SD1 prep football: South Salem rallies to stay unbeaten
Saxons, Sheldon, and North and South Medford all win in week five
The favorites in 6A Special District One games this past week were all winners, but not without some tight moments during some of the contests. The 2023 regular season has now passed the midway point.
South Salem 48, West Salem 21
At halftime at South Salem’s Caldarazzo Stadium Friday, the host Saxons found themselves in an unfamiliar position.
They were behind.
The one-win West Salem Titans are a young team getting better every week, and in their most recent game, the team found a away to get South’s attention with a stellar defensive scheme and some solid offensive execution to take a 21-14 lead as both teams went to the locker room. The Titans got a 60 yard TD pass from Martirano to Carson Evenson, a three yard TD dive by Martirano, and a 14 yard reverse for a touchdown by receiver Jordan Senados to out-score the Saxons.
But in the second half, South made adjustments, and proceeded to tie the game at the end of the third quarter, before taking control with a 27-0 advantage in the fourth, to complete a dominating comeback with a 48-21 win over the Titans in one of a couple of rivalry games for the Saxons coming this month.
Senior quarterback Athan Palmateer directed the Saxon offense with extra precision in the second half. For the game, Palmateer completed 29 of 38 passes for 298 yards. Ten of those passes were hauled in by the ever-reliable Esteban Mendez. Bon-Bon racked up 115 yards on those receptions and had a TD pass covering 56 yards. Fellow wide receiver Eli Johnson collected 6 passes for 59 yards, and a 25-yard TD reception. Palmateer led the South rushing attack with 135 yards on 14 carries and two touchdowns covering 11 and 65 yards. Noah Scharer and Tristan Geer also recorded short touchdown runs for South.
Palmateer also crossed a new milestone for the season, with this week’s 298 passing yards on 29 of 38 attempts. For the 2023 season to date, the strong-armed senior has 104 completed passes in 145 attempts, and yardage now totaling 1526 yards with 16 touchdowns. Athan also picked up his first interception of the season in the West game.
Perhaps the biggest story of the game itself was South’s second half defense that shutdown West’s offense completely in the last 24 minutes. The Saxons picked off four passes and recovered a pair of fumbles in the second half to rally and run over a spirited Titan squad.
Among the fourth quarter turnovers was a pick-six by Saxon senior Jason Nemecek—his second such scoring play in as many games. He sprinted 82 yards to all but slam the door on a West Salem rally. Other Saxons with interceptions include Carter Elliot, Jason Buckingham, and Colby Raddle.
The six-turnover effort from the South defense helped the team overcome a first half that was marred by three Saxon turnovers which turned back potential points for the home team.
South Salem offensive coordinator Josh Vanlue says West had a very effective game plan on defense.
“I think (West defensive coordinator Damien) Ramirez is one of the best In the business.”
West Salem employed a box defense that hindered the South running game and made long passes difficult to complete.
“They had us on the ropes,” admits Vanlue.
But adjustments to the game plan to check off to shorter passes got South moving down the field, tying the game late in the third quarter at 21.
Then the Saxons stunned the crowd and West Salem with four touchdowns and 3 of 4 PATs to put the game away in the final period.
West Salem junior QB Kaden Martirano had been consistently accurate from the pocket in the first half. When South Salem took control of the contest, Martirano pressed a bit, and gave up control of the contest with the turnovers, and South ultimately took them home for touchdowns. Martirano finished the night completing 12 of 35 passes for 233 yards and one touchdown to go with the four interceptions in the last quarter. He was also the Titans’ leading rusher with 62 yards on 11 carries and a touchdown.
Jordan Senados topped the West Salem receivers with six catches for 90 yards. Running back Carson Evenson had a 60 yard TD reception in the first half for the Titans.
Defensively for West, DB Zach Diaz recorded 12 tackles, and Ian Herber added another ten tackles. Both players also had a tackle for loss. Cougar Bailey had six tackles, including two TFLs and a sack. Carson Evenson also recorded eight tackles.
Jacob Nemecek was the top defender for South Salem with his pick-six interception.
South’s top receivers were Esteban Mendez (10 catches for 115 yards and a 56 yard TD) and Eli Johnson (6 receptions for 59 yards and a 25 yard touchdown catch). South Salem recorded 512 yards in total offense.
