Tale of the tape: Who has the edge between Central Catholic and Tualatin in the Oregon 6A football final?
It seems like not too long ago that SBLive Oregon was breaking down a Central Catholic-Tualatin state championship matchup.
Indeed, it was only two years ago that these programs met at Hillsboro Stadium, with the Rams pulling out a 44-14 victory to wrap up a second consecutive OSAA Class 6A state title.
Some of the names who came up big for both teams return this weekend to lead their teams. Here’s the tale of the tape between these two powerhouse programs.
Photo by Taylor Balkom
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Quarterback
Tualatin junior Nolan Keeney returned from a broken collarbone that sidelined him during the Three Rivers League portion of the schedule to pick up right where he left off before the injury.
In three playoff games, he’s thrown for 1,017 yards and 13 touchdowns, showing why he’s considered the state’s top junior quarterback and one of its top recruits in the class of 2025.
But if there’s one signal-caller in the state who bests Keeney, it’s Central Catholic senior Cru Newman. The three-time Mt. Hood Conference offensive player of the year was a revelation during the Rams’ 2021 title run, capping it by throwing for 243 yards and running for 104 in the final.
Newman’s numbers (2,953 total yards, 43 touchdowns) hardly tell the story. His headiness, playmaking ability and feel for the game elevated him as a freshman, when he had to battle for the starting job, and have made him the state’s premier quarterback.
Edge: Central Catholic
Running backs
The Timberwolves don’t rely heavily on their running game. Leading rusher Carson Mullins has only 575 yards, with Jayden Fortier scoring 11 touchdowns out of the wildcat.
The Rams have two backs who also don’t get a ton of carries, but sophomores Tyson Davis and Killian Sombe have combined for 1,097 yards and 19 touchdowns. Davis was a first-team all-MHC selection.
Edge: Central Catholic
Receivers
It’s not often a receiving corps that includes junior sensations Landon Kelsey (29-620-9), D’Marieon Gates (19-345-6) and Zhaiel Smith (14-230-0) and senior Pomer Davison (18-330-6) would get overshadowed in a championship matchup.
But the Rams quartet — as good as they are — fall short to Tualatin’s senior trio of Fortier, AJ Noland and Kenen Elder, who all boast Division I talent.
Fortier, an Arizona State commit, was a unanimous first-team all-TRL selection and is coming off one of the greatest receiving performances in playoff history, catching six passes for 324 yards and four touchdowns in a 42-23 win over Sherwood, pushing his season numbers to 54 catches for 1,055 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Elder (32-352-3) was a second-team all-TRL pick, and Noland (19-512-7) would have joined Fortier on the first team — except the Colorado State commit moved to quarterback when Keeney was hurt. Now that he’s back at receiver, we’ve seen how Tualatin’s offense has risen to another level.
Edge: Tualatin
Offensive line
The Timberwolves took a hit when senior guard Ryder Jones, the lone all-TRL first-team selection along the front line, was sidelined following their Week 7 win against Lake Oswego.
They are led by senior tackle Tanner Dunn, a second-team pick. The unit has allowed only 15 sacks in 12 games — more than respectable for a team that throws the ball more than 20 times per game.
The Rams have bookend tackles Zac Stascausky (a first-team all-MHC pick) and Matix Carpenter, senior Izzy Palacios and underrated junior center John McGregor, an all-MHC first-team selection whose emergence allowed coach Steve Pyne to move Carpenter (an all-state center a year ago) to the outside.
It’s close between the two, but Jones’ injury (fair or not) tips it.
Edge: Central Catholic
Defensive line
Jones’ absence also hits with this unit, where he was a first-team all-TRL pick.
That leaves seniors Tyson Hunt (35 tackles, seven tackles for loss), Trace Bell (46 tackles, seven tackles for loss, three sacks) and Kevin Villasenor (37 tackles, five tackles for loss) and junior Tanner Dunn (42 tackles, seven tackles for loss), who all received all-TRL recognition but allowed Sherwood to rush for 314 yards in the semifinals.
Carpenter (64 tackles, 12½ tackles for loss) has emerged as a two-way threat for the Rams this season, winning MHC defensive player of the year. He’s joined by two juniors — Kainoa Hayes (37 tackles) and Zach Davis (29 tackles, eight tackles for loss) — to form an underrated unit that held West Linn to 21 rushing yards last week.
