Scappoose High School senior-to-be Max Nowlin is having a nice run.
His Indians baseball team won their second straight 4A state championship this past June, and earlier this month the two-year starting quarterback for the Scappoose football team played and impressed at the Les Schwab Bowl, a game pitting some of the state’s best against one another as part of an exhibition at Lewis & Clark College in Lake Oswego.
“The experience was great, but I think the best part was just being able to be around all the best players and coaches in the state,” Nowlin said. “Playing and practicing with all those guys really ups my game. It’s going to be an experience I remember for the rest of my life.”
Nowlin didn’t start the game, but without question made his presence felt, completing 26 of his 37 pass attempts for 277 yards and three touchdowns. The first team all-league and all-state honorable mention honoree more than held his own against all-stars from the bigger 5A and 6A classifications, and said afterwards that while he was a little nervous about the level of competition in the beginning, it didn’t take him long to feel like he belonged.
“You can either look at it like, oh, they’re from bigger schools and take a step back, or you can embrace it and know that it’s going to make you better,” Nowlin said. “I knew going in that I could play with the best, but after the game it really hit me that I can compete with the best in the state and it doesn’t matter what level of school I go to.”
Beyond the game, the 6-foot-4 signal-caller said he’s been lifting weights with his teammates this summer and said he’s put on 15 pounds since last fall. The Indians have lost in the state semifinals in each of the last two years, and Nowlin said he and his teammates have been using that disappointment to fuel their fire in both the weight room and on the practice field this offseason.
“It’s something we talk about nonstop,” the quarterback said. “Every time we do work, right before we break we always say to remember that feeling from last year. We came up short the last two years and we’ve got to decide if we want to take those final steps to be a champion or fall short again? I think that’s really motivated us as a group and is going to help us going forward.”
And “forward” is this upcoming season, and “us” are the Scappoose players returning that Nowlin said are bringing something special to the table this fall.
“I love this group,” he said. “I feel like our whole team is on board this year and that makes a big difference when it comes to winning football games. The work ethic is second to none, and I know we haven’t played a game yet, but I think this team stacks up great.”
Nowlin has been starting since his sophomore season and admitted it’s going to be a bit weird this year knowing that it’s his last. But he also wants to make the most of it and believes that his experience, along with his team’s work over the offseason will be a valuable tool in doing just that.
He also has an eye on his future which he hopes entails an opportunity to play football in college, and possibly at the Division-I level. But before he gets beyond Scappoose High School, he’d like to take a shot at righting what he can’t help but see as a wrong from last year’s state semifinal loss to Henley.
Nowlin was injured early in the first half of that game and as a result threw five interceptions before dressing down at halftime and watching the second half from the sidelines. While no one, including himself, blames him for the defeat, he said it’s only natural that a part of him feels responsible for what was a sour end to an otherwise great year.
“In my mind, I feel like I let my team down a little bit, even though no one will tell me that it was my fault,” Nowlin said. “If I could’ve been healthy for that full game, I wonder if things would’ve played out differently, but I can’t change it now, so all I can do is continue to put my best foot forward and keep working hard for this.”
Scappoose 2024 graduate kicker Brandon Sailer and senior-to-be defensive lineman James Sessions also participated in the Les Schwab Bowl.
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