With the victory, South Salem remains in control of Special District One, record-wise (5-0, 3-0). The Saxons will travel to McNary on Friday night to face the winless Celtics (0-5,0-3). West Salem (1-2, 1-4) returns home to entertain Sprague (1-2, 1-4) this coming Friday. Both games are scheduled to kickoff at 7:15 pm.
North Medford 41, Grants Pass 0
There was a short lightning delay at Medford’s Spiegelberg Stadium last Friday-and a period of heavy rain. But mother nature could not stop the North Medford Black Tornado’s domination of a young Grants Pass team. The home team bullied the visiting Cavemen from start to finish in blanking GP 41-0.
Quarterback Traeger Healy had an impressive performance for North Medford. He scored his first rushing touchdown of the season to ignite the fireworks for the Tornado. A hard-nosed, seven-yard collision at the goal line got Healy the TD, and gave North the early 7-0 lead—but they were far from done.
The Tornado defense forced three turnovers—one fumble and a pair of interceptions by Tate Snyder— that led to short drives and scores.
Big Landyn Snyder rumbled in for North Medford’s second TD in the second quarter—on a four-yard run. The PAT made it 14-0.
Healy ignored the heavy rains on the field, and threw the ball effectively, connecting on a pair of TD passes before halftime—a three-yard strike to tight end and Oregon-commit AJ Pugliano and a 21-yard touchdown pass to wide out Connor Cesaro to run the North Medford lead to 27-0 at the break.
The Tornado added single TDs in the third and fourth quarters. Running back Jeremiah Robbins had a two-yard run for a score, and Pugliano caught another TD pass from Healy—this one covering eight yards.
Healy’s season passing stats passed the one-thousand yard mark during the game. The 6-1, 180 pound junior now has 1,095 yards through the air, with 12 touchdowns and only two interceptions on the season.
While North Medford ran for 156 yards on the evening on 29 carries, Grants Pass was effectively throttled all ball game. Caveman sophomore QB Nathan Bassett had just one completed pass in ten attempts for 7 yards. Senior GP running back Pete Amatoi managed 51 yards on 11 carries.
Grants Pass (1-4, 0-3) in Special District One play) will host North Salem (4-1, 2-1) next Friday. North Medford (4-1, 3-0) will visit Roseburg (1-4, 0-3) next Friday night.
Sheldon 50, Roseburg 12
The Roseburg Indians ran into Special District One’s football version of a buzz saw on Friday. Like several other SD1 opponents, Roseburg fell victim to the power of Sheldon on both sides of the football.
The defending District One champions don’t have the same quality of athletes this year at all positions, but still have some effective weapons that have generated three straight wins after opening the year with decisive losses to a Hawaiian football power and the defending Oregon 6A champion West Linn. Opponent mistakes have been the key to the Irish success in ball games.
Roseburg turned the ball over three times—two interceptions and a fumble—and Sheldon converted those miscues into points in scoring seven touchdowns on the evening.
Irish junior running back Mana Tuioti had 47 rushing yards, and another 65 yards on pass receptions—and scored three touchdowns in the process to pace Sheldon. He also was one of the top tacklers for the team defensively from his linebacker spot, recording give stops on the night. Sophomore Jayden Morales topped Sheldon defenders with six tackles.
Senior quarterback Cody Parosa completed 11 of 14 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns for the Irish. On the night, Sheldon had a short field on the evening to score easily—and finished with just under 300 yards (291) overall.
Sheldon stays in the hunt for the District One title. The Irish are 3-2 overall, with a 3-0 District record. They travel to Medford’s Spiegelberg Stadium this coming Friday, for a showdown against South Medford (4-1, 2-1 in SD1 action).
North Salem 48, McNary 20
After a tough loss last week to a physical North Medford squad, the North Salem Vikings celebrated their homecoming with a thumping of McNary Friday. Viks RB Jamahl Wilson ran wild in the game, with five touchdowns, including an 83 yard sprint. The Vikings remain in a tie with South Medford in the Special District One standings with records of 2-1, a game back of Sheldon, North Medford, and South Salem.
