And then there were THREE—6A Special District One Playoff Teams
Sheldon still in championship bracket, North Salem, Sprague in Columbia Cup
The Oregon 6A football championships have narrowed the list of teams still in the running for a trophy. And three from Oregon Special District One (Central Valley/Southwest Oregon) remain in the race.
On the Championship side, unbeaten Sheldon is among the favorites to win the title. In the Columbia Cup “consolation” bracket, North Salem and Sprague look to advance to the semi-final round. Hereare previews of those games:
Lake Oswego (8-3) at Sheldon (11-0): Most years, this would be a fantastic match-up between two teams with stellar gridiron pedigrees. But alas, Lake-O, despite winning the Three Rivers League, is not the same caliber as Sheldon.
The visiting Lakers have struggled to score points most of the season. They managed just 14 points in their shutout win over a young, one-win West Salem team. In round one of the post season, they beat a North Medford team riddled with injuries—including the loss of their primary running back in the first quarter, yet still managed just 28 points in their 28-13 victory.
All that said, Lake Oswego does have talent—lefty QB Liam Davis showed that in the first playoff game by completing three TD passes. Running back Calvin Macy has big play capability and showed it with a 60-yard scamper last week.
Sheldon has not struggled at all to score points. Their lowest point total of 36 points came in a 36-31 win early in the season against a West Linn team that—quite ironically—is ranked higher than the Irish.
Irish quarterback Brock Thomas—the offensive player of the year in Special District One—threw for 2300 yards and 35 touchdowns with two interceptions. He also scored most of the Irish rushing touchdowns on the season. The running clock came into play into all but one of their games. Sheldon’s scoring defense is the best among all Oregon High Schools, anchored by the District One Defensive Player of the Year, Teitum Tuioti. Opposing coaches have been very impressed. Lake Oswego should be worried.
On paper, this game looks like a mismatch, in favor of Sheldon—but experts have been wrong before—and I might be as well.
The winner of this contest will face the winner of Mountainside-Tualatin in the semi-finals.
North Salem (6-4) at Jefferson (7-3): This is a second round Columbia Cup contest with lots of athletes and playmakers. The host Democrats—out of the PIL—have the second-best scoring defense behind Sheldon—although it must be pointed out that they play in the struggling PIL, where teams aren’t as polished offensively as most other conferences in Oregon 6A football.
That said—the Demos limited McMinnville to just nine points in last week’s game playing in the pouring rain—while scoring three TD themselves, posting the first playoff win by any PIL team since 2017.
Brave Johnson is the Jefferson quarterback—a quick, mobile player who uses his feet to find time for his receivers to get open. Two of his wide outs—D’ Marieon Gates and London Walker, had TD receptions last Friday, while Jeray Mott chipped in a 68 yard touchdown run.
Jefferson faces North Salem—which is fielding one of its best teams in recent memory. North advanced to second round of last year’s 5A championship bracket, falling 22-0 to eventual state champion Silverton.
Running back Josiah Davis is perhaps the biggest weapon in the Vikings’ arsenal. Jo-Jo—a first team all-district back—had 800 yards and nine rushing TDs during the regular season, despite missing a couple of games due to injury. He was also North’s reliable place kicker. Davis ran for 195 yards and a pair of TDs last week in the opening Columbia Cup game at Newberg.
Jerrik Wangler added big yards to the Viking offense last week from the fullback position. He ran for 90 yards on 18 carries, and had two touchdowns in the 34-14 win. He also was a huge force at linebacker.
TC Malumaleuna quarterbacked mostly by handing off in last week’s driving rain. He still managed to complete 2 of 3 passes for 76 yards—including a 64-yard TD touchdown to Pierce Walker.
North Salem coach Jeff Flood has a lot of respect for Jefferson.
“They are very phenomenally athletic,” says Flood.
“They have lots of weapons, and take advantage of their opponent’s mistakes.”
Flood says the Vikings do match-up well with the Democrats when it comes to their own offensive scheme. He says it will be a matter of dissecting the defensive fronts that the Dems present to North.
The North Salem-Jefferson winner will face either Clackamas or Liberty next week.
Sprague (6-4) at Westview (5-5): This game in Beaverton pits two teams with stars planning to play at the next level.
Host Westview’s Jordan Fisher is setting school rushing records every week. Fisher finished the regular season with nearly 1800 yards on a measly 204 carries. I got to see Fisher in a jamboree at McMinnville in late August. To say Jordan made the opposition miss all season is like declaring the Dead Sea is a little salty. Shifty, elusive… pick your descriptor. Jordan Fisher is that guy. Sprague’s defense will need to tackle Fisher by wrapping up and bringing him to the turf. Trying to ram him out of bounds will not be very effective.
Sprague coach Jay Minyard says the Oly defense will first have to find its way through a talented offensive line that has opened numerous holes for #34 all season long.
“Westview looks good on film,” says Minyard in stating the obvious.
“We will have to be good defensively in order to have a chance to win.’
Last week against Century, Fisher picked up 249 yards on just 29 carries—an impressive 8.6 yards per pack of the football.Minyard says it’s numbers like those that make the senior “pretty special.”
This week marks the return of Sprague’s top player—Drew Rodriguez, who sat out last week’s 30-14 win over Sunset. In the last regular season game vs. McNary, Rodriguez was ejected for what officials thought was a late hit on McNary quarterback Jackson Alt, and lost his appeal to play last week. The Olys won without the Colorado State-bound player.
Coach Minyard says he hopes the Olympians can use their team speed to out-maneuver the Wildcat’s defense, and Rodriguez—a two way first team all-district performer at receiver and defensive back—is a key to that strategy.
The Sprague-Westview victor will square off next Friday against the winner of the Lakeridge and Oregon City.
FYI: Both Salem teams will have their games broadcast on radio. North Salem will be aired on 1430 AM, KYKN; Sprague’s game will be presented on KBZY Radio, 1490 on the AM dial.