Tigers trying to move on after last week

The La Grande Tigers will try to put a tough game behind them when they play host to Madras Friday night in Community Stadium.

The Tigers are coming off a 19-15 loss to Nyssa last week, where the Bulldogs scored the go-ahead touchdown with 36 seconds left in the game.

La Grande finds themselves in a very familiar position. Last season LHS was 0-4 when they traveled to a play a winless Madras team and got their first win of the season, 25-0.

This year the Tigers are 0-5, while the White Buffaloes have a record of 1-4. The lone win for Madras this season was against Crook County 35-21 Sept. 25.

Before that victory the White Buffaloes had dropped 17 consecutive games dating back to the 2007-08 season, including going 0-10 last year.

The offense for Madras has seen much more success this year under a new head coach. After failing to score a single point in six games last year, the White Buffaloes haven’t scored less than 14 points in every game this season.

Madras runs primarily out of the shotgun, and likes to throw the football around a lot.

In the game last season, La Grande was able to out-gain Madras on the ground 295 yards to just 17. Matt Nicholson led the way for the Tigers with 115 yards on 22 carries.

Last week against Nyssa, Nicholson ran for 124 yards on 30 carries in La Grande’s most productive offensive game of the season. That is now two consecutive games for LHS with a 100-yard rusher.

After last week’s game, the Tigers are ready to take the field again and get those bad memories out of their minds.

“We just have to put that one behind us,” head coach Matt Wolcott said. “We did some good things last week that we can build on for this game. The kids have been working hard in practice and are excited to get back out there.”

Quarterback Carson Miller had an explosive game against Nyssa, using his athleticism and scrambling multiple times to keep plays alive.

Miller finished with 98 yards rushing and two touchdowns last week, including a 63-yard touchdown run.

The Tigers are averaging 110.8 rushing yards per game this season. Miller is only completing 40 percent of his passes for 104 yards per game.

“As the quarterback I know some of the guys look for me to be the leader,” Miller said after the loss to Nyssa. “We just have to get back after it this week.”

Wolcott said his team is healthy for the most part and is looking forward to this week’s game.

“These kids love to play football. They have been improving every week in practice. They’re just a good group to coach, and they aren’t going to stop working hard,” Wolcott added.

If the Tigers can repeat history and get their first win of the season against Madras, they will ride some momentum into the conference opener against Ontario Oct. 23.

“The conference schedule is a whole new season for us,” Wolcott said. “If we can just get through this week then it’s a whole new ballgame.”

The game is scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m. A live broadcast of the game will be available on 99.9 KWRL. The pre-game show starts at 6:40 p.m.