Rainier football coach Mike King knew his team would need to score a lot of points Friday to keep up with high-powered Corbett in a nonleague 2A nine-man game.
Nothing could have prepared him, though, for how many.
Rainier outlasted visiting Corbett 101-90 in the highest-scoring game in state history for all classifications. The 191 combined points broke the previous state record of 180, set in an eight-man game in 2016 when Yoncalla defeated Mapleton 108-72.
“It's crazy. It was wild,” Rainier coach Mike King said. “Big play after big play on both sides of the ball.”
The Columbians (2-2), playing before a homecoming crowd, took the lead for good in the first quarter and handed the Cardinals (3-1) their first loss. They led 30-24 after one quarter, 73-46 at halftime and 81-60 after three quarters.
Rainier rushed for all of its 782 yards, throwing one pass. The Columbians got big games from senior Gage Mohammad (19 carries, 448 yards, nine touchdowns) and junior Jayden Quevido (19 carries, 324 yards, five touchdowns).
“We worked on our run packages all week and just simplified some things,” said King, whose team averaged 27.3 points in its first three games. “They finally started to click with the guys. The O-line played the best they've played all year. Our blocking backs, they came to play.”
Corbett coach Jacob Phillips said Rainier overwhelmed his team in the trenches.
“They were very physical up front and just got after us,” Phillips said. “They just ran the single-wing, running it at the point of attack, and we had nothing we could do to stop them. As a defensive coach, to have 100 points scored is really rough. We're very young up front – we have a lot of sophomores – and they just kind of pounded on us with some seniors.”
Rainier, which won the 3A title in 2018, moved down to 2A this season after finishing 1-8 the last two years.
“I always knew nine-man was going to be a little more wide open, a little more scoring, but I didn't see that coming,” King said.
Rainier passed the 100-point mark with about four minutes left on a long touchdown run by Mohammad. The Columbians had to keep scoring because their defense was running out of gas.
“We're not a deep team,” King said. “They were definitely getting tired. It was a little bit frustrating watching the defense give up 90 points.”
Corbett senior quarterback Elliott Hunter completed 19 of 39 passes for 341 yards and six touchdowns, three to sophomore Jarrett Foster (eight catches, 144 yards) and two to sophomore Kale Mickalson. Mickalson had 25 carries for 160 yards and four touchdowns and Elliott ran six times for 101 yards and one score.
Cavemen, Saxons light it up
Grants Pass and South Salem also had a record-breaking night Friday in a high-scoring 6A Special District 1 game.
South Salem junior quarterback Kellen Bowman set a state record by passing for 692 yards, but it wasn't enough as the Saxons fell to the visiting Cavemen 63-55.
Bowman completed 48 of 68 passes with five touchdowns and one interception. The 692 yards surpasses the previous state mark of 654, set by Rocco McClave of 5A Crescent Valley in 2022.
“He did a great job getting rid of the ball on time, finding the open guys,” South Salem coach Josh Vanlue said of Bowman, who has passed for 1,715 yards and eight touchdowns through four games. “He's grown up a lot. Anytime you get a sophomore starter going into their junior year, the game slows down for them quite a bit.”
Saxons junior Ben Greer caught 19 passes for 307 yards and four touchdowns. The 19 catches ties a state record with Oregon City's Nick Castillo (2003) and Century's Chance Sparks (2018). The 307 yards is tied for No. 10 all-time.
South Salem had two other receivers surpass 100 yards in senior Gani Schlegel (15 catches, 163 yards, one touchdown) and junior Sam Johnson (eight catches, 102 yards, two touchdowns).
South Salem (0-4) ran 97 plays and racked up 780 yards, keeping the Cavemen on their heels.
“We knew we were going to be challenged with the tempo they play at, and the scheme they use,” Grants Pass coach Matt Kennedy said.
The Cavemen (3-1) gained 650 yards. Junior Treyton Powers rushed for 362 yards and four touchdowns on 31 carries and returned a kickoff 95 yards for a score. Powers broke the school record he set last week, when he rushed for 310 yards in a win over North Salem.
“He's a relentless runner,” Kennedy said of the 5-11, 180-pound Powers. “Pretty undersized. In pads, you wouldn't necessarily assume the performance you're going to get from him. He's got pop and speed and vision.”
Grants Pass junior quarterback Jordan Rossetta completed 16 of 18 passes for 307 yards and three touchdowns. All of his scoring passes went to sophomore James Traylor, who had eight catches for 249 yards.
Heninger eclipses 1,000
It took Glencoe senior running back Daniel Heninger only four games to pass 1,000 rushing yards this season.
The 5-9, 175-pound Heninger rushed for 272 yards and two touchdowns on a season-high 35 carries Friday to lead a 37-19 win over Westview in a game between unbeaten teams at Hare Field in Hillsboro. Heninger now has a 6A-leading 1,027 yards and 11 touchdowns for the year.
Westview (3-1) rallied from a 16-0 deficit to lead 19-16 in the third quarter, but Heninger answered with a 79-yard touchdown run to put the Crimson Tide (4-0) ahead to stay at 22-19.
Heninger is averaging 11.8 yards per carry behind an undersized line. Friday was the first time he was tackled for no gain this season. He has not had a carry for negative yardage.
“That's a testament to us firing off the ball and getting to our spots quick, but also how aggressively he attacks the line of scrimmage,” Glencoe coach Ian Reynoso said. “Once we get past that first line, it's him on one or two more guys. Just putting him one-on-one with someone is kind of fun to deal with for us. It's a 90-percent win ratio.”
