THE DALLES — The Dalles High Riverhawks will likely have to take the long road in order to advance to the Oregon School Activities Association (OSAA) Class 4A boys soccer state playoffs.
The Riverhawks (3-3 TVC, 7-3 overall) split two Tri-Valley Conference (TVC) road matchups last week and are in third place in the six-team league standings with three games left on the regular season schedule.
The Riverhawks won 4-2 over the Molalla High Indians (1-3-2 TVC, 3-4-3 overall) on Oct. 7. Led by senior midfielder Hulises Najera (two goals scored), the Riverhawks built a 2-1 halftime lead. The Riverhawks, guided by fourth-year Coach Jesus Granados, lost 4-2 to the league leading No. 3-ranked Crook County High Cowboys (5-1 TVC, 8-1-1 overall) on Oct. 9 in Prineville. Najera and senior midfielder Anthony Santana scored goals for the Riverhawks.
“We’re still in a good position to reach the state playoffs,” said Granados. “We just have to stay focused and stay consistent when we play our final three games and we need to win those games, too. On paper, we should be able to win them. However, we’ve been playing so inconsistently recently, so we don’t even know what’s going to happen.”
Madras (4-0-2 TVC, 6-2-2 overall) is in second place followed by The Dalles. The top two TVC teams earn automatic berths in the 16-team state playoffs beginning Nov. 5. The third-place squad qualifies for a play-in game in which the winner advances to state.
“It looks like whenever we play other teams, they all bring their A game every single time against us,” said Granados. “We have to assume that every team is going out there hungry for a win, because they’re all still trying to make the playoffs, too.”
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