The Hermiston Bulldogs ended a two-game skid Friday night with a dominating 60-34 win over Hood River on Homecoming night at Kennison Field.
The Eagles, 1-6 coming into the game, were just what the doctor ordered as the Bulldogs took the lead early in the second quarter and never looked back. Trailing 7-3 at the start of the second quarter, Costa Rodriguez gave the Bulldogs the lead with a touchdown.
On the first play of their next series, Hermiston junior quarterback Chase Knutz connected with Ramon Contreras on a 60-yard touchdown pass to put the Bulldogs up 17-7. Rodriguez gave Hermiston the ball on the first play of the Eagles’ next series with an interception and Hermiston wasted no time putting more points on board as Knutz hit Contreras on a 29-yard pass to push the lead to 23-7.
On their next series, the Bulldogs put together a 65-yard drive that was capped off with a 4-yard touchdown by senior running back Trenton Anteau. A pass to Anthony Green gave Hermiston a 2-point conversion and a 31-14 lead. Knutz then hit Green on a 7-yard touchdown pass to make it 38-14.
Taking a cue from Hermiston, the Eagles went with a no-huddle offense and quickly scored on a 17-yard touchdown from quarterback Riley Van Hoos to sophomore tight end Kellen Duffy to cut the Bulldogs lead to 38-21. Following a Hermiston punt, Hood River struck again on a 73-yard touchdown run by Van Hoos to cut the Hermiston lead to 10.
That was as close as it got as the Bulldogs took the ball early in the fourth quarter at the Hood River 37. Rodriguez gave Hermiston a first-and-goal from the 5 with a 32-yard run. Two plays later, Anteau scored his second touchdown of the game on a 3-yard run to put the Bulldogs up 44-28.
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Hood River cut it to 53-34 when backup quarterback Dallas Buckley hit Jeremy Fischer on a 10-yard pass. The Bulldogs capped off the night’s scoring on a 9-yard touchdown run by Rodriguez to make it 60-34.
The Eagles had their only lead when they scored on a 10-yard touchdown by Fischer early in the first quarter. Hermiston got on the board with a field goal by Luis Medina. From that point on, it was all Hermiston. Rodriguez led Hermiston with 146 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries. The Bulldogs improve to 5-3 overall and 2-0 in Columbia River Conference play.
Hermiston travels to Pendleton next week for a rivalry game between a pair of 2-0 CRC teams with the conference title on the line.
As it was Homecoming night in Hermiston, the Bulldogs honored former players prior to the game. On hand for the festivities were several former Bulldog football players including George Dodson of the Hermiston class of 1954, Brad Cermak of the class of ’64, Ford Bonney of the class of ’74, Craig Kopta and Dan Rohrman of the class of ’84, Trampas Seavert and Justin Follet of the class of ’94, and Jake Burns and Luke Hansell of the class of 2004.
Introduced at halftime was the Hermiston Homecoming Court featuring Queen Megan James and King Isaac Aguilar, Princess Kim Nevil and Prince Costa Rodriguez, Princess Kylee Andreason and Prince Damian Martinez, Princess Mackenzie Juul and Prince Dillion Zimmerly, Princess Nicole Jones and Prince Bob Coleman, and Princess Bailey Powers and Prince Slade Gritz.
