West Linn shuts out Nelson as Oregon high school football kicks off: 5 takeaways from Lions’ win over Hawks

A new quarterback debuts for the Lions, and our first look at heralded freshman cornerback Josiah Molden

WEST LINN — The West Linn players knew growing pains were to be expected this season after a senior-laden group secured the school’s second OSAA Class 6A state championship last November. 

So, while the scoreboard indicates more of the same for the Lions in a 37-0 victory over Nelson in both teams’ season opener Thursday night, they walked out of Gregory Memorial Stadium knowing there’s a lot of work to be done. 

“If I had to rate it honestly, I’d probably give it around a 6. Maybe even a 5,” said senior Gus Donnerberg. “As a team, we weren’t all there mentally, and we definitely could have done better on all parts of the field. There are a million things we could have performed better at.”

Junior Baird Gilroy, making his first career start behind center, threw for 197 yards and a touchdown, and the hosts held the Hawks to 145 yards of total offense in winning their opener for a fourth consecutive season.

“We expect to come in this year and have a killer defense,” said Wiley Donnerberg, who had one of West Linn’s two interceptions. “Last year, we had Mark (Hamper) and Sam (Leavitt), and both of them are just unbelievable athletes. But to have a team where everybody has to work and create more of a family, I think we could be just as good, if not better, than last year’s team.”

Photos by Dan Brood

Here are five takeaways from Thursday night’s matchup:

Baird Gilroy gives himself ‘solid B-minus’ in first career start

Gilroy entered camp slightly behind senior Nick Sakys in the battle to replace Class 6A offensive player of the year Sam Leavitt as the Lions' starting quarterback.

When coach Jon Eagle evaluated the film from last weekend’s jamboree, he decided Gilroy had done enough to pass Sakys and win the job. 

“There was a little bit of excitement there,” Gilroy said. “That’s been my goal from Day 1, to play for this team, so, I mean, dream accomplished, for sure. But I can’t say I didn’t expect it.”

The game plan featured a heavy dose of quick passes, especially to his tight ends — Gus Donnerberg and Baron Naone combined for eight of his 16 completions — but he showed wonderful touch on his two deep balls.

He hit Hunter Haines for a contested 49-yard touchdown that was called back for an ineligible receiver downfield, then came back three plays later to find Haines on a 48-yard corner route to convert a third-and-21.

Gilroy graded his performance as “a solid B-minus, with much room for improvement. I need to step up with my leadership, help out the team more, helping us line up. Some of those penalties are unacceptable, and I take accountability for that.”

Wiley Donnerberg was more impressed with how Gilroy ran the offense. 

“You know, Baird hadn’t played a varsity game, had a small JV season last year,” he said. “I think he balled the heck out, and it only goes up from here. He’s talented, and the more games he plays and the more experience he gets, the better he’s going to play.” 

Lions defense holds potent Nelson offense in check

The Hawks averaged 30.8 points per game last season, returned starting quarterback Avirey Durdahl and added a couple of talented receivers as transfers over the summer — Andre Miller from Gresham and Tyler Creswick from Putnam.

But Nelson’s offense never got out of second gear. Its longest play from scrimmage was a 36-yard pass from Durdahl to Sam Lewis on the opening drive. That drive stalled at the Lions 43 when Haines shot through to stuff Eddy Keomany on fourth-and-2, and the Hawks didn’t enter West Linn territory again until late in the fourth quarter.

The Lions held Durdahl to 9-of-21 passing for 87 yards, and the Hawks managed just 58 yards on 26 carries, with their longest run just 14 yards.

Part of that was senior kicker Gage Hurych constantly pinning the Hawks deep — he put all eight of his kickoffs in the end zone and had his only punt downed at the Nelson 5-yard line.

More of it was because of a defensive front seven that Hawks coach Aaron Hazel praised after the game.

“They’re stout up front, and their D-line does a great job,” he said. “That allowed their 'backers to sit back and take away some of the RPO stuff that we’re trying to do.”

Hazel: ‘We’re not as far away as the score says.’

After finishing second in the Mt. Hood Conference last season and qualifying for the OSAA state playoffs in the program’s second year, Nelson was a trendy pick to be a top contender this season.

While a 37-0 drubbing would seem to suggest otherwise, Hazel took many positives out of Thursday’s opener.

