Malheur County rivalry going down
Vale heads to Ontario undefeated, Tigers look to rebound from loss to Grant Union
By Scott Ford
Argus Observer
Thursday, September 11, 2008 11:16 AM PDT
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| Ontario running back Frank Lopez runs down the sidelines during the Tiger’s non-league football game Friday in John Day. Lopez is one weapon expected to be used against the tough Vale defense. |
Ontario — In one of the fiercest rivalries in the state, Ontario and Vale will hit the gridiron Friday night in Ontario.
Friday, both teams do battle for the 60th time.
The Vikings lead the all-time series with a record of 33-21-5, with 15 of the wins coming on shutouts.
In the series, Vale has outscored Ontario 1009-814 during the 65-year rivalry.
A season ago, Ontario dominated Vale at Frank Hawley Stadium with a 16-3 victory.
Both teams enter action after mixed results last Friday.
The Tigers are coming off a disappointing loss to Grant Union, while the Vikings are on a two-game winning streak, defeating Homedale 28-0 and La Grande 41-16.
It has been the Vikings defense that has ruled supreme to begin the 2008 campaign.
That defense has been so stellar, head coach Jeff Jacobs said in an interview following the Homedale win, “That’s going to be our calling card — put pressure on the quarterback. I thought our secondary did a great job. They played solid defense.”
The Viking offense has been up to the task as well, with Jarrod Tucker hitting the century mark against Homedale, Jeff Williams pounding out 86 yards and first-year starting quarterback Kyle Barras looking confident in the pocket.
Barras threw for 72 yards against Homedale and rushed for another 36 in his debut.
In week 2, Barras and the Vikings lit up La Grande to the tune of 41-14, but Friday night will not be a Homedale or La Grande.
In Ontario’s loss to Grant Union, the Tigers pounded out 329 yards and had the game all but won, but a couple of late special teams blunders cost them the game.
The Tigers launched success in the running game with 170 combined yards, with speedy running back Frank Lopez collecting 123 of those yards.
Ontario’s first-year starting quarterback Tad Anzaldua, a senior, found cadence in the passing game with 137 yards on 14-of-22 passing.
Anzaldua is ranked 10th in the state of Oregon on Max Preps as a quarterback.
In two games this year, he has thrown for 287 yards and three touchdowns and has thrown no interceptions.
He has done this on 21-of-33 passing for a 63 percent completion rate.
Ontario will throw a variety of weapons at the Vikings Friday with Jake Turner, Josh Mejia, Roger Garza and Lopez running the pigskin.
The Tiger defense allowed a total of 296 yards to Grant Union, but that was without the service of both starting defensive ends, who were out with injuries.
No injury report was given for the rivalry game, as calls to Ontario coach Trever Wilson and Vale head coach Jeff Jacobs were not returned.
OHS Hoo-Rah wrote on Sep 13, 2008 9:53 PM: