Columbia Gorge News
www.columbiagorgenews.com
Wednesday,March31,2021
13
Hood River, The Dalles play for
Gorge 5A football bragging rights
Petshow
■ By For Joe
Columbia Gorge News
two-touchdown loss to HRV, a game
also played at Henderson Stadium.
The Dalles, which was hurt by 145
Extended pandemics have a way penalty yards in the 2019 contest,
last beat HRV, 28-20, in 2013.
of adding perspective into a lot of
The Dalles (2-1) is coming
things in life, especially those of
double-masked football players. But off a 34-0 shutout win Saturday
over visiting Wilson, while Hood
there’s nothing like a high school
River (2-2) lost 46-26 at home to
rivalry to provide a needed respite
Redmond’s Ridgeview. Against
in otherwise trying times.
Wilson, The Dalles eliminated some
Hood River and The Dalles get
of the costly mistakes that plagued
such a chance Friday at HRV’s
the Riverhawks the week before in
Henderson Stadium, where they
a 41-6 league loss to La Salle. Hood
will square off in a Special District
River opened its 2021 spring season
1 contest starting at 7 p.m. April 2.
Twenty miles separate the schools, with a 30-14 win over the Falcons.
“We’re going in the right direc-
but there are plenty of crossover
activities in the Gorge linking play- tion heading into the rivalry game
against Hood River,” said Codding
ers on both teams. Many of those
after his team’s defensive gem last
involved in Friday’s game started
toeing the line against each other in week. “It’s good to go into rivalry
grade school, playing for the Hood week on a positive note. We can’t
look too far ahead though, because
River “Blue” or The Dalles “Red”
we have lots of work to do in prepa-
teams. Hood River Coach Caleb
Sperry played in this rivalry game,
ration for facing Hood River.”
as an all-state wide receiver for The
Hood River, on the other hand,
Dalles in the early 1990s.
will try to plug some defensive holes
“I think for the kids it is a rivalry; that Ridgeview exposed last week,
they know each other pretty well
especially during the third quarter
from this and other sports,” Sperry
when the Ravens outscored the
said.
Eagles, 16-0. Ridgeview rushed for
Hood River has won the past four more than 300 yards against HRV,
meetings in the series, including
which also had lost the prior week
the last time the two played in 2019, at Pendleton.
36-22. The two schools did not play
The Eagle defense will have to be
in 2016 and 2017, as The Dalles had aware of the Riverhawks’ fly-sweep
an independent schedule to try and attack. When The Dalles needs a
build participation numbers in its
little speed and deception, it often
program.
will call upon fleet Jaxon Pullen to
Andy Codding’s first year (second run horizontally along the line of
stint) as head coach in 2018 had the scrimmage until he can find a seam
Riverhawks back playing in a league to head up field. The fly-sweep
— the Class 4A Special District
system helped a Codding-coached
2. The Riverhawks were 2-6 that
Ridgeview team recover from a 17-0
season followed by a turnaround
second-quarter deficit and win the
year in 2019, when The Dalles went 2013 Class 4A state championship.
7-5 behind a large group of 18
If the run game isn’t working,
seniors and advanced to the Class
Riverhawk senior quarterback
4A semifinals. Codding, who also
Skyler Leeson has proved adept at
coached The Dalles from 2008-
play-action passes. He is coming off
10 when players wore an Eagle
his best performance, an 8-for-11
Indian logo, probably remembers
passing effort for 120 yards against
that the 2019 season began with a
Wilson.
The Dalles' senior Jesse Larson (7) breaks out of one tackle and responds to a second during Saturday's game against Wilson
in The Dalles. Next up is Hood River Valley, which has defeated the Riverhawks for the past four years.
Mark B. Gibson photo
Hood River counters with a
run-based offense, but one that is
steadily becoming more balanced
behind junior quarterback Trenton
Hughes. His favorite targets include
senior tight end Zac Wells and
junior wide receiver Ryles Buckley,
who had a 50-yard TD reception
against Ridgeview last week.
Senior Tanner Fletcher is the
go-to back in the Eagle offense. The
sturdy, quick Fletcher doesn’t need
much of a hole created by Hood
The Dalles takes
care of football,
beats Wilson, 34-0
Weber
■ By For Mike
Columbia Gorge News
THE DALLES — Inspired by
Senior Day festivities while playing
its final home game proved to
be highly motivational for The
Dalles football team last week. The
Riverhawks (2-1) played nearly
perfect in a 34-0 non-league victory
over Class 6A Wilson Saturday
afternoon at Sid White Field on the
Wahtonka campus.
“We just took care of the ball a lit-
tle better and we won the turnover
battle,” said Coach Andy Codding.
“That’s one of the things that we’ve
kind of been most concerned about
during the first couple of games.
