What we learned in Week 3 of Oregon high school football

Here’s what stood out during Week 3 of games on the Oregon high school football schedule

Sam Paskewich and Mountain View are 4-0. / Photo by Leon Neuschwander

The 2024 Oregon high school football season continued last week with Week 3 games around the state. Here's what stood out during the third full weekend of action. 

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Newcomers up front help South Medford open SCFC play 3-0 

The short life of the OSAA’s Columbia Cup is having lasting effects for one team this season.

South Medford narrowly missed the Class 6A championship bracket last year, instead ending up as the No. 2 seed in the Columbia Cup. The Panthers won three games in the secondary competition to reach the final, losing to Sunset 34-21.

That experience has paid dividends this season. After losing 33-7 to Lake Oswego in their opener, the Panthers have won their first three South Central Football Conference games, the latest a 30-20 victory at defending SCFC champion South Salem.

As longtime coach Bill Singler said, the Columbia Cup “was created for teams like us that are not consistently top dogs. We got to play more games, which is not something that we’re used to. I’m pleased we took advantage of that opportunity.”

The experience gained from the extra weeks on the practice field especially helped up front, where South Medford graduated all five starters on the offensive line and all but one on the defensive line.

Two of those youngsters on the defensive line, juniors Jedi Robertson and Eddie Banuelos, combined to sack South Salem quarterback Kellen Bowman with 7:38 left in the fourth quarter and the Panthers clinging to a 25-20 lead.

The offensive line allowed those veteran skill players to rack up 314 rushing yards and 440 total — including big plays from senior running back Kameron Rague (61-yard touchdown run to open the scoring) and an 89-yard pass from junior quarterback Makana Brown to senior wide receiver Ajani Ingram.

Rague, who was the 3A offensive player of the year two years ago at Cascade Christian, leads a balanced rushing attack with more than 300 yards. Singler said Rague might be a 1,500-yard rusher in other systems, but Singler stresses getting everybody touches, noting how the Panthers had three backs — Rague, Bridger Foss and Ryder Scheid — who combined for 2,500 yards last season.

“We just go about our business and share the ball, creating opportunities for everybody,” Singler said. 

The Panthers are off this week before entering the meat of their schedule — a three-week stretch against Grants Pass, Sprague and Sheldon that Singler believes will reveal a lot about his team entering the homestretch.

“I’m really happy with where we’re at right now,” Singler said. “Lake Oswego was a little out of our league, but I like playing those games early, giving the kids a test like that. But we’ve won the games that we could, and we’re right where I hoped we would be. 

“Now, we’ve got a lot of tough football ahead of us.”

Wells opens PIL title defense under new coach by beating McDaniel

Last year was a dream season for Wells. The Guardians finished 8-2, winning their first unified PIL championship since 2003 and notching their most victories since winning the 5A PIL division title in 2012.

New coach Robby Scharf, who was on Keith Bennett’s staff last year, looks to build off that momentum, picking up his first victory Friday by defeating McDaniel 52-20, with a showdown looming this week with Roosevelt.

“The transition has been virtually seamless,” Scharf said. “Our program truly is a family with one heart.”

Wyatt Andler and Spencer Reid ran for two touchdowns apiece against the Mountain Lions as the Guardians rushed for 459 yards, with Andler gaining 215.

It’s Reid who has “stepped up big-time, even if his stats don’t suggest it,” Scharf said of his senior quarterback, who attempted two passes Friday (completing neither) but doesn’t have to throw much in Wells’ power-T scheme.

“The kid is a warrior and natural-born leader,” Scharf said.

The Guardians also have integrated speedster Cam Hammer into the offense — he ran for 88 yards and a touchdown on four carries Friday — while former running backs Sam Mahoney and Roman Tubay have moved to the offensive line and put their athleticism to good use as lead blockers pulling and trapping unsuspecting defenders.

“Cam has been a phenomenal add to our team and has brought top-end speed to the table that our team hasn’t had in quite some time,” Scharf said.

Last year’s matchup with Roosevelt on the Roughriders’ North Portland campus came in Week 8, with the Guardians romping to a 36-8 victory that clinched the league title. 

