The Dufur Rangers have won at least one playoff game for the past decade and were riding a four-year streak of 1A state titles entering Friday’s quarterfinal game at Crane.
After Crane’s 42-6 win, there will be a new champion crowned in 2019.
The Mustang senior duo of Rixon Doman and Chase Joyce combined for eight touchdowns, four apiece, as they expanded on a 14-6 halftime lead with 28 unanswered second half points to take the 36-point triumph.
“Defensively, we played really well in the first half, but in the second half I just think their maturity showed,” Dufur head coach Jack Henderson said. “They have three of four big, strong senior kids who are more physically mature than our kids and I think that they just wore us down. Crane played well. My hats off to them. They have had a great season and they have a chance now in the semifinal game for sure.”
Crane led 8-0 early in the second quarter, but Dufur junior Cooper Bales returned the ensuing kickoff 85 yards for a score to draw his team to within 8-6 at the 10:25 mark.
The Mustangs then scored a late second quarter touchdown from Rixon Doman to Joyce with 23 seconds left to lead 14-6 at the half.
Dufur had ball inside Crane territory on two possessions and forced three first half turnovers, but couldn’t the offense going, as their lone touchdown came on Bales’ kickoff return.
“Their defense was strong,” Bales said. “We couldn’t finish drives and that hurt us. You have to take advantage of any chances you have to score.”
In the second half, Dufur had the ball seven times and committed five turnovers, while Joyce had two scoring runs of 15 and 30 and Rixon Doman added a 40-yard touchdown pass to Seth Doman and run capped the scoring summary on a 25-yard run with 3:08 left in the game.
“I think there are a lot of things these kids learned from this game,” Henderson said. “They gained a ton of experience. They had a phenomenal season.”
Overall, the Rangers had 100 yards of total offense, including 29 rushes for 69 yards.
Bales completed 2 of 9 passes for 17 yards and a pair of interceptions, and he carried the ball 13 times for 22 yards on the ground.
Parker Wallace and Jacob Peters had 16 yards apiece, and AJ Dallea tallied 13 yards rushing on two carries
Collins posted one catch that totaled 16 yards, Caleb Olson ended up with four yards on one reception, and Trey Darden hauled in a catch that went for negative-two yards.
Defensively, Olson led with 12 tackles and a sack, Collins finished with 11 tackles, and the trio of Darden, Josiah Dave and August Harvey ended up with six tackles each.
Darden also had a sack, Jacob Peters had four tackles and recovered a fumble, and Bales picked off a pair of passes and put up five tackles.
“We are going to remember this night for sure,” Bales said. “What happened here is going to drive us in the next offseason to get better in every way. We are all going to work out in the weight room and do what we have to do to come back improved.”
Dufur ends the season (7-4, 4-1), ranked No. 11 and loses one senior and returns 11 juniors.
Of their four losses, three were against the top-3 ranked teams in the 1A classification, Adrian/Jordan Valley (66-8), St. Paul (68-18) and Crane (42-6).
The other loss was on Oct. 18, a 1A league crossover contest in La Grande versus Pilot Rock (50-30).
“I think we improved so much,” Bales said. “At the start of the season, we came out pretty timid. We were a young team and a lot of us have never played in a playoff game. We got the new guys in and got them in the groove. The first two games were tough, but once we got into league, we got a little more comfortable and a lot of these guys showed that they belonged on this level. I am proud with how all these young guys stepped up. I am looking forward to next year and what we can do.”
Dufur played Friday without reigning 1A Player of the Year Asa Farrell and all-league running back Kaleb Pence, so the overall team speed was lacking.
“Losing some of our main guys, we had to rotate some people around and they stepped up big,” Olson said. “Jacob Peters, Tracer Collins and other guys stepped up big and helped us make it this far. We don’t want to have this feeling again, so this offseason is important. We need to lift weights and we need to get stronger if we want to win a state championship.”
In 2018, Dufur won its 10th state title, and had an undefeated 13-0 record, which made it 33 victories in a row and a 49-3 record over a four-year time frame.
Henderson was named as the 1A All-State Coach of the Year, adding to his Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year award and was National Coach of the Year.
With a career record of 276-91, the veteran coach moved into the top-10 on the state’s all-time wins list, behind long-time Dayton High School coach, Dewey Sullivan (352-84-2).
“I am very optimistic for next season,” Henderson said. “I have been trying not to talk about it too much. I have amazing optimism about chances next season and I can’t wait to get these kids going in the offseason to help them realize their potential. It should be a great season for the Rangers. You are always disappointed when the season is over, but we had an amazing season and that should be our focus. We did well and had several kids really take that next step in their development.”
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