Week seven prep football round up
A mild upset, a bigger upset, big blow outs mark Special District One Action
A mixed bag of results in week seven of high school football action in Special District One. Most favorites did what was expected, but there were a pair of “upsets” in the mix this past week. Here is the rundown.
Sprague 26, North Salem 19: North Salem’s hard-hitting running back Josiah Davis was a scratch for the Vikings due to a broken toe, and host Sprague took advantage in posting the homecoming victory on Thursday.
Davis broke a toe on his right foot, and painfully tried to play through it in North’s loss last week versus Grants Pass. Friday night, he was in street clothes, unable to play.
Still, Vikings running backs Micah Richter and Jarrick Wangler did a credible job of trying to fill the void created by Davis’s absence—rushing for a combined 130 yards. Coach Jeff Flood also opened up the passing game, with junior QB TC Malumaleuna throwing 19 times on the night. He only connected on six of those passes and was intercepted once.
North did have a 13-7 advantage at halftime. After executing an efficient four play, 55-yard drive to open the scoring on a 19 yard TD run by Olys fullback Casen Collins midway through the first quarter, Sprague went dormant for the remainder of the half. In the meantime, the Vikings engineered a pair of scoring drives of their own—beginning with a 13-play package that was capped off by a 13 yard TD pass from Malumalenua to receiver Erick Gonzalez to tie the game at 7. The Vikings then took advantage of a short field and marched 33 yards for their second touchdown—a one-yard Wangler TD plunge to take the lead at 13-7.
In the second half, the tables turned as Sprague turned to their bread-and-butter—the ground game—to take control of the contest.
The Olympians began with a six play, 75-yard drive that featured almost all runs. Tailback Barik Hill—who ended the night with 122 yards on 16 carries, scored on a nine-yard TD run. The PAT was no good, but the game was tied at 13.
After three plays and out for North, the Olympians had another strong offensive possession with an eight play, 80-yard drive, culminating with a 19 yard pass from QB Athan Palmateer to Preston Simmons on fourth and long deep in Viking territory. Palmateer ended the night with 134 passing yards on 8 of 12 attempts.
Sprague coach Jay Minyard said the switch to the run probably should have happened earlier in the game for his team.
“Yeah, I probably should have done that in the first half,” admitted Minyard.
“Might have been a little easier night.”
That latest score with 7 ½ minutes left in the third quarter was punctuated by a pair of 15 yard penalties against the Vikings—including a personal foul. It allowed Sprague to kick off from the North Salem 30.
The Viks ended up with the ball at their own 14 yard line to start the next possession. After a pair of running plays, Malumaleuna threw a wide receiver screen to the left side.
That is when Sprague’s Drew Rodriguez pounced.
The Colorado State-bound defensive back picked off the pass and raced 25 yards untouched to the end zone to push the lead to 26-13 with just over six minutes left in the game.
“I jumped the pass a little too early,” said Rodriguez after the game.
“I had to stop a second to secure it and then took off.”
But North wasn’t finished yet—and got great field possession when Sammy Davis fielded the squib-kickoff and ran past Sprague defenders to about the Olympian 40 yard line.
North then executed a quick drive. A pair of runs, combined with a 33 yard sideline pass to Pierce Walker got the Vikings inside the ten. Jerrick Wangler finished off the possession with a four yard TD run to narrow the Sprague advantage to 26-19 with 4:32 left.
Sprague wasn’t content to sit on the ball to run out the clock. The Olys used Barik Hill and Kenya Johnson—who combined for 175 of the team’s 212 rushing yards—to work their way down the field.
But the deciding blow was a 44-yard pass from Palmateer to Rodriguez into the red zone. Sprague pushed the ball to the North Salem one-yard line, then took a knee to run out the clock.
Rodriguez topped Oly receivers with three catches and 78 yards.
For North Salem, Micah Richter recorded 71 yards on 17 carries, while Wangler had 60 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown.
North fell to 4-3 with the loss and will host West Salem (1-6) next Thursday. Sprague improved to 4-3, and will face southside rival South Salem (6-1) next Friday.
West Salem 47, McNary 7: Coming into Friday’s McNary and West Salem—normally among the top teams locally—had a combined 0-12 record going into Friday’s contest. Young squads and injuries had contributed to their woes in the winning department, so Friday was a chance for one of the teams to pick up their first “W” of the year.
Early on, it looked it might be a barn burner of a contest.
McNary struck first, thanks to a West Salem miscue. A short snap on a West punt forced the punter to put a knee down—and the Celtics got the ball at the Titan 13 yard line.
McNary struck quickly. Jake Allen scampered seven yards into the end zone on the second play of the short drive, and with the extra point, the Celts were up 7-0.