Edge: Central Catholic
Linebackers
One of the biggest breakthrough players this season is Tualatin senior Calvin Evans, who before this year was best known for being the team’s placekicker and punter.
His emergence (team-high 89 tackles, nine tackles for loss, four sacks, six fumble recoveries) alongside senior Liam Pickering (66 tackles) enhances the play of Fortier, who went from not making the all-TRL team on defense as a junior to co-defensive player of the year this fall (58 tackles, eight tackles for loss, five sacks, four interceptions, five forced fumbles).
The Rams added one of the state’s best edge rushers over the summer when senior Dexter Foster transferred from Roosevelt. The Oregon State commit led the team with 14½ tackles for loss and 6½ sacks among his 46 total tackles. A couple of undervalued juniors, Tyler Newbury (39 tackles, 6½ tackles for loss) and Jeremiah Katsuta (32 tackles), play inside.
Edge: Tualatin
Secondary
Neither of these teams will give an inch on the back line.
The Rams boast senior cornerback Timmy Mitchell (57 tackles, seven interceptions), who was the team’s player of the game two years ago in the state final, and safety Cade Gehlen (team-high 73 tackles, 5½ tackles for loss, two interceptions).
They teamed with Kelsey and two youngsters — sophomore James Wade III (nine pass breakups) and junior Tre Hoffert (five tackles, two pass breakups vs. West Linn) — to hold the Lions’ explosive passing attack to 210 yards and one touchdown.
Tualatin’s secondary features Noland (46 tackles), who will play safety for Colorado State and was a unanimous all-TRL pick this season, among four all-TRL first- or second-teamers.
Elder (36 tackles, three interceptions) was a lockdown corner opposite senior transfer Matthew Eleweke, and senior Thomas Ngure II (61 tackles, four tackles for loss, three sacks) and Noland form the safety corps.
Edge: Even
Special teams
Evans earned all-TRL honorable mention as a placekicker (38 of 40 on PATs and 7 of 8 on field goals) and punter (30.9-yard average), and Eleweke’s arrival from Canada eased the burden on Noland, who was an SBLive Oregon all-state returner a year ago.
The Rams counter with a dynamite return duo in Mitchell (four punt returns for touchdowns) and Gates (two punt-return scores), and senior punter Sam Schuver (40.6 average) proved his worth in Friday’s semifinal win. Senior Zeke Van’t Hof is 53 of 57 on PATs and made his first field goal of the season against West Linn.
Edge: Central Catholic
Head coach
Dom Ferraro has done a fabulous job at Tualatin building upon the foundation built by Dan Lever, who took the Timberwolves to the 2021 title game before departing for Silverton.
The second-year coach installed the Ricky Bobby offense he developed as an assistant at Sunset and during one year as Forest Grove’s head coach, and with Keeney directing the attack and Noland, Fortier and Elder on the perimeter, the Timberwolves have looked dominant in reaching the final.
What Ferraro doesn’t have is something his counterpart — Steve Pyne at Central Catholic — has in spades: championship game experience. Friday will be Pyne’s sixth trip to the final since 2013, when he led the Rams to their first title in 60 years.
Pyne earned his 200th victory last year (he’s 214-70 in 25 seasons at Wells and Central Catholic), and a win Friday would be his fifth title, which would tie Dayton’s Dewey Sullivan for third on the all-time state list.
Edge: Central Catholic
Conclusion
All season, many onlookers considered West Linn vs. Central Catholic the true 6A state championship game, with all other teams at least a step behind the big two.
I had the Lions and Rams in my top two when voting each week in the SBLive Oregon media poll — with Tualatin No. 3 until Keeney’s injury and the Timberwolves’ 37-0 loss to West Linn in Week 6 dropped them a couple of pegs.
Keeney’s return vaults them right back to that No. 3 spot, and they won’t let Central Catholic waltz to a fifth title in the past 10 seasons the OSAA has held state playoffs.
But the Rams have playmakers who proved themselves on this stage two years ago — seniors such as Mitchell and Newman, a magician behind center who is 37-2 as a starter (including 10-1 in the playoffs).
As Newman did two years ago to Jack Wagner and Sam Leavitt did for West Linn last year against Brock Thomas and Sheldon, Newman will find a way to best a worthy quarterback rival and deliver another blue trophy to Southeast Stark Street.
The pick: Central Catholic 31, Tualatin 24
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