Jesuit edges Lake Oswego in first-round thriller, earns another shot at No. 1 West Linn: 5 takeaways

“We’ve never had this much heart and grit in us before”

Dan Brood | Nov 4, 2023

Big moments.

Clutch plays.

Thrills, chills and plenty of suspense.

There might be no better way to describe it — this is what the playoffs are all about.

In an absolute battle that wasn’t decided until just over a minute was left to play, Jesuit tipped Lake Oswego 34-28 in a Class 6A state playoff first-round thriller between two determined squads, played Friday under rainy skies at Jesuit High School.

“Wow, we won. It was the most intense game I’ve ever been in,” said Jesuit senior receiver Elias Johnson, who had a kickoff return and a reception for a touchdown. “This game, it was just something different.”

“It was really fun,” said Jesuit senior receiver/defensive back Matt Eilers, who had a clinching interception with 1 minute and 3 seconds left. “When I was a kid, I dreamed about moments like this. It’s cool to have it happen.”

“It was our heart,” Jesuit senior running back/linebacker Lonnie Burt said of the key to the victory. “We’ve never had this much heart and grit in us before, and it’s really great to see that we’ve got that in us. It was really just a different type of feeling out here — we were going into battle.”

The Crusaders certainly seemed to need all the heart they had to hold off the hard-charging Lakers late in the second half. Lake Oswego, which trailed 24-7 early in the third quarter, battled its way back in amazing fashion and had a chance to take the lead and have its own storybook ending to the nail-biter.

“It was awesome,” said Lake Oswego senior receiver Matt Layne, who had a touchdown catch. “I felt like I was in a movie. I loved it.”

Here are five takeaways from Friday night’s matchup:

It was a second half to behold

Jesuit held a 17-7 halftime lead in Friday’s postseason opener, and the Crusaders increased their lead to 24-7 early in the third quarter.

That’s when things got interesting — really interesting.

Lake Oswego, getting a 54-yard touchdown run from sophomore LaMarcus Bell, trimmed the lead to 24-14 with 7 minutes and 20 seconds to play in the third quarter. Johnson returned the ensuing kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown, increasing the lead to 31-14.

The persistent Lakers answered with a 7-yard touchdown run by Bell. After Jesuit got a 35-yard field goal from senior Kadyn Butcher, Lake Oswego again answered, getting a 30-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Max Brauner to Layne, trimming the deficit to 34-28 with 10:22 left.

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“It just happened,” Layne said of his touchdown catch. “The ball was up, and I just had to make a play for the team.”

Jesuit punted with 2:46 remaining, giving the Lakers the ball at their 21-yard line — with a chance to take their first lead.

Brauner completed two passes to Layne and one to senior Nolan Rabb to move the ball to the Jesuit 36-yard line, putting fans of both teams on the edge of their seats as time was running low.

After an offensive pass interference call on Lake Oswego, Eilers stepped up with his clutch interception.

“I knew, at the end of the game, that the quarterback would be targeting his guy on the outside,” Eilers said. “I was playing deep; I stayed and helped and got the interception. It felt good. It secured the ‘W.’ We were worried about them coming back.”

“I was so happy that he ended up getting that pick for us,” Burt said. “It was a great feeling to seal it up there.”

Jesuit just moves the ball

The Crusaders showed a powerful offensive attack in the victory, both running and passing.

On the ground, Burt was the workhorse for Jesuit, rushing for a game-high 164 yards and a touchdown on 32 carries.

He was quick to give credit for that performance to the Crusaders’ offensive line of senior Joey Schuler, junior Trace Spreen, junior Soren Gaston, sophomore Quinn Wicklow and junior Trent Williamson, among others.

“This offensive line, with guys stepping up, especially with Liam (Cassidy) going down on offense, I’m just really proud of them,” Burt said. “They kept opening up holes and we keep on moving the chains.”

Jesuit ran for 212 yards on 44 carries. Crusaders junior quarterback Trey Cleeland completed 15 of 27 pass attempts for 232 yards.

Cleeland had a big-time connection with senior receiver Jace Burton, as the two teamed up on seven passes covering 122 yards, including a 43-yard touchdown strike, before Burton left the contest with an injury after catching a 10-yard pass with 8:02 left in the second quarter.

Even after Burton left the game, Cleeland threw a 31-yard touchdown to Johnson, and he completed two passes to both Burt and Eilers.

The Crusaders finished the game with 444 yards of total offense on 71 plays.

For the Jesuit defense, Burt had a sack and a tackle for loss, Eilers had a sack to go with his interception, and Cassidy and Burton each had a sack.

Jesuit special teams are definitely special

While the Crusaders’ offense and defense seemed to do their part in the thrilling victory, Jesuit’s special teams also contributed — in a special way.

Crusaders senior kicker Kadyn Butcher had 39- and 35-yard field goals, which were especially important in a six-point victory.

Jesuit also did an onside kick to open the second half, with Butcher recovering his kick on the Lake Oswego 49-yard line. Five plays later, Cleeland threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Johnson.

And, of course, there’s Johnson’s 93-yard touchdown kickoff return — a loud answer to Bell’s long touchdown run.

“I just caught the ball and stuck to the plan,” Johnson said. “We drew up where I was supposed to go. I made some mistakes in practice with the kickoff return. But tonight, I did it right, and, boom, it opened right up.”

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The Crusaders insist their special teams prowess isn’t by accident.

“We have been drilling on those in practice,” Burt said. “We take it seriously and try to find some openings where maybe the other team’s special teams aren’t ready for us.”

