It was a tale of two halves Friday night in the matchup between the No. 1 Springfield Millers and the Hermiston Bulldogs, with the Millers having their way with the Bulldogs in the second half to earn a 52-20 victory.
The loss drops Hermiston to 0-3 on the year.
The Bulldogs scored first Friday night and had the lead, 20-17, late in the first half on a 10-yard rushing touchdown and two-point conversion, but the Millers marched right back down the field and took the lead on a 12-yard run to make 24-20 at the half.
The Millers put the game away in the third quarter with three unanswered touchdowns and added another in the fourth quarter to sew up their third straight win of the year.
Hermiston struggled throughout the game to stop Springfield’s offense, giving up nearly 600 yards passing and rushing. One of the bright spots for Hermiston was the running of quarterback Dayshawn Neal, who tallied 152 yards on the ground and a pair of touchdowns.
The 2015 season for Hermiston has been a complete turnaround from a year ago when they opened the season with consecutive wins over the same three teams that have defeated them this year – Hanford, Kamiakin and Springfield. This year, the Bulldogs have been outscored 147-47 in their first three games. A year ago, Hermiston outscored the same three opponents 104-41.
On Friday, the Bulldogs (0-3) will look to reverse the trend when they visit Lewiston, who they defeated 55-23 last year.