We executed our game plan very
well and we just took whatever they
(Trojans) were giving us. For our
defense getting a shutout is huge
and it’s the third week in a row that
we’ve played really well defen-
sively. It was a good overall effort
by everyone, and our linemen
took away the key part of Wilson’s
game, which is running the ball.
We stopped what they (Trojans)
wanted to do and then we also took
away their Plan B.”
Riverhawk seniors who were
honored were introduced with their
parents at midfield. Those seniors
included Kenape Stewart, Jesse
Larson, Dusty Dodge, Francisco
Medina, Enrique DeLaCruz, Alex
Gonzales, Spencer Taylor and
Skyler Leeson. After the pregame
ceremony, The Dalles unleashed a
first-quarter offensive explosion to
gain control of the 1 p.m. contest.
The Riverhawks displayed a
highly effective fly offensive attack
in a 10-play, 64-yard scoring drive,
capped by a one-yard touchdown
run by quarterback Leeson (8-for-
11 passing, 120 yards). Placekicker
Fabian Canchola booted the extra
point and The Dalles led 7-0 with
7:13 on the scoreboard clock.
“It feels great to come out here
and play so well today,” said
Leeson. “We were able to capitalize
on Wilson’s turnovers; we played
together as a team and our linemen
were blocking really well. Everyone
just made big plays when we need-
ed to, and our defense worked hard
to recover turnovers. It means a lot
for us to come out here and get the
win on Senior Night, because it’s
the last home game for our seniors.”
It didn’t take long for The Dalles
to extend the lead — 33 seconds,
to be exact. Following Canchola’s
kickoff, The Dalles sophomore
linebacker Riley Brock recovered a
fumble on a first down Trojan play,
The Dalles' senior Kenape Stewart intercepts a pass in Saturday's game against
Wilson in The Dalles.
Flora Gibson photo
giving the Riverhawks possession
at Wilson’s 33-yard line. Junior
flyback Jaxon Pullen (11 carries,
126 yards rushing) took the ensuing
handoff from Leeson and sprint-
ed to the right side and quickly
eluded Wilson defenders to put the
Riverhawks in front 13-0 with 6:40
on the clock.
“We definitely played with a high
energy level offensively and defen-
sively from the opening kickoff and
we had the momentum going our
way throughout the entire game,”
said Pullen. “We made some ad-
justments during practice following
last week’s tough game and we had
a good mindset today, while ev-
eryone played much better to help
us get the win. I just ran as hard as
I could, and I got some key blocks
from Jesse Larson to help me get to
the outside where I could run fast.
We really wanted to get the win for
the seniors, since it was their last
home game.”
The Dalles capitalized on an-
other short field as Wilson again
turned the ball over on its next
possession. The Dalles sophomore
linebacker Kade Wilson recovered
a Trojan fumble on a first-down
play and the Riverhawk offense
was back in business at Wilson’s
40. Leeson’s 16-yard completion
to senior receiver Larson (three re-
ceptions, 47 yards) was followed by
Pullen’s 24-yard TD run; Canchola’s
PAT made it 20-0 with 5:47 left in
the first quarter.
Wilson turned the ball over on
downs and The Dalles scored its
fourth, first-quarter touchdown.
The speedy Pullen utilized good
blocking from Riverhawk offensive
linemen Taylor, Malcolm I’aulualo,
Evan Baldy and Riis Le Roux and
scrambled past Wilson’s defenders
on a 51-yard TD run.
After a scoreless second period,
it was The Dalles defense’s turn to
shine in the third quarter after the
Trojans marched 49 yards to The
Dalles 3-yard line. The Riverhawks’
defense, led by Andrew Savaiinaea,
Anthony Jara, Medina, Ian Preston
and Andre Niko, stopped Wilson’s
fourth-and-goal play at the 1-yard
line.
The Riverhawks took over
possession on downs with 3:54
left in the third and proceeded on
a 13-play, 99-yard scoring drive
overlapping the third and fourth
quarters. A highlight in the drive
was a 30-yard completion by
Leeson to Larson to Wilson’s 40.
The impressive drive was capped
by Leeson’s 10-yard TD toss over
the middle to a wide open Pullen in
the end zone.
The Dalles had 375 yards of total
offensive, including 255 yards rush-
ing. Because the 2020 season was
canceled due to COVID-19, the win
over Wilson was the Riverhawks’
first home victory since Nov. 16,
2019. The Dalles won that contest,
58-51, over Tillamook in the OSAA
Class 4A state playoffs.
River’s big, physical offensive line,
(Mike Weber contributed to this
to get loose in the defensive second- story.)
ary. Fletcher had 120 rushing yards
The Dalles-Hood River
in the first half against Ridgeview.
Past Five Football Games
“We’ve got to do a better job of
Year Winner Score
taking care of ourselves,” Sperry
2019 Hood River
36-22
said. “(We have to) eliminate bad
2018 Hood River
22-6
penalties; get back to making
2015 Hood River
33-14
first-contact tackles.
