The Dalles-Gladstone Class 4A non-league football game was canceled Sept. 23 because the teams were struggling with injuries to their players and both squads needed a bye week to rest and recuperate.
The Riverhawks (1-2), guided by first-year Coach Marc Schilling, will now play the opening contest of their five-game Special District 5 schedule in a Homecoming game Friday at 7 p.m. against the Crook County High Cowboys (2-2). The Dalles will be hoping to snap a two-game losing streak and get its first win since a Sept. 2 season-opening, 46-6, victory over the Parkrose High Broncos (0-3). Crook County lost, 17-14, to Caldera in its last game Sept. 23.
“It’s a big game for us and we would like to start off coming out of the bye week with a strong showing and hopefully get a win,” said Schilling. “I think it’s good at any point of the season to get a little bit of time to rest and heal. We’ve had a couple of guys who are banged up and we’ve had a little bit of sickness with some players, too, but that’s typical of a football program this time of year.”
The Dalles senior quarterback Josh Taylor was recovering from a minor injury, and he wouldn’t have been able to play versus Gladstone.
“We had a couple of extra days of practice this week, too, which was helpful,” said Schilling. “We were able to clean some things up that we weren’t happy with the last couple of weeks, and we made some personnel adjustments on both sides of the ball. So, it gives us time to get those guys the reps they need.”
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