La Pine hands Vale 24-18 loss

LA PINE – The La Pine Hawks football team had a game plan when the Vale Vikings arrived in town. If a team does not have the ball, scoring is difficult. Behind at the half, the Hawks held the Vikings scoreless in the second half on way to a 24-18 victory.

“I think we only had the ball twice in the whole second half,” said Vale coach Jeff Aldred.

Vale jumped out early, putting up 18 points in the second quarter and led 18-16 as the two teams hit the locker room at the half. La Pine then started to grind out the yards and the clock in the second, putting up the final score of the game in the third quarter to take the lead and ultimately, the victory.

“We are similar teams,” Aldred said. “La Pine is big and physical and just grinds out the ball.”

The game also marked the first true travel for the Vale team in this shortened season, a trip Aldred saw take a toll on the team.

“We left Vale at 5 a.m.,” he said. “By the end of the game, both teams were out of gas. The heat came up and you could see it with both teams.”

The plan for La Pine’s second half were evident as the stats showed. The Viks put up 180 yards of total offense in the first half. That number dropped to 70 yards of total offense in the second half.

Only a single Viking player ended up in the positive in the ground game as Tanner Steele ended with 77 yards. He was also 12-for-24 passing for 176 yards and one interception. John Wolfe ended the game with four catches for 67 yards to lead Vale.

The La Pine ground game was led by Dylan Hankey with 54 yards and two trips into the end zone. Quarterback Colton Campbell finished the day 10-for-17 for 122 yards and two interceptions.

Dawson Cook grabbed six of those completions for 63 yards.

La Pine ended the day with 240 yards of total offense with 122 yards on the ground and 118 yards in the air.

The win evens the season for the Hawks at 2-2. La Pine travels to Sisters on Friday, April 2.

Vale (1-3) ends the short season with the county rival, Nyssa Bulldogs (1-2) on Friday.

Throw the records out, this is Bulldogs versus Vikings. This is the game that splits families, makes memories and provides bragging rights in a typical year. This time, the bragging rights will only last five months.