For a second straight week, the young The Dalles High Riverhawk (1-2) football team played a strong opponent on the road and the result was another lopsided loss.
A week after losing 38-12 to Class 5A Hood River Valley (1-2), the Riverhawks came up short in a Class 4A nonleague game, losing, 47-8, at No. 9-ranked Scappoose (2-1).
“We had lots of freshmen and sophomores on the field, which was really scary playing against a seasoned varsity team like Scappoose that dropped down to Class 4A this year after being in 5A last season,” The Dalles Coach Marc Schilling said. “We’re proud of the kids for the way they fought.”
The more experienced Indians’ squad (16 seniors) was able to overpower a Riverhawk team with an abundant number of freshmen and sophomores and just seven seniors. The Riverhawks also were dealing with the problem of having several key injuries to starters.
“We had a rough night, but we played well in the first half for the most part and then we gave up some late scores going into halftime,” said Schilling. “It was kind of a back-and-forth game early, which was good. Our depth is somewhat of an issue right now and when guys get tired, there’s not a lot of guys coming in to relieve them and that’s when teams overwhelm us and then we start to struggle a little bit.”
Following a scoreless first quarter, Scappoose built a 20-0 lead at halftime and extended its advantage to 41-0 after three quarters. Both teams scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter for the final margin.
A highlight for The Dalles was the performance by senior running back Manatu Crichton-Tunai, who help lead the Riverhawk offense 77 rushing yards on 17 carries.
The Riverhawks return to The Dalles on Friday for their first home game since the Sept. 2 season-opening, 46-6, win over Parkrose (0-3). The Riverhawks are hoping a change of scenery and comfortable surroundings will help them turn things around when they meet the No. 15-ranked Gladstone High Gladiators (2-1) in a 7 p.m. nonleague contest at the Wahtonka campus.
“We’re coming back home, and we want to have every advantage that we can have this week,” said Schilling. “It’s hard to go on the road and the rivalry game versus Hood River wasn’t exactly what we wanted either. It’s just a maturation process for our players as they learn to play consistently every snap of every game.”
Gladstone, of Class 4A Special District 2, won 15-12 over Astoria in its last contest, Sept. 16, at home. It’s the first road game of the year for Gladstone.
“Our goal right now is to win the next game at home against Gladstone and we match up against them pretty well,” said Schilling. “If we play all four quarters like the way we did the first week of the season, then we should have a good night.”
Commented
Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles.