West Linn shows off multitude of weapons, flips 2021 script on rival Tualatin

“If they try to stop one of us, there’s two, three, four more who can move the ball.”

By René Ferrán | Photos by Leon Neuschwander 

West Linn has so many weapons in its offensive arsenal that sometimes, someone can get lost in the shuffle. 

One such player is junior tight end Gus Donnerberg, but Friday night in a Three Rivers League showdown at Tualatin, he delivered a career performance that complemented the Lions’ usual stars. 

Donnerberg caught a career-high five passes for 82 yards and a touchdown, and twin brother Wiley added two touchdown catches to help propel the second-ranked Lions to a 42-30 victory over the fourth-ranked Timberwolves. 

Each brother also had an interception, with Wiley’s end-zone grab snuffing out Tualatin’s last chance to fight its way back in the game with 6:18 to play.

“We always want to one-up each other,” Gus Donnerberg said, smiling. “I mean, of course, I feel good about what he did, but you know, there’s a little bit of me that wants to do better than him.”

The victory took some of the sting off a couple of losses the Lions suffered against Tualatin last fall — a humbling 49-14 defeat in Week 5 and a 35-13 loss in the 6A state semifinals.

“This game was very big. It was personal,” said senior running back Koffi Kouame, who ran for 129 of his 150 yards in the second half, including a 52-yard burst on the first play of the third quarter. “Especially after the semifinal, that was the saddest I’ve seen this team. I went home and said, ‘No way they’re going to beat us again.’”

In last year’s defeats, West Linn’s offense found the end zone twice (the defense scored both touchdowns in the regular-season matchup) and gained just 449 yards of total offense.

Friday night was a complete 180 from those lackluster performances. The Lions (5-1, 2-0 Three Rivers) rolled up 503 yards of total offense and had five players find the end zone.

“We were a young team last year,” added Wiley Donnerberg. “Now, I think we grew up, we got better. New coach, new offense. We have so many different weapons on offense that if they try to stop one of us, there’s two, three, four more who can move the ball.”

Now, it’s the Timberwolves (5-1, 1-1) who are left awaiting a potential rematch in the playoffs after watching two fourth-quarter turnovers derail their comeback attempt.

“Right now, there’s a lot of high tensions, a lot of emotions,” said junior Jayden Fortier, who caught four passes for 84 yards and a touchdown. “But you know, we’re going to see them in the playoffs. And like I said, the outcome is going to be different — I can promise you that.”

To fulfill that promise, Fortier pointed to needing to correct “small mental mistakes, missing gaps, missing blocking assignments. But it’s all stuff we can clean up in practice. It’s only Week 6 of a nine-week season plus the playoffs. We can go all 13. I believe in that.”

Tualatin had not trailed in any of its first five games, but after getting held out of the end zone on its opening possession for the first time this season, the Timberwolves found themselves behind 7-0 after Gus Donnerberg’s 25-yard touchdown catch midway through the first quarter.

The Timberwolves tied the score twice in the first half, but they had only one opportunity to grab the lead. That came after Luke Ash (who had a team-high 10 tackles and ran for 130 yards and two touchdowns while battling an ankle injury) stopped Earl Ingle short on a fourth-down run on the first play of the fourth quarter, giving them the ball at their 37, trailing 35-30.

Jack Wagner ran for a first down across midfield, but on the next play, Mark Hamper came on a safety blitz and hit Wagner’s arm as he threw. The ball popped in the air and into Gus Donnerberg’s waiting arms at the Tualatin 43.

“We got a couple of turnovers, and then we’d just give it right back to them,” said Tualatin coach Dominic Ferraro, whose team outgained the Lions 529-503 but committed four turnovers.

“We were trying to find that balance of running the ball and grinding clock, then taking shots and being aggressive. We know West Linn’s a big cover-0 press team, and when you get in our face, we’re going to throw the ball deep. But they kind of bit us on the backside a few times with some of those turnovers.”

