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Photo by Ben McCarty
A fourth-down pass to the end zone is just beyond the
reach of Eagles' tight end Adam Coerper in the second quarter of
Hood Rivers' 22-20 loss to Gresham on Friday.
BEN MCCARTY
News staff writer
September 21, 2007
Step one: Complete pass from Mickey Inns to Jacob Cruser.
Step two: Repeat.
That was the brutally efficient formula the
Gresham Gophers used to top the Hood River Valley Eagles, 22-20,
Friday night.
The Gophers’ offense wore down the Hood
River defense, keeping it on the field much of the second half.
That included the closing minutes, after a Joe Johnson
interception return pulled the Eagles within two points with
four minutes remaining.
What kept the Eagle defense on the field so
long was primarily the connection between Inns and Cruser, who
hooked up 12 times on the night. One of those receptions came
early in the fourth quarter and resulted in a 24-yard touchdown.
The HRV offense was on the field for only
three series in the second half, for a total of 12 plays. The
offense used the time efficiently by putting points on the
board. The Eagles scored a touchdown on a 61-yard screen pass
from Travis Carratt to Jacob Bohince with ten minutes to play
(it was the second time the pair connected for a score in the
game).
After Johnson went 80 yards to the end zone
on his interception return, they connected again on the
two-point conversion try, but the Gresham defense jumped on the
screen pass and kept Bohince from getting to the end zone to tie
the game.
Despite its best efforts, an exhausted HRV
defense could not get the ball back as Gresham threw its
playbook at the Eagles with a variety of running plays to keep
the clock moving. The play selection ranged from quarterback
bootlegs, to options, to reverses to fullback dives.
“We had schemes but our defense was on the
field so long we started playing like we'd been on the field for
awhile,” HRV coach Tracy Jackson said. “The kids were doing the
best they could.”
At the start of the game it looked like it
would be Carratt leaving Inns on the sidelines for large
portions of the game, as he hit Bohince for a 54-yard gain in
the first quarter, but after flashes of brilliance, the HRV
offense stumbled, and several passes to open receivers dropped
to the turf. With penalties and struggles to get the passing
game going, HRV found itself in Gresham territory several times,
but each resulted in a fourth-and-long situation, that the
Eagles repeatedly failed to convert.
Then the Gresham offense began to take
control. Inns led an offensive attack that constantly kept the
HRV defense off balance with quick passes and runs to the
outside, leaving the defenders to wonder what would come next.
Gresham got on the board first with 1:43 to
play in the first quarter Nick Ingram took an option pitch and
cut up the field 30-yards for the score.
HRV failed to convert on a fourth down and
Inns knifed into the HRV defense with a 45-yard pass to Jeff
Ivie to get to the Eagle 3-yard line. Inns then went the rest of
the way himself on a quarterback sneak for a 14-0 lead.
HRV's offense was able to take advantage of
good field position for the first time in the final minute of
the half when Jesse Page blocked a Gresham punt and the Eagles
recovered at the Gresham 30. The Eagles quickly took advantage
of the situation when Carratt tossed a 30-yard touchdown to
Bohince to draw within 14-7.
Neither team could score in the third
quarter, but it marked the beginning of Gresham's dominance on
time of possession as the Eagles offense was on the field only
once in the quarter and went three and out.
The Gophers put the game out of reach early
in the fourth when Inns and Cruser connected from 24-yards out,
followed by a successful two-point conversion by the Gophers for
a 22-7.
Ryan Nelson who rushed for four yards on
two carries in the first half, and intercepted an Inns pass in
the first quarter, was pleased with the way the offensive line
played to give Carratt time to throw, but knows the Eagles still
need to work on their offensive execution to be successful.
“We just needed to catch the key passes,”
he said. “Our O-line was pushing it tonight though; they did
their jobs to give our quarterback time.”
Jackson believes the Eagles’ success on the
field now comes down to focus. With offensive and defensive
schemes built around the team's talents on the field, the HRV
coach wants to see his team learn from its mistakes and apply
them to future games.
“Maybe down the road we break some of those
up,” he said of the HRV defense trying to stop Gresham receivers
from catching the ball in traffic.
Jeremy Rowley, a defensive lineman who was
on the field with the Eagle defense for most of the second half
as they tried to get a stop and get the offense back on the
field, knows that the team is going have to keep giving a full
effort at practice each week to get into the win column in
conference play.
“We all want to come out working 110
percent,” he said. 'Nobody likes to lose.” |
