What we learned in Round 1 of Oregon high school football playoffs

Here’s what stood out during the first round of the Oregon high school football playoffs

Viggo Anderson and the West Linn Lions learned the identity of their first playoff opponent — the Sherwood Bowmen. / Photo by Dan Brood

The Oregon high school football playoffs kicked off last week with first-round action around the state. 

Complete Round 1 recap

OSAA football brackets

Here’s what stood out during the opening round of action. 

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Silver linings the playbook for West Linn to bounce back from Week 7 defeat

After West Linn lost in Week 7 to Lake Oswego, senior wide receiver Danny Wideman found the silver lining in the dark cloud that enveloped the Lions sideline.

“You know, our only loss (last season) was in the semifinals. The year before that, we lost early in the year (to Sheldon) and won the (state) championship,” he said. “So, I feel like we kind of needed a loss, and hopefully next week we’re back at it, doing what we do best.

As the Lions prepare for this week’s OSAA 6A Open quarterfinal against Sherwood after a first-round bye, coach Jon Eagle said he has seen a change in his team since that defeat.

“We have a strong, renewed focus on our weekly preparation,” Eagle said. “The areas of improvement are small, but important — something as simple as getting into the correct alignment or the correct stance. It’s the attention to detail that makes the difference in the big games.”

Eagle said he’d never coached a team during his career at Camas and West Linn that had a bye week.

“It’s all new territory,” he said. “We had a good week of practice, got healthier and had a good break before the intense games get started. Is it a good thing? I suppose it’s what you make of it.”

The Lions returned several key players from last year’s semifinalists, including senior quarterback Baird Gilroy (2,150 yards, 29 touchdowns), Wideman (58 catches for 889 yards and 12 touchdowns) and senior guard Ryan Holmes and senior tackle Jake Normoyle.

The emergence of junior running back Viggo Anderson has had perhaps the biggest impact for an offense that averages 41 points per game.

The tailback position was a bit of a revolving door for the team last season, and Anderson was not part of the rotation, biding his time on the JV squad. 

He stepped in right away this season and made the position his, making the all-Three Rivers League first team after rushing for 970 yards (the most by a West Linn player since Gavin Haines’ 1,620 in 2019) and eight touchdowns.

“It’s fun to watch him play,” Eagle said of the 5-foot-8, 170-pound tailback. “He’s made it a habit of turning average plays into big plays. He can be hard to get your hands on, and running behind our O-line has made him a very good back.”

This week, though, the Lions must contend with one of the state’s top running backs in Sherwood senior Wilson Medina, who has 1,898 yards and 31 touchdowns this season.

West Linn held Medina in check in their Week 2 matchup, limiting him to 56 yards and a season-low 3.7 per carry in a 35-0 victory — the only game this season Medina didn’t find the end zone.

A similar performance from a defense that has allowed 9.8 points per game (tied for second-best in 6A) and posted five shutouts would go a long way toward propelling the Lions to a fourth consecutive semifinal appearance.

“You never really stop those good backs,” Eagle said. “All you can do is try to slow them down and corral them the best you can. And he’s not the only good back they have — their slot (Andrew Waletich) and the quarterback (Jackson Bell) can run it as well.”

Sandy looks to build off second playoff win in program history against South Medford

You could have excused Sandy coach Josh Dill if he believed this season — his sixth since taking over the program in 2019 — would be a bit of a rebuilding year.

But since a Week 7 loss to Central Catholic dropped the Pioneers to 3-4, they’ve won three in a row, including a 39-16 victory over McMinnville in Round 1 of the 6A state playoffs that was the second postseason win in program history (the other coming in 1998).

“We lost tight games early because of lack of experience,” Dill said. “We’re a young and talented team, and these young sophomores now have a season’s worth of practices and games to rely on, and they have improved so much.”

Dill counts among his team leaders two of 10 seniors on the roster — lineman Ashton Culp and running back/cornerback Mataio Olomua — and junior running back/linebacker Caden McMahon, crediting them with doing “an awesome job showing them the way and the kind of work that is required to win.”

Olomua ran for a career-high 220 yards and two touchdowns against the Grizzlies, pushing his season totals to 1,243 yards (6.6 per carry) and 17 scores. He is a lockdown corner, returning an interception for a touchdown against McMinnville, and he has 20 touchdowns in all three phases.

