Staff report
Columbia Gorge News
HOOD RIVER — Hood River Valley will finish its 2026 football season Oct. 30 in Central Oregon, where the Eagles will play at Crook County in Prineville.
The nonleague contest was scheduled two weeks ago after Centennial High gave notice it was forfeiting its final two Class 5A District 1 contests. Crook County had two games cancelled this season and this week’s contest against HRV provides both teams a chance to play in the “postseason” after narrowly missing out on OSAA state playoff berths.
“We’re gonna treat it like our playoff,” Coach Caleb Sperry said. “We felt like last week was our best game we played year to date and we expect week nine to be no different as we continue to grow and get better and treat it as if it’s our playoff game — and go have our best game of the year.”
Crook County (2-5 overall, 2-3 Intermountain Conference) is in fifth place in its league standings and ranked 23rd in 5A. HRV is ranked 25th and 6-3 overall, 3-1 in District 1. This year’s playoff format has one team in District 1 automatically qualifying for the 16-team playoffs. A second automatic berth is allotted to the higher ranked of either the No. 2 finishing team in District 1 (HRV) and the No. 2 team in District 2 (19th ranked St. Helens).
The Eagles picked up a win off the field, as well as on the field this past week. Centennial, with dwindling varsity numbers, had forfeited its scheduled Oct. 30 contest at HRV. On the field, in what Coach Sperry referred to as the Eagles’ “best game of the year,” Hood River Valley controlled the line of scrimmage and powered its way to a 35-point lead en route to a 35-14 District 1 win Oct. 23 in east Portland.
Sophomore quarterback Ian Wells scored three rushing touchdowns and threw for two more scores to pace the Eagle offense. With David Douglas keying on running back Kase Sietstra and receiver Davin Snyder, Wells took advantage of some play-action runs and scored three times in the second quarter.
His runs of three, three and two yards gave the Eagles a 22-0 lead at the break. Wells threw short TD passes to Snyder and Jose Betancourt in the second half. The second score came on the first play of the fourth quarter and led to a 35-point HRV lead and a running clock the rest of the game.
Sperry said: “Our kids continue to come out and get better, and the culmination of kids being bought in (to the process) and us getting better every day, every week. … Honestly, I think as a coach, that’s what you want to see. You want to see your last game be your best game and look forward to the next game.”
David Douglas added two fourth-quarter touchdowns, the second of which came after the Scots (1-7) recovered an onside kick.
Hood River had 308 yards of total offense, 272 of which came in the middle two periods. The Eagles finally got their offense going with a signature drive that started late in the first quarter and was capped early in the second on Wells’ three-yard rushing TD. The 14-play, 87-yard drive included six of HRV’s 18 first downs for the game.
“We were kind of frustrated with how we started the game,” Sperry said. “We … were kind of able to get our feet under us and did a great job of run and pass … and being efficient.”
Wells finished 11-of-17 passing for 130 yards. He added 91 yards rushing on 13 carries; Sietstra rushed 10 times for 65 yards.
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