Redsides put out groundbreaking effort

The Dalles at Hood River, 4 p.m.

Prep Girls Soccer

Hood River at The Dalles, 4 p.m.

Prep Volleyball

Dufur at Sherman, 5 p.m.

SWC at Horizon, 6 p.m.

Hermiston at The Dalles, 6:30 p.m.

THURS., OCT. 13

Prep Boys Soccer

The Dalles at Hermiston, 4 p.m.

Prep Girls Soccer

Hermiston at The Dalles, 4 p.m.

Prep Cross Country

The Dalles at Wildhorse Invite in Pendleton, 3 p.m.

Prep Football

Dufur at SWC, 7 p.m.

Sherman at Arlington, 7 p.m.

Prep Volleyball

Dufur at SWC, 5 p.m.

Sherman at Condon, 5 p.m.

Pendleton at The Dalles, 6:30 p.m.

FRI., OCT. 14

Prep Football

Woodburn at The Dalles, 7 p.m.

SAT., OCT. 15

Prep Volleyball

Damascus Christian and Trinity Lutheran at S. Wasco, 1 p.m.

Sherman at Horizon, 1 p.m.

The energy and aura was infectious on a crisp October night in Maupin.

For the South Wasco County Redsides, it was their first win since Oct. 23, 2014, and head coach Mike Waine had an emotional response when talking about his players and the amount of work they have put into the football program over the past two-plus years.

Keith Kegel rushed for a career-high 125 yards and Brandon Wraught added two touchdown rushes to lead the Redsides to a 46-6 triumph over the Dayville-Monument junior varsity team in a Homecoming football contest played Friday in Maupin.

“It was good. It was nice to see the look on the kids’ faces at the end of the game,” Waine said. “We have a bell right next to the front door of the school, the victory bell. Just to hear that thing ringing on Friday night was music to our ears. All of the guys and the seniors really earned the ‘W.’ This is a great victory for those kids.”

All told, SWC rushed the ball 35 times for 331 yards, four different players scored offensive touchdowns and both Kegel and Nick Ward turned interceptions into end zone trips.

Wraught started the scoring in the opening quarter, capping a long drive with a six-yard touchdown and he added the conversion run to give the Redsides an 8-0 lead.

After a Dayville score, Kegel expanded the Redside lead with a 74-yard interception return. The two-point conversion moved SWC out in front, 16-6.

Late in the second period, Ward jumped a Dayville pass attempt and coasted 55 yards for an interception return to make it a 22-6 halftime lead.

Last week, SWC senior linebacker Ty Herlocker posted a team-leading 25 tackles, so Waine and defensive coordinator Michael Carter challenged the team to swarm to the football and make the punishing hits on the Dayville athletes.

Herlocker finished the game with 10.5 tackles, Ward added six tackles and four interceptions, and the trio of Andrew Lindley, Kegel and Zane Malefyt combined for 13.5 tackles, two interceptions and two sacks.

“All the way through the game, there were three or four green jerseys flying around the football,” Waine said. “It was nice to see some hard hitting on both sides of the ball and for our team to start delivering some big hits. It has been a couple of years in the making trying to switch gears from a more passive-aggressive team to now to a lower your shoulder and go hit somebody type of team.”

Ahead by 16 points to start the third quarter, Wraught added the knockout blow on a physical run.

On the play, Wraught broke five tackles and carried Dayville defenders all the way to the end zone for a 50-yard scamper to increase the Redside lead to 28-6.

Ryan Hubbard tacked on a five-yard run on a sweep left, and then Lindley coasted for 50 yards to the end zone on a reverse to make it a 40-6 cushion heading into the fourth quarter.

Austin Brady would join in the scoring flurry for SWC’s lone fourth-quarter tally on a one-yard plunge.

“Our run game was there. We ran up the middle and ran to the outside pretty well,” Waine said. “With the running backs, we have been focusing more running at angles instead of trying to make ankle-breaking cuts, trying to make people miss. This was the first game where it all came through that everybody started to make those little adjustments. The experience of our running backs is really starting to show.”

Wraught followed up Kegel with 70 yards on eight carries, Lindley had his one run for 50 yards, Brady notched five totes for 23 yards, and Hubbard contributed three rushes for 17 yards.

At the quarterback position, Dawson Herlocker totaled 48 yards rushing, and he completed 3 of 13 passes for 31 yards, 20 of those going to Ward on one passing play, and 11 yards went to Jesse Scovell.

“Dawson is starting to settle into his role at quarterback,” Waine said. “His timing is getting better and better in every game. He is starting to move his feet, which is great. He is reading the defense and he is developing an ability to call audibles, something we haven’t been able to do over the last couple of years.”

Malefyt posted 4.5 tackles and tallied a pair of sacks, Wraught also added two sacks, Timo Hisatake had three tackles and a sack, and Tuff Wilson totaled three tackles.

Playing under an independent schedule in 2014, SWC had a 2-4 record and went 0-8 last year.

Through five games, the Redsides are now 1-4 with games left against Dufur, Mitchell-Spray and Ione.

Waine is looking forward to his team being competitive over the next three weeks this way they can add some more wins and leave a lasting impression on a supportive community.

“To see the look in their eyes after the final whistle, to see that victory made it all worth it,” the coach said. “After all of those losses we have had for last couple of years, they all fall off your shoulders and it allows you to celebrate this. It shows that all of the hard work is paying off. We want to continue this for the next couple of weeks.”

SWC (1-4 overall, 0-3 league) has another league home matchup slated for 7 p.m. Thursday evening against No. 2-ranked Dufur (5-1, 2-1).