Dill said he’s having fun seeing “the special season that (Olomua) is having. Nobody has earned his success like he has. Every single year, he takes a huge jump in his athletic ability, speed and strength. His commitment level is off the charts. He has really come into his own this year.”

His emergence has eased the transition for sophomore quarterback Micaiah Turin in his first full varsity season after attempting one pass in garbage time against Central Catholic as a freshman.

Dill acknowledged he was nervous about turning the reins over to an untested sophomore, but after watching Turin at team camp at Linfield University in June, “I could see he was ready. He’s a special kid and mature beyond his years.”

Turin has rewarded that faith with a solid season, completing 53% of his passes (74 of 140) for 968 yards and 11 touchdowns. He has protected the football, throwing just four interceptions.

Dill credits assistant coaches Aaron Harper and Tyler Maes with Turin’s offseason development, marveling that “Micaiah has no bad habits and just soaked everything in. He is a kid with a huge arm and is completely committed to being the best he can be. A great leader who makes great decisions under pressure.”

The Pioneers face a big test when they travel to South Medford for a quarterfinal against a team that finished No. 12 in the OSAA rankings, missing the Open Division playoffs because PIL champion Wells was elevated to the field.

The Panthers were a Columbia Cup finalist last year and boast plenty of playoff experience and a punishing ground game that overpowered Jefferson in a 41-0 first-round win.

“Their quarterback (Makana Brown) is a dual threat and a great athlete, and their players play very hard,” Dill said. “We pride ourselves on being physical. To win this game, we have to be the more physical of the two teams.”

Silverton still has room to improve as it readies for playoff rematch with Summit

To look at Silverton’s scoreline, one would think there’s little room for improvement as the Foxes ready for their 5A quarterfinal matchup with Summit this week.

They notched their seventh consecutive win in convincing fashion, routing La Salle Prep 52-0 in a first-round matchup that allowed them to rest most of their starters in the second half.

Since a Week 2 loss to 6A top seed Lake Oswego, the Foxes have an average margin of victory of 29.9 points, adding wins against playoff qualifiers West Albany, Central and Wilsonville to victories over Summit (35-12 in Week 0) and 6A quarterfinalist Mountainside.

Silverton coach Dan Lever noted that his team has started four offensive line combinations the past four weeks, so “I think we can still improve. We are finally all healthy, and the band is back together.”

The band’s conductor is senior quarterback Sawyer Teeney, who might be one of the most underrated players in the state. The Special District 2 co-offensive player of the year put up solid numbers against the Falcons (195 passing yards, three touchdowns) to add to his regular-season totals of 2,003 passing yards and 24 touchdowns with one interception.

The 6-foot-1, 190-pounder has accounted for nearly 85% of the team’s offense, Lever estimated, but even then, “we have had the toughest road in 5A schedule-wise, and when you are playing the best of the best, you’re not always going to put up crazy stats. And we don’t chase stats. The only stat we really care about in our program is the W or the L.”

Teeney has drawn more interest on the recruiting trail as the season has gone along, in part because as a three-year starter, “every year, he has dove deeper and deeper into the offense,” Lever said. “I feel like this year, he has really been able to show off his ability to make plays with his legs to extend drives.”

He showed that ability in the Foxes’ season-opening victory against Summit, when he amassed 367 total yards, ran for two touchdowns and threw for another.

Lever knows his team didn’t see the best version of the Storm that day. Summit started the season 0-3 as it broke in numerous new starters, but it has won six of its past seven, with the loss a one-point defeat to Mountain View in the de facto Intermountain Conference title game.

“When you have a young team, it takes a few games to settle into who you are,” Lever said of the Storm. “They have done that and then some. I have a great deal of respect for their coaching staff and the job they have done. They’ve done a great job of adjusting to their personnel and putting their kids in a position to be successful.”

Cascade simplifying its game after rash of injuries could have derailed season

A month ago, Cascade was riding high in 4A, sitting atop the OSAA coaches poll at 7-0 as it prepared for a showdown with Marist Catholic for Oregon West Conference supremacy.

Then, the injury bug bit the Cougars hard. Bryce Kuenzi, part of the state’s contingent of talented junior running backs who had 1,239 yards and 16 touchdowns, was lost for the season to a torn ACL.

Junior fullback/defensive lineman Matthew Hinkle suffered a high ankle sprain that limited him against Marist Catholic. Finally, they lost sophomore wide receiver/cornerback Josiah Hawkins to a second-quarter ankle injury and senior wide receiver/defensive back Hunter Anundi to a shoulder injury.

