Trevor Brazile of Decatur, Texas, holds the East Oregonian Let ‘er Buck Trophy after being named the all-around champion at the Pendleton Round-Up Saturday, Sept. 13, 2014, in Pendleton.

Eastern Oregon’s year in sports was never without a dull moment in 2014.

Championships poured into the region at a record clip and in every season, but one clearly stood out in its local impact.

The Hermiston football team delivered its first state championship this fall — something that was unthinkable just five years ago — to steal the top spot on the countdown away from the most decorated basketball player to ever emerge from the dusty hills of the dry side.

1. Bulldogs’ new tricks

Unified behind a common cause, the Bulldogs bounded through regular season play, mauled opponents in the opening three rounds of the playoffs before unseating undefeated Silverton 34-12 to earn the school its first ever state football championship.

The banner year also supplied a slew of other firsts for the program. Quarterback Chase Knutz became the first Bulldog to win the Class 5A Offensive Player of the Year award, coach Mark Hodges followed suit as the first Class 5A Coach of the Year and the team was honored as the MaxPreps.com National Team of the Week for its 63-14 decimation of Pendleton in the Columbia River Conference finale. The 49-point margin was the largest ever by Hermiston in the series with the Buckaroos.

The Bulldogs (12-1) were balanced in their offense approach, combining the school’s most prolific passer with the two-headed running monster of Cory Adams and Sam Colbray — each of whom nearly notched 1,000 yard rushing seasons. And it’s impossible to forget the Bulldog defense, which included seven All-State team representatives, including CRC Defensive Player of the Year Tre Neal.

Hermiston graduates 22 seniors — including Knutz, but returns plenty, with the likes of Colbray, Neal and two-way All-State performer Ethan Snow coming back.

2. The Year of Shoni

Shoni Schimmel was truly living the dream in 2014.

After helping the Louisville Cardinals return to the Elite 8 at the NCAA national tournament and earning all-American honors, Schimmel was selected No. 8 overall in the first round of the WNBA draft by the Atlanta Dream. She is the highest selected Native American in WNBA history.

Immediately nicknamed “Showtime” by head coach and former Los Angeles Laker Michael Cooper, Schimmel quickly lived up to the moniker with a record 33 assists in her first four games.

Schimmel was voted a WNBA all-star starter with the third-most votes, and was named the game’s MVP after lifting the Eastern Conference to a 125-124 overtime win with an all-star game record 29 points.

The Dream went on to win their first Eastern Conference regular season championship before being eliminated by Chicago in the conference semifinals.

While 10 of her Dream teammates signed contracts to play overseas during the offseason, Schimmel has flown under the radar as she prepares for her second year in the WNBA, which begins June 5, 2015, with the Dream playing at the New York Liberty.

3. BMCC destroys Northwest

The Blue Mountain volleyball program officially reached dynasty status in 2014, and did so in dominating fashion.

The Timberwolves won their third NWAC championship in a row and fourth in five seasons while winning a program-record 50 matches. BMCC’s .926 winning percentage and 148-22 record in sets also were program bests.

During the regular season, the T-Wolves went on a 35-match winning streak that included a season-long 31-set winning streak. But they saved their best for last and the NWAC Tournament in Tacoma, Washington, where they went a perfect 15-0 in sets to win the title in the minimum number of matches possible.

For the second year in a row, BMCC also saw one of its own named NWAC Volleyball Player of the Year as sophomore outside hitter Sierra Linke capped her BMCC career with a bang.

Linke led the NWAC with 273 kills and was also named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association all-American first team for junior colleges. Also named first team all-Americans for the T-Wolves were freshman libero Klaree Hobart and freshman middle blocker Amorelle Applin.

Hobart and Applin have both said they plan to return for their sophomore seasons, and the T-Wolves could potentially return 10 players for the 2015 season.

4. Hermiston adds to legacy

When the Hermiston wrestling program won its first state title in 2001, it took the Bulldogs six seasons to win their next.

Since 2007, however, the Bulldogs have won seven of a possible eight team championships at the 5A level, a run matched only by Culver at the 2A level.

The Bulldogs won their second straight title in 2014 under head coach Shaun Williams, beating out Dallas 174-145.5 in points. Hermiston had three individual champions led by 195-pound sophomore Sam Colbray, who pinned each of his first three opponents in the first round before winning the championship 7-3 over West Albany senior Jackson Soto.

Liam Tarvin (106 pounds) and Isaac Aguilar (120) also won titles for Hermiston, and five other Bulldogs found the podium in lower placings.

The Bulldogs saw four of those placers graduate, but Williams said before the season he believes they can continue their run at the top if all the pieces come together.

Early results have been few, but the Bulldogs had a solid showing at the Tri-State Tournament in December where they placed 12th out of 68 teams. Colbray won a title in his weight class and three wrestlers placed — Andy Wagner, Bob Coleman and John-Henry Line.

