Backed up to its own 12-yard line – with 56 seconds left and one timeout – Lebanon's chances of upsetting No. 2 Silverton seemed to have slipped away in a 5A Mid-Willamette Conference football game Friday night.
Somehow, though, the No. 7 Warriors came through with a drive for the ages to stun the host Foxes 34-28.
“It was like a Hollywood movie,” Lebanon coach Troy Walker said. “From the beginning, all the way to the end, one of the best football games I've ever been a part of in 29 years.”
As a result, the Warriors (6-1, 4-0) are tied with No. 3 Dallas (6-1, 4-0) for first place, one game ahead of Silverton (6-1, 3-1). Lebanon, which has not won a league title since its 2016 state championship team, plays host to Dallas in the regular-season finale Oct. 31.
On its final drive Friday, Lebanon worked its way to Silverton's 20-yard line before calling a timeout with six seconds on the clock. Senior quarterback Brison Edwards lofted a pass into the right corner of the end zone toward senior receiver Logan Large, who went up over two defenders to haul in the go-ahead touchdown with two seconds to go.
The Warriors were betting on the athletic ability of the 6-foot Large, a 5A state placer in the triple jump. Large finished with eight catches for 179 yards and three touchdowns, giving him 10 scores this season.
“We threw up a jump ball,” Walker said. “He's one of the best three-sport athletes in the state of Oregon. That's a kid that can dunk a basketball. He's going to be playing small-college football somewhere.”
The drive showcased not only the team's ability to execute under pressure, but Edwards' leadership. He finished 19 of 32 for 326 yards and four touchdowns – also tossing a 35-yarder to senior Zechariah Halsey for a 21-14 lead in the third quarter – and ran for 68 yards and one score on 12 carries.
“We do a two-minute drill twice a week, and that obviously showed up,” Walker said. “But really, it's Brison Edwards. Our quarterback has matured. I keep telling everybody that I think he's the best dual-threat quarterback in the state of Oregon. His decision-making, his ability to find the open guy, to improvise, to lead, has just been spectacular all year long.”
Lebanon broke a 21-21 tie with three minutes left on a 12-yard touchdown run by Edwards, but missed the extra-point attempt after being pushed back by an excessive celebration penalty. Silverton scored a touchdown and extra point to lead 28-27 with 1:10 remaining.
The Warriors would not buckle, though, showing the resiliency they have developed in a six-game winning streak since opening the season with a 42-0 loss at No. 5 Mountain View. The streak includes a 13-7 home win over West Albany on Sept. 19.
“They bought in after beating West Albany,” Walker said. “The kids started believing, like, 'We can do this.'”
Lebanon outgained Silverton 457-295. Foxes senior Nolan Horner threw three touchdown passes, two to senior Logan Uitto (nine catches, 138 yards).
Billies near elusive title
Pleasant Hill took a major step toward its first league title in 24 years with an 18-14 home win over No. 9 Sisters in a 3A Special District 3 first-place showdown Friday.
Senior Steven Bounds threw touchdown passes of seven yards to senior Jacob Neely and 22 yards to senior Cota Aanrud. Neely also ran for a one-yard score, one play after he threw a 40-yard strike to Aanrud off a fly sweep.
The Billies (6-1, 3-0) hold a one-game lead over Sisters (5-2, 2-1) and Madras (2-5, 2-1). After going 3-6 last season, they have made a dramatic turnaround under first-year coach Kenny Koberstein. They were outscored by Sisters 137-35 in their previous three meetings.
“Before the season, I was like, 'Yeah, we're going to rebuild,' but I felt like I was lying to everybody because I didn't feel like it was a rebuild,” Koberstein said. “The kids are here. There are athletes crawling all around this place. They've been good at everything else but football forever.”
Koberstein brought with him defensive coordinator Derek Brimmer. The two coached together at South Eugene, where Koberstein was the head coach in 2019, and as assistants at Harrisburg.
“We wanted this job for a long time,” Koberstein said. “When we coached against these guys at Harrisburg, we always wanted this job. The facilities are amazing, there's a ton of community support and there were always athletes.”
Sisters scored to cut Pleasant Hill's lead to 18-14 late in the third quarter and threatened to take the lead in the fourth quarter. The Outlaws went for it on fourth-and-one at the Billies' 26-yard line with five minutes left, but junior defensive lineman Ryder Swaim blew up the quarterback keeper and senior linebacker Isaiah Wilson came over the top to make the stop.
