By BEN MCCARTY
News staff writer
October 5, 2007

After three quarters of going in reverse Friday, the Hood River Valley Eagles got their offense into high gear in the fourth quarter against Reynolds, only to run into a brick wall of Raider defenders at the 1-yard line in 27-22 defeat.

The Eagles had a third-and-goal from the 1-yard line with less than a minute to play, but the Raiders defense stopped two quarterback sneaks at the goal line and Reynolds held on after a safety for their first win of the season.

The Eagles, who had multiple drives stall in the first three quarters on penalties and a turnover before rallying the fourth quarter, were kept winless in league play. Coach Tracy Jackson’s team is still trying to figure out how to get its offense going consistently, much to the consternation of quarterback Travis Carratt. He believed he got into the end zone on both quarterback sneaks, but felt that if the team had played better sooner, it wouldn't have had to be in a position where the goal-line plays mattered.

“We played six minutes of football tonight,” he said.

In the first half Carratt and the Eagles faced third-and-long on every possession that they made it to third down and were constantly punting from deep in their own territory as Reynolds built a 20-7 halftime lead.

Reynolds got the scoring started with five minutes remaining in the first quarter, when Brian Agustus took a short pass from Bo Bergstrom and ran down the left sideline 41 yards for a touchdown and a 6-0 lead.

HRV responded on the first play of its next possession when Erick Lujano got his longest run of the year when he went up the middle 78-yards for a touchdown and the Eagles’ only lead in the game.

The Raiders jumped back out in front early in the second quarter when Bergstrom threw a 22-yard pass to  Nick Prante and a 13-7 lead.

Later in the quarter, after a botched snap, the Eagles were forced to punt from their own end zone, giving Reynolds the ball at the Eagles 17-yard line. The Raiders quickly took advantage as Bergstrom threw his third touchdown of the half, a 12-yarder to Augustus for a 20-7 lead.

HRV finally found some momentum at the end of the half, when Jacob Bohince intercepted a Bergstrom pass at the HRV 25-yard line and then caught a 55-yard pass from Carratt to get to the Reynolds 26-yard line with nine seconds left in the half. However, HRV could not complete a pass as time expired to take advantage of the good field position.

As the second half opened, Reynolds added to its advantage when Augustus picked off a Carrrett pass and raced 85-yards to the end zone for a 27-7 lead. After the Eagles muffed the kick return and the Raiders took over in HRV territory, the Eagle crowd and sideline fell relatively silent. However, the tide slowly began to turn after a 50-yard field goal attempt by Kyle Pollack fell short.

Early in the fourth Bohince picked up his second interception of the game, and a pass interference penalty moved the ball to the Reynolds 40-yard line. Lujano did the rest, running for a touchdown to make the score 27-14.

Reynolds recovered the HRV onside kick, but the Raiders found themselves pinned deep in their own territory after a 24-yard loss on a botched snap. They then had their punt blocked by Justin Tolentino. With the momentum swinging their way the Eagles took over on the 7-yard line, and ended the short drive with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Carratt to Ryan Nelson to pull within 27-20. The Eagles recovered their onside kick and moved to the 1-yard line thanks to a reaching catch by Coerper.

The Reynold's defensive line held fast. The Eagles had a chance in the final seconds after a Reynold's safety kick off, but the Raiders smothered a kick return that was lateraled several times.

After the game, Jackson was at a loss to explain why the Eagles could not figure out how to move the ball for the first three quarters.