In Jon Eagle's perfect world, he would have ridden off into the sunset after leading West Linn to its third 6A football title in his four seasons with the team.
In reality, though, the final game of Eagle's coaching tenure with the Lions ended with one of the most excruciating losses of his coaching career, a 21-14 semifinal defeat to Central Catholic on Friday. Top-seeded West Linn (11-1) was poised to score in the final minute, but on fourth-and-goal at the two-inch line, an errant snap foiled the threat.
Eagle -- who is 278-77 in 34 seasons as a head coach, including 45-4 at West Linn -- put the loss into perspective in light of the team's youth and a rash of late-season injuries to key players.
“Given all that stuff, yet here we were on the two-inch line with a chance to put the game into overtime,” Eagle said. “We had some opportunities. This year's team accomplished a lot.”
West Linn's 42-28 quarterfinal win over Jesuit – in which the Lions gave up 480 total yards, 263 rushing – provided a hint of the team's vulnerability.
“Jesuit was able to make some yards on the ground, just because of their size, and I think Central Catholic saw that and tried to take advantage of it, and they had some success there,” Eagle said. “We're athletic and fast, but we're not big. We knew somebody was going to figure it out.
“We're starting a bunch of sophomores and juniors. You get this far, senior-dominant teams tend to do well.”
Eagle has felt the sting of such a loss before. As the coach at Camas (Wash.) in 2013, the Papermakers had a two-touchdown lead in the final minute of the state final against Chiawana before giving up a 57-yard touchdown pass, an onside kick, and a four-yard touchdown pass as time expired to lose 27-26.
“We look back at that game, and there was about 15 different things, any one of which go our way, and we win,” Eagle said of the 2013 loss. “It just wasn't meant to be.”
That loss was particularly painful for Eagle because his son, Zach, the team's leading receiver, left with an injury in the first quarter and did not return in his final high school game.
Eagle said that loss helped propel Camas to state titles in 2016 and 2019.
“We learned a lot from that game and we were much better for it,” he said.
Likewise, West Linn appears in position to contend for the immediate future. And Eagle will be paying attention.
“I'm excited to see what changes they make to make it better,” he said. “For sure, I will show up at a West Linn game. I really like those kids, so I'll be back.
“I am super grateful for my opportunity to coach at West Linn. The people are fantastic.”
Young Challengers locking down
Cascade Christian's dominance on defense this season is even more remarkable considering the team's youth.
The Challengers (12-0), the top seed in 3A, have given up 47 points this season, the lowest total for all classifications. They recorded their seventh shutout – and sixth in seven games – by routing No. 12 Gervais 36-0 in a semifinal Saturday. They have outscored their three playoff opponents 152-0.
The team has only four seniors on the roster in defensive backs Caleb Scaglione, Alex Fiannaca and Deryk Farmer and linebacker Caleb Parker. The seniors “set the tone” on defense, according to coach Jon Gettman, but it's the development of the younger players that has elevated the unit.
The defensive line features sophomores Tucker Mayben (5-9, 190) and Blake Patereau (6-4, 225) and freshman Nathan Cool (6-1, 185). Junior safety Bryson Walker, freshman cornerback Hutton Walker, junior linebacker Seth Scaglione and sophomore linebacker Mikey Covey also are starting.
The 6-2, 185-pound Covey leads the Challengers in tackles for loss (14) and quarterback hurries (11).
“He's kind of the energy of the team,” Gettman said. “He's nonstop. His mouth never stops moving. He's one of the most physical kids we've had come through the program.”
How young is Cascade Christian? Of the 34 players on the roster, only 10 are seniors or juniors. It's a contrast to the veteran-laden teams that won state titles in 2022 and 2023.
“The years we've gone before, we've always had 10 or more seniors,” Gettman said. “That's kind of the magic number. For this group to make it with the youth playing such an important role, it's a testament to the seniors, kind of adopting those guys and saying, 'Hey, we need you guys.'”
Gettman said that what his team lacks in size – only four players weigh more than 200 pounds – it makes up for with speed and aggression. He credited defensive coordinator Mike Schaan with keeping foes off balance.
“He does a great job moving guys around, blitzing from all sorts of different ways,” Gettman said. “Their ability to understand the concepts and execute has been phenomenal.”
Cascade Christian can win its third title in four seasons in the final Saturday against No. 3 Burns (11-1), the reigning champion, at Cottage Grove High School.
Upstart Crow stays alive
One week after knocking off top-seeded Triangle Lake in the 1A-6 quarterfinals, No. 9 Crow continued its Cinderella run with a walk-off 45-39 win over No. 4 Elkton in the semifinals Saturday.
With the game tied 39-39, senior Cayden Hernandez threw a 47-yard touchdown pass to freshman Levi Betts on the final play to give the Cougars (9-2) the win over the Elks (8-2). It avenged a 34-0 loss in a Special District 3 game Oct. 10.
“I'm in awe of these kids,” Crow coach Nick Nevins said. “Just the fight, resiliency, everything they've gone through, everything they've pushed back. To do what they're doing is amazing.”
Hernandez rushed for 270 yards and five touchdowns and returned a kickoff 80 yards for a score, but it was his touchdown pass that will go down in Crow lore. Up to that point, Hernandez had completed 3 of 6 passes for 19 yards.
“I told him to watch the pass because they'll probably play up on the run, and that's exactly what happened,” Nevins said. “The defense was shading up tighter on the run, opening up more of a gap for our deep pass. I think their eyes were in the backfield a little bit more, and Levi was able to get behind them. Cayden dropped a beautiful pass over the top.”
The game turned out much differently than the first meeting, which was played during a monsoon on Elkton's grass field. Saturday's game was in dry weather on artificial turf at Cottage Grove High School.
“The first game was a wet and sloppy game, and we did a horrible job adjusting to that,” Nevins said. “Some of our kids don't perform as well when their footing isn't as great. To remove that aspect, that worry from the back of their head, I think it really helped.”
Crow will play for its first title Saturday when it meets No. 2 Harper Charter (11-0) at Redmond High School. In their only other finals appearance, the Cougars lost to Vale 20-6 in 1993.
Raiders seek 2A supremacy
The 1A-8 champion in 2022 and 2023, Lost River moved up to 2A last season and reached the state quarterfinals before losing to Heppner 16-12.
Saturday, the second-seeded Raiders (11-1) moved to the brink of another title by handling No. 3 Bandon 33-13 in a semifinal. That sets up a showdown in the final against their nemesis, No. 1 Heppner (12-0), which defeated them 43-8 on Sept. 12, their only loss this season.
“We feel like we're a lot better team than when we played them the first time,” Lost River coach Dennis Dunlea said. “But we'll have to go and prove that, because they are, too.”
Lost River has gelled this season as players adjusted to new positions and the newcomers got their feet wet. Senior Kellen Dunlea, the coach's son, moved from tight end to running back and has rushed for 1,417 yards and 17 touchdowns, averaging 11.8 yards per carry in the team's power veer offense.
“He's flourished,” Dennis Dunlea said. “He's surprised me with how well he's done at it. It's been seamless. You'd think he always played running back. He was a really good tight end for us, so we didn't really want to do that, but we just felt like we needed to.”
The Raiders showed some nerves early in the semifinal against Bandon, struggling with exchanges, but got settled down and dominated the game, outgaining the previously unbeaten Tigers 348-141. Senior Kyle Diaz, the returning starter at quarterback, completed 10 of 12 passes for 116 yards and three touchdowns.
“They're resilient. They tend to play through things,” Dennis Dunlea said of his players. “They've just done an outstanding job continuing to play when things aren't going according to plan.”
jerryu@osaa.org
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