Pleasant Hill has won six in a row since losing to Sutherlin 28-21 in its opener.
“We're still getting accustomed to winning,” Koberstein said. “We're building this plane as we're flying it. We have that culture building in our program. We had three new kids come out this week.”
Neely has been a driving force for the team. He has 24 catches for 545 yards and nine touchdowns and has dominated on defense, collecting five interceptions.
“No one ever throws anywhere near his side of the field,” Koberstein said. “And he's become an exceptional run defender.”
Jesuit payback
No. 8 Jesuit, still stinging from having its run of 10 consecutive Metro League titles interrupted by Mountainside last season, went on the road to deliver some payback to the Mavericks on Friday night.
The Crusaders (5-2, 3-0) held on for a 28-23 win to stand alone atop the Metro ahead of Mountainside (4-3, 2-1) and Beaverton (5-2, 2-1). Holding victories over both teams, they are in a commanding position to claim the league's top seed and a berth in 6A playoff bracket.
Jesuit's offense has done most of its damage this season behind the running of junior Luke Ortner, who ran for a school-record 396 yards against Beaverton last week and entered Friday with 1,322 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns on the year.
But the Crusaders showed on Friday that they also can attack through the air. Jack Wilson, a 6-3 junior, completed 7 of 13 passes for 150 yards, including a 62-yard touchdown strike to junior Joe Stimpson to open a 28-16 cushion with 4:23 left in the game.
Wilson also hit Stimpson with a 54-yard pass on the first play of the fourth quarter, leading to a 29-yard touchdown run by Wilson to put the Crusaders up 20-10 with 9:45 to go.
Jesuit was able to take advantage of Mountainside stacking its defense to stop Ortner, who was limited to 117 yards and two first-half touchdowns on 30 carries. Stimpson had six catches for 145 yards and one score for the Crusaders, who had a 306-271 edge in yards. Jesuit's defense got two sacks from senior linebacker Jack Tuenge.
Mountainside twice drew within one score in the fourth quarter behind senior quarterback Cade Mitchell. He completed 15 of 29 passes for 236 yards and three touchdowns with one interception. Senior Sean Gerigk, had seven catches for 136 yards and two touchdowns for the Mavericks.
Scappoose outlasts Tillamook
No. 3 Scappoose rode the running of 6-foot, 201-pound junior Elijah Greenan-Biggs to a 39-28 home win over No. 4 Tillamook in a key 4A Cowapa League game Friday.
Greenan-Biggs ran for 252 yards and four touchdowns on 36 carries for the Indians (6-1, 3-0), who now hold a one game lead in the Cowapa over Tillamook (5-2, 2-1) and Seaside (3-4, 2-1).
“Our ability to run the ball was a huge difference-maker for us,” Scappoose co-coach Joe Nowlin said. “Elijah can see that first cut and then get out in the open. He's not a burner – he doesn't have great speed – but he's really quick and has great vision. When he sees it, he can hit it pretty darn fast.”
Greenan-Biggs scored three touchdowns in the first half to propel the Indians to a 28-14 lead. Tillamook came back to tie 28-28 in the third quarter as senior Griffyn Boomer caught scoring passes of 51 and 25 yards.
“They had a ton of momentum going,” Nowlin said. “But once we got the ball back, we started just chunking it seven, eight, nine yards a carry with Elijah. We kind of rode him down the field.”
Greenan-Biggs scored on a nine-yard run and senior Nolan Lennox ran in a two-point conversion to put Scappoose up 36-28 early in the fourth quarter. An interception by senior Brayden Miller at the Tillamook 9-yard line set up a 15-yard field goal by Lennox to make it 39-28 with four minutes left.
Boomer left the game with a hip injury in the fourth quarter, limiting Tillamook's ability to respond.
“It was a physical game,” Cheesemakers coach Kye Johnson said. “We had seven starters out in the fourth and just ran out of gas.”
Dayton claims first
No. 4 Dayton used its punishing ground game and stifling defense to dispatch No. 8 Santiam Christian 23-17 on Friday, giving the Pirates sole possession of first place in 3A Special District 2.