It would be the last time they would find the end zone.
West Salem rotated three quarterbacks during the course of the game—as they had done in their narrow loss at Sprague the previous week. Starting from their own 45 yard line after McNary tried an onside kick, Sophomore Cole Hansen directed a fast four play drive. After a short run, Titan receiver Calaeb Hensley caught a 26-yard pass over the middle to give his team a first down at the Celtic 24.
Two plays later, senior running back Jimmy Lathen raced into the end zone from 16 yards out, and the game was tied at 7 with just under five minutes left in the opening quarter.
It was 14-7 just before the end of the quarter, after McNary had a drive stall due to a series of penalties. West Salem took just two plays to cover 80 yards—with the big blow coming from Lathen again—covering 66 yards in total. The PAT gave the Titans a 14-7 advantage with just 32 seconds remaining in the first.
Following the ensuing kickoff, McNary had a quick three and out, then had a short punt to the West 48 yard line. On the very next play, Lathen received the ball and ran past the McNary defense for a 52-yard touchdown—his third of the evening. The missed PAT made it 20-7 West with just under 11 minutes left until half.
McNary tried to respond, and got a drive started with some strong runs, and an 18-yard pass from senior QB Jackson Alt to sophomore receiver Jordan Ariza for a first down.
On the next play, Alt looked to throw deep, but was picked off by senior defensive back Jameson Lowery—who rumbled 45 yards for a score. A two-point conversion pushed the West advantage 28-7 with 8:27 until halftime.
West got one last touchdown before halftime.
Positioned near midfield, the Titans began with a 26-yard pass from Hansen to junior wideout Connor Oertel, giving them a first down at the McNary 20. A couple of short runs, then a nine yard rush by Roman Burrow had West sitting on the one yard line. Jimmy Lathen scored his fourth TD from one yard out, and West’s lead stood at 35-7 at halftime.
The Titans added another score in the third quarter before everyone had returned from the concession stands. Return man Jordan Deleon fielded the kickoff at his own 18-yard line, and weaved his way to pay dirt on an 82-yard return to push the lead to 41-7.
West and McNary both began substituting in second-line players, and the score remained unchanged until just over a minute remained in the period. West Salem sophomore running back Ian Herber ran in from 28 yards out, and the Titan lead went to 47-7, activating the 35 point-plus deficit running clock. No other scores were recorded.
West Salem coach Shawn Stanley had high praise for his team, which had endured its worst start in Stanley’s tenure. Stanley also was happy to see Jimmy Lathen—who ended the contest with 171 yards on 13 carries with four touchdowns— have a career game for the Titans during homecoming.
“He’s a young man of great character who never complains,” said Stanley.
“He always shows up and works hard and is a great example of the Titan way (of playing).”
McNary coach Connor Astley said West wanted the game more, although his own team had some issues during the contest.
“We had four starters get injured and out for the game,” he admitted.
“We had one starter get ejected from the game. Not much to say, other than our guys were not in the right spots.”
West Salem (1-6) travels to North Salem next Thursday to face the 4-3 Vikings. McNary (0-7) plays host next Friday to North Medford.
South Salem 51, Roseburg 13: After forest fire smoke postponed their game Friday night in Roseburg, the contest between the Indians and South Salem was moved to Salem on Saturday afternoon.
Roseburg remained the home team—wearing their home jerseys and having their Roseburg area officials on the field. The first down marker and the chains were also placed on the South Salem sideline as the designated visiting squad.
But the contest decidedly belonged to the once-beaten Saxons.
Roseburg had the ball first, but failed to advance it, and was forced to punt. The punt was short, and South lined up at the Roseburg 43 yard line.
On the first play from scrimmage, Saxon quarterback Daschel Smith threw down the middle to a wide-open Jaxon Watson, who ran under the ball for the touchdown. Following a two point conversion, South led it 8-0 with 10:43 left in the first.
Roseburg had three downs and out, and South took over at their own 19 yard line. On the fourth play of the drive, Smith’s pass was picked off by outside linebacker Landon Hodges, who returned the ball to the Saxon 3. Hodges was handed the ball on the first play and scored—and with the PAT, Roseburg trailed 8-7.
The Indians—winless on the year—decided to try an onside kick after their TD. South covered the kick at the Roseburg 48, but couldn’t do anything with it.
After a Saxon punt, Roseburg began at their own 19, and moved the ball down the field, helped by a series of penalties against South. The drive stalled at the South Salem 26 yard line, the Indians decided to go for it on fourth and short. South Salem stopped the run play, and took over at their own 24-yard line, first and ten.
On the first play, Smith flipped forward the ball to receiver Zach Wustigg, who was running a fly sweep. 76 yards later, Wustigg was in the end zone, and with another two point PAT, South lead it 16-7.