The result was a 47-0 beatdown that could have derailed the Cougars’ season. Instead, over the past two weeks, they’ve steadied the ship, beating Sweet Home 32-0 in the regular-season finale and Molalla 46-14 in last week’s first round of the playoffs.

“We go into that game with Marist, and in the previous seven games, we’d played only one full four-quarter game,” Cascade coach Shane Hedrick said. “We’re rolling, and when we lost that game, it was a shock to everybody.”

The biggest shock was the sudden loss of Kuenzi, who initially had been diagnosed with a sprained knee and played for a half the previous week against Philomath. 

“Bryce is really a great football player and human, and he was our Superman,” Hedrick said. “And when he gets knocked out, no one sees that coming.”

Hedrick knows you can’t replace Superman, but senior Carter Condon has done his best to replace Kuenzi’s production. In the past two games, he’s run for 541 yards and four touchdowns in a slimmed-down offense that Hedrick said has helped the team adjust to Kuenzi’s loss.

“Bryce is your modern-day tailback where you don’t need a fullback, because he can win 1-on-1 battles and you can do a lot of RPO (run-pass option) stuff with him,” Hedrick explained. “Carter is more of a 1999-2000 style tailback who requires a fullback but is as good as any tailback there is in a two-back set. He can read the whole field, read holes in the line.

“So, we’ve reduced our offense to about 25% of our usual package, but it’s stuff we do well. The last two games, we’ve got momentum by executing really well.”

And now, with the Cougars facing a quarterfinal matchup with Pendleton, which features a solid passing attack (241 yards per game, 27 touchdowns) and 1,400-yard rusher Tugg McQuinn, the cavalry should be arriving.

Hinkle and Anundi received limited action in last week’s win, with Hinkle scoring three touchdowns on four carries, and Hedrick is cautiously optimistic Hawkins can return for this week’s game.

He also cautions that while his stars are returning, “they’ve gone a couple of weeks without playing, so they’ve got to get back to game speed. But it will be critical to have them back, because Pendleton puts up a lot of points.” 

Smothering defense propels Burns to quarterfinals for first time since 2019

Burns doesn’t attract much attention in the farthest regions of Harney County in Southeast Oregon.

But the Hilanders made their presence felt in the 3A playoffs last week by traveling 263 miles to the Willamette Valley and ousting undefeated Special District 3 champion Cottage Grove 46-7 to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2019.

The Hilanders allow 8.6 points per game, the second-fewest in 3A behind Eastern Oregon League rival Vale, and they smothered the Lions run game that propelled them to their best season since winning a 4A state title in 2017.

Burns coach Matt Bruck, who took over the program in 2022, credits defensive coordinator Jake Blackburn with developing a scheme that emphasizes 11 players flying to the ball on every play.

Against Cottage Grove, the Hilanders made 12 plays for negative yards, led by sophomore linebacker Cannon Kemper’s 5½ tackles for loss (12 total), and his senior brother (and fellow state champion wrestler) Easton had 3½ tackles for loss of his 11 tackles. 

“The biggest thing is we expect everybody to meet at the ball no matter what,” said Bruck, who served as an assistant under former coach Terry Graham for five seasons. “Everyone flies around on defense and has a job to do, but then they rally to the ball. We should have eight to 11 guys on the ball helping out on the tackle.”

Burns’ only losses are to Vale in Week 5 in an 18-12 overtime thriller and 27-14 to La Grande, a 4A opponent. The Vale defeat, although it was the Hilanders’ fourth in a row in the rivalry, showed them what they are capable of accomplishing this season.

“It doesn’t matter if we’re facing Vale or anybody else, we make sure to go out with a game plan that we come out of a game better than we were going in,” Bruck said. “But our guys being able to battle throughout that game helped them get their minds right.”

Easton Kemper leads the team with 69 tackles, including 24 for loss and eight sacks, and junior defensive lineman Joe Weil is right behind with 62 tackles (16½ for loss) and seven sacks. Cannon Kemper has 15½ tackles for loss.

Their stout defense overshadows a solid offense led by junior quarterback Jack Wright, who has thrown for 1,856 yards and 22 touchdowns and leads the team with 391 rushing yards and seven touchdowns. He’s spread the ball evenly among four receivers, led by junior Coltin Miller (23 catches for 523 yards and six touchdowns), and senior Jaxon Hoyt has a team-high 31 catches for 345 yards.

