Hawk defense punches back in win over Madras

Senior quarterback Dominique Seufalemua threw for 79 yards and two touchdowns, the rushing attack garnered 94 yards and the defense held Madras to 16 total yards, none passing, in a 14-0 road victory Friday in Madras.

“We talked about starting a new era,” Sugg said. “We got new uniforms and we are going to start getting this program rolling. We are 1-0 in these new uniforms and I told them we want to keep the streak alive. All of the hard the hard work they put in during the summer and during doubles and everything, makes it worthwhile when you win a game and you come out to play well. I am proud of them.”

Both teams played to a scoreless tie through most of the first half, but the Riverhawks were able to string consecutive drives together late in the second quarter.

TD went on an eight-play, 46-yard drive, as J.R. Scott rushed for 20 yards on four carries, Yordi Sanchez added an eight-yard run and Seufalemua had a two-yard run to get his team down to the Madras 11-yard line with less than three minutes left.

Facing a third and five play, Seufalemua found Alex Gardea for an 11-yard pass play and a touchdown to move the Hawks ahead 6-0 with 2:45 on the clock.

The point-after failed, but the Riverhawks had a lead.

Madras could not muster any yardage on its next possession and punted back to The Dalles, so there was another chance to hit the end zone.

Seufalemua completed two straight passes of 12 and 6 to Glenn Breckterfield, and then the senior connected with Oscar Fernandez on a 26-yard play to get the ball to the Madras 5.

Three plays later, on fourth down from the 2, Seufalemua hit Sanchez for a touchdown pass to give the Hawks a 12-0 lead.

On the conversion, Seufalemua found Fernandez again for the score.

Madras had five second-half possessions, three ended in punts, two in turnovers, ran 11 plays and managed 32 yards.

TD’s defense had a sack, fumble recoveries from Fernandez and Dalles Seufalemua, and 10 tackles for loss.

Jordan Lutu paced the Riverhawk defense with 9.5 tackles, Breckterfield added five, Austin Oldfield tallied three, Julian Hernandez tallied 2.5 and both Carlos Ortiz and Dante Avila had two tackles each.

“I am really excited about the defense. The boys played awesome,” Sugg said. “We held Madras to four first downs total for the whole game. We held them to 16 yards rushing and 16 total yards for the game. A lot of those came on the first series. They had a different offense, so we had to make some adjustments on the fly. Luckily, we made the right ones and our kids bought into it and played really well defensively.”

J.R. Scott posted nine carries for 39 yards, Dalles Seufalemua went for 38 yards on four totes and Breckterfield had three rushes for 16 yards.

Seufalemua completed 8 of 21 passes for 79 yards and two scores, with his favorite target being Breckterfield, who had four grabs for 30 yards. Fernandez totaled 26 yards on one catch and Sanchez hauled in two passes for 12 yards.

Much of the offensive line is young and inexperienced with little to no varsity minutes on the football field, so Sugg is now hoping for this group, which features Carlos Ortiz, Julian Hernandez, Tyler Harrington, Blake Davis, Eddie Leechee and Fernandez, a tight end, to find a flow and technique to better themselves.

“I think our kids are excited and I am excited, because of all of the inexperience we have. We only have three upperclassmen with a lot of varsity playing time,” Sugg said. “The positive thing is I have a lot of young kids that are really buying into the program, so I am really excited about seeing the young kids develop and seeing where we can go with them.”

The Dalles hosts Fort Vancouver in its home opener at 7 p.m. Friday in the Burger and Ball Bash.

For more information, call Sugg at 541-980-4594.

SWC loses first game, 68-14

South Wasco County trailed 14-0 through the first quarter and 38-8 at the half in a 68-14 road loss to Mapleton Saturday.

With only 12 players active due to injuries and other issues, SWC head coach Mike Waine had to put Dawson Herlocker in at quarterback to lead the offense.

The senior threw for nearly 150 yards, and connected with Tuff Wilson on a 60-yard pass with seconds left, but the Redsides fell inches short of adding another score.

Waine liked what he offensively, as the team made the proper adjustments when players went down to injuries.

With the play of the offensive line, Herlocker remained relatively unscathed in the pocket.

A few plays here and there made the biggest difference.

“Offense-wise, we moved the ball down the field, but had some dropped passes on some third down conversions or a miscommunication on others,” Waine said. “It was nice to see the quarterbacks able to have some time. Unlike last season, where we struggled for two seconds in the pocket.”

Waine and defensive coordinator Michael Carter will continue tinkering with the defense and special teams to make sure all three phases of the game are clicking.

“Defensively, we got beat all game with Mapleton’s misdirection. Linebackers were frozen trying to find where the ball was. It was a battle,” Waine added. “Our kickoff team is getting revamped, as we allowed three kick returns for points. The players fought up until the bitter end, though.”

SWC (0-1 overall) has a bye week, but then hits the field for a home game on Friday, Sept. 16 against Arlington/Condon.