BAKER – If you are reading for the purpose of finding team stats and individual plays, please skip down towards the halfway of this article. For this is the story of not two teams, but two small towns celebrating together an event to be remembered for years. There were individual performances, great blocks, broken plays and interceptions. But more important, two teams in eastern Oregon spent one day in Baker enjoying a state title game.
We can start this tale with one fact-the Adrian Antelopes are the 1A state champions, downing the Powder Valley Badgers by a score of 46-38.
But, let us back up two or three hours prior to kickoff. Badger fans started showing up to an empty Baker High School parking lot in pickups filled with coolers, folding tables, propane heaters and banners. After laying out buns, starting the grills and taping up the signs, it was discovered this tailgate party was not one for just the Badgers, but a party for two towns as Adrian and Powder Valley fans stood together in a line waiting for hamburgers and hot dogs. In a tailgater second to no college blowout (minus a gas powered blender with adult beverages), Badger fans cooked, served and joined with Lope fans in a feast prior to kickoff.
With bellies full, the two entities split as they entered the gates to partake of the game. On the field, the two teams were in the process of preparing and warming up. One Adrian player stood out from the rest, his arm in a sling and wearing jeans. Senior Riley Griffin was on the field with his team after his clavicle was repaired just one day prior. Griffin broke the bone in the Lopes’ win over Lost River one week prior in a catch worthy of any highlight reel.
“I told the coach I could probably play today,” said Griffin.
Fans of 1A football need to be reminded these two teams, ranked first and second in the state, had a previous meeting. On Oct. 1, the Badgers rolled into Adrian and suffered a 0-38 loss at the hand of the Antelopes.
“It was like we never even got off the bus,” said Powder Valley Athletic Director Brad Dunten. “That game was a big eye opener for the team.”
For this game, Powder Valley definitely got off the bus and were ready.
The Lopes used their first play from scrimmage to place points on the board. After a Badger punt, Conley Martin took off on a 61-yard run and with less than two minutes off the clock, Adrian led 6-0.
Powder Valley answered in quick fashion, returning the ensuing kick-off 94 yards for the first Badger score courtesy of the legs of Cole Martin. With the point after successful, Powder Valley led 8-6.
For the first time this season, the first quarter ended with the Antelopes finding themselves on the opposite side of the score.
Starting a drive at the end of the first quarter, Powder Valley extended the lead in the minutes of the second quarter. The Badgers’ Case Olson ran through the Lope defense for a 65-yard score early in the second quarter and Powder Valley went up by 10 points, 16-6.
Adrian responded with a 65-yard, 10 play drive capped off with a 2-yard dive by Conley Martin. When brother Jace Martin converted the two-point point after, the Badgers lead was cut to two points, 16-14, the score at halftime.
The halftime speeches by both coaches apparently centered on offense as both teams exploded in the third quarter. The Badgers again extended the lead to 10 points after a seven play, 24-yard drive ended with an 8-yard pass from Dixon to Casey Vaughan to place Powder Valley up, 24-14.
Related: Free Downloads – Donated Photo Gallery – Adrian v Powder Valley State Championship Game
With the aid of a 29-yard return by Adrian’s Conley Martin, the Antelope drive started at midfield. Needing just two minutes, the Lopes went to the air as Conley Martin found Gavin Bayes for a 23-yard passing touchdown. With the point after successful, the Antelopes again trailed by two.
The Badgers made quick work of placing the lead back to ten points, needing only two minutes, 31 seconds to go 39 yards in five plays before Dixon made it around the Adrian defense on a 23-yard scoring run. With still over 5 minutes to play in the third quarter, Powder Valley was up 32-22.
The Lopes scored on the final play of the third quarter to again place the game to a two-point margin as Jace Martin went into the end zone on a 13-yard run.
The fourth quarter started with a blow to the Badgers. On a run, Powder Valley’s Dixon went down due to injury. Limping off the field, he immediately was seen by Badger staff. Running two plays, the Badgers were unable to punch the ball over the goal line from the Adrian 8-yard line, actually losing a yard back to the nine. After a timeout, Dixon was back in the game and needing only a single play, placed the Badgers up 38-30 after a 9-yard scoring run.
With 9:14 left in the game, the Lopes started a 12-play, 59-yard drive to tie up the score. After a Conley Martin pass to Bayes for 34 yards placed the ball on the Badgers’ 2-yard line, Jace Martin punched it in and with the point after successful, the two teams were tied at 38 with under 5 minutes left in the game.
As with all big games, one or two plays are the difference in the game.
Powder Valley started their drive on their own 20 after the Adrian kickoff resulted in a touchback. Dixon, noticeably slower due to injury, lost the handle on the ball with the subsequent fumble recovered by Adrian’s Misael Munoz on the Badger 6-yard line. Needing only a single play, Conley Martin gave Adrian their first lead of the game at 46-38.
With Dixon on the sideline, the Powder Valley ensuing drive stalled and on 4th down an 11 and with Dixon back in for a single play, a pass to Cole Martin fell short, turning the ball back over to Adrian for a few kneel downs and a state title.
“This means so much to me as a senior,” said Conley Martin. “Powder Valley was ready for us and we had to work for everything today. Even with the score during the game, I never had a doubt this win was ours.”
“This game truly was the two best teams in the state and it showed today,” said Adrian coach Billy Wortman.
