CROSS COUNTRY – FOOTBALL – VOLLEY BALL
By ANNIE FOWLER, CUJ Special Contributor
TigerScots have a small but mighty program
Dobos takes over Weston-McEwen team
ATHENA — The great thing about cross country is there are so many fabulous places to run.
Weston-McEwen coach Bill Dobos, who took over the program from his son Jeremy this season, likes to load up the kids and head to a wheat field or other scenic place to get their miles in for the day.
“We really enjoy it,” said Dobos, who puts in the miles alongside his runners. “We have lots of places to run. It never gets boring. Most can run me under the bus, but I like to run with them.”
The TigerScots lost half of their team to graduation, but junior Tristan Weseman, sophomore Arden Shaul and junior Aidan Aldrich are lacing up their shoes on the daily, putting in the miles needed to compete in the ever competitive Special District 3.
“Tristan is a pretty darn good basketball player and track athlete,” Dobos said. “He does a lot of jumping. Tristan and Arden will be our two strongest runners. We will see if we can pick up a few more once school starts.”
The girls’ team is just as thin on numbers. Senior Brynn Brownie leads the group, with sophomore Alethea Bond and senior Miranda Martin filling out the roster.
“Brynn is a pretty strong runner, but Alethea will give her a run for her money,” Dobos said. “I had Alethea on my middle school team and she’s pretty good.”
Dobos has coached at the middle school and helped his son with the high school program in the past, making the transition to the job an easy one.
“Jeremy said he might not be able to do the high school,” Dobos said. “I talked to the principal and said I could do it.”
Dobos works at the high school as a paraprofessional, helping with math and in the workshop. But that’s not all.
“My main job is pastor of the Weston community Church,” Dobos said. “I also work at the food bank. I’m pretty busy.”
Laura Steele will run the middle school cross country program, and the two teams will compete at a lot of the same events.
“We try to go to the same events,” Dobos said. “The high school team will cheer them on when they run. It gets the culture of running going.”
The TigerScots will open the season Sept. 7, at the Ultimook Race in Tillamook. “It’s a fun course,” Dobos said. You go through a mud pit, where you try not to lose your shoes, and through the river a couple of times. The kids look forward to it.”
Weston-McEwen cross country schedule
- Sept. 7 Weston-McEwen at Ultimook, Tillamook 10 a.m.
- Sept. 14 Weston-McEwen at Runners Soul Fest, Hermiston 11 a.m.
- Sept. 26 Weston-McEwen at Walla Walla 3:30 p.m.
- Oct. 5 Weston-McEwen at Big Cross Invite, Pasco 11:30 a.m.
- Oct. 10 Weston-McEwen at Live Nation Invitational, Gorge Amphitheater 2 p.m.
- Oct. 17 Weston-McEwen at Kyle Burnside Memorial Invite, Pendleton 3 p.m.
- Nov. 1 Weston-McEwen at District 3 Championships, Pendleton 1 p.m.
TigerScots ready for another title run
W-M will rely on QB Berry to lead the charge
ATHENA — Weston-McEwen finished second at state in the 2A state football playoffs the past two years. New coach Morgan Dunlap is looking for the same, or more.
“Kenzie (Hansell) was awesome,” said Dunlap, who worked with Hansell for eight seasons. “He was great with the kids. He built such a good foundation for us to take over.”
The TigerScots lost 16 seniors from last year’s team, but Dunlap said they will be OK.
“We lost a lot of kids, but our core group is back,” he said. “We had a bunch of seniors on that team last year, but probably three-quarters of our starters were not seniors. We lost Mazon (Langford) and Caleb Springer — those were two of the big pieces we lost. I think we will be able to replace them with the kids we have coming back. We put a lot of emphasis on the weight program this summer. They have been getting stronger.”
Dunlap also retooled the coaching staff. He brought in former Pendleton and Eastern Oregon University quarterback Kai Quinn, and former EOU defensive end Sage DeLong. Both were NAIA All-Americans for the Mountaineers.
“We got super lucky to get those guys on board,” Dunlap said. “Coach (Casey) Perkins and I put together a pretty awesome coaching staff. They haven’t been away from football very long, and they are high energy. My goal was to bring in guys who can do Xs and Os. I feel like we should be super successful.”
Quinn will work with three-year starting quarterback Ethan Berry, who was a first-team Blue Mountain Conference selection, and a second-team all-state pick. He threw for 1,885 yards and 25 touchdowns, while running for 388 yards and seven scores.
“I think it will be special to see his improvement with Kai working on his fundamentals,” Dunlap said of Berry. “We are very excited to have him back.”
Berry lost receivers Springer, Seth Muilenberg and Sean Roggiero, but has junior speedster Wyatt Parsons, and sophomores Colby Perkins and Camp Kinnaman ready to step in.
“They will be a big part of what we are doing,” Dunlap said.
Also returning is running back Maddox King, a second-team BMC selection last year. He finished the season with 1,085 yards and 12 touchdowns on 190 carries. He also caught 11 passes for 167 yards and four touchdowns.
Berry and King will be in good hands as most of the offensive line returns. The TigerScots will miss Alejandro Ceja, but Mason Mayte, Dylan Monaco (all-conference center) and Cason Pettyjohn are back, and Ethan Reeder will be at tight end.
Reeder, a first-team BMC defensive lineman, will resume his duties at defensive end, as will Jason Dunlap. Senior Gunnar McBean also will see time on the offensive and defensive lines.
Reeder, who had 55 tackles, two sacks and two forced fumbles last year, also earned first-team all-state honors on defense.
Berry also was a first-team BMC and all-state selection at defensive back.
