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By BEN MCCARTY
News staff writer
October 25, 2007
For one one night the Hood River Valley
Eagles looked like they were supposed to all season.
Running backs found holes, leading to
screen passes turning into long games, leading to the opposition
to have to throw the ball to catch up, leading to turnovers
which put the ball back in the hands of the Hood River offense.
Everything came together for the Eagles in
42-13 win over Sandy in the final game of the season for both
teams.
The contest featured the only two teams out
of the Mount Hood Conference playoff chase in search of their
first league win. The Eagles played like they had everything on
the line.
“Our guys could have mailed it in but they
didn't do that,” Hood River Valley Coach Tracy Jackson said.
“They beat these guys as soundly as the other teams in the
league did.”
The Eagles took a 21-7 lead to the locker
room at halftime, thanks a to a first-quarter touchdown run by
Ryan Nelson and two second-quarter touchdown passes from Travis
Carratt to Jacob Bohince.
Once the second half began any Sandy hopes
of mounting a comeback quickly vanished.
After the Eagles recovered an onside kick
to start the half, they reeled off three touchdowns in less than
five minutes, starting with a quick 52-yard drive in which Ryan
Nelson accounted for almost all the yardage. Nelson caught a
38-yard pass from Carratt and then ended the drive with a 1-yard
dash into the end zone.
After Jessie Page intercepted Sandy's A.J
Schnell, it was Joe Gehrig's turn to get a long gain, when he
caught a screen pass from Carratt and raced 36 yards to the
Sandy 1-yard line. Carratt then got into the end zone on a
quarterback keeper.
The Eagles got the ball back again when
Sandy's Taylor Graham fumbled the ball to the Eagles. Erick
Lujano caught a screen pass and raced to the Sandy 14-yard line.
He took a handoff on the next play and completed the short
scoring drive.
That was more than enough points for the
Eagles who began to empty their bench the rest of the way.
Nelson, who had his best game of the
season, summed up the positive finish to the Eagles’ season: “We
king of feel like champions for a night.”
For more on the game, see the Nov. 7
issue of the Hood River News. |
