The Rams try to fall on a West Linn fumbled snap to end the game. (Photo by Ben Teese)

SHERWOOD – The game was destined for overtime.

Down 21-14 to No. 5 Central Catholic (10-2), a 40-yard run from No. 1 West Linn (11-1) football sophomore Cohen Bissell put the Lions down at the Rams 6-yard line.

Three plays later, the Lions had moved the ball to inches away from the end zone with only 52 seconds left on the clock.

On fourth down with the game on the line, the snap went high and through the hands of quarterback Sloan Baker, bouncing over his head and being recovered at the Rams 25-yard line.

Ball game.

The Rams went to Sherwood High School and pulled off the improbable upset on the undefeated and defending state champion Lions on Friday, Nov. 21 in the 6A state semifinals.

“I can’t say enough things about John Guthrie, our defensive coordinator, and our whole defensive staff,” Rams head coach Charlie Landgraf said. “Jordan Perry our (offensive coordinator), the jobs they’ve done the last couple of weeks just dialing in gameplans, getting the kids ready to go. It’s a total team effort, this is a big-time win.”

Central Catholic had the early momentum by forcing a three-and-out on West Linn’s opening drive and then getting down to the Lions 10-yard line on offense.

However, a fumble ended the drive and gave that momentum right back to the defending champs who chipped away in the ground game to end the first scoreless. 

On the first play of the second quarter, Bissell, who was the main running back with senior Viggo Anderson out of the game with an injury, was in from five yards out to put the Lions up 7-0.

“Everybody was helpful and motivating,” Bissell said of getting prepped for the game. “My O-line, they make it easy. They create so many holes and they do a great job. I’m going to miss all the seniors on the O-line.”

The Rams were putting together another strong drive, but a bad snap sent them back 26 yards to the 50-yard line and ended the push.

West Linn crossed the 50 on the ensuing drive, but stalled out. Baker took the snap on fourth down and pooch punted it down to the Rams 1-yard line. 

But that’s where the game flipped.

Central Catholic senior Cole Thomas, who had over 100 yards rushing with two TDs and a kickoff return TD the week prior against Willamette, took the handoff and ran up the middle with the Lions clamoring for a safety.

Instead, Thomas found the hole, shook off a couple arm tackles and was gone for the 99-yard TD run that tied the game at seven after the PAT.

“We were watching film on (Jesuit playing West Linn) and they really gashed them in the run, so we said, ‘Why can’t we do that?’” Rams senior linebacker Donnie Vercher III said. “We just put two big bodies in there and you can see how that played out. It opened up a lot of lanes for (Thomas).”

The game went to the break tied at seven and the Rams got the ball to start the second half. Their first drive took nearly eight minutes off the board and ended with a Thomas 1-yard TD.

Getting them down close was the legs of senior Tyson Davis and the extra push the line gave a couple times during the drive.

“I thought we ran the ball tremendously well tonight,” Landgraf said. “We were physical, we set up our play-action shots when we needed them. I can’t say enough good things about that offensive line. We got a freshman, two sophomores, a junior and a senior, and they’ve battled all year. To come out and run the ball like they did, that’s a statement.”

West Linn responded with its own long drive, taking it into the fourth quarter and finally finding the end zone with 11:16 left in the game on a 20-yard TD pass from Baker to MJ Kennybrew.

“Their defense wants to stop the pass and they have those guys back there that makes it harder to pass, which is what we do, so we ran the ball,” Lions head coach Jon Eagle said. “I thought it was pretty effective, but we just missed our opportunities.”

West Linn got its chance to go for the win when the defense forced a three-and-out on the ensuing drive. And that effective run game got the Lions across midfield once again with seemingly no end in sight.

Instead, the Rams defense did what it had for most of the season and plugged the holes, dug deep in the secondary and forced a West Linn punt from the Rams 36-yard line.

“I feel like we were going to change up our looks a little bit, make the quarterback read the defense a little more than he has instead of just playing straight man,” Vercher said. “We were just trying to mess with him and make him throw it a little bit later so we could get pressure on him.”

The Rams run game returned on the next drive, chipping away yards until they got to the Lions 31-yard line along with a couple connections from QB Robbie Long to Dayvion Curtis. Meanwhile, Lions junior standout Josiah Molden got hurt during the drive and had to come out.

From the 31, Rams senior Long floated a ball to the far-side corner of the end zone where a diving Curtis stretched out his arms and pulled in the ball right at the goal line for the score.

“We felt like we were in a spot there on second and short where we could take a shot,” Landgraf said. “(Long) threw him a great ball and (Curtis) is just unbelievable. I think that play right there is credit to our offensive line, our tight ends and our running backs.”

With only 2:52 to go in regulation, the Lions had to work quickly. And they achieved that by getting down to the Rams 6-yard line in four plays.

Baker ran the ball on the first down to the three, followed by Bissell getting to the one with 1:15 to go. After a timeout, Baker ran the ball up the middle and nearly got in, but a meeting at the line by the officials called him inches short.

Then the snap on fourth down happened, ending the Lions drive inches away from potentially sending it to overtime as Rams senior Asa Lundberg recovered the fumble.

“We just repeated the play we ran before,” Eagle said of the play call. “It was the same thing, the kids said, ‘Hey we can do it,’ so we called the same one. We just went with what got us here, nothing fancy.”

The Rams kneeled the ball a couple times, sending them to the state championship game for the third time in the past five years.

Thomas finished the game with 142 rushing yards and two TDs while Davis had an important 95 yards on the ground. Curtis made five catches for 72 yards and the game-winning TD.

Bissell had 152 rushing yards on the West Linn side with one score while Baker had 63 rushing yards and 136 passing yards with one TD. 

It was a tight game throughout with the Rams barely winning the yardage battle 337-327, most of that coming on the ground for both sides.

With the loss comes the end of Eagle’s head coaching career as he said before the 2025 season began that this one would be his last.

“I feel grateful for this opportunity that West Linn gave me and other places,” Eagle said. “I feel very blessed to have coached this long, and to still have my hearing.”

For the Rams, the opponent for the 6A state title will be No. 3 Lake Oswego who took out No. 2 Nelson 31-12 in the other semifinal.

The Lakers defeated the Rams earlier this season 21-0 in week two on Sept. 12.

Plenty of things change in 2.5 months, and the Rams hope that’s enough to avenge the week-two loss and win title No. 8.

The game is set for 12:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 28 at Hillsboro Stadium.

“All week we’ve been preaching leave no doubt,” Vercher said. “I had no doubt we were going to win that game. I just trusted my brothers to do their job and we came out on top.”