West Linn storms back to edge Sumner in Oregon-vs.-Washington showdown: 5 takeaways

University of Washington commit Baron Naone caught two second-half touchdown passes from Baird Gilroy in the Lions' 34-27 win

In an early candidate for Northwest Game of the Year, West Linn came roaring back in the second half to record a 34-27 win over Sumner. / Photo by Leon Neuschwander

WEST LINN, Ore. – One of the best in Oregon.

One of the best in Washington.

And it brought out the best in the West Linn football team — in the second half, at least.

The Lions, after trailing Sumner (Wash.) by 14 points at the end of their mistake-filled first half, came roaring back to earn a 34-27 win over the Spartans in a thriller that wasn’t decided until West Linn senior Danny Wideman intercepted a pass heading toward the Lions end zone with 1.1 seconds left in an exciting contest at West Linn High School.

“That was wild. Sumner’s a great opponent,” said West Linn senior Baird Gilroy, who threw for two second-half touchdowns and ran for another. “We knew that was going to be a great game. That’s something we don’t experience a lot — those close games. And this one was really fun.”

“It was a nail-biter, for sure,” West Linn senior lineman Jake Normoyle said. “It was good. We had some adversity in the first half, but at halftime, we told ourselves that we just had to clean it up, and that’s exactly what we did.”

“It kind of started off slow in that first half,” said Lions tight end Baron Naone, who caught two touchdown passes in the second half. “But we had a talk in the locker room (at halftime). We know who we’re playing for — for family. We pushed through adversity, for sure, and we won that game.”

Wyatt Smiley and West Linn overcame plenty of adversity to notch a satisfying win over Sumner. / Photo by Leon Neuschwander

West Linn, which entered as the top-ranked team in the latest Class 6A coaches poll, improved to 3-0.

Sumner, which held the No. 2 spot in the latest SBLive Washington Class 4A (Washington’s biggest classification) rankings, moved to 2-1.

“We started off really strong, but in the second half we came up a little short,” said Sumner junior Nate Donavan, who had three touchdown passes. “When we’re playing teams of this caliber, we can’t afford to do that. But I think we fought well, and we learned a lot.”

“Man, we came out here with the energy we had in the first quarter, and we thought we were going to run away with it,” Spartans senior running back Steele Isaacs said. “We just had to keep the energy, but we made a few crucial mistakes in the second half, and that’s just stuff we have to work on mentally.”

Here are five takeaways from Friday’s matchup:

Lions thrive in unfamiliar role

To say West Linn hasn’t had to rally from behind very often might be an understatement.

“We haven’t had to come back for a long time, probably not since that Sheldon game in 2022,” Normoyle said. “I’m glad we had some adversity to come back from early in the year.”

The Lions definitely faced some adversity in Friday’s game. With three turnovers and six untimely penalties, combined with a strong Sumner team that was excelling at an impressive rate, West Linn found itself facing a 14-point halftime deficit.

But there was no panic.

“Our coach (Jon Eagle) was telling us that we have to use our heads,” Naone said. “We can’t let mistakes take over the game. We knew in the second half that we had to stay disciplined and humble.”

After Friday's come-from-behind victory, Jon Eagle's Lions are 3-0. / Photo by Leon Neuschwander

“At halftime, our attitude was definitely good,” Normoyle said. “We were in it to win it. We weren’t down at all. We were ready to go.”

They certainly appeared to be.

Two touchdown passes from Gilroy to Naone and a 1-yard touchdown run by senior Will Ingle led to a 27-27 tie with less than four minutes to play. Gilroy scored on an 8-yard run to give West Linn a 34-27 lead with 49.1 seconds left. Wideman’s last-second interception sealed the win.

The Lions got other clutch second-half plays on defense from senior Hudson Hardy, who had a fumble recovery, and from senior Brett Ronson, who had a sack with less than 20 seconds remaining.

“I think we got tested and had to deal with adversity. I’m really proud of our team and the way we played,” Gilroy said. “I think this shows we can fight. We’ve got some dogs on this team, and no matter what the situation we’re put in, we know we can come back.”

“I think that shows that we can definitely play as a team,” Naone said. “Going forward, I think we can be the most unstoppable team in the state. This will help us. We weren’t expecting this tonight. We kind of got punched in the mouth, and that stunned us for a little bit, but we came back and we fought. We came out in the second half and punched them in the mouth, and we got the ‘dub.’”

Gilroy is getting better

In his second season as the Lions’ starting quarterback, the 6-foot-5, 210-pound Gilroy is looking to raise his game from last year, when he helped lead West Linn to the semifinals of the Class 6A state playoffs.

Sure, he stepped up in Friday’s victory, completing 25 of 36 passes for 294 yards with three total second-half touchdowns. But it’s more than just what he can do with his powerful arm.

Baird Gilroy finished with 294 yards passing and three total touchdowns. / Photo by Leon Neuschwander

“I think I’ve become a better leader,” he said. “That’s something I’ve really been challenged to do by my coaches, so I think I’ve developed that, and I think I showed that tonight.”

His teammates agree.

“He’s out there leading the offense, and he’s saying things with conviction,” Normoyle said.

“I definitely see that,” Naone said. “I’m telling Baird, and our offensive line, that we’ve got to lead these young kids. And we’ve got a lot of young kids this year. Baird played great today. He’s definitely getting better, and it’s showing. Today, he was dropping buckets, and that’s all we can ask for from him.”

There’s one other thing.

“This year, he’s running it,” Normoyle said. “He’s kind of moving a bit, and that helps. He threw some great balls today, and we tried to give him as much time as possible.”

Gilroy’s biggest run was the 8-yard touchdown scramble, which turned out to be the winning score.

“I don’t think words can describe it,” Gilroy said of the play. “I was just so excited. I crossed the goal line, and it felt amazing.”