Official North Salem statistics had Wilson rushing for 341 yards on just 18 carries to go along with the 5 TDs. Pierce Walker had four rushes for 91 yards and a touchdown, as well as an interception defensively. Quarterback TC Manumaleuna completed 2 of 4 passes for 59 yards, with a 51 yard TD to Braxton Singleton and one interception.
For McNary, it was another contest to grow the talent on their squad. Coach Connor Astley says his team learned a basic truth when it comes to playing effective defensive football.
“We gotta tackle better and move our feet in the space,” he said.
“I do know that they (North Salem) ran all over us and we found our identity in the run game.”
Jerry Tracy was a bright spot for McNary offensively. The junior running back ran the ball 16 times for 60 yards, and scored two TDs in the loss.
McNary (0-3, 0-5) will host South Salem (3-0, 5-0) Friday night at 7:15 pm. North Salem (2-1, 5-1) has a Friday night game date with Grant Pass.(0-3, 1-4). The game in Southern Oregon begins at 7:00 pm.
South Medford 28, Sprague 19
The host Olympians hung with South Medford for almost three quarters, but ran out of offensive gas in a scoreless fourth quarter—as the Panthers claimed the Special District One victory 28-19 on Friday. Sprague had the ball only once in the final period.
South Medford—which suffered its first loss of the season last week to highly-rated South Salem—relied upon their potent ground game all night long.
The visitors got on the board first with six minutes left in the opening quarter. SM running back Kameron Rague (like the spaghetti sauce)—who had missed a game and a half due to concussion protocols, ran in the initial score from 16 yards out. The extra point gave South Medford the 7-0 lead.
Neither team could score until the second quarter. South Medford began a promising drive that came to an abrupt end when RB Bridger Foss fumbled at the end of a successful screen pass, and the loose ball was scooped up by defensive back Aidan Andresen. Sprague quarterback Dukkati Witherspoon then found Andresen on a pass down the middle for 42 yards and a first down. Olys running back Kenya Johnson—who had four TD runs last week at Roseburg—scored from nine yards out to tie the game with just over 11 minutes left in the second period.
After an exchange of punts, the Panthers had their second lost fumble of the game, as Rague lost the ball after a long run of over twenty yards, deep into Sprague territory. The Olys then began a long, focused drive, taking 13 plays to cover 71 yards---using a mix of short passes and runs by Johnson—who finished with 160 yards on 20 carries. Witherspoon finally connected with Izaiah Terrones on a 13-yard TD pass. The PAT was blocked, but Sprague had the lead at 13-7.
South Medford responded quickly, driving 59 yards on six plays—with RB Ryder Scheid packing the ball three straight times until the visitors were deep in Sprague’s red zone. QB Colby Schwartz then powered the ball into the end zone on a three-yard run. The extra point was good, and the Panthers took a 14-13 advantage into the locker room at the half.
Sprague received the second half kickoff, but could not move the ball—and punted to South Medford. The Panthers—who rolled up 358 yards rushing for the game—responded quickly—with a hard-nosed 45 yard TD run by Rague—to extend the lead to 21-13.
Sprague countered with a quick strike of their own. Witherspoon went to the air, hitting a streaking Tyler Buchheit, who caught the pass above his head, and raced 43 yards untouched into the end zone. A two-point conversion attempt failed, but the Olympians had narrowed the score to 21-19.
South Medford had one more TD drive left in them, and moved rapidly late in the third quarter. The drive covered 60 yards in eight snaps. The payoff play was a pass, as Schwartz dropped the ball in the flat to Foss, who turned it into a 26-yard TD reception for the Panthers, and a 28-19 lead.
The defenses played to a stalemate in the final quarter, with neither team making it to the end zone. The hard-nosed nature of the entire game was encompassed in that period, as neither team got very deep into the other’s part of the field. Sprague officially had only one possession in the last period.
South Medford had two running backs run rush for over 100 yards on the night. Rague tallied 162 yards on 15 carries with two TDs, while Scheid rambled for 124 yards on 18 rushes.
Witherspoon had another solid passing game for Sprague. The 6-5, 220-pound junior completed 12 of 30 passes for 208 yards and two touchdowns. For the game, the Olympians generated 368 yards in total offense on 61 plays. South Medford recorded 406 yards on 59 total plays.
Defensively, the Olympians got standout efforts from Dom Johnson (7 tackles), Aeden Sale (9 tackles), Tayton Futi (9 tackles, 2 fumble recoveries), and Braxton Bingham (10 tackles).