Four plays after Gus Donnerberg’s interception, Sam Leavitt zipped a 14-yard touchdown pass to Wiley Donnerberg, capping a 258-yard, four-touchdown performance by the senior quarterback.

“It was definitely smashmouth football today,” Wiley Donnerberg said. “It was score, score. We just made a couple of extra plays that they didn’t, and we honestly kind of outworked them. And if we see that in the upcoming weeks, we’re going to turn into an even better team.”

Wagner finished 19 of 39 for 312 yards, throwing for one touchdown and running for another, but he threw three interceptions while operating under heavy duress that got home only once but forced several hurried throws.

“I thought Jack did well considering that he had guys coming at him all night,” Ferraro said. “They were mixing things up and did a really good job of changing where they were coming from.”

Ferraro said he’d give the team 24 hours to lament the defeat before turning their attention to Lake Oswego. Fortier, for one, isn’t worried about a letdown despite their disappointment.

“Our team is special,” Fortier said. “When times get tough, we don’t just bend over or fall down. We like the battle. Ever since we lost the state championship last year, it’s a different feeling coming back out here. And when you lose to a good team like that, all you want to do is get back, so we’ll be back.”

Meanwhile, Wiley Donnerberg couldn’t remember who the Lions play next — it’s undefeated and sixth-ranked Tigard, which beat Lakeridge 28-14 on Friday. He probably can be forgiven after winning a game he had circled on his calendar since the schedule came out in the spring.

“It feels so good to come out and put up a score like we did today, especially after losing pretty badly twice to them,” he said. “We couldn’t be more excited, but now, we’re moving on to next week and getting back to work.”

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No. 2 West Linn 42, No. 4 Tualatin 30

West Linn – 14 – 7 – 14 – 7 — 42

Tualatin – 7 – 10 – 13 – 0 — 30

First quarter

WL — Gus Donnerberg 25 pass from Sam Leavitt (Gage Hurych kick), 6:43

T — Luke Ash 2 run (Calvin Evans kick), 1:31

WL — Wiley Donnerberg 53 pass from Leavitt (Hurych kick), 0:18

Second quarter

T — Jayden Fortier 39 pass from Jack Wagner (Evans kick), 2:56

WL — Ben Winjum 1 run (Hurych kick), 0:44

T — FG Evans 37, 0:00

Third quarter

WL — Koffi Kouame 52 run (Hurych kick), 11:48

T — Ash 6 run (kick failed), 9:55

WL — Mark Hamper 18 pass from Leavitt (Hurych kick), 6:45

T — Wagner 2 run (Evans kick), 2:32

Fourth quarter

WL — W. Donnerberg 14 pass from Leavitt (Hurych kick), 10:39

STATISTICS

RUSHING—West Linn: Kouame 16-150, Leavitt 8-22, Winjum 6-63. Total 36-245. Tualatin: Ash 20-130, Wagner 15-69. Total 39-217.

PASSING—West Linn: Leavitt 15-24-0-258. Tualatin: Wagner 19-39-3-312.

RECEIVING—West Linn: G. Donnerberg 5-82, Hamper 5-63, W. Donnerberg 3-94. Tualatin: Kenen Elder 5-40, Richie Anderson 5-86, Fortier 4-84, AJ Noland 4-64.

DEFENSE—West Linn: Winjum 10 tackles; G. Donnerberg 7 tackles, interception; Hamper 5 tackles, 2 pass breakups; W. Donnerberg 2 tackles, interception, pass breakup. Tualatin: Ash 10 tackles, pass breakup; Anderson 4 tackles, 2 sacks, forced fumble, fumble recovery; Dylan Munley 4 tackles, sack, pass breakup; Kevin Interian 4 tackles.

FIRST DOWNS—West Linn 20, Tualatin 22. FUMBLES-LOST—West Linn 2-2, Tualatin 2-1. PENALTIES-YARDS—West Linn 8-64, Tualatin 7-77.

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Leon Neuschwander, SBLive Sports

Leon Neuschwander, SBLive Sports