This time, it comes in Week 4, with the winner getting a big leg up in the championship race.

“It’s going to be a fight from start to finish,” Scharf said. “It’s going to be a challenge. We’ll embrace the adversity, celebrate the opportunity to get better, and embrace the weird.”

New quarterback, similar results for undefeated Mountain View

Mountain View won the Intermountain Conference title and reached the 5A state final last year thanks in part to a big season from senior quarterback Connor Crum, who won IMC offensive player of the year honors directing an offense that averaged 324 yards and 44 points per game.

While Connor’s father, Cougars coach Brian Crum, could have fretted the loss of his three-year starter behind center, he also knew who was ready to take Connor’s place after biding his time the past two years as his backup.

Senior Mason Chambers took over the starting job this season, and through four games, he has completed more than 73% of his passes (60 of 82) for 1,032 yards and 14 touchdowns with no interceptions, leading Mountain View to a 4-0 record entering its week off.

“He was ready,” Crum said. “He just needed the confidence to go be him. I couldn’t be happier with what he has accomplished so far.”

With the Cougars’ run game not clicking as well as Crum would like — this despite junior running back Angel Valenzuela amassing 382 yards and six touchdowns — the coach has relied on Chambers’ ability to make plays off-platform to keep the offense on track.

As a sophomore, Angel Valenzuela helped power Mountain View to the 5A state championship game. / Photo by Leon Neuschwander

“He reads, stays calm and more than manages the offense — he leads it,” Crum said. “Exactly what I expected.”

The Cougars’ other returning game-breaker, senior wide receiver Jack Foley, has been complemented by another senior, Jordan Best, who missed most of last season with a broken collarbone but has returned with a bang this year with 12 catches for 261 yards and five touchdowns.

“He is athletic like all get-out — fast and quick and can jump,” Crum said. “Jack was out with an injury most of the spring and summer, and Jordan turned into our No. 1. He took that role and owned it. He really makes teams have to decide who they want to double or single and gives us another major weapon.”

The defense doesn’t look quite as dominant as a year ago, although its stats are skewed a bit from the JVs giving up three touchdowns to opponents’ starters in running-clock situations. Still, Crum said with a young group, the week off before opening IMC play against Caldera gives the staff time to hone them for the second half of the season.

“We had to replace a lot on defense, especially up front in the box,” he said. “It’s a matter of having those kids continue to grow in our system, keep repping their reads and movement and finding the ball when they come free. We have given up too many big plays, so that will be a focus on the week off.”

South Albany builds off end of ’23 season to start 3-0  

South Albany started last season 1-4, with a date with longtime rival West Albany looming — a team that had defeated the RedHawks 17 consecutive times since 2001.

That long streak of domination ended after Logan Johnson scored on a 16-yard run with 1:27 left to lift South Albany to a 20-14 victory. It was the next game against Dallas that coach Jeff Louber points to as the key to the RedHawks’ seven-game win streak dating to last year.

“The West Albany game was big for our program, but that wasn’t the turning point,” said Louber, who resumed solo head coaching duties this season. “Prior to the Dallas game, we were dealing with injuries from some key players, and some of our athletes felt like they needed to do more as individuals to help us be successful.

“This led to athletes playing outside of our system. Our system is built on team — all 11 on the field and all on the sideline. We worked on turning me into we. As a unit dedicated to ‘we,’ we will always be more successful.”

That dedication was on full display again Friday in their 20-14 victory over Liberty. Johnson injured a knee in the first quarter and didn’t return, but junior Cole Angel stepped into the breach, rushing for 54 yards and three touchdowns.

Another unsung hero is senior Sawyer Hallberg, who moved from running back to quarterback this season, having to learn how to run the flexbone veer in just a few months.

“He has done a fantastic job figuring it out on the fly,” Louber said. “His leadership, speed and development of quarterback mechanics has been really natural.”

The RedHawks did not play a Week 0 game, meaning they have one more nonleague game this week against former Mid-Willamette Conference rival Central, which is also 3-0. Then, South Albany meets Dallas again to open MWC play in a revamped conference that lost not only Central but also three-time reigning champion Silverton.

The Foxes’ departure opens the door for the RedHawks to win their first outright conference title — they shared it with Silverton two years ago — not that Louber is looking that far ahead.

