HEPPNER — On Thursday, Heppner Mustangs coach Greg Grant said that the keys for his team to win its playoff game was to have fewer penalties and win the turnover battle.

On Saturday afternoon, Heppner did just that — and so much more.

The No. 2 seed Mustangs forced four turnovers and dominated every facet of the game as they pummeled the No. 15 seed Monroe Vikings in the first round of the OSAA state playoff game 55-14 at Les Payne Field.

“We came out and set the tone early,” said Heppner senior lineman Patrick Collins. “We knew what (Monroe) was going to run, we capitalized on their mistakes, started fast and just never looked back.”

The game was long over at halftime, as Heppner (10-0) held a 49-0 lead. The deficit kicked in a running clock for the entire second half which limited each team to just three possessions in the half.

In the first half, Heppner gained 276 yards on 31 offensive plays and seven touchdowns, while its defense held Monroe to just 44 yards on 28 offensive plays.

As rapid as the scoring was in the first half, the pace started out relatively slow. After forcing a quick three-and-out by Monroe (4-6), Heppner took over at its own 43 yard line and began trying to establish its run game.

But finally on the 13th play of the drive, senior C.J. Kindle took a direct snap and plunged into the end zone from three-yards out to give the Mustangs a 6-0 lead with 4:23 left in the quarter.

A few possessions later after the teams traded fumbles, Heppner took over at Monroe’s 42-yard line with 1:35 left in the quarter.

And on just the second play of the possession, running back Weston Putman busted a handful of Monroe tacklers and scampered his way for a 35-yard touchdown run to put Heppner up 14-0.

“Offensively sometimes we struggled to find our rhythm and find out exactly what we need to do and want to do,” said Grant after the game. “And to our kids’ credit we found it, figured out how we needed to block and took care of things so I was very pleased.”

The Mustangs forced another Monroe fumble two plays into the Dragons’ drive and recovered it inside the Monroe 10 yard line. Heppner didn’t waste any time at all as Putman knifed through the defense for a nine-yard touchdown run to give the Mustangs a 22-0 lead with 30 seconds left in the quarter.

Putman finished the game as the Mustangs’ leading rusher, carrying the ball nine times for 88 yards and those two touchdowns. He also had a solid game defensively, registering six tackles and an interception.

A play that epitomized the way the game played out came early in the second quarter, when Monroe forced Heppner to punt for the first time in the game. But on the punt, the Monroe returner fumbled the catch and Heppner’s Collins dove in to recover the fumble to give the Mustangs new life.

And on Heppner’s first play after the fumble, quarterback Kaden Clark connected with receiver Logan Grieb on a 29-yard touchdown pass — Grieb’s 10th touchdown reception of the season — to put Heppner up 28-0.

The Mustangs scored three more times in the quarter, on a seven-yard pass from Clark to receiver Kaden Hedman, a 16-yard screen pass from Clark to Kindle, and a five-yard touchdown run on an end-around by Grieb to give Heppner the 49-0 lead at halftime.

Clark had a very efficient game directing Heppner’s offense on Saturday, completing 9 of 15 passes for 132 yards and three touchdowns, as well as 58 rushing yards on four carries.

“It’s what he does, he throws the ball extremely well,” said Grant. “I don’t know if I’ve ever coached a better thrower. He puts the ball on the money and did that tonight, and hit a few shots early that really set the tone and set up some things for us.”

Heppner’s only score of the second half came on a 44-yard touchdown run by Kindle to increased the Mustangs’ lead to 55-0 with eight minutes left in the third quarter. Kindle finished the game with 53 rushing yards and 64 receiving yards and three total touchdowns.

“I’m happy we played well,” said Grant. “It’s really a great thing for the community, the school, and our kids love home playoff games and they worked their tails off all year long to really capitalize on these.”

Monroe did not get on the scoreboard until the 10:42 mark of the fourth quarter, when Kyle Bateman outran the Heppner defense for a 47-yard touchdown run. The Dragons scored their second touchdown on a 1-yard plunge by Joseph Ballard with just seconds remaining in the game.

Heppner held Monroe to just 169 total yards in the game, and forced four punts to go along with the four turnovers. The units’ performance got a rave review from Grant following the game.

“I really liked those guys tonight,” he said. “I liked that we were ready and we stepped up to it. I was pleased that the kids stepped up physically to play like that.”

With the win, Heppner advances in the Class 2A bracket to play No. 7 seed Reedsport next Friday in Heppner with the game time TBA.

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Contact Eric Singer at esinger@eastoregonian.com, (541) 966-0839 or follow on Twitter @ByEricSinger.