Senior Cole Thomas has spent most of the football season playing defense for Central Catholic, making a wide-ranging impact from his safety position.
But now that the Rams are in the playoffs, they want to put the ball in Thomas' hands. And it was his play on offense that made the difference Friday when No. 5 Central Catholic won at No. 4 Willamette 27-20 in a 6A quarterfinal.
Thomas returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown and ran for two scores from the wildcat formation, a 77-yard burst to put the Rams (9-2) ahead 21-20, and an eight-yard run to make it 27-20 with 1:57 left. He finished with 121 rushing yards on six carries.
“I've been saying it for a while, I think he's the best all-around football player in the state,” Central Catholic coach Charlie Landgraf said. “I don't know anyone else that's doing what he's doing in every phase of the game.
“Defensively, he's coming downhill and meeting running backs in the backfield, and he's covering. He's been big-time for us. We're going to continue to lean on him.”
The Rams have been building a wildcat package for Thomas, who has played sparingly on offense this season. He saw an increase in snaps in a first-round playoff win over Newberg and got even more against Willamette (10-1).
“We were having a lot of success running the ball at the end doing it,” Landgraf said. “Cole's definitely that dynamic player with the ball in his hands. He's too good of a player not to find ways to get him the ball and see what he can do.”
Thomas is part of a talented backfield that includes senior starter KK Sombe and senior Tyson Davis, who started as a junior but has focused more on playing middle linebacker and rover this season.
Thomas' play helped make up for the absence of senior quarterback Robbie Long, who took a shot to the upper body early in the fourth quarter and left the game before returning late. Long finished 7 of 15 for 128 yards, with senior Dayvion Curtis accounting for 105 yards on three catches.
Central Catholic handed Willamette its first loss of the season. The Rams collected four interceptions, two by senior Tayton Promma-Harris, who returned one 70 yards for a touchdown. Senior Jake Wight had an interception in the red zone at the end of the third quarter and junior Elijah Williams clinched the game with an interception on Willamette's final possession.
The Rams advance to the semifinals to play reigning champion and top-seeded West Linn (11-0).
Summit scare
Top-seeded Summit got all that it could handle from No. 9 West Albany before escaping with a 14-13 win in a 5A quarterfinal Friday.
No team had come closer than 21 points of the Storm (11-0) in the previous six games. Despite gaining 377 yards, Summit struggled to convert drives into points.
“We couldn't get into a rhythm because we shot ourselves in the foot,” Summit coach Corben Hyatt said. “We had some untimely penalties. We'd get inside the red zone and put ourselves behind the chains.
“West Albany's defense was super solid. They're physical. It just turned into one of those defensive battles. Sometimes you have to have those kind of games to win a championship. We're glad that we survived and got to move on.”
Summit opened a 14-3 lead in the second quarter, getting a 61-yard touchdown run by senior Jude Anderson and a 67-yard scoring pass from junior Andrew Guthrie to senior Conrad Dodge. But the Storm gave up a short touchdown after dropping a punt snap, allowing the Bulldogs (7-4) to pull within 14-10 at half.
West Albany senior Jonah Laselle kicked his second field goal of the game to make it 14-13 in the fourth quarter. The Bulldogs got the ball back at their own 30-yard line with 1:09 left, but Summit senior Connor Conneely clinched the game with an interception with 48 seconds remaining.
It was the sixth interception of the season for Conneely, who was playing center field on a pass over the middle.
“Connor read it well and made a play on the ball,” Hyatt said. “The kid watches so much film, and is always prepared and understands what teams do. The kid's just a playmaker on both sides of the ball.”
Anderson finished with 173 yards on 30 carries. Guthrie completed 12 of 20 passes for 167 yards and the one touchdown to Dodge, who had two catches for 75 yards.
Dodge, a standout safety, also had an interception on defense. A track athlete, Dodge is emerging as a deep threat for Summit, with all three of his touchdown catches coming in the last four games. He is averaging 28.2 yards per catch.
“He's got track speed on the outside,” Hyatt said. “He can take it off the top.”
Foxes dethrone Wilsonville
Wilsonville's two-year reign over 5A is over, coming to a halt Friday with a 35-32 quarterfinal loss at Silverton.
The second-seeded Foxes (10-1) shook off a 10-0 deficit to defeat the No. 7 Wildcats (9-2), avenging a 32-29 loss in the semifinals last year.
“They're a tough out,” Silverton coach Dan Lever said. “I felt like we had the better team. It was really just a sigh of relief. A lot of weight was lifted.”
The Foxes struggled to move the ball in the first half against Wilsonville. They trailed 10-7 at the break before finding a rhythm and finishing with 395 yards.
Senior quarterback Chase Dominguez completed 15 of 21 passes for 225 yards and one touchdown. Senior Sutton Kuenzi had seven catches for 112 yards and junior Levi Schurter had 12 carries for 113 yards and four touchdowns in the win.
“We were kind of searching for our spots,” Lever said of the first half. “At halftime, we felt like we made some pretty good adjustments.”
Still, Wilsonville wouldn't go away quietly, despite losing senior quarterback Trevor Glos to an injury in the fourth quarter. Senior running back Roman Kealoha replaced him and led a touchdown drive, throwing a scoring pass to senior Luke Carli. After a two-point conversion, the score was 35-32 with four minutes left.