You can’t keep a good Baron down

Naone had a bit of a rough first half.

The first pass thrown his way bounced off him, resulting in an interception. The second pass, he caught for a 7-yard gain, but he fumbled before hitting the ground, leading to another turnover.

But no one was worried about the four-star tight end, a University of Washington commit.

“He’s a mentally tough player, and everyone knows how talented he is,” Gilroy said. “We knew how it was going to work out.”

“After those first couple balls that I got, the boys on the sideline and the coaches were all telling me to ‘just settle down and we’ll get you the ball. We’ll get you in the end zone. Settle down and catch the ball with your eyes — get to the ball and catch it,’” Naone said.

Baron Naone's big second half included two touchdown catches. / Photo by Leon Neuschwander

In the second half, he did catch it, and he did get to the end zone — twice.

With 6:03 left in the third quarter, Naone caught a 26-yard pass from Gilroy for a touchdown that trimmed the Sumner lead to 20-13. With 4:59 to go, Naone pulled in a 6-yard lob pass from Gilroy over the middle to give the Lions a 27-20 lead.

“It felt great,” Naone said. “The last time I got a touchdown was our first game, so to have two this game was great.”

Naone finished with six catches for 60 yards and the two scores.

Spartans disappointed, but looking to benefit

Sure, Sumner wanted to come away with a win in Friday’s showdown pitting the powerhouses from neighboring states. And the Spartans came oh-so-close to getting that win.

But, they say, the next-best thing is to improve from a hard-fought setback.

“For sure, this game will make us better,” Donavan said. “I’m 50/50 – I wish we had won, but I’m happy that this game will get us fired up.”

“Of course, this will help us out,” Isaacs said. “If you never make mistakes, you never learn. We can take this loss and learn from it. We need to keep our energy and keep our heads up when we face adversity.”

One lesson might be that every little thing matters.

Not only was the score close in a game that came down to the last pass of the contest, but the yardage was about as close as it could get. West Linn had 453 yards of offense in 69 plays, and Sumner had 459 yards on 69 plays.

The Spartans also had many impressive performances. Donavan completed 22 of 34 passes for 353 yards and three touchdowns. Isaacs ran for 106 yards on 27 carries, and senior tight end Carter Cocke had seven catches for 145 yards and two touchdowns.

Carter Cocke had a monster game against the Lions — seven catches, 145 yards, two touchdowns. / Photo by Leon Neuschwander

On defense, seniors Mason Thayer and Jayden Benson each had an interception.

“We’ll just watch the tape and analyze the loss,” Donavan said. “I think teams that lose are always going to be better than teams that have no pressure. So, I think we’ll bounce back.”

“We’re going to go back to our own state and work to win our state championship,” Isaacs said.
“We know that we could have held our own in this game. We just have to fix some mental errors and just lock in.”

For Sumner, the goal remains

Even with the heartbreaking loss, the Spartans have no hesitation when asked their ultimate goal.

“We want to win that state title,” Isaacs said. “It’s going to take a lot of hard work and effort. We have to put in the work in the weight room, we have to work hard in practice. We just have to go back to our own state and do our job.”

“State championship — that’s the goal,” Donavan said. “It’s going to take a lot of work. We’re going to have to keep learning and stay healthy. It’s a long season.”

Sumner junior Nate Donavan had three touchdown passes in Friday's thriller. / Photo by Leon Neuschwander

The Spartans made their intentions known right from the start of the season, as they opened their campaign by getting a 31-28 overtime win over defending Washington Class 4A state champion Lake Stevens, with senior Austin Ferencz having the winning field goal.

Ferencz has shown he can be a big weapon for the Spartans — he booted 42- and 33-yard field goals against West Linn.

Sumner also earned the Lions’ respect.

“I know they’re ranked pretty high up in Washington. They’re a physical team and a well-coached team,” Normoyle said. “That showed us that we’re also a well-coached team of high caliber.”

The Spartans have another thing on their side — belief.

“We believe in our heart of hearts that we’re going to win that state title,” Isaacs said.

West Linn 34, Sumner 27

Sumner - 10 - 10 - 0 - 7 — 27

West Linn - 0 - 6 - 14 - 14 — 34

First quarter

S – Austin Ferencz 43 field goal

S – Carter Cocke 8 pass from Nate Donavan (Ferencz kick)

Second quarter

S – Ashton Pillard 36 pass from Donavan (Ferencz kick)

W – Viggo Anderson 20 run (kick failed)

S – Ferencz 32 field goal

Third quarter

W – Baron Naone 26 pass from Baird Gilroy (Wyatt Smiley kick)

W – Will Ingle 1 run (Smiley kick)

Fourth quarter

W – Naone 6 pass from Gilroy (Smiley kick)

S – Cocke 67 pass from Donavan (Ferencz kick)

W – Gilroy 8 run (Smiley kick)

Viggo Anderson's 20-yard touchdown run put West Linn on the scoreboard in the second quarter. / Photo by Leon Neuschwander

STATISTICAL LEADERS

Rushing

Sumner – Steele Isaacs 27-106, Israel Nabors 4-13, Donavan 4-(-13). Total 35-106. West Linn – Anderson 24-116, Gilroy 8-41, Ingle 1-1. Total 33-159.

Passing

Sumner – Donavan 22-34-1, 353 yards. West Linn – Gilroy 25-36-2, 294 yards

Receiving

Sumner – Cocke 7-145, Pono Borden 6-96, Braylon Pope 4-27, Kainoa Grounds 3-19, Pillard 2-66. West Linn – Danny Wideman 9-120, Naone 6-60, Smiley 4-47, Anderson 3-30, Kevin Benson 1-17, MJ Kennebrew 1-14, Drew Baltz 1-6.

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