Staff photo by E.J. Harris Hermiston's Samuel Colbray gets a block from Dylan Caldwell on Sandy's Aristarco Herrera in the Bulldogs' 17-0 win against the Pioneers on Friday in Pendleton.

Hermiston head football coach Mark Hodges said the Bulldogs are coming off their worst offensive performance of the season after last week’s 17-0 win over Sandy to open the Class 5A playoffs.

But that’s no reason for panic as the team prepares to play Liberty in the second round on Friday in Hillsboro.

“Those games happen from time to time,” Hodges said after practice Monday. “The bottom line was we got behind our offensive line and our run game when we needed to, and that’s a good thing to have in your back pocket. … We’re gonna have to play a heck of a lot better than we did last week to win.”

Senior quarterback Chase Knutz echoed his coach.

“We can’t be slouches, like we were last week,” he said. “We’ll lose the game if we play (this week) like we played last week.”

Hodges said the Bulldog offense just wasn’t clicking like it usually does. Knutz posted his lowest completion percentage of the season (39 percent) and was a victim of some touchdown-eliminating drops. Hodges said the main focus on the offensive side of the ball this week is retuning the timing that worked so well in other games.

“The first time we played (Sandy), our timing was really good, and we were hitting a lot on our pass plays,” Hodges said. “This game we weren’t quite hitting on our pass plays like we were before, and then things didn’t come as easy, and all of a sudden we got a little distracted. Our timing’s gotta be better this week.”

The Bulldogs won’t have any easy time against the fourth-seeded Liberty Falcons (9-1) of the Northwest Oregon Conference.

The Falcons’ only loss of the season came in a 14-6 slug-fest against crosstown rival Hillsboro in the season opener. Two weeks later, Liberty played Sandy and won 41-35.

Liberty also beat 11th-seeded Wilsonville and a decent Parkrose team.

The Falcons employ an offense similar to the Wing-T but have expanded it to include some option for its 6-foot-4 junior quarterback Blake Walker. Also in the backfield are wings Devin Kaneshiro and Nick Bonat, who Hodges mentioned could pose potential trouble for his defense. Kaneshiro is just 5-foot-6 but quick, and Bonat is a reliable pass catcher from the wing position, he said.

The Falcons use a lot of pre-snap motion and wide receiver runs that can expose an over-pursuing defense.

“(We are) trying to stay sound on our defensive keys so we don’t get fooled by their misdirection and stuff because they use a lot of misdirection,” Hodges said.

Liberty plays a 5-2 defensive front that can mimic a 3-4 with three down linemen, two linebackers and a pair of defensive ends standing up.

The Falcons like to use multiple pre-snap looks and pressure packages out of this formation.

“With their backers, they do some weird things,” Knutz said. “I think they kind of pride themselves on their team speed, (which is) kind of also what we do, as well. I think we got the edge on ’em a little bit with that.”

As for Hermiston, Cory Adams will be back this week after leaving last week’s contest with a “very mild concussion,” Hodges said. Hermiston’s run game, although powerful, is built on having two or more backs who are used to create a change of pace. Adams is the quick back, with Sam Colbray being the bruiser.

“It’s good to have Cory back and we’ll still have that thunder and lightning thing,” Hodges said, adding Adams should be cleared to play by today.

Friday’s kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Liberty High School in Hillsboro.