A heavy dose of Tanner Fletcher was the perfect remedy for the ailing Hood River Valley football team Friday night.
The senior running back rushed 39 times for 201 yards and two touchdowns as the Eagles snapped a two-game losing streak with a 24-6 win over Gorge rival The Dalles. HRV controlled the line of scrimmage and Fletcher was the main beneficiary in the Intermountain Conference contest.
Hood River Coach Caleb Sperry, who played in this rivalry game as an all-state, wide receiver and defensive back for The Dalles in the early 1990s, said his team got back to the aggressive, flying-around style of football that helped it to a 2-0 start.
The Riverhawks (2-2) — arguably one of the younger 5A teams in the state — were coming off a 34-0 shutout win March 26 over Portland’s Wilson, while Hood River (3-2) lost 46-26 at home to Redmond’s Ridgeview. The Ravens exposed Hood River’s defense by rushing for more than 300 yards. HRV flipped that script Friday night. The Eagles doubled The Dalles in offensive yardage — 243 to 112 — in the first half alone, when they built a 16-6 lead. Fletcher had 115 yards on 21 first-half carries, and Shaw Burns added 97 yards on seven carries. HRV finished with a 150-yard advantage in total offense.
“We’ve got a great group of guys up front,” Fletcher said of the Eagles’ physical offensive line. “No, I don’t get tired running the ball. I’ve been playing with these guys since the third grade, so our chemistry is amazing.”
Fletcher said it was a little bittersweet playing his final home game. “I was a little choked up, but I’m just excited for what’s ahead for me and that we got to go out with a win,” in the final home contest.
The margin was 18 points, but the game wasn’t decided until late. HRV had a number of players at different-than-normal positions because of injuries. The Dalles hung around, in part because of the all-around play of Jaxon Pullen, but the Riverhawks couldn’t mount any sustained drives in the second half.
The Dalles went three and out on its first possession and Hood River took over at its 6-yard line after a 40-yard Skyler Leeson punt. The Eagles put together a methodical 10-play, 94-yard drive for the game’s initial score. Fletcher carried the ball eight times in the drive for 63 of those yards; sophomore Burns had the other 31, including a 25-yard run around end for a touchdown.
Henry Buckles, who will play football this fall at Oregon State University, and his line mates helped open running lanes for Fletcher and Burns. “I’ve played a lot of games here and I’ve had some great memories. It’s bittersweet for sure (of his final home game). The Dalles game, it’s a big rivalry,” Buckles said. “We always want to get after it and we don’t want to lose to The Dalles, ever. I think our line was dominating this game. We did pretty well, just moving the ball down field, moving the ball at will.”
Each team had good defensive plays to end drives in the first half. The Dalles was aided by three HRV penalties which helped it move the ball into Eagle territory before an Emilio Castaneda sack set the Riverhawks back with a 10-yard loss. A fourth-down pass fell incomplete and HRV took over on downs. Hood River moved the ball on its next possession to the Riverhawk 31, but Zac Wells’ fourth-down pass was intercepted by Jaxon Pullen to end that drive.
The biggest defensive gem came on Hood River’s next possession after Burns set off on a 41-yard run — one yard short of what he needed. He was dragging three Riverhawk defenders into the end zone when Dusty Dodge stripped the ball away and recovered it for a touchback.
The Dalles went 80 yards in six plays, highlighted by Pullen’s fly sweep around end for a 61-yard touchdown. Leeson appeared to tie the game with a conversion run, but his end zone fumble was recovered by Hood River. One official signaled the run was successful, another signaled Leeson did not break the goal line plane. After a referee huddle, the official call was an inadvertent whistle and that led to a re-do. Pullen was stopped on the second try by a host of Eagle defenders and HRV held its lead, 8-6.
The Eagles responded with their second score just before halftime — a Fletcher 1-yard run. The TD was set up by a Wells-to-Trenton Hughes 31-yard pass; Hughes won a 50-50 jump ball near the goal line against Pullen. Fletcher added the conversion run for a 16-6 HRV lead. Hughes, the Eagles’ usual starting quarterback, was playing receiver because of an injured throwing shoulder.
Fletcher’s second TD came in the game’s closing minutes on a 1-yard plunge. He added the conversion run to make the score final.
Hood River mixed and matched its lineup to account for injuries. “We tried to put guys where we thought their talents could help us,” Sperry said. “We were just making sure guys were lined up right and playing downhill and being physical.
“I thought we were way more physical tonight. I thought we did a way better job of tackling.”
Hood River concludes its shortened spring season with an April 9 game at Portland’s Parkrose. The Dalles finishes its schedule that same day at Redmond.
Hood River has now won the past five meetings in the series; the two schools did not play in 2016 and 2017, as The Dalles had an independent schedule to try and build participation numbers in its program. The Dalles last beat HRV in football, 28-20, in 2013.
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