When a team rushes for negative yards, commits four turnovers and goes 0 for 12 on third down conversions, the winning probability is next to zero.
The Dalles football coach Steve Sugg looked back at his team’s home-opening 22-6 loss to Hood River Valley as one of learning lessons.
He knows the Riverhawks will be better for it as the season progresses.
“I walk away feeling like we missed out on our opportunities,” Sugg said. “We made a lot of mistakes. We dropped balls, we had turnovers, fumbled the ball, we had guys missing blocks and not running the right routes. All typical first-game stuff. All fixable stuff, but I think the kids will get on film and see what they need to work on and how they can get better. I think that everyone in the locker room knows that they could have probably played better. It is a long season and one game is not going to make a season.”
The Dalles started out with a 6-0 lead after a 63-yard punt return by newcomer, Ty’jean Green at the 3:41 mark of the first period.
Hood River Valley quickly erased TD’s lead, however, as Brandon Rivera returned the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown and Riggs Bardin added the extra point kick to make it a 7-6 Eagle advantage with 3:27 remaining in the first quarter. Hood River still kept its one-point lead to start the second half, until the 8:18 mark of the third quarter, when Ryan Gray threaded the needle on a 28-yard touchdown pass to Christian Zack to run the lead to 13-6.
Riggs tacked on a 25-yard field goal with 6:16 left in the fourth quarter, and after a TD drive ended on a loss of downs, Rivera took the first snap 46 yards to the end zone, which swelled the Eagle cushion to 22-6.
On offense, The Dalles totaled 105 yards, -3 on the ground on 19 attempts.
Steven Preston had one rush for 23 yards, Michael Armstrong posted two yards on his lone run and Ben Nelson had two attempts for one yard. The rest of the backs tallied -32 yards on 15 rushes.
Gabe Helseth completed 12 of 29 passes for 108 yards with two interceptions.
Green had six grabs for 63 yards, Preston hit for 15 yards on three catches, Armstrong went for 25 yards on two catches and Austin Greene hauled in one catch for five yards.
“We beat ourselves. They were not the better team here tonight,” Armstrong said. “We just need to get back in the workshop and fix all the things that we messed up on. We are definitely confident that we can bounce back from this and that we can end the season with more wins.”
Added to the 0 for 12 stretch on third downs, the Riverhawks went 1 for 5 on fourth downs, finished 0 for 3 in the red zone and committed eight penalties for 67 yards, including a critical offensive pass interference call that negated a 24-yard touchdown pass.
“We are going to check out some things in practice and fix the things that hurt us,” TD senior Yordi Sanchez said. “We can’t focus on what went wrong here, we have to move on and think about how we can get better for our next game.”
Hood River Valley posted 163 yards of offense, 107 yards on the ground.
The Eagles were 4 of 15 on third downs, 0 for 2 on fourth downs and had two lost fumbles and an interception on 27 minutes and 35 seconds of possession time. Rivera rushed 22 times for 114 yards and a score to lead the Hood River Valley ground attack.
Gray completed 8 of 18 passes for 56 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and Zack notched four catches for 51 yards and a touchdown.
TD defenders Sanchez and J.R. Scott tallied eight tackles apiece, Preston posted 7.5 tackles and Mac Abbas doled out three tackles, one for loss, and had a fumble recovery.
Abraham Garibay totaled three tackles and an interception and Dalles Seufalemua added 2.5 tackles and a fumble recovery.
“Our defense played outstanding, but they were on the field all night because we couldn’t get anything going offensively,” Sugg said. “The first half, we would get things going and then commit a penalty. I can’t tell you how many times we had second down and third down and long situations. All those things can be fixed. We just got to work harder.”
Up next, the Riverhawks (0-1 overall) take a trip to La Grande for a non-league game versus the Tigers.
La Grande is a tough opponent with skill players up and down the roster, but Sugg just wants his team to get off the bus and play with a sense of urgency.
There were components of last week’s game with some positive notes, so Sugg is trying to get more balance in the offense to use more clock and keep the defense on the sidelines.
“We got to keep grinding,” Sugg said. “I think we have the right scheme and the right system with the talent that we have. We just got to figure some things out. We got to be able to run the football. Tonight, we couldn’t do anything with that. Our offensive line is a work in progress. I think by Week 4, they will be up to speed. They are inexperienced, but with more reps, I know they will get there.”
Game stats courtesy of John Fredrick at www. sportsstatservice.com.
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