Two late touchdowns proved too little too late for Marshfield, as the Pirates were unable to recover from an early deficit against Hermiston.

Marshfield was down 49-20 before Kyle Tedder threw back-to-back touchdown passes in the fourth quarter to slice Hermiston’s lead, but the visiting Bulldogs drove to score once more en route to a 56-35 victory in the first round of the 5A playoffs.

Tedder, who completed 19 of 36 passes for 194 yards, said that despite it being his last chance at a football state title, he was pleased with the Pirates’ season.

“We made a good run, but we just didn’t play well tonight,” Tedder said.

Senior wide receiver Joey Morgan, who finished the game with eight catches for 133 yards and three touchdowns, credited the Hermiston offense led by Stevie Martinez, who ran for 301 yards on 28 attempts and four touchdowns.

“They’re a physical team, and they’re big and they’re fast,” Morgan said.

Hermiston started the game off quickly, scoring on its first and second possessions, both on touchdown runs by Martinez.

“We were going to come out real hard and see what they had. Running the ball was better than passing the ball,” Martinez said. “We went with it.”

On the opening possession, Marshfield’s Bo Cutting stopped Martinez for a 2-yard loss on the first play, but he broke through a hole in the line on the next play for a 74-yard score.

His second touchdown, a 3-yard dash, came on another short drive keyed by a 36-yard completion from quarterback Faafiaula Ena to Mike Royer.

Marshfield, meanwhile, was forced to punt on each of its first three possessions.

But Cutting recovered a fumble during the Bulldogs’ next drive, and Chris Krajcir tossed a touchdown pass from 45 yards out to Morgan on the first play — a double pass that led to three scores this season. But the Pirates missed the extra point.

Hermiston scored again with less than one minute left in the first quarter when Royer pulled in a pass from Ena in the corner of the end zone, but Marshfield answered right back with a 49-yard touchdown run from Tedder.

The Pirates pulled within one point after a great defensive stop bolstered by two sacks, with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Tedder to Morgan and another missed extra point.

“It was the best offensive game we’ve had this year,” Morgan said.

But the Bulldogs rambled on, with Martinez, Ben Millard and Curtis Berger leading the drive on the ground. Ena aired it out to Paul Lloyd from seven yards out to push the Bulldogs’ lead to 28-20.

“We didn’t match their physicalness,” Marshfield coach Justin Ainsworth said. “We arm-tackled and weren’t very fundamentally sound tackling.”

A fumble by the Pirates on the kickoff return landed in the hands of Hermiston’s Mark Hodges, and the Bulldogs took advantage, with Martinez scoring on a 30-yard touchdown run two plays later to give Hermiston a 35-20 halftime lead.

The Bulldogs had 209 rushing yards and Ena completed five of his six passes for another 84 yards in the first half. But Hermiston never needed Ena to attempt another pass.

“We felt we could have some success running the ball,” Hermiston coach Mark Hodges said. “It was there for us tonight.”

Hermiston came out strong after halftime, with Martinez pounding in another touchdown run, this time from 10 yards out, and after forcing a 3-and-out, Berger scored on a seven-yard rush.

Marshfield faced a four-touchdown deficit entering the final quarter, but made the game interesting.

The Pirates organized a long drive from their own 35, ending in a 3-yard touchdown pass to Morgan plus a two-point conversion pass to Talo Silver. Morgan recovered the onside kick on Hermiston’s 43, and Tedder connected with Krajcir twice in a row to orchestrate a touchdown and pull the Pirates within 49-35 with 5:29 remaining.

“We’re fighters,” Tedder said. “We would never give up for each other. That showed tonight.”

Marshfield attempted yet another onside kick, but Royer recovered for Hermiston and the Bulldogs put the game away with a 4-yard touchdown with 1:38 to go by Millard, who finished the game with 73 rushing yards.

Though the abrupt trip to the playoffs was difficult for the Pirates, Tedder said he wouldn’t trade this season for anything.

“It hurts because I personally wanted to win for them, and I know they would say the same,” Tedder said.

Morgan echoed his sentiments.

“It was a great season, a great group of guys,” Morgan said.

Ainsworth said he was proud of the seniors.

“We’re excited to get to the playoffs,” Ainsworth said. “The seniors really did a great job of providing leadership, and hopefully they set the tone for the sophomores and juniors.”

Hodges said he was pleased with his team’s dedication, especially considering their long drive to Coos Bay.

The Bulldogs left Hermiston at 7 a.m. Friday and stopped for a quick workout at Willamette University in Salem, a tour of the facilities at the University of Oregon and a team dinner in Reedsport.

“We handled the long trip (well),” Hodges said. “They got off the bus and went to work.”

Hermiston will visit Crater, which finished first in the Southern Sky Conference, on Friday for the second round of the 5A playoffs.