WEST LINN – The last two seasons, the only blemishes on Lake Oswego's football record were losses to Three Rivers League rival West Linn.
With that in mind, the reigning 6A champion Lakers were on a mission Friday night when they visited the No. 3 Lions in a first-place showdown. Senior quarterback Ryder Lemm passed for two touchdowns, ran for another, and the defense dominated in a convincing 21-7 win.
“Obviously, losing to them last year, it's definitely got a chip on our shoulder,” Lake Oswego senior linebacker Cash Wilks said. “I think we carried it into here, trying to just set the tone for the year. We're going for an undefeated season. … This is the year we're coming for it all. I think we're going to get it done.”
The Lakers outgained West Linn 401-218. Lemm completed 12 of 24 passes for 199 yards and two touchdowns with one interception and ran for a back-breaking 30-yard score in the fourth quarter. Senior Cole Callahan did much of the heavy lifting by rushing for 139 yards on 32 carries.
“Our focus all week was to come in here, come out hot,” said Callahan, who also had a fumble recovery on defense in the fourth quarter. “We've got to put all gas on these guys, and I think we did that. We came out, we showed them. This is a game we wanted. We wanted it all year, and we got it.”
The Lakers (6-0, 2-0) have won 12 in a row since losing to West Linn 38-16 at home last year. The victory gives them the upper hand in the rugged Three Rivers, but considering many of them recall what happened in 2024 – when they won at West Linn in the regular season but fell to the Lions in the 6A final – they know much work lies ahead.
“Just moving on after this game,” Lemm said. “Coming into this game, we knew West Linn is a great team, but we knew that even if we win, we've got to keep our head down, keep working. … We know we'll see them again. It's a great team.”
West Linn (4-2, 1-1) lost for the second time in three games, the other setback 36-35 at home to No. 2 Nelson in nonleague play. The Lions rebounded to win at No. 4 Tualatin 42-14 last week, but were unable to carry that momentum forward Friday.
“They're a very good football team,” West Linn coach Anthony Newman said of the Lakers. “You can't beat yourself against a good football team. You have to play almost perfect against a good football team.
“But we have an opportunity to do it again. We still got a lot of football left. So wherever we land in the playoffs, we know that we'll face all of these teams. And we're looking forward to it.”
Lake Oswego took a 7-0 lead in the second quarter on a six-yard touchdown pass from Lemm to senior Cameron Elijah on fourth-and-goal. The Lakers appeared ready to extend the lead when they drove to the West Linn 12-yard line on their next possession, but Lions senior Paul Johnstone intercepted Lemm to foil the threat.
West Linn pulled even 7-7 on the first drive of the second half. Senior quarterback Sloan Baker hit senior Ashden Marquis with a 38-yard pass to the 12-yard line, setting up a six-yard touchdown run by junior Cohen Bissell.
Lake Oswego answered on the next series when Lemm tossed a 45-yard touchdown strike to senior Jasiah Agnimel, who got behind Lions standout senior cornerback Josiah Molden.
Lemm struck a crushing blow in the fourth quarter when he darted for a 30-yard touchdown run through the heart of the West Linn defense on fourth-and-three, making it 21-7 with 7:35 left.
“The O-line, the Red Sea,” Lemm said of the play. “I could drive a truck through that. I'm serious. It was awesome. They deserved that touchdown.”
The game belonged to Lake Oswego's defense, which suffocated a West Linn offense that entered averaging 43.8 points per game. Baker, who passed for 1,319 yards and 13 touchdowns through five games, completed 4 of 11 passes for 59 yards. He went 0 for 5 in the first half.
Lake Oswego's secondary – senior cornerbacks Griffin Ellingson and Elijah and senior safeties Summit Cvitash and Callahan – locked down on West Linn's receivers and forced Baker to improvise.
“We were working on it all week,” Ellingson said. “We have a lot of chemistry with the safeties and corners. Our whole secondary, we work really well together. I feel like that was a big part of the game tonight.”
Wilks credited the coaches for getting the defense ready.
“Sloan Baker is a great quarterback. We knew he was going to try to run around,” Wilks said. “We know that they like their RPOs and stuff like that. We were just trying to take away what we saw on film, and I thought we did a good job of that.”
West Linn rushed for 159 of its yards. Bissell finished with 115 yards on 17 carries and Baker had 41 yards on nine carries.
jerryu@osaa.org
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