The TigerScots finished 5-0 in BMC play last year, and 11-1 overall after losing to Lowell 74-42 in the 2A title game.
The BMC is tough once again, with Stanfield returning key players, and Heppner, which has not had a losing season in 34 years under coach Greg Grant.
“Irrigon brings back some talent, but they have a new coach,” Dunlap said. “Heppner has a couple of good linemen coming back, and their quarterback is athletic. You know Greg will have a tough team. It’s Heppner football. Beating them last year was nice for the kids on this team. It showed that you can beat Heppner if you play your game. We are down there this year. You know it will be a battle.”
Weston-McEwen opens its season Sept. 6 at College Place. The TigerScots then will host state powerhouses Oakland and Gold Beach before opening BMC play with Stanfield on Sept. 27. “College Place will be an 11-man game for us,” Dunlap said. “They are quite a bit bigger than we are. It will be a good early test. Then it’s Oakland and Gold Beach. It’s a great preseason to get us going.”
Weston-McEwen football schedule
- Sept. 6 Weston-McEwen at College Place 7 p.m.
- Sept. 13 Oakland at Weston-McEwen 5 p.m.
- Sept. 21 Gold Beach at Weston-McEwen 2 p.m.
- Sept. 27 Stanfield at Weston-McEwen 7 p.m.
- Oct. 4 Weston-McEwen at Enterprise 7 p.m.
- Oct. 11 Weston-McEwen at Heppner 7 p.m.
- Oct. 18 Irrigon at Weston-McEwen 7 p.m.
- Oct. 25 Riverside at Weston-McEwen 7 p.m.
- Nov. 1 Weston-McEwen at Grant Union 7 p.m.
W-M has all the tools to be successful
Angell and Ward will be tough to stop at the net
ATHENA — Weston-McEwen volleyball coach Marie Cain admits she gets butterflies in her stomach at the start of the season.
With the athletes she has to put on the court this season, the butterflies will quickly disappear.
“As I look at all of them, we take pride in the fact that we don’t put all of our eggs in one basket,” Cain said. “Everyone plays a role. We build around the strengths of the people coming back and the ones coming in. We will take those strengths and do the best we can.”
The TigerScots return senior Delaynee Angell, a 5-foot-10 outside hitter who was a Blue Mountain Conference honorable mention selection last season.
She will be joined up front by middles Hailey Monroe (5-10) and Bri Ward (5-11), and outside hitter Addy Hall (5-9), who also is a capable setter.
“I’m super excited to have a tall team,” Cain said. “I’m very blessed. It’s a good problem to have.”
One player who could make a big impact this season is sophomore Charlotte Hansell. She was a starter on the basketball team as a freshman. At 5-10, Hansell is expected to play outside hitter.
“She followed us to district last year as an alternate,” Cain said. “She’s coachable, competitive and wants to do well. You hope that’s contagious and people absorb that from her.”
Weston-McEwen also returns junior setter Mya Bryan and senior libero Kylie Kramer, who had 394 digs last season.
“They have all been dedicated this summer,” Cain said of her team. “Volleyball is one of those sports where if you have one great player you won’t go far. You have to have a complete team. We had 15 of the girls attend the WSU camp. We played summer league. There are a lot of girls who are committed to playing. They are putting in the work in the offseason and that matters. They are ready to go.”
Cain is in her second year with the TigerScots. They went 3-7 in the Blue Mountain Conference last year, and 9-16 overall.
“Last year, I was the new coach on the block,” she said. “They were figuring me out. I’m excited for what we are going to do this year. We are a close team and have good team chemistry. I fully anticipate making a postseason appearance. There’s a small freshman group coming in, but everyone is pushing each other and that makes the whole program better.”
While Weston-McEwen would like to make a postseason run, the conference is tough this year.
“I think, after looking at who graduated, that Stanfield will be good competition for us,” she said. “They bring a lot of people back. Heppner is bringing a lot back too. We have to make sure we are prepared for that.”
The TigerScots open the season Aug. 29, hosting Imbler and Dufur. They will play in the Grant Union Tournament Aug. 31.
Weston-McEwen volleyball
- Aug. 29 Imbler at Weston-McEwen TBD
- Aug. 29 Dufur at Weston-McEwen 3 p.m.
- Aug. 31 Weston-McEwen at Grant Union Tournament 8 a.m.
- Sept. 5 Weston-McEwen at South Wasco County 5 p.m.
- Sept. 10 Ione/Arlington at Weston-McEwen 5:30 p.m.
- Sept. 12 Heppner at Weston-McEwen 4 p.m.
- Sept. 17 Weston-McEwen at McLoughlin 5:30 p.m.
- Sept. 19 Grant Union at Weston-McEwen, 5:30 p.m.
- Sept. 21 Weston-McEwen at Lowell noon
- Sept. 21 Weston-McEwen vs. Umpqua Valley Christian (at Lowell) 1:30 p.m.
- Sept. 26 Enterprise at Weston-McEwen 5:30 p.m.
- Oct. 3 Weston-McEwen at Grant Union 5:30 p.m.
- Oct. 5 Weston-McEwen at Stanfield noon
- Oct. 5 Weston-McEwen vs. Irrigon (at Stanfield) 1:30 p.m.
- Oct. 7 McLoughlin at Weston-McEwen 5:30 p.m
- Oct. 10 Weston-McEwen at Heppner 4 p.m.
- Oct. 12 Weston-McEwen at Union 5 p.m.
- Oct. 17 Weston-McEwen at Enterprise 5:30 p.m.
- Oct. 19 Stanfield at Weston-McEwen noon
- Oct. 19 Irrigon at Weston-McEwen 1:30 p.m.
