Why not? Why not throw a massive monkey wrench into this final week of the regular season? Why not send the Sky-Em League into utter chaos 3 days before the final selection meeting? Siuslaw, you never cease to amaze. Here are some takeaways and then some statewide implications. First, let’s talk about Siuslaw: We knew they […]
Let the drama begin. In the 3A ranks, there was one nightmare scenario that could lead to controversy: ambiguity in the Lewis and Clark League. The elite-8 format was always going to leave somebody on the short end of the stick, but with Westside’s win today, that team might be a little higher up the […]
Two contenders, a student section, a packed house, and toxicity in the stands: just beautiful. Here are some takeaways from one of the best matchups we’ve seen at the 4A level: First for the Pirates: Putting in a box-and-one defense the day before one of your most important games of the season takes stones. To […]
Amity did something tonight I didn’t think was possible: they played at a fast pace against a fast-paced team and won. Not only did they win; in spots, they dominated. Here are some takeaways first for the victorious Warriors: If you’re looking for signs that this Amity team is different, that this is the group […]
It was nice to be back in Philomath, even without the band and the normally ruckus crowd. It was also nice to see the Wild West Conference hasn’t lost its way. Here are some takeaways, first for Cascade: There was one main question still facing Cascade coming into tonight: Can the Cougars win a slow […]
Back in the day, Amity, Dayton, and Western Christian (Western Mennonite at that time) had a “tobacco road”-style triangular rivalry in the old West Valley League. Seeing these teams duke it out in a non-jamboree setting for the first time in a long time should be the headline, but there is much, much more to […]
Driving into Carlton there’s a banner hanging on the side of a power pole which reads, “Small town, big achievements.” It struck me through the middle of the fourth quarter as the Tigers began to separate: this was no little achievement. This was program defining. Here’s some takeaways. First, YC: Since Heather Seely-Roberts took over […]
A true tale of two halves. Here are our takeaways: PAA can play. Short and simple. They’re intelligent, don’t take unnecessary risks, and handle pressure very well. The Cougars are senior heavy, and it shows. PAA owned the boards in the first half. Length wasn’t heavily favoring the Cougars, nor was size, but they attacked […]
A Thursday piece on OSAA Today from Jerry Ulmer detailed an effort at the 4A level to have something close to a “championship” game during culmination week for football. Essentially, the plan took elements from the college football playoff system, the old BCS system, and media polls, rolled them into one, and settled on how […]
First, we need to revise our final score tweet. Marist, or at least this version of Marist, did not look the part. Coming into the year, we said if Marist ran the table they would stand alone as the default champion of 4A football. However, this Marist team isn’t what we expected. The Marist we […]
The headline from tonight isn’t representative of the story itself. Dayton made strides in the past week, but it wasn’t enough. Philomath had a lot of chatter around them after week one, but this de facto top 10 audition in all likelihood wasn’t enough to get them in. Clunky, a little disorganized, and a little […]
2020 would’ve produced one of the best title chases in recent memory, but we’ll have to take what we can get. What do we get? We have a criss-crossing of the state by the apparent powers that *could* end up giving us a de facto champion. Here’s what we see: Sky-Em League/SD4 Why start with […]
This preview is going to be different than the others for one simple reason: 2A football is an abject mess. The predictability of 2A is nearly zero outside a handful of teams. We’re going to talk about our top-ten exclusively simply because they’re the brightest stars in a sky of confusion and uncertainty. Honorable Mention […]
A returning king, a rising prince, and a couple redemption stories: 3A has all the antagonists, conflicts, and storylines to fill a best-selling novel, but in just one month we’ll have to settle for a short story. Here’s what we see: SD1 North There are two questions in this league: What does Rainier look like […]
Groundhog Day came for Oregon high school sports, and the verdict was nine more days of waiting. No, football isn’t dead, but it’s very much on life-support. The OSAA executive board today made it incredibly clear they’re waiting for the clock to officially hit triple zeros before calling the game over. This is admirable and […]
Cowapa League For the first time in the better part of a decade, the road to the 4A title no longer runs through the Cowapa. No longer is the preeminent team, or ‘teams’ as has been the case for the better part of the last decade, part of the Cowapa. The center of the 4A […]
Tri-Valley Conference One senior-heavy team exits, one senior-heavy team enters. There’s some certainty of who will end up at the top of the TVC, but below that it could get tricky. Here’s what we have: Gladstone is going to be a trendy pick to win it all and for good reason. Jeremy DeVoe, Jude Ashpole, […]
Oregon West Conference – Those that have been with us since the start would know last season we sort of got addicted to covering the OWC. This was not necessarily because of the talent or the coaching, though both are abundant in this conference, but because every single game held the weight of a play-in […]
Oregon West Conference Philomath Warriors 2019-2020 Record: 24-1 2019-2020 League Finish: 1st 2019-2020 Final Rank: #1 Only a global pandemic kept the Philomath Warriors from winning the state title last season. Player of the Year Sage Kramer and Coach of the Year Ben Silva were 23-0 against 4A opponents last season and will return to […]
Sky Em League Cottage Grove Lions 2019-2020 Record: 19-6 2019-2020 League Finish: 1st 2019-2020 Playoff Seed: #8 Prior to the COVID-19 shutdown, Cottage Grove was getting ready to face off with likely champion Philomath in the state quarterfinals. Sporting a 17-5 record against 4A opponents, Cottage Grove had their best season since they won the […]