ATHENA — The Blue Mountain Conference is brimming with talent this season, and sixth-ranked Weston-Ewen proved Friday afternoon that they belong in the conversation after beating Grant Union 25-23, 25-15, 25-22.

“A good three-set win tonight,” W-M coach Marie Cain said. “We served tough tonight, which helped us go on some key runs.”

The TigerScots (9-3 overall, 1-1 BMC) got solid contributions from eight players, led by senior Charlotte Hansell with 11 kills, five digs, two blocks and four aces. 

Addy Hall added 25 assists, eight aces, three digs, and two kills, while Eloise Hansell had seven kills and two aces, Bree Perkins 10 digs, Megan McLouth six digs, Lola Hastings three kills, Kayli Choin two blocks and Reagan Pickard four kills and one block.

“We mixed up the lineup some tonight and the girls coming off the bench played well, making positive impacts to the game,” Cain said. “It’s homecoming week for us this week so I was proud of the girls keeping their composure and taking care of the game in three sets. We moved the ball around and got some good spread for our hitters, which is important for us.”

The match was the BMC opener for Grant Union, which fell to 6-9 overall.

The TigerScots will host conference rival Heppner on Tuesday.

PENDLETON 3, VALE 0 — Sophomore MJ Gomez had one of her best matches of the season, hitting 61% with 17 kills, had 10 digs and also served for 16 points with six aces, to lead the Bucks to a 25-21, 25-22, 25-17 win over the Vikings at Warberg Court.

“We played really well together tonight,” Pendleton coach Jodi Primus said. “The energy stayed positive and the girls worked really well together. When our passing was on, our offense was strong. We also did a good job hitting our service spots and had a few good runs of serves.”

Kelsi Primus added 10 kills, 12 service points and three aces for Pendleton (8-9), while Caitlin Cooley had 63 assists, McKinley Moore 10 digs and 12 service points, and Shaylor Fisher three block assists.

Cross country

Weston-McEwen’s Evelyn Hodgson turned in a  time of 19 minutes, 44.20 second to place second at the Derbyshire Twilight Meet in Stanfield.

Enterprise’s Lilly Weer won the race with a time of 19:22, leading the Outlaws to the team title. Enterprise was the only school with a full team.

Also for the TigerScots, Ashlyn Hoehna was 14th (25:00.90), followed by Victoria Kosirog (19th, 27:26.30) and TownsLee Fuller (23rd, 28:02.80).

Pilot Rock’s Paige Hansen was 16th (26:17.30), with teammate Rylee Bedard 26th (31:05.80).

In the boys’ race, Riverside’s Eric Pullen ran a personal best 16:32.20 to nip Enterprise’s Nathan Gonnella at the finish line.

Enterprise won the team title with 30 points, with Stanfield second (45), Grant Union third (64) and Riverside fourth (95).

Landon Norton led Pilot Rock, placing 19th with a PR of 19:07.60. Also for the Rockets, Parker Bucher was 33rd (22:42.80) and Mason VanHouten was 41st (30:32.30).

Freshman Tristan Gilliam was the lone Weston-McEwen runner, placing 25th with a personal best time of 19:25.90.

CHAMPS INVITE — Nixyaawii senior Sun Schimmel ran a personal best 16:57.10 to place 10th at Cheadle Park in Lebanon.

Gus Kirby of Neah-Kah-Nie won the race with a time of 15:43.10, leading the Pirates to the team title with 32 points. Sweet Home was second with 118.

Also for the Golden Eagles, Joseph Higheagle was 189th with a time of 26:31.60.

There were 194 runners and 21 complete teams in the race.

In the girls’ division, Emma Star-Nez led Nixyaawii, placing 44th with a PR of 23:37.60. She was followed by Rosaella Salt (76th, 25:22), Abigayle Kordatzky (93rd, 27:13.40) and Ayanna Star (108th, 31:02.50).

Jolee Woody of Days Creek won the race with a time of 19:17.60, 37 seconds ahead of the second-place runner. St. Mary’s won the team title with 53 points, with Sweet Home second with 56. Nixyaawii was 15th with 255.

The race scored the top four runners from each team.

Football

GRANT UNION 26, WESTON-MCEWEN 8 — The Prospectors led 12-0 at the half, and held onto their lead in the second half for a nonleague road win over the TigerScots. 

Both teams play in the Blue Mountain Conference, but with Irrigon and Stanfield playing JV schedules this season, the teams filled a void with a second game against one another. They will play a BMC game Oct. 23 in John Day.

Grant Union (3-1) led 6-0 after the first quarter, 1-0 at the half, and 20-8 after the third quarter.

Colby Perkins scored the TigerScots’ touchdown in the third quarter on a 10-yard run, with Jonathan Leighty scoring the 2-point conversion.

On the night, Leighty ran for 99 yards on 16 carries and also led W-M (0-4) with 10 tackles, while Perkins had five tackles, two for a loss.

Titus Hodgins completed 5 of 12 passes for 42 yards.

W-M returns to the field Oct. 2 for a BMC game at Enterprise.

PILOT ROCK 44, VERNONIA 20 — Nathan Endersby threw for 128 yards and four touchdowns as the Rockets beat the Loggers on the road for their second win in a row.

The last time Pilot Rock (2-3) won two consecutive games was 2023, when they opened the season with wins over Mohawk and the Grant Union JV.

Lucas Thieme caught two of Endersby’s touchdown passes, while TayVen Warren and Tucker Holton each had one.  Endersby also ran for a touchdown, while defensive lineman Marshall Hull returned a fumble 45 yards for a touchdown.