5. Irrigon finishes

After reaching the state final with an unblemished record in 2013, the Irrigon Knights had all offseason to think about their only loss.

Motivated by their brush with history, the Knights found redemption in 2014 when they defeated Oakland 42-21 in a state-title rematch at Pendleton Convention Center. It was the first state championship for the program.

Adrian Romero earned Player of the Game honors in the championship with a game-high 17 points and seven rebounds, and Irrigon held Oakland to 8-of-26 on field goals.

The Knights (26-2) finished the season on an 11-game winning streak and Romero went on to be named the 2A Player of the Year.

With all but two players from that squad back, the Knights are off to an 8-0 start and enter the new year as the last undefeated team in 2A.

6. Back-to-back

June 7, 2014, was a special day for Eastern Oregon softball as Mac-Hi and Pendleton won back-to-back state championships at the OSU Softball Complex in Corvallis. Mac-Hi started the roll with a 7-0 thrashing of Henley in the 4A final, which was highlighted by pitcher Colette Robert’s one-hitter. Then Pendleton came from behind to beat Putnam 2-1, hitting a team-record 36th home run in the process.

It was the first state title for Mac-Hi, and the second for Pendleton. Union/Cove had already won the 2A/1A title the day before, making it the first time three teams from northeast Oregon won titles in the same season.

Pendleton’s Darian Lindsey was named the 5A Player of the Year and will return to the diamond this spring with all-state outfielders Alexis Morrison and Tiah Grass, whose team-record 12th home run of the season tied the state championship at 1-1 in the sixth inning. Pendleton’s Tim Cary was the 5A Coach of the Year.

Robert earned 4A Pitcher of the Year for Mac-Hi after going 23-3 with 11 shutouts, a 1.06 ERA and 254 strikeouts. She also led the Pioneers with a .727 batting average and 50 RBI, and will have tons of talent surrounding her during her senior season. The Pioneers had five other players named to an all-state team, and all of them return this spring for Nicole Christian, who was named 4A Coach of the Year.

7. Brazile lets ’er buck

Rodeo’s richest cowboy added more hardware to his packed trophy case at September’s 104th Pendleton Round-Up. With his name already etched twice on the trophy given to the rodeo’s top all-around cowboy, Trevor Brazile added a third consecutive all-around title and in the process procured this version of the Let ’er Buck Trophy for good.

Brazile became the third cowboy to retire the trophy, joining up Cash Myers and Mike Beers in the lofty company.

Brazile won the calf roping final round when he tied his calf in 8.6 seconds, which when combined for his other runs was good enough for third in the aggregate. He also took home a check in tie-down roping to qualify for the all-around title, he earned $13,546 total at the Round-Up.

Brazile won his ninth consecutive gold buckle this year and his 12th of his career. He won season championships in steer-roping and the all-around.

8. Knights dominate

Behind super senior Ellie Logan, the Condon/Wheeler girls athletic program nearly swept all three major 1A girls state championships during the last year’s school calendar. The Knights snagged state team titles in basketball in the winter and track and field in the spring, and finished runner-up in volleyball in the fall of 2013.

Logan was named the Big Sky Player of the Year in basketball for the fourth straight year and grabbed four state track and field crowns in the 200-meter dash, the 100-meter high hurdles, the 300-meter intermediate hurdles and the javelin throw.

Logan graduated and signed to play basketball at Northwest Nazarene University in the spring. Without Logan, the Knights were ousted in the second round of the 2014 Class 1A state volleyball tournament this November and are currently 8-1 during this winter’s basketball campaign.

9. Distance double

Umatilla junior Fabian Cardenas followed up a state title on the track in May with the school’s first ever boys cross country individual title in November.

Cardenas won each title with plenty of cushion. He bested Creswell’s Zach Bellew by 11 seconds in the spring’s 3,000 meter win with a time of 8 minutes, 46.87 seconds at Hayward Field in Eugene. He completed the distance sweep with a time 28-seconds faster than the field (16:02) at Lane Community College in Eugene six months later.

Cardenas will attempt to defend both crowns, first in the spring on the track and again in the fall on the trail.

10. Mustangs whet appetite

Heppner went perfect in its first 12 games of the season to earn a spot in the Class 2A state football championship game for just the fourth time in school history. But the Mustangs were unable to replicate the magical 1992 state championship season, falling 49-0 to Burns in the final.

It was the second consecutive year that Heppner carried an undefeated record into postseason only to fall short of its ultimate quest. They lost to Regis in the 2013 semifinals.

Defensive lineman Patrick Collins was honored as the 2A Defensive Player of the Year for his season. He was credited with a team-high 16.5 tackles for loss.

Most of the Mustangs top players will return for another run at a state crown. Quarterback Kaden Clark, running backs Brian Rill and CJ Kindle and the team’s top six tacklers this seasons — Collins included — will headline next year’s squad.