10 storylines entering 2024 Oregon high school football season — realignment, transfers, coaching carousel, more

Oregon high school football also could see a couple of big-time individual records fall in 2024

The 2024 Oregon high school football season kicks off this week. / Photo by Taylor Balkom

The Oregon high school football season kicks off this week. Here are some of the big storylines and questions on our minds as the action gets underway. 

200 PLAYERS TO WATCH IN 2024

SCHEDULES FOR EVERY SCHOOL

1. Two state title defenses hinge on result of quarterback competitions

Class 6A champion Central Catholic and 5A titlist Wilsonville each enters the season having to replace one of the best quarterbacks in program history — Cru Newman (now at Portland State) for the Rams and Kallen Gutridge (Oregon State) for the Wildcats.

At Central Catholic, the three-way battle features senior Beau Rolak, who was Newman’s primary backup last year (9 of 18, 178 yards, two touchdowns), against juniors Robbie Long and Sam Ribner. Rolak rates a slight favorite because of his varsity experience, but that came before Charlie Landgraf took over in the spring, and Landgraf vows to have an open mind about who gets the starting nod.

Wildcats coach Adam Guenther thought his succession plan was clear — senior Mark Wiepert, who has showcased his cannon arm behind the plate as an Oregon State baseball commit, would move from receiver to behind center. Then, Emerson Traub — last year’s starter at The Dalles — moved to Wilsonville, giving Guenther pause. Don’t be surprised if both receive significant time leading the Wildcats attack this season.

2. Can Tualatin’s Nolan Keeney stay injury-free and put up a season for the ages?

The state record for passing yards in a season is 4,420 by Tim Tawa for West Linn in 2015, when he led the Lions to a runner-up finish in the 6A playoffs.

Keeney has a chance to threaten that mark in the Timberwolves’ fast-paced passing attack fashioned by third-year coach Dominic Ferraro. If all goes according to plan, he would need to average 369 yards per game, with two fewer games than Tawa had because of changes in the OSAA 6A playoff format.

With the bevy of talent surrounding Keeney — senior WRs Zhaiel Smith (Central Catholic), Jordan Araiza (McNary) and Maliq Smith (Glencoe) join a receiving corps hit hard by graduation — the record could be in reach … if Keeney can avoid the injury bug. 

A healthy Nolan Keeney could have a monster senior season for Tualatin before heading to BYU. / Photo by Leon Neuschwander

Keeney suffered a separated shoulder in Week 4 last year, costing him the final five games of the regular season, then reinjured the shoulder in the second quarter of the state final. He appears to be 100% healthy, and the BYU commit will be hungry to show what he can do in a full season.

3. About those changes to the 6A playoff format …

In three years, we’ve gone from a 32-team championship bracket to two 16-team brackets — a championship and the Columbia Cup — to what we have this season: a 12-team Open bracket that isn’t open to anyone except 6A teams and a 16-team Championship bracket that isn’t truly a state championship since it involves the Nos. 13-28-ranked teams.

It nudges Oregon closer to how Arizona runs its Open Division championship, with the top 6A, 5A and 4A teams in weighted rankings put in a separate bracket and the remaining teams filling their respective classification brackets. Or maybe we’ll eventually have a season-long Open Division a la Hawaii, which has nine teams (regardless of classification) that declared this year. 

4. A major celebration on tap in Southwest Portland

Sometime in September, longtime Jesuit coach Ken Potter should take his place atop the state’s all-time wins list. 

While he might try to downplay the significance of the moment, calling himself “probably the third-best coach in my family,” when Potter passes Dayton’s Dewey Sullivan with win No. 353, you can bet the thousands of players who have come through the program during his 37 years at the Southwest Portland private school will be celebrating.

5. What impact will transfers have on Three Rivers (and 6A) championship race?

Tualatin has its three new receivers to keep its offense in fifth gear. Lakeridge added former Sherwood FB/LB Treyson Eddleman. Lake Oswego saw junior RB/LB Justin Craigwell arrive from Sunset. West Linn welcomes back LB Will Ingle after a season at Wilsonville.

Treyson Eddleman is on the move — from Sherwood to Lakeridge. / Photo by Leon Neuschwander

And that’s just in the Three Rivers League. Central Catholic lost Smith but added junior DB Asa Lundberg from Grant and sophomore TE Seager Milholen from Camas, Wash. There are many other players who switched teams in the offseason. As Potter said, “The amount of transfer athletes is amazing,” and the trend is only increasing.