For their efforts, Dixon and Conley Martin were named the Players of the Game. The two, opponents on the field for this day, have a long history of friendship and seeing each other across football. Playing on the same team early in their youth, Dixon and Martin spend time at each other’s homes away from the football field.
The Adrian/Powder Valley championship game was what a title match should be-a close game marked with an exciting fourth quarter coming from the two top-ranked teams in the state. Turnovers played a part, defense played a part, injuries played a part, excellent play played the largest part. As the clock hit zero, there was no winner or loser-there was a state champion team and on the other side, the runner-up.
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For the purist and old school football fan, see the following box score:
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
Powder Valley……. 8 8 16 6 – 38 Record: (11-2)
Adrian………….. 6 8 16 16 – 46 Record: (13-0)
Scoring Summary:
1st 10:01 ADRIAN – Conley Martin 61 yd run (Conley Martin rush failed), 1-56 0:10, POWDER 0 – ADRIAN 6
10:01 POWDER – Cole Martin 94 yd kickoff return (Reece Dixon rush), , POWDER 8 – ADRIAN 6
2nd 11:14 POWDER – Case Olson 65 yd run (Reece Dixon rush), 7-92 2:41, POWDER 16 – ADRIAN 6
07:27 ADRIAN – Conley Martin 2 yd run (Jace Martin rush), 10-65 3:47, POWDER 16 – ADRIAN 14
3rd 10:01 POWDER – Casey Vaughan 8 yd pass from Reece Dixon (Reece Dixon rush), 7-24 1:59, POWDER 24 – ADRIAN 14
08:01 ADRIAN – Gavin Bayes 23 yd pass from Conley Martin (Gavin Bayes pass from Conley Martin), 5-51 2:00, POWDER 24 – ADRIAN 22
05:30 POWDER – Reece Dixon 23 yd run (Clay Martin rush), 5-39 2:31, POWDER 32 – ADRIAN 22
00:00 ADRIAN – Jace Martin 13 yd run (Conley Martin rush), 6-39 2:03, POWDER 32 – ADRIAN 30
4th 09:14 POWDER – Reece Dixon 9 yd run (Cole Martin rush failed), 7-57 0:07, POWDER 38 – ADRIAN 30
04:57 ADRIAN – Jace Martin 2 yd run (Conley Martin rush), 12-59 4:17, POWDER 38 – ADRIAN 38
02:37 ADRIAN – Conley Martin 6 yd run (Conley Martin rush), 1-6 0:05, POWDER 38 – ADRIAN 46
POWDER ADRIAN
FIRST DOWNS………………. 14 19
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)………… 42-119 49-306
PASSING YDS (NET)…………. 133 57
Passes Att-Comp-Int……….. 21-10-1 13-2-0
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS….. 63-252 62-363
Fumble Returns-Yards………. 0-0 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards………… 0-0 0-0
Kickoff Returns-Yards……… 5-131 4-70
Interception Returns-Yards…. 0-0 1-13
Punts (Number-Avg)………… 3-28.7 2-39.0
Fumbles-Lost……………… 4-1 0-0
Penalties-Yards…………… 6-50 10-85
Possession Time…………… 25:21 22:39
Third-Down Conversions…….. 5 of 14 5 of 11
Fourth-Down Conversions……. 3 of 5 0 of 2
Red-Zone Scores-Chances……. 3-4 4-5
Sacks By: Number-Yards…….. 1-2 4-36
RUSHING: Powder Valley-Case Olson 6-58; Reece Dixon 23-49; Cole Martin 5-21; Clay Martin 5-3; Tucker Martin 1-1; TEAM 2-minus 13. Adrian-Conley Martin 29-211; Jace Martin 17-97; TEAM 3-minus 2.
PASSING: Powder Valley-Reece Dixon 8-16-1-129; Cole Martin 2-4-0-4; TEAM 0-1-0-0. Adrian-Conley Martin 2-11-0-57; Jace Bateman 0-1-0-0; Jace Martin 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING: Powder Valley-Kaden Krieger 4-72; Case Olson 3-37; Clay Martin 1-23; Casey Vaughan 1-8; Cade Lind 1-minus 7. Adrian-Gavin Bayes 2-57.
INTERCEPTIONS: Powder Valley-None. Adrian-Jace Bateman 1-13.
FUMBLES: Powder Valley-TEAM 2-0; Reece Dixon 2-1. Adrian-None.
Moda Health Players of the Game: Reece Dixon, Powder Valley. Conley Martin, Adrian.
SACKS (UA-A): Powder Valley-Braxton Golar 1-0. Adrian-Chase Andrade 1-0; Conley Martin 1-0; Sam Kiely 1-0; Misael Munoz 1-0.
TACKLES (UA-A): Powder Valley-Cole Martin 7-5; Kaden Krieger 8-3; Case Olson 7-1; Casey Vaughan 3-5; Braxton Golar 4-1; Reece Dixon 4-1; Clay Martin 2-1; Colt Cobb 0-2; Logan Profitt 1-0; Jackson Chandler 1-0; Tucker Martin 0-1. Adrian-Jace Martin 7-7; Conley Martin 6-5; Misael Munoz 7-3; Gavin Bayes 5-4; Sam Kiely 4-2; Chase Andrade 3-2; Carter Bayes 1-4; Jace Bateman 0-2; Robert Garza` 0-1.
