Oregon 6A football playoffs: Round 1 takeaways for every game
The first round of the Oregon 6A high school football playoffs is in the books, and it's time for the takeaways from each game.
Here's my thoughts on each matchup - and what it says about the two programs involved.
No. 1 West Linn 42, No. 16 West Salem 7 — West Linn is absolutely loaded, so the fact that this one was never close isn't a surprise.
Last week, West Salem beat Sheldon to earn the No. 16-seed and deserves credit for fighting for a lopsided Round 1 championship bracket matchup rather than coasting into a potential "championship run" in the Columbia Cup.
I have tremendous respect for the West Salem program -and have for years.
They continue to be run the right way.
In the end, West Linn advances with ease.
No. 8 Jesuit 34, No. 9 Lake Oswego 28 — I called this game a "coin flip" on the radio this week, and the contest didn't disappoint.
But simply dismissing this result with "it could have gone either way" isn't fair to the Crusaders.
They made some huge game-altering plays:
- After Jesuit threw an interception in their own territory to start the game, the Crusaders defense stopped Lake Oswego on forth down to keep the contest scoreless.
- Trailing 17-7 at halftime, Lake Oswego was set to receive the second-half kick and had a chance to change the momentum if it could get a score to open the third quarter.
Instead, the Crusaders successfully executed an onside kick and scored a touchdown on the resulting drive.
Suddenly, it was 24-7.
- After Lake Oswego scored a touchdown to make it 24-14 in the third quarter and get back in the game, Washington-bound cornerback and Jesuit star Elias Johnson returned the ensuing kickoff 93 yards for score.
Again, the Crusaders kept the Lakers at arm's length.
- Lake Oswego had the ball late driving to win the game when it was 34-28, but Jesuit's Matt Eilers came up with a key interception to put things away.
If any one of those four plays go the other way, it could have been a different result.
But Jesuit made big plays in all three phases in the big moments and came away with the victory.
Lake Oswego sophomore running back Lamarcus Bell deserves to be commended. While his stats aren't yet official, he had a monster game.
No. 5 Lakeridge 13, No. 12 Sheldon 10 — Coming into this game, I said Lakeridge seemed to have finally exorcised the "uneven" late-season performance that had plagued them in recent years.
Maybe not.
The Pacers trailed Sheldon late, but put together an 84-yard fourth-quarter drive, capped by sophomore Noah Tishendorf's second touchdown of the game, to squeak out a win.
Sheldon deserves a lot of credit for bouncing back from last week's blowout loss to No. 16 West Salem.
That could've really shaken the Irish, but they came ready to play and actually led for much of the contest.
Still, the truth is if Lakeridge plays at the same level next week, Central Catholic will win by multiple scores.
The talented Pacers need to tighten it up significantly.
They're more than capable of doing so, and coach Spencer Phillips will likely spend the week hammering that message home.
Make no mistake, this is a good Lakeridge squad.
If they play to their potential, the Pacers are very dangerous.
No. 4 Central Catholic 56, No. 13 North Medford 0 — Hello, state of Oregon! Meet "Playoff Central Catholic."
After rolling through the Mt. Hood Conference during the regular season, frequently sitting its starters for much of the second half, Central Catholic began the playoffs with a statement.
Not only did the Rams put up a first-round-high 56 points, they also pitched a shutout.
Central Catholic was the No. 2 team in the state in the human polls and has one of the most loaded rosters in modern state history, led by quarterback Cru Newman.
I can't wait to see what's next!
No. 11 Tigard 17, No. 6 South Salem 0 — South Salem entered the playoffs undefeated at 9-0.
But there were still some major questions.
The Saxons hadn't faced a top-10 team and lost to Sherwood by 42 in the first round last year after earning a spot in the 8-9 match-up.
Would it be more of the same this time around, or was the high-powered Saxons passing attack ready to roll?
On the flip side, Tigard entered the postseason on a five-game losing streak sitting at 4-5.
But the Tigers had faced one of the state's toughest schedules.
They came in battle tested - and, more importantly, unshaken by the five-game slide.
Tremendous credit goes to Tigard for getting its kids locked in and ready to compete.
On paper, Tigard looks to have pulled off a major upset.
In reality, these teams were much closer and Tigard simply out-executed its foe Friday night.
The Tigers get bonus points for delivering a shutout against a South Salem offense that had been nearly unstoppable in the regular season.
No. 3 Sherwood 41, No. 14 Oregon City 8 — Outside of the Three Rivers League and private school duo (Jesuit, Central Catholic), there were still some lingering questions about the other contenders in the championship bracket based on their strength of schedule.
Of those teams, Sherwood seemed like the surest thing, and I called them the best non-TRL/non-private school 6A team in the state "by a country mile" in my playoff preview.
The Bowmen proved that with a big win over a quality Oregon City squad.
Sherwood's defense entered the contest having not surrendered a point since Week 1 (Liberty scored on defense following a Sherwood fumble in the regular season finale), and that success largely carried over into the postseason.
Admittedly, the lower half of the bracket is not as strong as the upper half, so Sherwood will face another team outside the top-10 (at least, on paper) next week.
But make no mistake, the Bowmen are legit!
No. 10 Nelson 48, No. 7 Ida B. Wells 8 — This was going to be tough as soon as it was scheduled.
Unfortunately, the PIL is historically down, while Nelson is a program on the rise - and one to watch in the coming years.
The Hawks, led by talented junior quarterback Avirey Durdahl, advance.
How good are they?
We'll find out next week.
So far, Nelson has lost two games this season - 37-0 at West Linn and 42-7 vs. Central Catholic.
Interestingly enough, "37-0" is the exact score of West Linn vs. Tualatin, who will be Nelson's opponent in the quarterfinals.
That might not mean much, but it is an interesting nugget.
No. 2 Tualatin 49, No. 15 Roosevelt 3 — The big news here isn't the result, which is expected in any 2-15 matchup.
It's that quarterback Nolan Keeney is back.
And apparently he's REALLY BACK.
Keeney threw a 90-yard touchdown pass on the first offensive play for the Timberwolves, fittingly, to A.J. Noland, who had moved from wide receiver to quarterback in Keeney's absence.
Not only does Tualatin have its quarterback at full strength, but sliding Noland back to wide receiver significantly bolsters the Timberwolves' receiving corps.
The 37-0 loss to West Linn looms large for Tualatin as the playoffs advance, but right now they are healthy and playing good football.
How much better are they than what they showed midseason?
Potentially quite a bit better, and that's worth keeping a close eye on.
