Prep football week three previews
Power rankings aside, Salem-Keizer games beginning this week are more important
Salem-Keizer teams hope they have worked out all the kinks—because this week, all the games count in the conference standings for Special District One. How the teams fare in conference play will help determine whether teams will compete for the state championship, or the newly announced Columbia Cup—otherwise known as the consolation trophy. Here is a preview of the games on this week’s schedule:
North Medford at West Salem: The Titans are looking to pick up their first win of the 2022 season—falling to 0-2 for the first time since 2008, according to West Coach Shawn Stanley.
In last week’s home opener versus Oregon football giant Lake Oswego, West held its own defensively, smothering L-O’s normally potent offense for all but two drives. One short touchdown pass late in the first quarter, and another, long TD throw early in the fourth is all that the Lakers could generate in 48 minutes. But offensively, West just never could punch it into the end zone themselves.
It wasn’t for a lack of trying. The Titans had a potential scoring pass dropped in the end zone late in the first half, and was driving late in the ball game before stalling in the red zone. But yardage-wise, West just couldn’t find enough of them, finishing officially with 218 total. Lake Oswego wasn’t much more impressive, with 257 in yardage. Again, a defensive struggle.
But what was even more unusual was the way the Titans got their yards. Normally a strong, run first team, West managed just 85 yards on the ground, compared to 132 via airmail. And even stranger was the number of plays dedicated to the run and the pass. Coach Shawn Stanley called just 20 running plays against 42 passes. You read that right—42 passes for sophomore signal caller Kaden Martirano. KBZY Radio, which I work for as the preps play-by-play announcer, covered the West game. My partner, analyst Gary Horowitz, and I weren’t sure we could trust our numbers—but we were pretty darn close to the final totals. Kaden is a rapidly developing talent, to be sure—but the numbers were overwhelmingly high for any quarterback, not just him personally.
That said, West is hoping the first two weeks of difficult competition vs. L-O and Sherwood has prepared them for North Medford. The Black Tornado—a long time football power—has had problems with consistency in recent years. This season, they have started 0-2 against 6A juggernaut West Linn (52-6) and 5A Bend (39-7). Senior quarterback Caiden Lacey went down in the Bend game with a leg injury, and he is questionable with a sore knee. On paper, at first glance, this looks like an even game—but again, it’s only paper.
McNary at South Medford: After being shutout in week one, the McNary Celtics tallied 19 points this past weekend in their home opener against defending state runner up Tualatin. The Timberwolves grabbed the 44-19 victory, but the Celts offense was much improved with a couple of scores. Senior quarterback Jackson Alt had his first TD pass of the season with a 55-yard strike to Ben DeVos. And the nimble Jake Allen tallied a five-yard TD run. Add in a couple of two-point conversions from burley Hunter Ruberto and a 30-yard field goal from the toe of Jesse Dyer, and you have something to build upon.
The opposition gets no easier in week three in the form of unbeaten South Medford. The Panthers are one of the Southern Oregon teams favored to finish near the top of the standings. They are coming off a 21-7 win at Del Norte, California. Their offense is directed by three-year starter Deacon Edgar, who has one of the most exciting targets in the state at wide out in 6A 100-meter sprint champion Andrew Walker. Add in a deep group of linemen, and McNary faces another enormous challenge as they hit the road for a game that is preceded by a four-hour bus ride.
Roseburg at North Salem: North made short work of yet another Portland area opponent last week, pounding David Douglas in North Portland by a final score of 46-0. Vikings quarterback T-C Manumaleuna had a career day throwing the ball, going 7 of 9 for 150 yards and four—yes, FOUR!—touchdowns. Josiah Davis ran for over 80 yards in the game on just eight carries.
North is finally at home this week, and will host winless Roseburg. The Indians are just 0-1 after last week’s home game versus Nelson of Clackamas County was canceled at halftime due to heavy smoke from a huge nearby forest fire. The score at half was 14-12 in favor of Nelson, but the Indians had played solidly, tallying 192 yards to just 102 for their opponents.
Roseburg sophomore quarterback Owen Bentea, who struggled in the opening week shutout loss to Mountainside, completed 11 of 15 passes for 138 yards before the game was called after two quarters. His top receiver, Jayce Wilder, had four receptions for 61 yards. Junior running back Cayden Eckel had scored both TDs for the Indians, finishing the non-contest with 33 yards on 14 carries.
This will be a good thermostat to check North’s relative strength. While Roseburg is no West Linn or Sheldon, they are generally better than Portland-metro schools. How the Vikings fare in week three could be an indicator of where they will end up in the standings at the end of the regular season.
Grants Pass at South Salem (Saturday): South Salem gets a second-straight home game, but the competition is expected to be little more challenging when Grants Pass comes to Bennett Field on Saturday at 3:00 pm.
South dismantled Sunset of Beaverton last Friday 42-7. It might not have even been that close. Saxon quarterback Daschel Smith had 518 yards passing, and picked apart the Apollos secondary with five touchdowns—including two each to transfer Zach Wustigg and senior standout TIni Tinitali.
Grants Pass (2-0) is coming off a 35-0 shellacking of first-year Caldera of Bend. Caveman quarterback Jace Blanchard threw for 170 yards and three touchdowns on 11 of 20 passing. Blanchard’s passing performance was helped by Trevor Reeves’s 99 yards rushing on 18 carries and a TD. Grants Pass also held the Wolfpack to just 11 yards in total offense.
A battle between two unbeatens with just two games doesn’t necessarily mean much—but it will be a good strength test for both teams. South hopes to have its “A-game” early and often at home.
McKay at South Albany: Two games into the season, the McKay Royal Scots are just a few minutes away from being 2-0 in the difficult 5A Mid Willamette Conference. But sadly, the Scots are 0-2 after letting leads slip away against Lebanon and Dallas. In the most recent game with the Dragons last Friday, McKay allowed the home team to score 19 points unanswered in the 34-21 loss.
The Scots hope to get a complete four quarters of play in this week as they travel to South Albany. The RedHawks are unbeaten with wins over Central (17-7) and Crescent Valley (42-8). McKay’s defense will need to stop South Albany’s potent rushing attack which features multiple weapons.
The Scots will continue to rely on a balanced attack featuring the passing prowess of Kyrin Fuinaono—who has thrown for better than 200 yards in each of the first two games, and the strong legs of running back Jamahl Wilson.
Friday’s game will help determine whether the host RedHawks are the real thing or pretenders to the conference crown. McKay is ready for a long-overdue victory.
Sprague at Sheldon: The good news for the Sprague Olympians is that they evened up their season record at 1-1 with a decisive home win over Beaverton last week by a count of 56-14. The Olys’ dominant player on the field was—to no one’s surprise—Colorado State commit Drew Rodriguez. He had four touchdown receptions in the victory, which also included solid performances from quarterbacks Athan Palmateer and Wil Hassoun among others.
Now for the bad news: Sprague’s next opponent is the Sheldon Irish—one of the state’s undisputed top 6A teams. Sheldon, ranked sixth last week, shocked second-rated West Linn in a special Thursday night game, 35-31. The heavyweight bout included tons of offense, several long pass plays, an opening 90 yard kickoff return for touchdown for Sheldon by speedster Grafton Robinson, and a late rally by West Linn to make things interesting in the fourth quarter before the visiting Irish scored one last time to seal the victory.
For Coach Jay Minyard’s squad to succeed, they will have to play the game of their season on both sides of the football. Drew Rodriguez will have to get plenty of help from his teammates to stay even with a deep and talented Irish squad directed by quarterback Brock Thomas. And they have to do all that on the road. Good luck, Olys.