Tigers put up tough fight against Redsides

Published 12:45 pm Tuesday, October 16, 2018

The Dayville/Monument Tigers (1-6) didn’t give up in Friday’s battle against the South Wasco Redsides (6-1) in Monument, but the visitors took a 77-19 win.

The Tigers had some bright moments on the offensive side in what was the Dayville and Monument schools’ homecoming game.

Dayville/Monument was down 35-0 in the second quarter when Tiger quarterback Donovan Schafer threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Mark Thomas. Schafer connected with JT Hand for the extra point.

On South Wasco’s next drive, Thomas emerged from a dog pile, recovering the Redsides’ fumble.

Hand rushed the ball 30 yards on the next play, and Schafer launched a 20-yard touchdown pass to Gabe Walker-Hopkins, bringing the score to 35-13.

The Redsides pulled away further when Garrett Olson scored on a long catch and run from quarterback Tanner Davis, Olson also kicking in the 2 extra points.

After the Tigers’ next attempt at the goal line, South Wasco took over on downs.

Hand tackled Redside Timoteo Hisatake in the backfield bringing up a fourth down, but the Redsides made a first down and continued their push down the field. Davis tossed to Olson who threw a touchdown pass to Brock LaFaver.

South Wasco led 50-13 at the half and ran the score up to 70-13 going into the fourth.

Tiger Tell Cox fell on the Redsides’ onside kick at midfield.

Walker-Hopkins caught a long pass from Schafer at the 20-yard line, and Hand scored a touchdown on the next play.

For the Redsides’ final touchdown, LaFaver was in as quarterback, connecting with Davis to score.

The Redsides have only lost one game in this first season of six-man football to the undefeated Joseph Eagles.

Dayville/Monument head coach Kyle Hand said there were individuals on the team who played well, but overall “the kids’ heads weren’t all the way in it.”

“Our highlight was the second quarter,” he said. “We played tough, tackled well and were able to move the ball up and down the field offensively.”

He said his team is young, and they’ll take away the positives from the game as they move forward.

Dayville/Monument has their final game at 1 p.m. Friday, hosting the Huntington Locomotives in Dayville.

A contest with the Burnt River Bulls that had been set for Oct. 26 was canceled due to lack of Burnt River players.