Silverton recovered the ensuing onside kick and ran out the clock by getting two first downs.
“We talked a lot about you can't really look at the scoreboard with these guys,” Lever said.”No lead is safe, as we found out late in the game.”
The Foxes have won four in a row since a 34-28 loss to Lebanon. The streak has coincided with the return of Dominguez, who missed the Lebanon game with an injury.
“It settles things for us,” Lever said. “He's been razor sharp.”
3A final rematch
For the second year in a row, Burns got the final word against 3A Special District 6 rival Vale.
Last year, Burns lost to the Vikings in a district game but beat them in the 3A final. Saturday, the third-seeded Highlanders avenged a 21-18 district loss to No. 6 Vale with a 32-20 home win in a state quarterfinal.
“The guys were really excited for the game,” Burns coach Matt Bruck said. “It was more like, 'Hey, we know we can do this, let's go do it.'”
It helped Burns (10-1) that senior quarterback Jack Wright, who left the first Vale game after about a dozen plays with a leg injury, was in the lineup. He completed 16 of 25 passes for 238 yards and two touchdowns and had 22 carries for 39 yards and one score.
“We had Jack back, so it was us being able to fire on a lot more cylinders,” Bruck said of Wright, who returned from the injury the following week at Nyssa. “We were able to spread the ball around where we can.”
Senior Tommy Winn rushed for a season-high 213 yards on 15 carries, including a 59-yard touchdown, and caught a 12-yard scoring pass from Wright. Junior Cannon Kemper had four catches for 84 yards and one touchdown and senior Coltin Miller had eight catches for 118 yards.
Burns broke from an 8-7 halftime lead by outscoring Vale 24-0 in the third quarter behind Winn's two touchdowns and a one-yard scoring run by Wright. Vale (9-2) rallied in the fourth quarter behind sophomore quarterback Cal Johnson – who threw an eight-yard touchdown pass to junior Tate Cook and ran for a nine-yard score – but fell short.
The Highlanders will play No. 2 Banks (11-0) in a semifinal, the third consecutive season the teams will clash in the playoffs. Banks routed Burns 38-13 in the first round in 2023 and the Highlanders knocked out the Braves 22-15 in the semifinals last year.
Crow knocks out No. 1 Lakers
Crow, seeded ninth in the 1A-6 playoffs, produced the biggest upset of the quarterfinals by going on the road Saturday to stun No. 1 Triangle Lake 32-20.
The Cougars (8-2) amassed 478 yards, including 275 rushing, in dealing the Lakers (9-1) their first loss. Senior Cayden Hernandez was the catalyst, rushing for 228 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries, completing 14 of 20 passes for 143 yards and three scores and intercepting a pass on defense.
Crow led 13-0 but fell behind 20-13 at half. The Cougars outscored the Lakers 19-0 in the second half, holding them to 50 total yards after the break.
“All the boys showed up,” third-year Crow coach Nick Nevins said. “They punched them in the mouth, Triangle Lake punched back, and we got back up and fought hard and finished strong.”
Crow has made a remarkable turnaround after winning a combined six games in the last four seasons, including a 2-6 record in 2024. The Cougars have reached the semifinals for the first time since 1994. They have never won a title, appearing in their only final in 1993.
Among the three players Crow added this season is sophomore receiver Luke Storie, a transfer from Triangle Lake. Storie caught two touchdown passes against his old team Saturday.
“He really enjoyed that,” Nevins said.
Nevins recalled when he joined the Crow staff as an assistant in 2022 and the Cougars finished their last game with four players on the field. They have 11 players on the roster this season.
“In years past, we didn't have a lot of flexibility in what we could do,” Nevins said. “This year we've got a lot more flexibility. … The confidence has grown a lot. They're confident to where we can go up against anybody right now.”
Crow will play No. 4 Elkton in the semifinals. The Cougars lost at Elkton 34-0 in a Special District 3 game Oct. 10.
“It was kind of a monsoon game,” Nevins said. “They adjusted to the wet weather and we didn't adjust. So we're hopeful to have a different outcome this week.”
Luebkert smashes record book
Beaverton senior receiver Oliver Luebkert ended his record-setting career in style Friday when the Beavers fell to Sandy 36-20 in a 6A Columbia Cup semifinal.
The Eastern Washington-bound Luebkert caught 14 passes for 163 yards and one touchdown for Beaverton (6-5). That gives him the state record for career receiving touchdowns (52) and ties the state record for single-season receiving touchdowns (28), which he shares with Beaverton's Jesse Levin (1997).
The 14 receptions give him 118 for the season, giving him the state record over South Salem junior Ben Greer, who posted 117 in nine games this season. Luebkert's 1,799 receiving yards this season ranks fourth all-time.
Luebkert also broke the career record for receiving yards by nine. His total of 3,324 beats Central Catholic's Silas Starr (2017-19), who finished with 3,315.
Luebkert's 234 career catches is No. 2 all-time behind Crescent Valley's Truman Brasfield (2021-24), who had 236.
jerryu@osaa.org
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