Franklin standouts Cash Landau, Will Reid get one final game together at 2024 Les Schwab Bowl
It’s a connection that’s been building for years.
It’s a connection that sparked a Franklin offensive attack that averaged nearly 38 points per game during the 2023 football season.
That connection has one last chance to show what it can do.
Will Reid, a 2024 Franklin graduate, and Cash Landau, a Franklin senior-to-be, will have one last game together when they play for Team Columbia in the 2024 Les Schwab Bowl, a high school football all-star game featuring many of the top players from around the state, which will be played Friday at Lewis & Clark College in Portland.
“We’ve been working together a lot the past three years, all the time,” said the 6-foot, 180-pound Reid, who will play quarterback for Team Columbia. “He’s got a lot of talent and he puts in all the work, and that showed last year.”
“We’ve been working together all summer the past three years, so we’ve built a lot of chemistry that way,” said Landau (6-4, 230), who will play tight end. “We both have really good work ethic, and that translates to the field.”
It sure seemed to be true when it came to the Franklin team last fall.
For the season, in which the Lightning went 5-5, Reid passed for 3,051 yards — including 591 in one game — and 33 touchdowns. He shared the Portland Interscholastic League offensive player of the year honor and was an honorable mention Class 6A all-state pick.
Landau, playing at receiver, had 1,108 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns for the Lightning. He was a first-team all-PIL selection and an honorable mention all-state pick.
To top it all off, they both were selected to play in the Les Schwab Bowl.
“It’s a big honor to be selected. To be here is a great thing, and to play with him (Landau) one last time is exciting,” Reid said. “This has been a big goal of mine, to make it here (to the Les Schwab Bowl). We’ve had teammates here the past couple of years.”
“I’m really excited for it,” Landau said. “We’ve been talking about this since last year.”
Reid will continue his football career at the University of Redlands in Redlands, Calif.
“They reached out to me before the Northwest’s Best Winter Showcase,” Reid said. “I competed there, and I guess they liked me enough to give me an offer. I went and visited down there in March, and I loved the campus and coaching staff, so I committed.”
Landau, who has committed to play for the University of Idaho, is looking forward to his senior season at Franklin.
“We’re good,” Landau said of the Lightning’s outlook for the 2024 campaign. “Obviously, with (Reid) gone, that takes us back, but we have a young quarterback who I think will step up.”
But first, Landau and Reid get one more game as teammates — at Friday’s Les Schwab Bowl.
“It feels good to have this last game together. Obviously, I won’t get the chance to play with him after this, so I’m excited for it,” Landau said. “It’s mostly just to have fun. At the end of the day, it’s just an all-star game, but I’d love to win.”
“I’m just looking forward to playing in front of all my family and friends,” Reid said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
—
Proceeds from this year’s Les Schwab Bowl, presented by Express Employment Professionals, will benefit the Oregon Athletic Coaches Association general scholarship fund, the Brayden Bafaro Scholarship Fund and various youth charities.
This is the 76th game in the series, but just the third that won’t be North vs. South. Instead, players were drafted by the Team Columbia coaching staff, with head coach Steve Pyne, who led Central Catholic to the 2023 Class 6A state title, and by the Team Willamette coaching staff, with head coach Adam Guenther, who guided Wilsonville to the Class 5A state crown. In last year’s game, the second under this format, Team Columbia posted a 42-13 win over Team Willamette, giving Team Columbia a 2-0 lead in the brief series under the current format.
Gates will open at 4 p.m. Saturday, with food carts and a beer/wine garden on site. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.
Tickets for the game, starting at $15, can be purchased online at lesschwabbowl.com/tickets.
DAN BROOD