Dufur beats Perrydale, moves on to 8-man semifinals

DUFUR — The top-seeded Dufur High football team beat eighth-seeded Perrydale, 36-6, in the OSAA eight-man state playoff quarterfinals Nov.14 at Dufur High School.

The Rangers (10-0), led by ten-time state champion head Coach Jack Henderson, have been a perennial powerhouse in Oregon eight-man football over the years. They showed more of the same against the Pirates (8-3) of 1A Special District 2 (SD2).

Dufur dismantled Perrydale with a balanced approach. The Rangers had success on the ground and through the air while playing the time of possession game, keeping the ball away from the Pirates.

“We did great things,” said Henderson. “Probably our best effort this season overall defensively. Perrydale is a good team. We held them to six points, and that’s a huge thing. So yeah, hats off to the defense. Coach Smith does a great job with them, and we flew around and we were physical and things like that, and we limited their big plays, and that’s just a great thing.”

“Gavin [Anderson], first game back for a couple of weeks, played great. He threw the ball well. Chase Richards played well, and then Choice Richards, his brother, who’s a freshman, ran the ball really well. This team is incredibly young. We’re playing freshmen and sophomores, most of which have never played in a playoff game and stuff like that. So, really just a great effort, but there’ll be a lot of things that we need to clean up for next week, and we look forward to doing that. Just happy to still be playing football.”

The Rangers will play Crosspoint Christian (8-2) of Special District 1 (SD1) in the 1A state semifinals at 11 a.m. on Nov. 22 at Summit High School in Bend. Dufur beat Crosspoint, 20-12, in a non-league game on Sept. 12. Crosspoint won its quarterfinal game, 22-20, against visiting Elgin.

The Rangers and Perrydale were tied 6-6 early in the second quarter before Dufur scored the game’s final 30 points. Anderson found Chase Richards for a 36-yard passing touchdown to give Dufur a 6-0 lead with 52 seconds left in the first quarter. Perrydale scored its only touchdown on the first play of the second quarter, when Broden Ferguson broke off a 36-yard run.

Anderson connected with Chase Richards on a 55-yard TD pass and  with his brother, Choice, on an 18-yarder to give the Rangers a 22-6 lead. Dufur got the ball back with 1:06 left in the first half at the Perrydale 45-yard line and proceeded to drive down and score with 10 seconds left. Anderson’s TD pass to Chase Richards capped the scoring drive, as Dufur led 30-6 at the break.

The Rangers forced a turnover in their own territory on Perrydale’s opening drive of the second half. On the Rangers’ first play from scrimmage, Choice Richards broke away from the defense for a 90-yard rushing touchdown with 6:46 left in the third.