds.

Ezra Teeples of Kamiakin won the race with a time of 10:15.35, leading the Braves to the team title.

Hermiston finished fourth in the team standings with 100 points.

Following Mills across the finish line were Gabriel Anderson (11th, 11:09.06), Jose Juarez (20th, 11:21.07), Robert Bartman (31st, 11:31.11), and Luis Silva Salas (53rd, 12:01.13).

Heppner sophomore Lily Nichols ran a 20:46.9 and crossed the finish line in fifth place at the Ultimook at Hydrangea Ranch in Tillamook.

Heppner finished fourth in the teams standings in the 1A-4A division. Oregon Episcopal won the team title with 33 points, followed by Philomath (79), Sisters (123) and the Mustangs (157).

Morgan Matthews of OES won the race in a time of 20:04.

Also for Heppner, Arianna Worden was 33rd (22:54.7), Hailey McDaniel was 61st (24:28), Brooklyn Henricks was 72nd (24:29.6), and Riley Archer was 64th (24:31.4).

Stanfield/Echo’s McKenzie Rose led the Tigers with a 39th-place finish (23:07.3), followed by Cheyenne Skillman (49th, 23:50.6).

Umatilla, which did not field a complete team, was led by Eden Enkey, who was 127th with a time of 27:52.6. Also running for the Vikings were Emme Prindle (152nd, 29:51.8), Alyssa Bow (178th, 33:49.8) and Meghan Owens (179th, 33:51.4).

In the boys 1A-4A division, Heppner senior Grady Greenwood was ninth overall with a time of 17:42.7 to lead the Mustangs, who finished 13th in the team standings.

Carter Bengtson of Cottage Grove won the race in a time of 16:22.6, while Knappa and Newport tied for the team title with 87 points.

Also scoring for the Mustangs were Carson Greenwood (113th, 21:18.3), Max Wilson (114th, 21:18.8), Jake Wilson (117th, 21:23.9) and Quaid Jensen (163rd, 22:45.9).

Umatilla, which finished 30th in the team standings, was led by Tanner Prindle (86th, 20:40.5). Also scoring for the Vikings were Alexis Armenta (200th, 24:46.7), Miles Franks (207th, 25:39.5), Angel Quiroga-Vazquez (208th, 25:40.1) and Liam Early (220th, 26:45.4).

Jack Sperr led Stanfield/Echo, placing 52nd with a time of 19:57.3. Also for the Tigers, Andrew Thurman (23:42) was 183rd.

Volleyball

HEPPNER SWEEPS — The Mustangs made a clean sweep of their Saturday matches, beating Kennedy and Vernonia at the Heppner Tournament.

“We played really well today,” Heppner coach Mindy Wilson said. “They are molding into a great team. Everyone contributes, which makes us a well-rounded team. I’m proud of the effort they put in today.”

Hallee Hisler had six kills and four aces to lead the Mustangs (3-1) to a 25-15, 25-13, 25-18 victory over Kennedy. Ava Gerry added four kills and eight assists, while Maya Payne had seven assists and two aces, Keeley Nairns added six aces, and Morgan Cutsforth had three kills and four digs.

Hisler had eight kills and three blocks in Heppner’s 25-16, 25-11, 25-9 win over Vernonia.

The Mustangs served well, recording 20 aces, led by Gerry and Cutsforth with seven apiece. Gerry also had five assists and four kills, while Payne had nine assists, Katie Spivey eight digs and two kills, and Delaney Stefani three digs and two aces.

IRRIGON 3, NEAH-KAH-NIE 1 — Claire Mueller had 13 kills, five digs and three aces to lead the Knights to a 21-25, 25-15, 25-23, 25-21 home win over the Pirates.

Leah Mueller added 22 assists, six kills and five aces, while Karina Angles had 10 digs, Kaydence Emery six kills and four digs, and Lesley Martinez two kills, two aces and two assists.