By ANNIE FOWLER, The CUJ
PENDLETON —Mason Strong scored four touchdowns, and Pendleton sewed up second place in the Greater Oregon League with a 39-35 victory over La Grande on Friday at the Round-Up Grounds.
“A great team effort,” Pendleton coach Erik Davis said. “A piecemeal game we were able to pull off. It was a great team win. My heart can’t take much more.”
The Bucks (6-3 overall, 3-1 GOL) will host Mazama next week in the first round of the 4A state playoffs.
In a back-and-forth game, the Bucks trailed late in the fourth quarter and were faced with a fourth-and-goal at the La Grande 29-yard line.
No problem.
Colson Primus hit Strong with a 29-yard touchdown pass with 17 second left on the game clock to escape with the victory.
Pendleton’s star running back Tugg McQuinn went down in the first quarter with an ankle injury and did not play the rest of the game.
The rest of the game team picked up the slack. Primus completed 18 of 27 passes for 213 yards and three touchdowns. Strong caught seven passes for 102 yards and two touchdown passes, ran for one touchdown, and returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter.
Vance Nelson took over for McQuinn in the backfield, running for 108 yards on 21 carries and one touchdown, and Keegan Kline caught five passes for 50 yards and a touchdown.
“Hats off to Vance,” Davis said. “We moved him around to tailback to receiver. He’s our Swiss Army knife. I thought he had a great game, as did Mason.”
Nelson led the Bucks’ defense with nine tackles, two for loss, and Kline had an interception to end the game.