For starters, his defense was able to stall West Linn in the red zone on three occasions, forcing the Lions to settle for short field goals from Hurych. The most impressive stand came after junior Danny Wideman returned the second-half kickoff 82 yards to the Nelson 8. The Hawks allowed just four yards on three plays, with Hurych giving West Linn a 23-0 lead by nailing a 19-yard field goal.

“They’ve got so many weapons, and they do a great job of making you defend the entire field,” he said. “So, when you have to defend the entire field, you know you’ve got to be really great at tackling. We’ll look at the film and probably pinch ourselves about how many tackles we missed, but it was a bend, don’t break kind of thing.”

He also felt the team was close to breaking several big plays, including a misfire on a deep ball in which Miller had beaten double coverage on a crossing route.

“(Durdahl) missed a couple of throws that we’re going to get down the road as we get our timing down with some of these guys a little bit,” Hazel said. “But anytime you can play a quality team like this, come out of it healthy, it’s just going to make you better.

“We’re going to learn a lot about ourselves watching film on this one. We’ll see we’re this close. It’s sticking on a block a half-second longer, being able to catch that long ball, a missed tackle here and there. We’re not as far away as the score says.” 

Lions coach finds plenty to critique in ‘beyond sloppy’ performance

Eagle would echo Hazel’s sentiment that the scoreboard didn’t accurately reflect how his team performed.

In the Lions’ case, he said, “As a team, a very sloppy first game. I mean, I get that it’s high school football, but this was beyond sloppy, and we need to be a lot better if we’re going to compete with some people on our schedule.”

He was generally pleased with how Gilroy performed in his debut.

“I think for a first start, I thought Baird did a lot of good things,” Eagle said. “He just needs consistency at the position. There’s some things that he’s in charge of that he missed, but he also had a lot of great throws and kept drives alive. He had some great reads.”

Top class of 2027 CB Josiah Molden fares well in varsity debut

Gilroy wasn’t the only prominent West Linn player making his first career start Thursday.

Acclaimed freshman cornerback Josiah Molden, son of former Oregon Ducks and NFL standout Alex Molden (now an assistant on the Lions staff) and younger brother of Tennessee Titans cornerback Elijah Molden, made his debut and hardly looked like someone who a year ago was playing middle school ball at Athey Creek Middle School. 

The Hawks went after him on their opening possession, converting a couple of short passes in front of him. Then, they took their shots downfield to his side of the field, but other than the one crossing pattern that was overthrown, Molden was up to the challenge, staying stride for stride with his cover on three other deep balls.

“You took the words right out of my mouth,” Eagle said when that was pointed out to him. “And that’s not going to be the last time he gets challenged. I would challenge a freshman, too.” 

—

WEST LINN 37, NELSON 0

Nelson - 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 — 0

West Linn - 7 - 13 - 10 - 7 — 37

First quarter

WL — Hudson Hardy 2 run (Gage Hurych kick), 6:04

Second quarter

WL — FG Hurych 28, 10:25

WL — Ryan Vandenbrink 3 run (Hurych kick), 6:36

WL — FG Hurych 22, 2:33

Third quarter

WL — FG Hurych 19, 10:06

WL — Danny Wideman 4 run (Hurych kick), 6:02

Fourth quarter

WL — Wideman 39 pass from Baird Gilroy (Hurych kick), 10:11

STATISTICAL LEADERS

RUSHING—Nelson: Eddy Keomany 15-38, Avirey Durdahl 8-12. Total 26-58. West Linn: Hardy 12-80, Cade Johnson 4-21, Vandenbrink 3-9. Total 26-153.

PASSING—Nelson: Durdahl 9-21-2-87. West Linn: Gilroy 16-23-1-197, Nick Sakys 2-2-0-17.

RECEIVING—Nelson: Sam Lewis 4-65, Tyler Creswick 2-9. West Linn: Gus Donnerberg 6-51, Baron Naone 4-28, Wideman 2-52, Wiley Donnerberg 2-17.

DEFENSE—Nelson: Lewis 6 tackles; Andre Miller 5 tackles, interception; Creswick 5 tackles; Chaz Katoanga 5 tackles. West Linn: Josiah Molden 3 tackles, pass breakup; W.Donnerberg interception; Hunter Haines interception; Naone 2 tackles, sack.

FIRST DOWNS—Nelson 9, West Linn 16. FUMBLES-LOST—Nelson 1-0, West Linn 0-0. PENALTIES-YARDS—Nelson 8-56, West Linn 10-110.

Dan Brood, SBLive Sports