WEST LINN – After waiting nearly 10 months to get another crack at Central Catholic, West Linn made it count Friday night in the 6A nonleague football opener for both teams.
Behind a career performance from junior running back Cohen Bissell, the No. 2 Lions took command in the second quarter and pulled away for a 45-20 home win over the No. 4 Rams. West Linn racked up 504 yards in exacting a measure of revenge for a gut-wrenching seven-point semifinal loss to Central Catholic last year.
“This is what we worked for since January. This is our motivation,” said Lions senior quarterback Sloan Baker, who ran for three touchdowns, passed for a score and kicked a field goal. “They knocked us out last year, and they knocked us out two years prior to that. So this really meant a lot to us. We wanted this as a team, just to fight together and get this one.”
For West Linn, the win was especially sweet considering it came in the head-coaching debut of Anthony Newman. The former longtime Central Catholic assistant, who has served as the Lions' defensive coordinator since 2020, relished the victory.
“There's more to come. That's just one game,” Newman said. “We're moving forward.
“I was emotional for those kids. They played. Coaches, we just stand on the sideline. … Against a good football team – a team that I was there for 15 years, and my kids went there – that was fun.”
The 5-foot-10, 180-pound Bissell helped lead the way by rushing for 220 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries. He darted through giant holes opened up by the offensive line, in particular on the left side behind sophomore guard Dayn Ree and senior tackle Xander Mishkin.
“The O-line made it easy,” Bissell said. “They gave a great push. Great holes everywhere. They're just letting me do what I can do.”
Bissell's previous career high was 149 yards in the semifinal loss to Central Catholic. He impressed in that game, but it's clear that he has taken it up a notch this season.
“Everything has slowed down,” Bissell said. “It used to be so fast, but now I can see what I'm doing. It's helpful with experience.”
Baker said that Bissell is an “absolute stud.” Newman called Bissell “dangerous.”
“He knows how to run,” Newman said. “He's got great vision, and his speed is deceptive. Sometimes you don't think he's running that fast, and the next thing you know, he hits the sideline, and he's gone. In the lower body, he's strong. His legs are thick. Even though he's a baseball player, you'd think he's a wrestler, because he just understands that low man wins.”
Baker, coming off a season in which he threw for 37 touchdowns with two interceptions, was in command of the offense. He completed 10 of 18 passes for 147 yards and one touchdown and had 15 carries for 73 yards and three scores.
“Sloan's right there, back where he was,” Bissell said.
West Linn's offense started slow, but after Central Catholic took a 7-0 lead on a 57-yard pass from junior Kody Grant to senior Kaden Bozovich on an inside screen, the Lions scored on their next seven possessions.
“We came off to the side, we talked, and we figured it out, and we found a way to fight through,” Baker said.
Baker hit a 28-yard field goal and Bissell scored on a two-yard run for a 10-7 lead midway through the second quarter. Central Catholic junior Jeneral Lewis returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown, but Baker scored on a one-yard run and threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to senior Ashden Marquis to put West Linn up 24-14 at half.
By the second half, the Lions were in a groove. Baker added two short touchdown runs and Bissell scored on a 13-yard jaunt to open a 45-20 lead with 8:55 left.
“We have so many weapons,” Bissell said. “We were playing fast at the end of the game. Everything was so open. … We started playing so much faster, and I think our offensive line got used to it, and they got the jitters out.”
The Lions finished with 357 rushing yards.
“We were in great condition, and our offense just kept moving the football,” Newman said. “When you run the football, you're winning football games. And we ran the ball well.”
Marquis had four catches for a team-high 103 receiving yards and one touchdown and senior Tyson Donnerberg had five catches for 36 yards. West Linn's defense produced one turnover, an interception by Oregon-bound senior cornerback Josiah Molden.
Central Catholic finished with 278 yards. Grant, making his first varsity start, completed 11 of 24 passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. Bozovich had four catches for 84 yards. Junior Summit Grant rushed for 80 yards on 12 carries.
The teams were plagued by penalties. Central Catholic was flagged 20 times for 146 yards and West Linn 10 for 100.
Rams senior tight end and defensive end George VanSandt, an Oregon commit, said his team must play cleaner going forward.
“It just comes down to everyone had to do their job, and stay focused,” VanSandt said. “We've got to keep everyone's heads up during the game.
“Every single player that we played today got better, and that's all that matters. That's why we're going to turn our focus to next week.”
jerryu@osaa.org
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