They’ll all be put to the test this week in another overnight trip to the Valley to face No. 3 Santiam Christian, which pulled away in the second half to beat Kennedy 42-21 as senior running back Jeremy Ness rushed for 341 yards and five touchdowns.

Ness has run for 2,178 yards and 32 touchdowns, but after shutting down Cottage Grove’s Clayton DeWitt — who rushed for 1,537 yards and 25 touchdowns during the regular season— the Hilanders relish the challenge of slowing another top back.

“Santiam Christian is a really good team, and we can’t overlook any part of what they do,” Bruck said. “They have a really big offensive line, which is a reason Ness has had the games he’s had and is something we’re going to have to overcome.”

North Lake ‘hungry’ to make its mark after getting taste of sustained success

Success has been fleeting for North Lake since the program began with the school’s opening in 1991.

The Cowboys went winless that first year, and until this season, they’d never won more than six games nor posted back-to-back winning records.

But after going 6-3 last season and notching the first playoff win in school history, the Cowboys earned a first-round bye in this year’s 1A six-man bracket by finishing 7-1 in the regular season and will play host to South Wasco County in Saturday’s quarterfinals.

The community of Silver Lake, an unincorporated spot on the map in western Lake County in south-central Oregon, is home to around 150 people who hadn’t seen a home playoff game until last year, when the Cowboys defeated Triangle Lake 49-33 before falling to top seed Prairie City/Burnt River in the quarterfinals.

“Our guys are very excited but are also a hungry bunch,” said ninth-year coach Barry Anderson. “They want to win and are more focused on making that happen than anything else. Our community has been very supportive over the last couple of years and have really grown to love North Lake football.”

The Cowboys have four seniors on their 18-man roster, with the trio of running back/linebacker Logen Grassman, quarterback/defensive back Jack Roscoe and running back/safety Carter Golson leading their run-heavy offense that has amassed 2,911 rushing yards and 3,155 total.

Grassman has rushed for a team-high 1,104 yards and 18 touchdowns, and Roscoe has added 875 yards and 13 touchdowns with a team-high 54 tackles (seven for loss). Golson has 588 rushing yards and nine touchdowns and has made a team-high three interceptions and 10 tackles for loss.

Junior defensive end Bryce Williardt has a team-high 12 tackles for loss for a defense that posted three consecutive shutouts before a 51-33 victory over Triangle Lake in a district seeding game that secured the No. 4 playoff seed.

Anderson credits the recent success to a revamping of the program four years ago after the COVID-19 pandemic, when they added elementary football camps and started devoting more time to the middle school program. 

He saw an improvement in the team’s physicality last year but also had his eyes opened in their quarterfinal defeat to Prairie City. 

“We found out what physical was,” Anderson said. “I would say that has been our biggest area of improvement this year. We are strong, quick, and like to hit.”

While the Cowboys enjoyed a week off after their seeding game, South Wasco County trounced Days Creek 51-13 in a first-round matchup. Anderson watched that game and came away impressed.

“They play well as a team, and any time you can say that about a team, it’s an area to be concerned about,” he said. “They have beat some very good teams this year. They have been challenged several times already.”

This and that …

• Sheldon senior Rocco Graziano is having a season for the ages as a placekicker. The University of Oregon commit is 64 for 64 on PATs and 6 for 6 on field goals, and since his last PAT miss in a Round 1 playoff win against Barlow two years ago, he has made a state-record 105 consecutive extra-point kicks. According to the NFHS website, that total places him No. 9 on the all-time national list, with Joel Schipper of Grand Rapids (Mich.) Christian holding the record of 145 from 2010-12.
• Central Catholic senior wide receiver/defensive back Landon Kelsey announced Monday on his X page that he has decommitted from Eastern Washington. Kelsey, who had six catches for 103 yards and two touchdowns in the Rams’ 38-14 first-round Open Division win over Wells, is a 3-star prospect who has 39 catches for 649 yards and 10 touchdowns.

• Another top receiver also made an announcement regarding his recruiting Monday when Mountain View senior Jack Foley switched his commitment from Wake Forest to Washington State. Foley is a 3-star prospect, and 247Sports ranks him the state’s No. 5 recruit. He has 43 catches for 938 yards and 14 touchdowns this season, including a 155-yard, two-touchdown performance in the Cougars’ 42-18 first-round 5A win over Thurston.

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