The first full week of the 2024 Oregon high school football season took place Friday, Sept. 6 across the state, including the Portland-proper schools in action.
Central Catholic and Cleveland were the only teams to walk away with victories, but there were still plenty of highlights for the hometown players to take away from week one.
Here’s a roundup of all the action across the city:
Central Catholic 45, Central Catholic (CA) 29: The Rams offense was electric once again with junior quarterback Robbie Long leading the way. He threw four touchdown passes, three of them going to senior wideout Landon Kelsey, along with one rushing touchdown to get the defending 6A state champs off to a 2-0 start.
Clackamas 27, Ida B. Wells 16: A 7-0 game at the half, the Guardians struggled to finish off drives early that came back to bite them in the end. That, along with a couple touchdowns for the Cavaliers on fourth-down plays that swung the momentum each time. Wells outgained Clackamas 322-282.
Fumbles and penalties pushed Wells out of scoring range each time in the first half, something it cleaned up in the second half to stay within striking distance.
Senior Wyatt Andler scored both touchdowns for the Guardians and head coach Robby Scharf added that Ian Kolmer and Cam Hammer both played well in their first varsity football action as seniors.
Sandy 38, Franklin 13: The Pioneers scored on two pick-sixes and had a kickoff return TD to power their way to the road win over the Lightning. The game was originally supposed to be played in Sandy, but smoke forced the game to be moved to Franklin.
The air raid offense for the Lightning was in full force behind new starting QB Silas Combs, who had his moments, especially when targeting senior wideout Cash Landau who had 11 catches for 138 yards and a one-handed TD grab.
Hillsboro 40, McDaniel 24: The Mountain Lions will take the good with the bad with a young squad as it hung tough with a strong 5A squad in Hillsboro. A tough call to end the first half followed by an interception left some points on the board for McDaniel, but head coach Russell Millage is encouraged by seeing his offense moving the ball around easier to start 2024.
“We were a couple of plays away from tying that game,” Millage said. “Hillsboro was tough, their D-line and O-line was tough … They ran the ball well, they were good in the trenches.”
Junior Tre’Marion Crawford had the highlight of the night with a 91-yard interception return TD for the Mountain Lions. He also had five catches for 57 yards and converted two 2-point conversions. Micah Hall added six carries for 63 yards and six catches for 70 more yards and one receiving TD. Sophomore quarterback Marlan McCowan went 21-for-30 passing for 223 yards with two TDs and two interceptions. JR Lanier led the defense with three solo tackles and four assists.
Oregon City 36, Grant 14: The Pioneers picked up three turnovers and won the field position battle in the first half to keep the Generals at bay in the win. For Grant, the second half picked up some momentum and were able to stay in the game and keep things manageable.
“Oregon City played a solid four quarters. They were able to convert some critical downs early, which converted to points,” Grant head coach Alex Melson said. “It took awhile for us to get our ground game going and we lost the field position battle in the first half.”
Jalen Black had a strong night for Grant with a touchdown catch and plenty of YAC. Antoin Hawthorne had some strong catches on top of big kick returns and an interception on defense.
Marcus Rouse added in a rushing touchdown as well for Grant.
La Salle Prep 10, Lincoln 7: In a defensive battle, the Falcons came away with the battle of the birds over the Cardinals.
“Tough fought game against a very well coached team,” Lincoln head coach Cody Schnaufer said. “Our players battled to the end. We’ve got things to clean up, but a lot to build on, had a lot of underclassmen step up.”
Senior Elwood Gordon was the standout for Lincoln, scoring its lone touchdown off of a pick-six and also made a deep catch late in the game to give the Cardinals some life.
Lakeridge 42, Jefferson 2: A young and inexperienced Democrats squad got a taste of what it takes at the 6A level in the loss to the Pacers.
“Lakeridge is a very solid team. They do a lot of things well and will be a tough game for opponents,” Jefferson head coach Anthony Stoudamire said. “We made too many mistakes, opened the game with a 17-play drive and did not score, which hurt.”
Stoudamire added that senior QB Brave Johnson threw the ball well per usual for the PIL first-teamer. Jayden Robinson and EJ Cozart had solid performances on offense as well.
Cleveland 30, Parkrose 22: A back and forth affair went to the homestanding Warriors after the Broncos tied the game up at 14 to open the fourth quarter.
Still, the 4A Broncos hanging with a 6A squad is a positive sign.
“An all-around good game for the Broncos, we just came up a little short and will be back for Centennial next week at home,” Parkrose head coach Stephen Nesmith said.
New QB Jabri Smith threw a touchdown to Dominic Todd, and Nesmith said his playmakers in DeVontae Hillman and Corinthian Littleton made plays throughout the night as well to keep Parkrose in it.
Forest Grove 21, David Douglas 7
Sherwood 42, Roosevelt 7
Next week
Ida B. Wells at Dallas, 7 p.m. Sept. 13
McDaniel at Century, 7 p.m., Sept. 13 Hillsboro Stadium
Jefferson at Liberty, 7 p.m., Sept. 13
Lincoln at Reynolds, 7 p.m., Sept. 13 Mt. Hood Community College
Sunset at Roosevelt, 7 p.m., Sept. 13
Hood River Valley at Grant, 4 p.m., Sept. 13
Beaverton at Franklin, 7 p.m., Sept. 13
Putnam at David Douglas, 7 p.m., Sept. 13
Cleveland at Aloha, 7 p.m., Sept. 13
Centennial at Parkrose, 7 p.m., Sept. 13
Central Catholic: bye week
Local News
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