[quote style=”2″]Bulldogs Beat Liberty, 19-14; Reach Semis for First Time in School History[/quote]
The Hermiston Bulldogs are heading to the 5A state football semi-finals for the first time in school history following Saturday night’s 19-14 victory over the Liberty Falcons in Hillsboro.
The Bulldogs, who are now 10-1 on the season, will play the 9-3 Marist Spartans on a neutral field on Saturday, Nov. 22. The Spartans advanced to the semi-finals by beating Corvallis on Friday, 28-14.
The Hermiston-Liberty game was originally scheduled for Friday, but was pushed back to Saturday due to inclement weather. A cold chill hung over the air Saturday night in Hillsboro as both teams’ offenses struggled to move the ball. Hermiston opened the game with great field position, returning the opening kickoff to the Liberty 23 yard line, but turned the ball over when they failed to convert on a fourth-and 4 at the Falcons’ 17 yard line.
Early in the second quarter, Hermiston, again, had excellent field position after senior linebacker Jesse Rodelo jarred the ball loose from a Liberty runner and recovered it on the Falcons’ 49 yard line, but was later forced to punt.
Liberty had no success moving the ball against the Bulldogs, particularly in the first half. Liberty either punted or turned the ball over on each first-half possession. In fact, the Falcons managed only one first down in the first half and had minus 14 yards of total offense as much of the time the Hermiston defense had the Liberty offense moving backward.
The Bulldogs were able to take advantage of a Liberty fumble at their own 12 yard line when one play later, Cory Adams scampered in for the 12-yard touchdown run to give the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead, which they took into halftime.
Liberty tied the game at 7 early in the third when senior running back Nick Bonet scored on a 2-yard run.
Late in the third quarter, Hermiston put together its most impressive drive of the night that was aided by a pair of penalties called against Liberty that kept the drive alive. A personal foul call after an incomplete pass on third down gave Hermiston new life early in the drive. Later, Hermiston got another first down on a pass interference call that helped set up a 24-yard touchdown run by Tony Green to give Hermiston a 14-7 lead with a little more than 2 minutes left in the third quarter.
A strange series of plays help Hermiston get its third score of the night. It began with a pass from Chase Knutz to Carson Morter who ran 23 yards before fumbling the ball on the 1 yard line, where Liberty recovered it.
A couple of plays later, Hermiston scored 2 points on a safety when Liberty was tackled in the end zone.
Luis Medina extended the Bulldogs’ lead to 19-7 after hitting a 48-yard field goal. Midway through the fourth quarter, Hermiston tried to seal the game attempting a fake punt on fourth and one, but was stopped short of the first down. One play later, Liberty’s Kolby Alvarado scored on a 58-yard touchdown run with just over 5 minutes left in the game. That, however, was as close as Liberty got as Hermiston closed out the game.
Adams led Hermiston with 125 yards rushing on 38 carries. He also passed 2,000 career rushing yards. Knutz finished the night 90 yards on 8-for-20 passing, a touchdown and two interceptions.
The state 5A semi-finals next week will pit the No. 8 seed Marist against the No. 5 seed Hermiston in one matchup and No. 2 seed Silverton will take on the No. 3 seed Springfield for the right to play for the state championship on Nov. 29.
