Summit ends HRV season in first round of playoffs

“They’re (Summit) a really talented team and did a great job of jumping on us early and dictating the game,” Hood River Coach Caleb Sperry said.

Hood River (4-6) had qualified for the playoffs after winning its final two games, including a wild, 41-40, victory two weeks ago at Forest Grove. That win earned the Eagles the 16th seed in the playoffs and a contest at Summit (9-1). The win over Forest Grove was the second in the same week for HRV, which defeated Centennial, 48-19 in a contest delayed four days because of poor air quality in the Portland-metro area.

There was no smoke in Bend on Friday, but plenty of wind and rain. That didn’t deter Summit, which is a team laden with upperclassmen (starting all seniors or juniors). The Storm took the lead on their second play from scrimmage on a 75-yard Sam Stephens touchdown run. Hood River went three-and-out on its first offensive possession and Summit needed just two scrimmage plays to take a two-TD lead. Stephens scored again, this time from 25 yards away.

The Storm finished the first half with 367 yards of total offense. Stephens who played only a few plays in the second half, finished with 173 rushing yards on eight carries — all before halftime.

Hood River scored its lone touchdown with about eight minutes remaining when senior Shaw Burns broke loose from 12 yards out. Burns, who was a workhorse on offense and defense all season for the young Eagles, finished with 92 rushing yards on 18 carries.

After the playoff game, Burns and the other seniors lingered around on the Summit field — which was ringed by some of the leftover snow that fell in Central Oregon earlier in the week. The game was the final one of the high school careers of Burns, Paul Morawetz, Jorge Pindea Bustos, Max Meckoll, Devon Boydston, and MyNoah I’aulualo.

Hood River, playing without two-way starter Toby Stintzi but otherwise healthy, did have a few bright moments in the first half. Trailing 13-0, HRV used an Ethan Rivera 18-yard kickoff return to take possession at their 36-yard line. Burns took a wildcat snap and ran for two yards, before Rivera gained 11 on the next play for the Eagles’ first first down. Burns tacked on a 16-yard gain moving the ball to the Summit 35, and HRV had some offensive rhythm.

But on the next play, Davis Parr’s first-down pass in the right flat sailed high and was intercepted. Summit took a three TD lead eight plays later.

“We were moving the ball pretty well and had a little mishap there creep in,” Sperry said.

The Summit contest was the final high school game for Burns and the five other seniors, most of which have the dubious distinction of playing in two back-to-back state football playoffs.

“It starts with being committed; he (Burns) was at all most all of the summer conditioning and voted captain by his teammates. So, you know what people think of him and the effort and attitude he brings to the program,” Sperry said of his third 1,000-yard rusher in as many seasons. “Obviously, he’s a skilled player, as well. So anytime you have a skilled player who’s also hard working and has a team-first attitude you’ve got something pretty special. He did a lot for us, both sides of the ball, special teams.”