The Dalles continues boys soccer dominance

THE DALLES — The No. 2-ranked The Dalles High Riverhawks remained undefeated in Class 4A boys soccer following an Oct. 7, 5-0, home win over Molalla.

The Riverhawks (4-0 Tri Valley Conference, 10-0-1 overall), guided by fifth-year Coach Jesus Granados and assistant Coach Matt Dallman, led 2-0 at halftime and notched their sixth shutout of the season.

“I don’t like feeling overconfident, but I do think we have the skill level on our team to have an undefeated season and hopefully go far in the playoffs,” said Granados. “The boys have been playing well; they’ve been practicing hard and they’re all doing pretty well with their grades.

“We’ve also had opportunities to let our substitutes have some extra playing time too, so that’s really awesome.”

Senior midfielder Juan Camarillo, sophomore midfielder Julian Rodriguez, senior forward Angel Morales and junior forward Ivan Santana (two goals) each scored to help lead the Riverhawks to their fifth consecutive victory. Camarillo leads the team in scoring with 13 goals.

“I think we have the potential to win the state championship this year,” he said. “We’re having a lot more fun this year than we had last season. I think this is one of the best teams that I’ve seen in my four-year career.”

The Riverhawks are seeking to extend their undefeated streak to 12 in their next contest Oct. 16 at Madras (2-2-1 TVC, 2-7-2 overall). It will be their first game in eight days.

“I think we have a great team and sometimes even when we’re not playing well, we manage to get either a win or a tie,” said Granados. “The break in the schedule helped us a lot because we have two guys (Patrick Rankin, David McCraken) who needed time off to recover from injuries. For the other boys though, without having games, it kind of has an adverse effect on their rhythm because we’re not consistently playing.”

Also on the horizon is a key 4 p.m. match-up Oct. 21 at home against No. 10-ranked Gladstone (3-1-1 TVC, 6-2-2 overall). The winner of the contest will have the inside track to win the TVC title. For the Riverhawks, it would be their first league title in more than 20 years.

“I think every team brings to the table a different playing style,” said Granados. “This team is more well-rounded in the way they play. With the guys that Matt and I have coached for the last few years, we’ve been able to coach them our way and kind of show them that the guys on the defensive line can also join in our offensive attack. Now, we’ve become more of a whole team attacking offensively, instead of five or six players doing most of the attacking.”