Cardinal FB players play and work hard at camp

ELGIN, ORE — Fourteen Waitsburg Cardinal football players attended the Eastern Oregon University 8-man football camp in Elgin, Oregon, June 16-19.

Seniors Lucas VanHoose and Jackson Karl; juniors Isa Reyes, Koyen Fortune, Jarod Hankins, Tucker Hamilton, Teegan Kenney, Martin Vasquez; sophomores Jayton Gleason and Isaac Mahre and eighth graders Carsyn Pennington, Uriah York, Jake Lynch, and Liam Kiefel camped in tents during the four-day event that included eighteen teams from Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. Sunnyside Christian was the only other team from our district.

The EOU coaches put players through daily drills based on their positions. Then, teams participated in a five-on-five passing competition. Each game was played with one quarterback and four offensive receivers against five defensive backs. The Cardinals finished about in the middle, said Coach Gabe Kiefel. In the evenings, the Cardinals played 8-man football games.

On Tuesday, June 18, the boys competed in “Mountain Ball,” where teams were put in brackets. Teams had four offensive plays from the 10-yard line to score up to four touchdowns, then switched to play four downs on defense. The winning teams advanced, with Waitsburg making it to the semi-finals.

In their first match, the Cardinals’ played Adrian, Oregon, a past Oregon State championship team. Adrian scored twice, and Waitsburg scored quickly in their first play. After Quarterback Reyes was removed from play with a possible concussion, Adrian stopped the Cards on the 6-inch line with one play to go. The Cardinals tried running it up the middle but got stopped.

Adrian placed first, and the Cardinals finished third in the Mountain Ball tournament.

“I am very proud of the boys who came to camp. They worked extremely hard and learned a lot. By the end of it, they were pretty tired and ready for some downtime,” said Coach Kiefel.