“I learned from my high school coach, Shane Hedrick, and my mentor, Randy Nyquist, that no matter your ability, year in and year out, if you take it one game at a time, you treat every game as if it were a playoff game,” Louber said. “Titles and championships will take care of themselves.” 

A sweet beginning for Sweet Home after winless 2023 

Sweet Home coach Ryan Adams is the first to say that coming off a winless 2023 campaign, “anyone would be insane to expect to start out 3-0.”

He is also quick to note that “I knew we had the potential,” and that potential realized itself with the Huskies’ 27-7 victory at Milwaukie in which they forced three turnovers and held the Mustangs to 212 yards.

The key to the turnaround, Adams said, “has just been the buy-in and ownership this group of seniors has taken upon themselves. They set a lot of goals at the end of last year, and they have really worked hard to improve and bring success back.”

The defensive work against Milwaukie continues a strong start in which the Huskies have allowed just 144 yards per game and have 4A’s top scoring defense (4.7 points per game).

While Adams turned over his entire defensive staff after last season, when they allowed 35.9 points per game, he credits the improvement to “the players just staying disciplined and buying into the coaching. The kids are trusting what we coach, and seniors Kayo Ebbs and Dylan Sharp are stepping up tremendously in leadership roles.”

The Huskies close nonleague play this week with a visit from North Bend before kicking off Oregon West Conference play against Philomath. The OWC might be 4A’s most challenging league, with five of six teams combining for a 16-1 record and Junction City getting its first win last week.

“The kids know those are the games that matter most, and our league is performing better than any other so far,” Adams said. “Our goal all offseason and season thus far has been improving each day so that we can compete and put ourselves in position to win league games. 

“We have to prepare as if every week is the most important game of the year. If we can continue to do that, then I like our odds.”

Sandoval shakes off rust after missed season to lead Crook County to 3-0 start

Crook County, unlike Sweet Home, has been to the playoffs each of the past two seasons, but that doesn’t make the Cowboys’ first 3-0 start since 2019 any less sweet.

“The feel in the locker room is good,” coach Pard Smith said after their 55-19 victory over Molalla. “We have a great group of kids who are eager to be coached and want to get better week to week.”

A big difference for the Cowboys this season has been the absence of any serious injuries. They were 1-2 through three games last year, losing close games to Redmond and Junction City while dealing with several key injuries — including the loss of starting quarterback Gavin Sandoval (1,209 yards, seven touchdowns as a sophomore) to a torn ACL while putting away mats after a summer wrestling practice.

Sandoval returned to the wrestling mat in February, just in time to win a 4A state title at 190 pounds, but Smith was still concerned how the senior would perform after sitting out an entire football season.

It’s safe to say Sandoval has eased those concerns. He was 8 of 15 for 132 yards and a touchdown against Molalla to improve his season numbers to 23 of 49 for 353 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions.

“I was worried Gavin would be rusty,” Smith said. “But he is such a hard worker, he made sure that he was ready. I am impressed by his work ethic, football IQ and leadership ability.”

The Cowboys have two more nonleague games before kicking off Greater Oregon League play at Ontario. Smith knows his team’s schedule is backloaded, but he’s cautiously optimistic they can avoid a similar fate to the last time the Cowboys started 3-0 — they finished 4-5 and out of the playoffs.

“If we focus on the things we can control and stay healthy, we will be in a situation to be successful throughout the season,” he said.

Drop to 3A helps Cottage Grove rebound from disastrous stretch, move to 3-0

Seven years ago, Cottage Grove was celebrating a 4A state championship. After going 6-4 the following season, the bottom dropped out of the program.

The Lions endured two winless seasons and went 2-34 the previous five years, including the COVID spring 2021 season in which they played one game as they struggled with numbers.

Steve Turner, who won state championships at Mountain View in 2011 and Cascade in 2015, knew he had his hands full when he came out of retirement to take over the program in March 2023. The Lions took their lumps again last year, finishing 1-8.

That made Cottage Grove’s decision to take advantage of the OSAA’s rule allowing struggling programs to drop classifications an easy one, and the Lions have taken full advantage of their opportunity to reboot.