“I think special teams for us is huge,” Eilers said. “We’ve got a lot of good guys on special teams. Clearly, it’s important. It affected this game, and it’s affected a lot of our games in the past. If we keep working hard on special teams, we can change games with it.”

“It’s insane,” Johnson said of Jesuit’s special teams work. “We work on it a good amount, and we watch a lot of film on it. I have four punt returns for touchdowns and a kickoff return now, and it’s all because of me and my teammates locking in, sticking to the plan.”

Getting ready for No. 1

With Friday’s victory, its sixth in a row, Jesuit improved to 6-4. The Crusaders’ reward for their thrilling first-round victory — a second-round matchup with undefeated and top-seeded West Linn.

Jesuit insists it’s looking forward to the challenge.

“This was a good win, but it’s only the first round,” Burt said. “We’re looking forward to the next one. We’re not thinking about this game any more. We’re moving on to thinking about the next one, thinking about the No. 1 team.”

That No. 1 team, West Linn, moved to 10-0 with a 42-7 first-round win over West Salem. One of the Lions’ 10 victories is a 43-14 home win over the Crusaders on Sept. 15.

“We played them earlier this season, and they played well against us. We had a ton of mistakes, and if we can minimize those, we can compete with them, for sure,” Eilers said. “They’re a really good team, clearly. They’re the No. 1 seed, undefeated, and, honestly, I think if we play smart and play hard, we can compete. We’ve got a lot of work to do this week in practice. We’ve got to focus up. It’s going to take 100 percent effort and 100 percent focus from all of our players, and we need to have a solid week of practice.”

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Jesuit will get its next chance against West Linn on Nov. 10 in a second-round state playoff game at West Linn.

“I’m totally looking forward to this one. It’s always fun playing great competition, and why not be against the No. 1 team early?” Burt said. “We’re a way better team now. We’re trying to come out and prove to the state that we’re better than they think, and we just want to battle with the No. 1 team.”

“I’m looking forward to it. We’re looking to win,” Johnson said. “It’s going to take looking at a lot of film, fixing the mistakes that we made the first time we played them. Honestly, the first time, it was like 17-14, and we were really with them. I think every score we gave up after that was because of us. It’s going to take a lot of fixing our own mistakes and practicing hard. I really think we can beat them.”

Lakers finish with smiles and a lot of pride

With the loss, Lake Oswego finished its season 6-4.

While the Lakers were disappointed their season came to a close, there were still plenty of postgame smiles and hugs on Lake Oswego’s end of the field following the game at Jesuit.

“I was pretty happy with it,” Lake Oswego senior receiver Conor Croteau said of the Lakers’ season. “You could always say it could be better, with our losses, but I’m happy. I just love this team. I’ll love it forever.”

“It was great,” Layne said. “I had a great time, regardless of how it ended. I love all my teammates. I had a blast.”

Lake Oswego also seemed to take a lot of pride in how it battled to the end, having a chance to rally for the victory Friday.

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“I was just really proud of how we never gave up, whatsoever, until the final whistle. I was just really happy with how we performed and how our offense came out swinging,” Croteau said. “It shows how we never quit. We’ve been down a few times this season, and we never gave up, and I’m really proud of that.”

Croteau had another reason to smile after the game, as he caught a 10-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter.

“I finally got one,” he said. “I got some open field, I was in the right place at the right time.”

For the Lakers, Brauner completed 17 of 33 passes for 210 yards. Layne had eight catches for 119 yards, and Croteau had six receptions for 54 yards. Bell paced Lake Oswego on the ground with 134 yards on 11 carries. For the Lake Oswego defense, senior Nolan Rabb had a first-quarter interception.

“I was having a blast,” Layne said. “If you’re going to lose, this is the way to do it. I had a great time playing with my guys, regardless of what happened.”

“I looked over at our receiver, Matt Layne, on that last drive, and I’m like, ‘This is fun, man,’” Croteau said. “I just took it all in for a second.”

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Jesuit 34, Lake Oswego 28

Lake Oswego - 0 - 7 - 14 - 7 – 28

Jesuit - 7 - 10 - 14 - 3 – 34

First quarter

J – Lonnie Burt 19 run (Kadyn Butcher kick)

Second quarter

LO – Conor Croteau 10 pass from Max Brauner (Henry Glad kick)

J – Jace Burton 43 pass from Trey Cleeland (Butcher kick)

J – Butcher 39 field goal

Third quarter

J – Elias Johnson 31 pass from Cleeland (Butcher kick)

LO – LaMarcus Bell 54 run (Glad kick)

J – Johnson 93 kickoff return (Butcher kick)

LO – Bell 7 run (Glad kick)

Fourth quarter

J – Butcher 35 field goal

LO – Matt Layne 30 pass from Brauner (Glad kick)

STATISTICAL LEADERS

Rushing – Lake Oswego, Bell 11-134, Brauner 7-3. Total, 18-137. Jesuit, Burt 32-164, Cleeland 12-48. Total, 44-212.

Passing – Lake Oswego, Brauner 17-33-1, 210. Jesuit, Cleeland 15-27-1, 232.

Receiving – Lake Oswego, Layne 8-119, Croteau 6-54, Carson Schwindt 2-25, Nolan Rabb 1-12. Jesuit, Burton 7-122, Johnson 2-31, Burt 2-27, Matt Eilers 2-16, Sam Hunt 1-33, Julian Christensen 1-3.

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