For 33 and a half minutes during Friday night’s 5A playoff game between the Hermiston Bulldogs and the Sandy Pioneers, neither team could muster anything that resembled a sustained drive. But during the final 8 and a half minutes, the Bulldogs found their offensive mojo and shut out Sandy, 17-0, to move on and play Liberty next Friday.
Hermiston threatened to score with just under 4 minutes to go in the half, but a 37-yard field goal attempt by Luis Medina missed left and both teams entered the locker rooms at halftime scoreless – a far cry from the matchup between the same two teams when Hermiston led Sandy at halftime, 49-3.
The entire third quarter was a punt fest as both teams ended up punting after each of their four offensive series. Sandy barely saw Hermiston territory during much of the second half. A rare exception was a drive in the third quarter that was kept alive when Hermiston was called for running into the punter on fourth and 5. After the penalty was assessed, the Pioneers went for it on fourth and inches and quarterback Spencer Barnett kept the ball for a first-down run.
But the Bulldogs’ defense held tough and eventually forced Sandy to punt. It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that Hermiston’s offensive line began opening up holes for Sam Colbray, who ate up key yards and helped set up a 7-yard touchdown pass from Chase Knutz to Cole Smith with 8:30 left in the game.
Hermiston scored again on their next possession when Medina connected on a 38-yard field goal following an interception by Sheridan Zumwalt that gave Hermiston the ball on the Sandy 23.
The Bulldogs wrapped up the scoring on their next drive when Colbray scored on a 14-yard touchdown run to ice the game away.
Hermiston’s Cory Adams left the game in the first half with concussion-like symptoms.
With the win, the 9-1 Bulldogs will travel next Friday to take on Liberty, who defeated Crescent Valley Friday night, 35-14.