6. Realignment brings additional leagues to 5A, 3A classifications

Class 5A and 3A expanded their numbers after the Ad-Hoc Football Committee made its final recommendations, leading to a fifth league being added to 5A and a sixth in 3A.

That has reduced the number of automatic qualifiers in the 5A playoff field from 15 to 11 teams determined by league finish, leaving five at-large berths up for grabs. 

The 3A bracket still has 15 automatic qualifiers, but the Far West League, which had four slots when it housed 10 teams, was split in two. The eastern half added Klamath Union, and Siuslaw moved from the Mountain Valley Conference to the western half. Each half gets two automatic qualifiers.

7. Coaching changes shake up some traditional powers

Landgraf’s arrival at Central Catholic isn’t the only high-profile change in the coaching ranks this season. Here are seven other new coaches who could make an immediate impact at their new schools:

Todd Crist, Tigard: Crist becomes Tigard’s third head coach in the past three years. John Kemper left for Texas in the summer of 2023, and interim coach Ken Feist led the Tigers to the 6A quarterfinals last fall. Crist had served as an assistant in the program since 2018.

Josh Vanlue, South Salem: Another longtime assistant moves up to head coach as the architect of the Air Saxon offense takes over for Scott Dufault. South Salem is looking to defend the South Central Football Conference title — the program’s first league championship since 2015.

Tyler Martell, Sheldon: The Irish also stayed in-house by elevating Martell, the team’s defensive coordinator the previous seven seasons under Josh Line.

Josh Line went from one Eugene school (Sheldon) to another (Willamette). / Photo by Michele Bunch

Josh Line, Willamette: Line stepped down from Sheldon planning to spend time watching his daughter play her senior volleyball season. A month later, he joined the Wolverines, who gladly accommodated his request to balance football and volleyball. Willamette is eager to turn around a downtrodden program that finished 0-9 last year and is 28-78 since its last winning full season in 2011.

Zach Loboy, Marist Catholic: Landgraf’s departure after one highly successful season at the Eugene private school, leading the Spartans to the 4A final, opened the door for Loboy, who served as defensive coordinator last year.

Matt Green, Henley: Green coached the Hornets offensive and defensive lines the past two years. He follows Alex Stork, who in his seventh season won the school’s first state title since 1982 before retiring to spend more time with his wife and newborn daughter.

Orlyn Culp, Mazama: Culp, who served as head coach at Yreka (1996-2015) and Red Bluff (2017-19) in Northern California (83-137, missing records for 1997-98), joined the Vikings staff last year as JV coach. He takes over from Vic Lease, who went to the playoffs 10 times, won nine consecutive conference championships and won the 4A state title during the COVID-shortened 2021 spring season.

8. Which defending state champion has the best chance to repeat?

We know it won’t be the 1A eight-man champion, since Lost River was bumped up to 2A in the latest realignment.

Speaking of 2A, though, Lowell is our pick as the likeliest repeat champion. The Red Devils return several key players from the squad that won the program’s first state title, including 2A offensive player of the year JaMar Thurman, a senior running back, as well as all-state linemen David Finch and Paul Clark.

9. Which team could follow in Sherwood’s footsteps and surprise in 6A?

We’re going to look to the far southern reaches of the state and pick North Medford for our darkhorse team to potentially reprise the Bowmen’s semifinal run of a year ago.

The Black Tornado return a veteran quarterback in junior Traeger Healy and four all-South Central Football Conference selections — led by senior DL Trey Kennedy-Coleman and DB Tate Snyder — from a defense that was the stingiest (14.9 points per game) in the SCFC last season.

10. If Oregon were to name a Mr. Football as the state’s most valuable player, who would be the preseason favorites?

This imaginary award would honor the state’s best two-way player, and here would be our five top contenders entering the 2024 season:

WR/S Jackson Doman, Canby, senior: Doman committed to BYU as a tight end and shines in the secondary for the Cougars.

WR/DB Jack Foley, Mountain View, senior: The two-way 5A all-state selection is one of the top receivers in the state regardless of classification.

TE/DE Baron Naone, West Linn, senior: Naone is another future college tight end (Washington commit) and is a dominant edge rusher for the Lions.

QB/WR/S Mark Wiepert, Wilsonville, senior: Wiepert is the reigning 5A defensive player of the year and will direct the Wildcats offense behind center or dominate again at wideout.

WR/S Evan Wusstig, West Salem, junior: Wusstig excelled in all three phases for the Titans last season and has the potential to become one of the state’s top class of 2026 prospects.

Download the SBLive App

To get live updates on your phone - as well as follow your favorite teams and top games - you can download the SBLive Sports app: Download iPhone App | Download Android App