HOOD RIVER — Hood River Valley (HRV) and Dallas, two schools with recent postseason experience, will play Nov. 8 in the first round of the Class 5A state football playoffs.
“It will be a good challenge,” Hood River Coach Caleb Sperry said. “It should be a pretty good matchup; we’re excited for that.”
This year’s HRV senior group of players is the second in Hood River Valley history to have gone to the playoffs four consecutive years.
The host Dragons, who spent a few weeks this season atop the 5A rankings, finished the regular season with an 8-1 record and were 4-1 in Special District 3. Dallas finished second in the district standings behind West Albany, which handed the Dragons their lone loss, 34-20, on Oct. 25.
Hood River Valley finished the regular season at 7-2, losing its final regular season contest, 21-7 to Glencoe. The Crimson Tide rushed for more than 400 yards and clinched the 5A Special District 1 football championship with the win at Henderson Stadium on Nov. 1.
“We had some opportunities, we just couldn’t cash in on them,” HRV Coach Caleb Sperry said. “We played, actually, pretty good defense, we just didn’t do a good job on the back side. We kept getting cutbacks played on us.
“We held them to their second lowest [point] total of the season. They’re a good football team and we’re a good football team. A 21-7 score, that’s a pretty close ball game. A couple turnovers and a few things go our way and it’s a different ballgame.”
Glencoe (7-2, 7-0 SD1) was led by junior running back Daniel Heninger, who rushed 31 times for 349 yards. He scored the Crimson Tide’s first touchdown on the game’s opening drive on a 12-yard run. As Sperry alluded, Heninger had success cutting back on runs outside the tackles, as he was patient while his mobile offensive linemen continued with their blocks downfield.
Hood River, which tied for second in district play at 5-2, had two chances to score in the first half, advancing to the Glencoe 15-yard line in the first quarter and to the Crimson Tide 18 late in the first half. Mistakes halted both drives.
Glencoe took a two-score lead on a five-yard swing pass from Lucas Culbertson to Heninger early in the fourth quarter. Hood River answered on its ensuing possession, as Eagle quarterback Davis Parr found Davin Snyder in the deep right corner of the end zone from 26 yards out.
Glencoe clinched the win on its next possession, with a 10-play, 85-yard drive which took six minutes off the clock. Zane Bradley’s 1-yard run and Culbertson’s conversion run made the score final with four minutes remaining.
Sperry said, despite the loss, Hood River remains in position to accomplish a main goal the team set before the season: making a state playoff run.
“When the kids set out, their goal was to win the league title and play deep into November,” he explained. “And, so, here we are. We got to play for the league championship on Friday, the last game of the regular season — that’s pretty special and exciting. Their goal was right at their fingertips, and now we get a chance to make that run in the playoffs that we set a goal for.
“It’s a good opportunity to go play Dallas, so we’re excited about that.”
The Dragons are a run-oriented team with an active defense that has limited opponents to 95 points this season — the second lowest in 5A through nine games, behind Churchill (93).
Senior running back Sean Ward has rushed for more than 800 yards this season, and quarterback Eli Hess is the team’s second-leading rusher who also has two games where he has thrown for more than 200 yards.
Dallas lost in the first round of the 2023 playoffs, 37-24, to Thurston; the Dragons also lost to the Colts in 2022 in the second round; and in the quarterfinals in 2021 to West Albany.
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