There were actually two stories of the East-West Shrine game on Saturday on the field of Baker High School.

The first story was the score. After being on the short end of the scoreboard the last four years, the West scored a big 43-10 victory over the East squad.

The East struggled on the offense, turning the ball over on six occasions. The West rolled offensively, putting up 456 total yards and led at the half, 30-0. The East defense placed the first points on the board with a safety in the third quarter.

The lone TD for the East found Gus Ramsden of Wallowa hooking up with Vale’s Tanner Hamilton midway through the third quarter.

The second, and vastly more important story for the game was the actions of the players, coaches and cheer leaders in the days prior to the game.

With many of the players preparing for college, these athletes gave up a week of summer break to once again hit the practice field and play with teammates, many of who were opponents just a few months ago. In addition to sweating it out on the field of Eastern Oregon University for a week, the players, coaches and cheer leaders took time out to visit the Shrine Hospital in Portland.

For a person who has visited the Shrine Hospital in the past, the experience is heart tugging. These young, healthy athletes had the experience to see children who will never walk or even have the chance to be on a football field. Some of these patients will never leave the hospital. The game raised money for the hospital, a facility where nobody is ever charged a nickel.

It was obvious to those in the stands the game involved athletes of a high class. Opponents offered a hand up after a tackle and good plays were congratulated by both sides.

The scoreboard may have shown a winning team and a losing team, but every athlete on the field was a winner. The West may have won according to the score, but the true winners were the kids in the hospitals and the fans taking in a good game played by future community leaders.