Eliminated from the high school state football playoffs a week ago, the Hermiston Bulldogs ended their season Friday night at Kennison Field with a thud.
Playing against the Central Valley Bears in the season’s final game with nothing on the line, the Bulldogs were scored upon early and often and didn’t get on the scoreboard until the fourth quarter.
Central Valley jumped out to a 10-0 lead after an early field goal and an interception returned for a touchdown.
Early in the second quarter, Central Valley connected on a 50-yard touchdown pass to put them up 17-0.
Matt Gabbert hit Connor Caffrey for his third touchdown of the night two minutes later, this one a 34-yard score to give them a 24-0 lead that they took into halftime.
Those two connected again late in the third quarter on a 24-yard scoring pass to put Central Valley up 31-0.
The Bulldogs finally got on the board at the start of the fourth on a 1-yard touchdown run by Wyatt Noland.
After another Central Valley score, Hermiston’s Andrew James, playing in his final game as a Bulldog, scored on a 10-yard run to cut into Central Valley’s lead, 38-14.
A final rushing touchdown by Central Valley with 5 minutes left in the game gave the Bears the 44-14 win.
Hermiston finished their first season in the Mid-Columbia Conference with an overall record of 6-4 and a 5-3 conference record.