They improved to 3-0 with a 49-14 victory over Creswell in their Mountain Valley Conference opener and sport one of 3A’s highest-scoring offenses, averaging 44.7 points per game.

“The drop to 3A has helped,” Turner acknowledged. “We at least have a chance with close to the same numbers as our opponents.”

He also notes that some of the lessons imparted during his first season have started paying dividends. 

“We learned a lot about how to practice and what it takes in the offseason to compete at any level,” he said. “We have done the things necessary to be successful. Now, we just need to put those lessons to work.”

Steve Turner came out of retirement to coach Cottage Grove. / Photo by Chase Allgood

The Lions have put up big numbers despite not having any individual posting headline-worthy statistics. Senior running back Clayton Dewitt has been their biggest weapon, scoring seven touchdowns.

They’ll rely on that balance to keep opponents off-balance during the season, but don’t bring up the possibility of making the playoffs for the first time since 2018 — there’s still much work that must be done, Turner stressed.

“We need to concentrate on one week at a time,” he said. “Our opponents present us with different challenges each week. This week (at Pleasant Hill) is no different. We must improve and get better each week.”

Massive roster turnover hasn’t slowed Prairie City/Burnt River  

Normally, a football program wouldn’t have much difficulty replacing eight seniors — even if four of them were all-state players, including a state lineman of the year.

Except the program in question is Prairie City/Burnt River, a co-op of two small towns in Eastern Oregon’s Grant County which plays in the 1A six-man division. Those eight seniors represented half the roster on a team that went 7-2 and was the No. 1 seed in the state playoffs before falling to Joseph in the semifinals.

“We have more newcomers either due to being freshmen or having never played than returners, which would typically cause some uncertainty,” Panthers coach Nick Thompson said. “That being said, those eight seniors helped set up this team for the future.”

It also helped that one of those returning players is junior running back Maison Teel, who shared the load with Tucker Wright last year and has come out blazing this season. He rushed for 252 yards and six touchdowns in a 56-0 win over Dayville/Monument/Long Creek that improved the Panthers to 4-0.

Teel has 17 touchdowns through four games, and Thompson also praised his other returning all-state player — senior defensive back JW Haskins — as well as Filip Bieganski, a Polish foreign exchange student who has given the Panthers a special teams dimension few six-man teams possess.

“He plays soccer back home and has adapted his skills here,” Thompson said. “He has put our defense in great position on kickoffs by pinning opponents deep or kicking it into the end zone.”

The defense has taken advantage of the help by averaging five takeaways per game and holding three of its first four opponents to fewer than 100 yards.

Freshman running back/linebacker Carter Watterson and wide receiver/defensive end Brogan Rookstool have become mainstays in the lineup, and junior quarterback Sawyer Quinton “has shown growth since the summer despite never playing football,” Thompson added.

The result is a team that has built upon last year’s success despite all the turnover, and now the Panthers prepare for a showdown Friday against defending state champion Echo.

“They have a good system going there and have always been tough,” Thompson said. “But in our league, you can’t overlook any team.”

This and that …

• Westview earned its first victory since a turmoil-filled summer led to the departure of coach Jamal Jones and the transfer of several key players, defeating McKay 38-22. Heath Thompson led the way with 174 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
• Thurston was missing starting quarterback Noah Blair, a second-team 5A all-state selection last year, but Kyle Miller filled in and threw for 198 yards and three touchdowns to lift the Colts past crosstown rival Springfield 39-7.
• Siuslaw quarterback Micah Blankenship plunged into the end zone from 2 yards on the final play to lift the Vikings to a 40-35 victory over Cascade Christian. The game matched the past three 3A state champions — Siuslaw in 2021 and the Challengers the past two years.
• Burns posted its third consecutive shutout, defeating Lakeview 39-0 to improve to 4-0 for the first time since 2019. The Hilanders held the Honkers to six yards, allowing just two first downs — both by penalty.
• St. Paul avenged its defeat to Lost River in last season’s 1A eight-man semifinals, traveling six hours to Southern Oregon and pulling out a 32-22 victory. The Raiders won their second title in a row before both teams were moved to 2A this year.

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