Reynoso said that Heninger, a former state chess champion, is the state's smartest running back.
“Every play he sets it up for the next move,” he said.
Glencoe, which moved up to 6A from 5A this season, will open Pacific Conference play next week at Hillsboro Stadium against Sherwood, the four-time reigning conference champion. The Bowmen have won 22 consecutive conference games.
“They've always been the team to beat,” Reynoso said. “They know how to scheme people. We're not the first team they've played against that does what we do. It's going to be a huge test.”
Gervais stays unbeaten
Moving back up to 3A hasn't slowed down Gervais, a 2A semifinalist last season.
The Cougars improved to 4-0 on Friday with a 54-8 win at previously unbeaten Valley Catholic in a Special District 1 game. Gervais, which dropped down to 2A in 2018, has come a long way since going 0-9 in 2021.
“From there, we just gradually grew and got a lot better,” coach JJ Nararrete said. “I believe these kids have taken it upon themselves, breaking down film and doing all the right things. Very, very humble kids.”
Last year, Gervais went 9-2 and posted its first playoff win since 1951. The Cougars returned starters at all but two positions, but going back to the 11-man game presented a challenge.
Gervais hasn't skipped a beat, outscoring its first four opponents 198-29. In Friday's game, the Cougars led 24-8 at half and 32-8 after three quarters.
“We just keep pounding it and pounding it. We didn’t stop until the end,” senior running back Johnny Mariano said.
The 5-10, 220-pound Mariano rushed for 210 yards and four touchdowns on 24 carries.
“He's running like a kid that wants to play at the next level,” Navarrete said.
Mariano took a blow to his knee in the season opener against Creswell, forcing Gervais to shift its offensive emphasis to passing in wins over Salem Academy and Yamhill-Carlton the last two weeks. Mariano looked like his old self Friday.
“He came to me Monday and said, 'Hey, I'm 95 percent. I'm ready to go,'” Navarrete said. “Before we got on the bus, he said, '220 and three touchdowns.'”
Up next for the co-No. 8 Cougars is an SD1 showdown at home against No. 1 Banks (4-0), which has won 37 consecutive regular-season games.
“We don't know them, they don't know us,” Navarrete said. “I feel like we match up very well. We're big and fast, and so are they. I think it's going to be who can be more physical.”
-- Jeremy McDonald contributed to this report
No. 1 Banks dominates
Banks warmed up for its showdown with Gervais with an impressive 44-21 home win over Seton Catholic of Vancouver, the 1A runner-up in Washington last season.
The 3A No. 1 Braves (4-0) opened a 21-0 lead in the first quarter and extended the edge to 38-7 in the fourth quarter. They finished with 493 total yards, including 332 on the ground.
“We jumped on them early and played about as well as we could in the first half,” Banks coach Cole Linehan said. “That was a fun matchup because they're just as big as us, and they have the athletes, as well. We were able to run the ball effectively and control the football.
Senior Henry White rushed for 154 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries. Senior Jarrett Martin moved from receiver to running back for the first time this season and rushed for 130 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries. He also scored on a 64-yard catch.
“Every time he touches the ball, he can score,” Linehan said of Martin, who has scored 11 touchdowns this season, including two on punt returns and one on an interception return. “He's proven that.”
The Braves are winning with a dominant line that includes senior tackle Cole Wilson (6-5, 250), junior guard Cade Wilson (6-4, 290), senior tackle Carson McCutchen (6-4, 235) and senior guard Cash Mendola (6-0, 225).
“We're big up front,” Linehan said. “We're the most physical team we've had in a long, long time. That makes for a fun year when you have the big boys up front and you can run the football, and get after people up front defensively.”
The Wilson brothers are “wrecking balls” on both sides of the ball, according to Linehan.
“They're just bigger and faster and stronger than most guys we play,” Linehan said. “They're collegiate football players.”
Banks has a first-year starter at quarterback in junior Nate Lyda, who replaced senior Lane Gilbert, now a slot receiver. Lyda has completed 72.6 percent of his passes for 689 yards and seven touchdowns and no interceptions.
Against Gervais, the Braves will put their 38-game conference winning streak on the line. It goes back to a 2017 loss to Seaside in the 4A Cowapa League.
“It should be fun,” Linehan said. “I'm glad Gervais is in our league now.”
Drawing the Line
No. 4 Willamette punctuated its dramatic rise as the prominent program in Eugene with a 29-7 home win over Sheldon in a 6A Special District 1 game Friday.
The Wolverines (4-0, 4-0), who moved up to 6A this year, prevailed in coach Josh Line's first game against the Irish, a team he coached to 6A finals in 2018 and 2022. It was the first win over Sheldon since 2000 for Willamette, which went 0-9 in 5A two seasons ago.
"What motivates us a lot, what fuels the work that we've done, is wanting to give this community a chance to be excited about something," Line told the Register-Guard. "That's why one of the reasons I was led in this direction, I think. Now, here we are."
The Wolverines beat Sheldon (1-3, 1-2) to the punch early and piled up a 29-0 lead by half. Oregon-bound senior defensive end Tony Cumberland led the way, scoring the game's first touchdown on a five-yard run and collecting four sacks.
"I feel like everyone on the outside placed this as a big game on the map, but we knew what we came here to do. It was just another game," Cumberland told the Register-Guard. "We came out and did what we were supposed to do. We left it all on the field, and the score shows it."
Junior Tripp Johansen added two sacks for Willamette.
jerryu@osaa.org
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