After falling behind 10-7 early in the second quarter, the Hermiston Bulldogs reeled off 49 unanswered points to cruise to a 56-10 road win over The Dalles Friday night.
The Bulldogs scored first on their second possession of the game when DJ Gossett connected with Tucker Salinas on a 53-yard pass to give Hermiston a 7-0 lead. The Riverhawks evened the game up when they recovered a fumble and ran it back 80 yards and kicked a 20-yard field goal to take the lead.
Hermiston, however, was just getting started. A blocked punt gave Hermiston the ball on the The Dalles’ 11 yard line and Mitch Brown scored the first of his three touchdowns to put the Bulldogs up 14-10. A fumbled snap gave Hermiston the ball back and three plays later, Nathan Hunsaker ran the ball in for another Bulldog touchdown.
Brown added two more scores and Ty Knutz ran one in from 60 yards out to give Hermiston a 42-10 halftime lead.
Hunsaker had a big hand in Hermiston’s two second-half scores. The senior quarterback scored on a 47-yard run and connected with Jerry Ramirez on a 38-yard scoring pass to wrap up the 56-10 victory.
Brown finished the game with 121 yards on nine carries. The win improves Hermiston to 2-5 overall and 1-0 in Columbia River Conference play. The Bulldogs will host Hood River on Friday.