South Medford (2-1, 4-1) hosts Sheldon (3-0, 3-2) in a potential “trap” game Friday as the Irish have won all three of their District One games by large margins, after losing two blow out games to some highly touted preseason opponents.
Sprague (1-2, 1-4) travels to West Salem (1-2, 1-4) Friday in a rivalry game between two young, but talented ball clubs. The Sprague-West game starts at 7:15 pm.
(5A) McKay 53, Crescent Valley 25
McKay has been a pass-heavy team all season as they continue their winning ways at the 5A level. But Friday, the Scots switched up tactics and ran the ball early and often enroute to their fourth win of the season against one loss in the 5A Mid Willamette Conference.
“We thought instilling that mind set by committing to the run would help us out in that regard.”
McKay rushed for 363 total yards—lead by senior running back Joel Sanchez. The 6-foot, 205 pounder carried the ball 29 times, gaining 307 yards with four touchdowns. QB Kyrin Fuimaono scored another TD on the ground, along with Armando Gutierrez. Fuimaono also threw a TD to Gavin Aguero on 5 of 11 passes for just 65 yards on the night.
Jose Santana topped McKay defenders with a total of ten tackles in the game. Sanchez had a solo sack for the Scots.
The Scots ran out to a 31-13 lead at halftime.
Coach Piper had high praise for his team--which played with focus for the entire ball game.
“Honestly, I think that’s been a huge factor for us this fall… staying present in the moment and taking things one week and one day at a time,” said Piper.
McKay (4-1) hopes to continue its winning ways this coming Thursday. The Scots are slated to play at Central (1-4). The Panthers had to forfeit their game with West Albany last week due to widespread illness among team members. School officials did not share what the nature of the illness was.
USELESS POWER RANKING NOTES
This week’s OSAA power rankings are out. Yes, I do criticize them heavily, but still have some notes to provide about the most current list.
The top ten list is interesting by who is on and who is off of the list.
The Three Rivers League is the decided power conference—the SEC of Oregon 6A preps. Five of the top-ten teams are from the Three Rivers. West Linn and Tualatin are 1-2, Tigard (4-1) is at fifth, followed by Lake Oswego (4-1) and Oregon City (5-0). The league’s showing is impressive, but some schools maybe less impressive as more of the teams finally play each other.
The Special District One teams in the top ten include unbeaten South Salem (5-0) at number three, followed by once-beaten North Medford (4-1) at number eight. North’s only loss was to Three Rivers' Tigard HS (#5)—which soundly beat the Black Tornado in the season opener. Some personnel changes for North have made them a more effective offensive team and turnovers like they endured in that first contest have all but disappeared. Other SD1 team rankings (for readers) include: South Medford (14), North Salem (16), Sheldon (20), West Salem (24), Sprague (35), Grants Pass (36), Roseburg (37), and McNary (41).
Then there is 4-1 Roosevelt of Portland’s PIL—listed at number nine. The team opened their season against North Salem—and was blitzed to the tune of 35-6. The Vikings even rested most of their first team for the entire second half. Franklin’s other wins have come against teams like one-win Reynolds, and winless Jefferson of Portland. The only competitive game was against the aforementioned Jefferson—a 13-12 victory. This is a top ten team? None of us should think so, especially when rankings are based on the difficulty of each team’s schedule. This isn’t a diss of Roosevelt, but rather the illogical basis of the team’s positioning in the top ten. The Roughriders have a good record, but they have not fared well against the only team of note (North Salem) they have faced to date. Malarky is the word I use for this so called “mathematical” pick. ALSO NOTE: unbeaten Sherwood, which opened with a win against West Salem, has since won four straight league games—all of them shutouts. The Bowmen are ranked tenth, behind Franklin.
FINAL NOTE: The power rankings will change even more radically as teams from the same conference (Three Rivers) face each other. In Special District One, the schedule includes two non-league contests for every team in a ten team conference. That means there are teams not playing each other. At the top of the standings,South Salem will not play either Sheldon or North Medford. All three teams are at the top of the district standings at 3-0. It is a shame in many ways. However, North Medford travels to Sheldon on October 13th. That means Friday the 13th will be bad luck for one of those football squads.