Hood River receiver Mason Spellecy makes a one-handed grab for a touchdown during the Eagles’ 19-7 state playoff win against visiting South Albany. Photo courtesy Lasting Light Photography
Hood River receiver Mason Spellecy makes a one-handed grab for a touchdown during the Eagles’ 19-7 state playoff win against visiting South Albany. Photo courtesy Lasting Light Photography
Vince Ready
Ryles Buckley tackles South Albany receiver Devin Jones.
Noah Noteboom photo
assistant coach Hector Gonzalez, Rolando Flores, and Robert Rowan are all smiles after advancing to the Class 5A quarterfinals.
Jakob VonLubken embraces Joe Reitz after Hood River won their first playoff game in nearly two decades.
Noah Noteboom photo
Quick-hitting Hood River Valley scored two touchdowns within a minute late in the first half, erasing a 7-6 deficit, enroute to a 19-7 OSAA/Class 5A state football playoff win Friday at home against South Albany.
Hood River, the No. 2 team from Special District 1, was playing a home state playoff game for the first time since the 2003 season. The win was the first in the state playoffs for Hood River since Nov. 8, 2002, when the Eagles beat Lakeridge, 83-50.
On Friday, HRV (9-1) trailed 7-6 before embarking on a 12-play, 60-yard drive late in the second quarter. Quarterback Trenton Hughes scored on an 11-yard run giving Hood River a 12-7 lead. South Albany ran three offensive plays on its next possession and a short punt gave Hood River the ball back at the RedHawk 30. Hughes threw to the end zone on the next play and Mason Spellecy used his 6-foot-3 frame to outleap a South Albany defender for the score and a 19-7 lead.
On the game-changing play, Hughes thought he had thrown the ball too far. “I remember thinking I had led him too far into the end zone,” he said of the pass. “After I let it go, I said, ‘No way. He’s not going to catch it’.”
Spellecy, who had his right arm tangled up with South Albany’s honorable mention all-league defensive back, Kellen Hanson, reached out with his left. Spellecy mitted the ball with his receiver glove at about the 2-yard line and controlled the pass as he continued into the end zone.
Spellecy had another game-changing, highlight-reel catch earlier this season in HRV’s come-from-behind one-point win Sept. 18 at Ridgeview. He said Friday’s one-hander was better. “That might have been the best one I’ve ever had — better than the one at Ridgeview,” he said. “It was kind of the same situation, last-second, drawn-up play at the end of the half.
“The corner bit really hard … and that was what we were trying to get him to do. The guy on me was pretty short (5-foot-6).”
Neither team scored in the second half. The final margin might have been greater had Hood River not had so many penalties. Hughes had a 54-yard touchdown run called back on the first play of the fourth quarter because of a holding penalty. Hughes also had a 74-yard TD run called back in the first quarter, also because of a holding penalty.
“We won the game, that’s really all that matters, but …” Hughes, the District 1 offensive player of the year, said of HRV’s 11 penalties — many untimely — for 81 yards. “Seventy-yard runs getting called back, third-and-five and jumping offsides. We’re just giving them first downs. We’ve got to clean that up.”
South Albany (6-4), the No. 3 team from District 3, entered the game with a noticeable swagger. Some of that permeated onto social media, where a few RedHawk players promised HRV a face-hurting, smash-mouth, run game. The Rebels did have some sustained drives, including one in the first period that lasted 13 plays before Hood River senior Ryles Buckley intercepted Kaden Younger’s pass in the end zone. Later in the game, Buckley added another interception, his school record ninth pick of the season.
“They were definitely talkative,” HRV two-way all-league senior lineman Alex Whitaker said. “Their linebackers had a lot to say. Most everybody else was pretty level-headed.
“They were definitely a try-to-run-it-down-your-throat team.”
Hood River countered with eight and sometimes nine players near the line of scrimmage, daring the RedHawks to pass. Younger finished 7-for-19 for 112 yards, but 73 of those yards came on two plays.
Hood River scored first in the game when Hughes connected with Buckley for a 10-yard score less than two minutes into the contest. South Albany took the lead after a Hood River turnover gave the RedHawks the ball at their 30. Younger connected on successive pass plays with DeSwhan Gilliam — the second went for a 30-yard touchdown.
Hughes carried the ball 19 times for 119 yards; Shaw Burns added 62 yards on 15 carries. South Albany’s run-first attack was led by all-league back Tyler Seiber, who rushed 16 times for 70 yards.
Hood River, whose starters hadn’t played a full game because of lopsided wins in more than a month, was noticeably tired in the second half, but the Eagles prevented major breakdowns defensively.
“Our goal was to play so well defensively that they had to change their game plan,” Spellecy said. “(Defensive) Coach (Jeremy) Dyal, he was talking to me all week about … not getting bored out there – staying alert. We did a great job all of making it uncomfortable for them.”
Hood River advances to the quarterfinals to play 7 p.m. Friday at top-ranked Wilsonville (10-0). The Wildcats beat No. 16 seeded Churchill, 42-14, in Friday’s first round.
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