Dallas ends HRV season in football playoffs, 28-13

The third-ranked Dragons led 28-0 midway through the third period before Hood River got on the scoreboard on a 34-yard Davis Parr to Davin Snyder pass play. Parr added an 11-yard TD run with 5:26 to play, but Dallas held the ball for nine plays to run out the clock.

Hood River Valley finished the regular season at 7-3 and 5-2 in 5A Special District 1. HRV has qualified for the state playoffs four successive seasons.

Dallas improved to 9-1 and was led by senior running back Sean Ward, who scored on runs of 24 and 49 yards. Jack Strange opened the game’s scoring on the second play from scrimmage, scampering 63 yards. Hood River ran three plays and punted, giving Dallas a short field at the Eagle 45. Quarterback Eli Hess threw 33 yards to Chase Eriksen for a first down, and the two connected again on the next play on a 12-yard touchdown.

Dallas had 298 yards of total offense in the decisive first half and 13 first downs. Hood River countered with 83 yards of offense and five first downs before the break.

Dallas, a run-oriented team most of the regular season, threw the ball 17 times in the first half, when Hess was 10 for 17 for 169 yards. Hess finished 12 for 22 for 181, as HRV did a good job after the break of keeping him and his favorite target — Eriksen — in check. Eriksen finished with four catches for 104 yards, but none after intermission.

Hood River, playing without two-way starters Cooper Wells and Bodie Stuben, thwarted a couple of potential Dallas scoring drives in the second quarter including one where Jack McLaughlin recovered a Hess fumble at the Eagle 12. But Parr was picked off two plays later by Ward, who scored on the next play from 24 yards out.

Hood River’s Nick Tuttle intercepted a Hess pass early in the third period, giving HRV life at the Dallas 41-yard line. But a procedure penalty, and a six-yard loss on a running play led to a fourth-and-20 situation for the Eagles who turned the ball over on downs after Parr had to scramble because of a low snap from center.

Parr was among this year’s HRV senior group of players to be in the Eagle football program when it qualified for the state playoffs four consecutive years. He was sharp on Hood River’s first scoring drive, completing passing resulting in first downs — all to Snyder — for 11, 25 and eventually the 34-yard TD strike.

Snyder drew double and triple teams from the Dragon defense most of the remainder of the game. The second HRV touchdown, Parr’s 11-yard run, was set up by Gunner Morris-Reade’s 18-yard reception during a 13-play, 80-yard drive.

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. Those two teams will play each other — at Dallas — in the Nov. 16 quarterfinals.