2014 Hood River
34-6
“We’ve got to get back to playing
2013 The Dalles
28-20
physical and fast. Those were the
trademarks that helped us get out to
our first two wins.”
Ridgeview breaks
away from HRV
in second half
Petshow
■ By For Joe
Columbia Gorge News
HOOD RIVER — A last-second
pass play as time expired in the first
half helped propel Ridgeview to a
46-26 Special District 1 football win
Friday over host Hood River.
Running back Josh Biever, a
workhorse for the Ravens all game,
caught a 12-yard touchdown pass
from Aiden Brenneman to give
the visitors a 22-18 lead at inter-
mission. The Ravens maintained
momentum in the second half,
outscoring HRV 16-0 in the third
period en route to the win.
Biever, a 175-pound senior, ran
28 times for 209 yards and two
touchdowns, as Ridgeview evened
its record to 2-2. Brenneman threw
for four scores, including two to
Jeremiah Schwartz, as the Ravens
broke open the game after the
break.
The turnaround just before
halftime — one of those pivotal
moments that can occur when two
evenly-matched teams square off -
was crucial to Hood River’s chanc-
es. The Eagles (2-2) were driving
toward what appeared might be
a two-score margin, but instead
found themselves trailing. A gutsy
fake punt — in which up-back
Zac Wells took the snap and went
up the middle on a seven-yard,
first-down run - gave the Eagles
a first-and-10 at the Raven 38.
Quarterback Preston Hughes threw
to Jack Wilson for a seven-yard gain
to the 31, but then the drive stalled
as HRV gave up the ball on downs.
With 14.8 seconds left before
halftime, Biever ran 47 yards
on a reverse to the Eagle 12 and
Ridgeview called timeout with 1.8
seconds on the scoreboard clock.
After the timeout, Brenneman con-
nected with Biever in the corner of
the end zone, as Ridgeview retook
the lead it would not relinquish.
“That was a huge momentum
swing,” HRV Coach Caleb Sperry
said. “On that reverse we gave up
too many yards. We had a chance
to tackle him … we missed a tackle
at midfield. That (score) gave them
the momentum.”
Up-and-down Ridgeview en-
tered the contest on a two-game
losing streak, but the Ravens
showed some punch in week two
when they led league-leading
Pendleton by two touchdowns
at halftime before losing 20-12.
Ridgeview was shut out 27-0
last week by cross-town rival
Redmond, while Hood River lost its
first game, 26-6, at Pendleton.
Both teams looked strong offen-
sively early, as each scored on their
first two offensive possessions. The
Eagles received the opening kickoff
and scored after nine Tanner
Fletcher running plays covered 56
yards. Ridgeview answered with
Biever, who capped the Ravens’
initial drive of 58 yards in 10 plays
with a 17-yard TD scamper. Biever
carried on all but three plays of the
drive, and his conversion run gave
his team an 8-6 lead.
Conversion runs figured huge
in the back-and-forth first half.
Ridgeview was 2-for-3 on points-af-
ter touchdowns before intermis-
sion, while HRV failed on all three
of its first-half attempts. The Eagles
were hurt by costly penalties and
fumbles — which they recovered,
but not before the timing of the
plays was thrown off.
Sperry said, “(Ridgeview) did a
good job of making sure they didn’t
make a bunch of mistakes.”
HRV all-state lineman Henry
Buckles tipped his helmet to
Ridgeview, which took advantage
of its opportunities. “We made
some mistakes defensively and
a couple mistakes offensively,”
he said. “That cost us a couple of
touchdowns.”
HRV answered the Ravens’ first
score, this time mixing in two
Hughes completions into a nine-
play drive, before Fletcher ran it in
from the 2 for a 12-8 lead midway
through the second period. The
pass plays proved an indicator of
things to come, as Hughes found
Ryles Buckley on a slant pattern
and the junior wide receiver raced
50 yards for the go-ahead score
with 4:04 remaining in the first half.
Ridgeview had matched HRV’s
second TD with another Biever run
to go ahead 16-12 before Buckley’s
catch-and-run had once again
given the Eagles the lead, 18-16.
For his part, Fletcher had 18 car-
ries for 119 yards before intermis-
sion, but the senior halfback was
slowed by the Raven defense after
the break when Ridgeview seized
control.
Brenneman connected with
Gannon Jeter on a four-yard touch-
down pass with 9:13 left in the third
period. Hood River went four-
and-out on its next possession and
Brenneman and Schwartz hooked
up on their first TD connection
— this one covering 38 yards. The
Ridgeview defense forced another
four-and-out, and two plays later
Brenneman threw to Schwartz for
a 31-yard catch-and-run score. The
sophomore quarterback was an ef-
ficient 7-for-9 passing for 109 yards,
registering TDs on nearly half of his
throws.