Roseburg was undeterred and began another time consuming drive. The Indians twice went on fourth down, advancing the first time on a South penalty, but stopped on the second attempt when the Saxon defensive front sacked Indians QB Jayce Wilder near midfield.
South began a drive of their own, which ended with a nine yard TD pass from Smith to Tini Tinitali. The kick was good and with 8:13 left in the second quarter, the Saxon lead expanded to 23-7.
Roseburg again ground out another drive, which came to a halt at the South 20 yard line. A 37 yard field goal was wide right, and the score remained unchanged at 23-7.
South picked up one last touchdown before halftime as part of a nine play drive. Smith found Wustigg from 14 yards out to make it 30-7 Saxons with 1:04 before half.
In the second half, South received the initial kickoff and again, just took one play to put it in the end zone. From the Saxon 35, Smith shoveled a pass to Tinitali on a fly sweep. Tinitali outaced the defense down the sideline to make it 37-7 South with 11:39 remaining in the third quarter.. The running clock was then put in effect.
The Saxon offense stayed on the field for one last drive in the third. After Roseburg failed to pick up a first down, they punted to South—and Zach Wustigg made them pay—returnign the ball 40 yards to the Roseburg 25. Four plays later, Wustigg snagged a nine-yard TD pass from Smith to push the Saxon lead to 44-13 with 8:36 left in the third.
South and Roseburg tacked on one more score a piece. DJ James had a 60 yard TD run for South, and the Saxons picked up the 51-13 victory.
Smith threw for 316 yards on 18 of 30 passing for South—and had 6 TD passes. Top receivers for the Saxons included Zach Wustigg—with 4 catches for 95 yards and three TDs, and Tini Tinitali, with 5 catches for 95 yards and two scores. Tinitali also went over two thousand receiving yards for his career.
South Salem (6-1) has homecoming next Friday—and will host Sprague (4-3). Roseburg (0-7) travels to South Medford (5-2).
Grants Pass 27, South Medford 26: Grants Pass and South Medford always seem to have spirited football games, and Friday was no exception—as the host Cavemen scored early and held off a furious Panther rally to post the one-point win.
Grants Pass scored all of its points in the first, including three touchdown passes by quarterback Jace Blanchard—who finished with 237 yards on 11-20 passes. His favorite target, Jackson Tunick, had 7 catches for 167 yards, and two TDs.
South Medford scored late in the first half to make it 27-7 in the locker room. The Panthers proceeded to score the next 20 points in the second half, but were turned back on a two point conversion with six minutes left in the game.
South Medford got the ball back with 3 ½ left in the game, after Grants Pass failed to convert on fourth and ten. But after a good run to start their last drive, the Cavemen scooped up the ball after a shotgun snapped bounced off the hands of South Medford quarterback Deacon Edgar. Edgar finished with 200 yards passing for the Panthers, who were ranked ninth in the AP coaches poll last week. Running back Dylan Espinosa also had a pair of TD runs.
Grants Pass’s win was big in a series where South Medford most recently had won 5 of the last 6 head-to-head match ups.
South Medford (5-2) hosts Roseburg (0-7) next week, while Grant Pass (5-2) travels to unbeaten Sheldon.
Sheldon 42, North Medford 6: The visiting Black Tornado needed an almost flawless game to defeat the unbeaten Irish at home. But mistakes late in the first half broke open the ball game, and Sheldon pounded North Medford with a flurry for the victory.
Sheldon opened up the scoring with a 74-yard TD pass by quarterback Brock Thomas to Teitum Tuioti to take the 7-0 lead. North Medford responded, driving 84 yards, with senior running back Ty Pugliano scoring from four yards out. The PAT was blocked, making it 7-6 Irish.
Sheldon responded with a 56 yard TD pass by Thomas to Zach McEwen to make it 14-6.
Defenses ruled for several possession before a Sheldon interception of a North Medford pass gave the Irish momentum. A 64 yard drive—wrapped up by a Thomas one-yard TD run with 47 seconds left, gave the Irish a 21-6 lead.
That would have been it, but a mis-snapped football sailed past JT Knobloch-Scott, and Sheldon recovered the ball, advancing to the end zone on the next play for a 28-6 lead at half.
North Medford never recovered from the bad snap, and did not score in the second half, while Sheldon had two more TDs for the final margin of victory.
Knobloch-Scott finished the game with 12 of 22 completed passes for 107 yards and two interceptions for the Black Tornado.
For Sheldon, Thomas was 19-33 for 357 yards and four touchdowns on the night.
Sheldon (7-0) will host Grants Pass (5-2) next Friday, while North Medford (5-2) travels to McNary (0-7).