HOOD RIVER — Host Hillsboro ended Hood River Valley’s (HRV) unbeaten high school football streak at five wins Oct. 10, stopping the Eagles twice on goal-to-go situations during a 28-14 Special District 1 win.
The 14 points for HRV was a season low, and the 28 by Hillsboro were twice the amount the Eagles had given up in their first five games. Hood River heads into its Oct. 18, 7 p.m. game at La Salle Prep tied for second place with the Falcons and Hillsboro. Glencoe leads the district standings at 4-0. The top two district teams qualify for the Class 5A playoffs; five other teams statewide also qualify for spots in the 16-team bracket based on rankings.
“We’re looking forward to getting back to work and focusing on what we can control. Our focus will be on doing what it takes to go 1 and 0," Coach Caleb Sperry said.
Hillsboro (5-1 overall, 3-1 conference) clinched its home win over HRV with a 66-yard run on a punt attempt — after the snap got past the Spartans’ kicker with a little more than three minutes remaining. Punter Sorne Olson scampered back, picked up the ball on a fortuitous bounce at his own 15, and then weaved his way essentially 85 yards to the end zone.
Hillsboro’s active linebackers helped stymie Hood River’s running game throughout the contest, limiting HRV to 95 yards on 29 carries. Offensively, the Spartans pulled away in the second half on a 45-yard TD run by quarterback Emmett Curl with 3:13 left in the third period for a 22-8 lead.
Hood River’s Davis Parr threw a TD pass — his second of the game — to Davin Snyder with 23 seconds remaining to pull the Eagles (5-1, 3-1) within two scores at 28-14. Hood River had taken an early lead in the homecoming game at Hare Field, where Parr connected with receiver Nick Tuttle in the first quarter. Parr finished 16-for-33 passing for 285 yards. Snyder caught six of those passes for 100 yards.
Hood River took an 8-0 lead after the opening period on Tuttle’s TD reception. He had lined up on the left flat before motioning back to a right flanker spot. That seemed to confuse the Spartan coverage, as the junior slotback ran a slant route toward the middle of the field and was wide open 20 yards past the line of scrimmage.
Parr, who had rolled to his right, juked onrushing Hillsboro defensive end AJ Garcia, went back to the left and launched a pass toward Tuttle. He caught the ball at the Hillsboro 34, sprinted toward the end zone, running out of an attempted ankle tackle at the 20 en route to completing the 64-yard TD play. Parr’s conversion pass to Snyder made the score 8-0.
Hillsboro responded on its ensuing possession, moving 68 yards in 16 plays. During the drive, the Spartans converted four times on fourth down. The final time came when Hayden Ganuelas caught a six-yard pass from Curl on a simple slant route two plays into the second period. Curl ran in the two-point conversion.
Hillsboro took the lead for good after HRV fumbled the ball away on its ensuing possession. The Spartans took over on the Eagle 37-yard line. Eight plays later, quarterback Riley McConnell found Preston Palmer open behind coverage in the middle right portion of the end zone. Olson’s line drive point-after kick gave the home team a 15-8 lead.
HRV engineered a potential game-tying scoring drive late in the first half. The Eagles moved the football all the way to the Hillsboro 4-yard line but could not score. In the third quarter, Hood River had a first-and-goal at the Spartan 9-yard line, but a six-yard loss on a sack and three incomplete passes gave the ball back to Hillsboro.
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