WP Lays Beat Down On Heppner

WAITSBURG - Waits­burg Prescott took on peren­nial Oregon powerhouse Hep­pner here Friday night and did more than win.

The Cardinals laid a 41-6 beatdown on the Mustangs that served notice to the rest of the states' 2B schools that WP's quest for a repeat cham­pionship isn't hype. It's real.

And it wasn't just the point differential that impressed. It was the nearly flawless pass­ing attack (one incompletion in 13 attempts), and the stifling defense that yielded just 188 yards on the night-just 65 in the second half.

WP's Dalton Estes drilled the 2012 opening kickoff into the end zone for a touchback setting up Heppner's first drive at its own 20. Three downs lat­er, WP's defense had Heppner prepared to punt, but an illegal block gave the Mustangs new life at the 37.

Heppner back Earl Proph­eter took advantage two plays later with a 24-yard run to the WP 39-yard line, but that was as far as the Mustangs could advance. Three plays and a 15-yard chop block penalty and Heppner was back punting from midfield.

WP mustered nothing on its first drive, losing yardage on a negative rush, a sack, and a holding penalty. The Cardinals punted from their own 16-yard line giving Heppner great field position to start its second drive near the 50. But the Car­dinal defense rose up again, forcing another Heppner punt three plays later.

The Cardinals' first scoring possession commenced with 4:18 to go in the first quarter from their own 23. For the first time, WP took to the air. WP quarterback Sterling East­man connected with receiver Dalton Estes three times on the drive, for 15, 19, and 27 yards-the last a picture per­fect post route pass-and-catch to cap a lightning quick 1:04, 77-yard touchdown drive.

Heppner's next and only scoring possession was the polar opposite-a slow, pun­ishing slog on the ground that began at its own 25 and took 7:45 to complete. The 17-play drive saw the Mustangs run the ball 15 times, the final time a one-yard quarterback keeper snapped inches from the goal line. Heppner missed the PAT to make the score 7-6 in favor of WP.

WP started its next drive at its own 37, and this time quar­terback Eastman spread the wealth. Billy Brown took the first down hand-off for 8 yards. Then Eastman connected on three consecutive passes to three different receivers- Chance Leroue, Roy Ebong, and Brown-bringing the ball to the Heppner 23. Three rush­ing plays followed by a Brown dive from the four upped the WP lead to 13-6 with 3:21 to go in the half.

It appeared the score would remain that way heading into halftime when WP got the ball back with 1:03 to go starting at its own 36. But Eastman's gun found his target once again, this time Kevin Glover 15 yards downfield. Glover, a WP sprinter from Jubilee Youth Ranch, outran the Mustang defenders the rest of the way to complete a 64-yard touchdown pass.

WP put the game away in the first few minutes of the second half. Starting the period with the football, the Cardinals' drove 66 yards in 3:41, its touchdown coming on an Estes 19-yard sweep.

The Cardinals' special teams also got into the scor- ing act at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Billy Brown blocked a Heppner punt and Cadman Donovan scooped the loose ball running it 40 yards for six. Estes two-point conversion boosted the lead to 34-6.

Brown marked the final tally midway through the fourth on a 1-yard plunge, one play after Glover's second catch-an acrobatic snag going out of bounds just outside the goal line.

W-P's second string then finished out the game.

"I didn't want to run up the score there up 34-6," head coach Jeff Bartlow said con- cerning his decision to continue throwing the ball in the fourth quarter. "But I said 'we've really got to work on our offense.' That was a great catch (Glover's) down there on the one-yard line. That's as good of a catch as you're going to see."

Bartlow was pleased with the performance of his new players on varsity, but was notably concerned about his defense's ability to stop the run early on.

"They were running up the middle and we couldn't stop them," said Bartlow. "So, I put 'Biggy' (Jubilee's 345-pound Keith Lake) in there. I told the guys in the second quarter, 'you're soft right now.' Then we made a couple of personnel changes, started running down- hill, and we got ahead, which was good, because they couldn't continue to run all game."

Quarterback Sterling East- man finished 12 of 13 for 192 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.

"I think we had five guys catch the ball tonight and they all did great," said Bartlow. "Our concern was depth at re- ceiver and they all did all right. Billy (Brown) didn't rush for very much. We have to get him more involved. But with what we did tonight spreading (the ball) around, I was pretty dang pleased."

The Cardinals next game is Friday at 7 p.m. in Waitsburg versus Pilot Rock, Ore., a 28- 22 come-from-behind winner in its opener over Gaston, Ore.

Heppner

0600 -6

Waitsburg-Prescott

7 13 6 15 - 41

W-P Rushing - Brown 11-44 2, Eastman 6-8, Leroue 1-12, Ebong

1-7, Estes 3-40 1, Alfred 4 - (-2).

Heppner Rushing - Wright 18-70, Propheter 13-58, Thompson5-11 1, Others 11-26.

W-P Passing - Eastman 12-13-192 2-0.

Heppner Passing - Thompson 3-7-23 0-0.

W-P Receiving - Estes 3-61 1, Leroue 1-13, Ebong 2-12, Brown

3-22, Glover 2-84 1.

Heppner Receiving - Orr 1-10, Corbin 1-17, Wright 1- (-4)

Total Yards - W-P 297, Heppner 188.

Turnovers - W-P 0, Heppner 1.