HILLSBORO-- Longtime Lake Oswego football coach Steve Coury has always said that he isn't so concerned with how his team plays early in the season, it's November that counts.
This year's team embodied that mantra, finding its groove late in the year and cruising to the state championship, the third in 34 seasons under Coury.
The third-seeded Lakers (12-1) punctuated their late-season dominance Friday afternoon, taking control early and thumping No. 5 Central Catholic 35-6 in the OSAA/OnPoint Community Credit Union 6A final at Hillsboro Stadium. Lake Oswego won its final six games after a 38-16 loss to West Linn, outscoring its four playoff foes by average margin of 31.0 points.
“This team got 10 times better,” senior tight end and linebacker Sam Vyhlidal said. “We didn't take anything lightly, especially after that West Linn loss. It put us in the right direction. It's a bummer we couldn't get our get-back against them, but we weren't taking anything for granted.”
The Lakers entered the season with high expectations after falling to West Linn 44-30 in last year's final. Coury said he believed they were the state's best team, but falling at home to the Lions in a Three Rivers League game provided a much-needed gut-check.
“Since the West Linn loss, we really started to play,” Coury said. “You get beat, and you look at things differently. We made some major changes. I just credit the coaches for what they did, because we were just playing lights-out the last five weeks.”
Lake Oswego finished with a 387-166 edge in total yards against Central Catholic. The Lakers rushed for 262 yards, led by senior running backs LaMarcus “Bam” Bell (18 carries, 126 yards, one touchdown) and Justin Craigwell (seven carries, 50 yards, two touchdowns) and senior quarterback Hudson Kurland (15 carries, 79 yards, one touchdown).
Central Catholic (10-3) entered the game on an emotional high after knocking off No. 4 Willamette and No. 1 West Linn – previously unbeaten teams – in the quarterfinals and semifinals. The Rams were intent on making a better showing than they did in a 21-0 nonleague loss at Lake Oswego on Sept. 12.
But the Lakers scored touchowns on their first four possessions to lead 27-0 at half. They needed only five plays to draw first blood, a 55-yard scoring strike from Kurland to senior Jalen Bauman to make it 7-0.
“We've been practicing it all week,” Bauman said of the deep ball. “I was so glad I got the shot, got the opportunity, got the right look. It came down to the O-line, great throw from Hudson, great blocking all around. I just knew I had to make a play.”
Central Catholic drove into Lake Oswego territory on its first possession, but Bauman came through with an interception in the end zone when Rams senior quarterback Robbie Long tried going deep to senior Dayvion Curtis.
“It felt surreal. I was so excited,” Bauman said. “I've been thinking about this for 12 months. Twelve months of constant hard work. To come out, get right on top of everything, it was great.”
The Lakers added touchdown runs of two yards by Bell, five yards by Kurland and one yard by Craigwell to lead 27-0. Kurland's score capped a 16-play, 90-yard march that took 6:34 off the clock.
Lake Oswego's offensive line – seniors Jackson Graetz, Adam Williams, Solomon Kroeker and Tripton Ciuprk and junior Dylan Marquez – established control of the trenches, following the words of offensive line coach Chris Hubley.
“Coach Hubie always talks about will,” Williams said. “He lets us know that we have to have stronger will than them. Those plays, those long drives, we've just got to keep beating them down.”
The performance showed that the offensive line, with only one returning starter in Graetz, has made dramatic progress from the first Central Catholic game, when the Lakers could muster only 208 total yards.
“Unbelievable,” Coury said of the unit. “They did a great job. They've been dominating the line of scrimmage in the last five weeks. I mean, dominating.”
In last year's final, the Lakers fell behind West Linn 24-0 early in the second quarter and could not recover. They were determined to get off to a strong start Friday.
“Don't repeat last year,” Bell said. “Just do what we do, what we know we can do, and what we're supposed to do. Just dominated, all four quarters, LO-48.”
Craigwell ran for a 19-yard touchdown and Kurland followed with a two-point conversion pass to junior Ethan Uecker to extend the lead to 35-0, triggering the running clock with 3:54 left in the third quarter. Central Catholic avoided a shutout by scoring on the game's final play, a 21-yard run by senior KK Sombe.
The Rams came up empty in pursuit of their eighth state title and sixth since 2013. Long completed 9 of 20 passes for 76 yards with one interception and they rushed for 90 yards on 23 carries.
The Lakers pushed the Rams back on their heels from the start.
“I know we were all hungry, but they might have been a little more hungry,” Central Catholic senior running back and safety Cole Thomas said. “We game-planned well, but it's really hard to stop a guy like LaMarcus and Justin Craigwell and Jasiah (Agnimel), and all these athletes, these weapons they have. I think we just got a little outphysicaled. … We were just playing a little timid, I think.”
Central Catholic senior linebacker Donnie Vercher III said the Rams came out flat.
“We didn't have a lot of energy,” he said. “I didn't get the team as juiced up as I wanted to. We had an off day. I feel like any other day we could've had a better game, but they caught us on this one day.”
The Utah-bound Bell, and several other offensive starters, came out of the game to a curtain call in the fourth quarter. Bell rushed for 1,516 yards and 25 touchdowns as a senior, giving him 4,350 yards in the last three seasons.
“Shout out to to Bam, I can't thank him enough for making us look good, even when we mess up,” Williams said.
Bauman said that Bell “means so much to this team.”
“He's a great player, and I'm excited to see what he does at Utah,” Bauman said. “He's a great guy, he leads the team. He's fired up all the time. He's really kind of an emotional guy. He gets us right, he sets us straight.”
Lake Oswego has a long tradition of standout running backs, such as Steven Long and Casey Filkins, who helped lead the team to state titles in 2011 and 2018, respectively. Bell belongs in the conversation as the school's all-time best.
“We've had a lot of them, we're very, very fortunate, but he's right up there,” Coury said. “He's a great kid. He's a winner.”
Bell praised the coaching staff for molding him into a top running back.
“They taught me everything I know,” Bell said. “Just getting it done for them, I feel that the most. … Especially Coach Coury. He's put so much effort into this program, done so much for this program, him not winning it in my last year – this was just what we needed to do.”
jerryu@osaa.org
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