After a 3-1 start to the season, the Hood River Valley football team has dropped two of its last three games, including last Friday’s home matchup against Forest Grove.
HRV built up a 14-0 lead heading into the fourth, but Forest Grove would go on to outscore the Eagles 22-7 in the fourth quarter to give the Vikings a 22-21 victory, spoiling the Eagles’ homecoming game.
The loss moves HRV to 3-2 in league play and 4-3 overall.
Current league standings in the Intermountain Conference: Pendleton (first place, 6-0 league and 7-0 overall); La Salle Prep (second place, 4-1 league and 5-2 overall); Hood River (third place, 3-2 league and 4-3 overall); Parkrose (fourth place, 3-2 league and 4-3 overall); Milwaukie (fifth place, 2-3 league and 2-5 overall); Putnam (sixth place, 1-5 league and 1-6 overall); and Benson (seventh place, 0-5 league and 0-7 overall).
Before the Eagles’ fourth quarter collapse, HRV had put together a two-touchdown first half and held Forest Grove scoreless through three quarters.
HRV had its first opportunity to score with six minutes remaining in the first quarter, as head coach Caleb Sperry elected to go for a 35-yard field goal.
Riggs Bardin, the kicker for HRV, was unable to put the ball through the uprights and halfway into the first, the game remained scoreless at 0-0.
After a defensive stop, the Eagles’ offense went back to work with three minutes remaining in the first quarter.
On the second play of HRV’s second drive of the game, starting quarterback Ryan Gray stepped back into the pocket and delivered a strike up field to starting tailback Brandon Rivera, who caught it and took the ball 76 yards down field for the first touchdown of the game.
After the extra point by Bardin, the Eagles led 7-0 with two minutes left in the first.
A scoreless five-minute stretch followed the HRV touchdown, but a drive down to the Eagles’ three-yard line for Forest Grove opened the second quarter, putting the Vikings into scoring position.
However, starting senior defensive back Chris McElwee intercepted a pass from Forest Grove’s Jarod Miller, setting up shop for the Eagles offense at their own six-yard line.
Backed up in their own red-zone, Rivera broke away for a 35-yard run to give HRV some breathing room.
The offense would continue to march down field andon the 10th play of the drive, Gray connected with Christian Zack in the back-right corner of the endzone for an 18-yard touchdown.
HRV led 14-0 after Bardin’s extra point.
The Eagles had one last shot to put up some points before halftime, but as the clock hit zero Riggs was unable to cash in on a 32-yard field goal.
HRV took a 14-0 lead heading into halftime.
In the third quarter, HRV had a chance to put some points up on the board as the Eagles, with under three minutes remaining before the fourth, tried for a 30-yard field goal that Bardin missed.
An uneventful third quarter led to a surprising flurry of points scored in the fourth.
Right out the gates in the fourth quarter, Forest Grove’s running back Isaiah Ahmad ran for a seven-yard touchdown to cut the HRV led to seven, 14-7 with 11:54 remaining on the clock.
Less than three minutes later, with the ball back into the hands of the Vikings’ offense, Ahmad broke away for a 55-yard touchdown to tie the game at 14-14 with nine minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
After back-to-back stops by the defenses, HRV’s offense put together a one-minute drive that was capped off by Rivera on a five-yard rushing touchdown to give HRV a 21-14 lead with over four minutes left to play.
HRV had held the Vikings to three scoreless quarters prior to the fourth quarter, and the boys needed to find the play they had to start the contest on the defensive end to close this game out.
But in the following offensive possession for Forest Grove, the Vikings drove down field and finished off a 68-yard, 11-play drive with a one-yard touchdown rush by Miller.
Down 21-20, Forest Grove elected to go for two.
Ahmad would take a hand-off into the end-zone for the two-point conversion, giving Forest Grove a 22-21 lead, the Vikings’ first of the game, with only 33 seconds left.
HRV would find its way into the Vikings’ side of the 50, and with only a few ticks on the clock remaining, Sperry elected to attempt a 35-yard field goal to win the game.
But Bardin was unable to make his first field goal of the contest with the game on the line. He left the 35-yard field goal attempt short, giving Forest Grove the 22-21 victory.
Gray ended the game going 10-15 with 117 passing yards and two passing touchdowns.
Rivera was the leading rusher for HRV as he tallied in 163 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown.
Also leading in receiving yards was Rivera with 90 and a touchdown reception. Zack had the other touchdown reception and was the Eagles’ second leading receiver with 31 yards.
Defensively, the Eagles forced two turnovers and kept Forrest Grove to 145 passing yards, but HRV was unable to stop the run late in the game as the Eagles gave up 161 rushing yards.
Despite giving up 161 rushing yards, the defense for HRV held Forest Grove to 1/7 on third down conversions and 0/3 on fourth down conversions.
However, an ability by the offense to put points up on the board in scoring position and a lackadaisical defensive effort towards the run in the fourth quarter ultimate led to the 22-21 loss to Forest Grove.
Next up for the Eagles is the final game of the regular season and senior night on Friday, Oct. 19 against Milwaukie. Kickoff for this game is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Commented