Editor’s Note: The Enterprise team was at all three championship games in Bend. We will be publishing exclusive photo essays from each in the coming days on our website.
The Adrian Antelopes brought home an eight-player 1A state football title on Saturday, Nov. 30, beating North Douglas 66-12 at Summit High School in Bend.
The other Malheur County teams playing in state title matches lost their games in Bend. The Vale Vikings fell to Burns 42-16 in the 3A title game. The Harper Hornets lost to Powers 32-13 in the six-player 1A matchup.
Adrian took control of their game early with a dominant running game powered by seniors Colten Bayes and Rance Jordan.
The Antelopes racked up 481 rushing yards and gave up 143 in total offense to the North Douglas Warriors.
In the early going, Jordan ran for touchdowns of 70, 24 and 50 yards as the Antelopes had a 28-6 lead by the end of the first quarter. In the opening minutes of the second quarter, Bayes added a 24-yard touchdown run while Trey Bayes connected with Brooks Martin for a 1-yard touchdown for a 42-6 lead for the Adrian team by halftime.
The game went to a “running clock” in the second half, a mercy rule that is instituted when an opposing team gains a 35-point lead or more after the first half. During a running clock, the game clock runs continuously and is only stopped under certain exceptions.
Bayes finished the game with 211 yards and four touchdowns on 20 carries and Jordan logged 209 yards and scored three times on nine carries.
Bill Wortman, Adrian head coach, said that a key to winning the game was the defensive strategy of Cameron Mulrony and George Ellsworth. Under Mulrony and Ellsworth’s scheme, Antelope defenders kept North Douglas’ star running back Hunter Vaughn in the middle of the field, not allowing him to run along the edges of play.
Adrian’s defense held Vaughn, who entered the game with the all-time eight-man record 3,893 yards, to just 19 yards on 16 carries. Wortman said Vaughn did return a kick-off for a touchdown and then found the end zone on a pass from North Douglas’ Jayden Montgomery.
Wortman said the game plan to keep Vaughn, North Douglas’ “biggest weapon,” in check was “excellently executed.” He said defensive ends Chase Franklin, a junior, and sophomore Kash Morford, along with linebackers Mannie Mulrony and Zeke Bayes accomplished the defensive game plan.
Mulrony led the defensive onslaught for Adrian with 11 tackles while Zeke Bayes had nine with a sack.
Wortman, who as head coach of the Adrian football team has won state titles in three of the past five postseasons, said seniors Derek Faulconer, Zeke Bayes, Colten Bayes and Jordan were “tremendous leaders” during the season.
The four seniors pushed the team’s younger players all season, according to Wortman.
“They pushed our underclassmen to achieve as much as possible,” Wortman said. “And we did. We reached the pinnacle.”
At one point in the game the Antelopes were able to call a timeout and recognize the team’s four seniors, which, Wortman said, was a “special moment” for the team and the school.
Wortman said he was also happy that every player on the Antelope roster played in the title game for at least one down.
“That was pretty special,” he said.
Wortman said a lot of “hard work” goes into the high school’s football program.
“We have great coaches and we have great players who love to play physical football,” he said. “You add those things up and it leads to a pretty successful football program.”
HARPER
The early going in the game for the six-player 1A state title went all Harper’s way.
Hornet Richard Joyce twice intercepted Powers’ quarterback.
And twice in the first quarter, Harper scored, once on a run by Cope Christensen and then a pass reception by Maddox Martinez. Harper 13, Powers 0.
But Harper would never see the end zone again, beset by bad breaks and then an unrelenting ground game by the Cruisers.
The Cruisers tied up the game before the half and when the final horn sounded, Powers won the title 32-13.
Still, the Hornets made history. This was Harper’s first appearance in a state title football game and brought home OSAA’s second-place trophy.
The team ranked second in the state behind Powers after going 10-0 enroute to the championship game.
The title game was played at Caldera High School in Bend on artificial turf under sunny conditions.
The Cruisers gave up the passing game, relying on running backs Jayce Shorb and Rene Sears to grind away at yardage and the clock.
Powers also made effective use of the onside kick, three times recovering the ball.
The Hornets came close in the second half with a second down and eight yards for a score. The Cruisers got two sacks on the next plays to end the Hornet drive.
Harper had 144 yards in 35 plays while Powers had 336 yards in 62 plays. The Hornets, who had averaged 12 yards each run during the season was limited to 3 in the title game.
On defense, Joyce and Colt Bentz each had 10 tackles and four assists.
Joyce was named Moda Player of the Game for Harper.
The Hornets had just one senior player – Gavin Allare. The team had nine juniors, three sophomores and one junior.
–Les Zaitz, The Enterprise
VALE
The Vale Vikings 17th title appearance ended in a painful 42-16 loss on to the Burns Hilanders at Summit High School in Bend.
The Vikings, who hold the state record for most title game appearances, struggled to find their footing on Saturday. Burns took advantage of early turnovers that included a fumble and an interception to get on the board early in the game.
Vale running back Kace Schaffeld, who had 43 rushing attempts in the game, carried the ball 206 yards, scoring twice, and helped get the Vikings within 28-16 with 31 seconds to go in the first half. Teammate Landon Haberman added 25 yards on nine carries.
Burns capitalized on interceptions in the second half and held Vale to 55 yards in the second half with a bruising defensive effort with 23 tackles and a sack.
On the offensive side of the ball, the Hilanders relied on star quarterback Jack Wright, a junior, who finished the game 11 of 21 for 340 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Wright also scored on four running touchdowns to put the game away for Burns.
Burns’ win on Saturday capped a playoff winning streak this season that included victories over No. 6 Cottage Grove, No. 3 Santiam Christian and No. 2 Banks before beating the previously undefeated Vikings in the title game.
Vale faced Burns at home in a league contest in early October, beating the Hilanders 18-12 in overtime during the Vikings season that saw them outscore opponents 470-151. The Vale team finished the season ranked fourth overall with a 12-1 record.
–Steven Mitchell, The Enterprise
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