Visiting Dayton (7-0, 5-0) rushed for 351 of its 395 total yards against the reigning district champion Eagles (5-2, 4-1), getting another standout performance from senior running back Stephen Macias, who gained 281 yards on 31 carries.
“It was gritty, man. It wasn't pretty, it was tough,” Pirates coach Jacob Peterson said. “We were like, 'We're bigger and stronger right now,' and we did what we did to win a football game.”
Dayton set the tone with a 10-minute drive in the first quarter that culminated with an 18-yard touchdown run by senior Asher Maxwell. The Pirates made it 14-7 early in the second quarter on a 13-yard touchdown pass from senior Ryan Mullins to junior Nate Coburn.
Dayton extended the lead to 23-10 late in the third quarter when Mullins connected with junior Taylr Miller for a 30-yard scoring pass. Santiam Christian got within 23-17 on the last play of the third quarter, and was threatening to score again late in the game. But on fourth-and-five with 3:19 left, Miller batted down a pass, and the Pirates ran out the clock.
Dayton has allowed 37 points this season, the fewest in 3A.
“We fly around,” Mullins said. “We make big hits and make big plays when we need them the most. Our offense can generate off that defense.”
Mullins completed all three of his passes for 44 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 50 yards on eight carries.
For the season, Macias has rushed for 952 yards and 11 touchdowns on 126 carries. The Pirates average 302.9 rushing yards per game.
“We knew that this team could do something special,” Macias said. “This win means a lot. It puts us in a position to win league.”
Dayton holds a one-game lead over Santiam Christian and No. 10 Taft (5-2, 4-1), a team it defeated 20-14. The Pirates can clinch their second district title in three seasons by beating Blanchet Catholic (1-6, 1-4) and Amity (2-5, 1-4).
-- Jeremy McDonald contributed to this report
Rising Rangers
Don't look now, but here comes Dufur.
The Rangers, ranked No. 2 in the OSAAtoday 1A-8 coaches poll, beat visiting Pilot Rock/Ukiah 48-12 in a Special District 3 game Thursday to improve to 8-0 for the first time since 2018, when they won the last of their 10 state titles under coach Jack Henderson.
And considering Dufur is doing it with only three seniors on its roster, it could signal something special is in the works again.
“We kind of dropped off a little bit, but we feel like this is the start of a good run,” said Henderson, who is 310-113 in 39 seasons at Dufur. “We have a great eighth-grade class. The junior high program is doing really well this year. So we're excited about the future.”
The Rangers had to replace starters at all but four positions from a team that went 9-2 and lost to North Douglas in the state quarterfinals last year. But they are getting solid contributions from their newcomers, many of them sophomores and freshmen.
“We've surprised some people, for sure, this year,” Henderson said. “We're really young. It's been fun to watch them grow, to watch that light come on from week to week.”
Among the talented new players is freshman defensive back Choice Richards. He showed his ability on offense Thursday when he filled in at quarterback and ran for two scores and threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to freshman Ian Pechanec.
“The protection broke down, he rolled to the right, didn't have his feet set or anything, and threw a ball on a rope for 40 yards,” Henderson said. “He's going to be a real standout for us.”
Sophomore Chase Richards, Choice's brother, started at tailback Thursday and scored on a 30-yard run, 55-yard interception return and 60-yard kickoff return. Sophomore Chase Peterson (6-2, 175), a standout at tight end and defensive end this season, started at quarterback Thursday and ran for three touchdowns.
The Rangers have been stout up front with juniors Daylen Hammitt (5-10, 275) and Ever Corbett (5-10, 220) and senior Austin Kuehnl (5-10, 220). The burly Hammitt is starting to see time at running back.
Henderson said a 20-12 win over No. 5 Crosspoint Christian on Sept. 12 was a “turning point for us that people really started to think we could make some noise.”
Dufur also has two wins over No. 4 Lyle/Wishram/Klickitat/Glenwood – 50-34 in a nonleague game and 32-24 in Special District 3 play – and has defeated No. 6 Elgin 34-28 and No. 9 Imbler 35-30. The Rangers pulled out four consecutive one-score victories.
“That typically hasn't been the route we've taken through the years,” Henderson said. “As a coach, it's fun. They're really resilient. They believe in what we're doing.”
The Rangers, 5-0 in district play, are idle next week before finishing the regular season Oct. 30 at Cove.
jerryu@osaa.org
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