PORTLAND – Despite a bumpy start to the football season, the Jesuit Crusaders arrived safely at one of their desired destinations Friday night.
No. 8 Jesuit (6-2, 4-0) came from behind in the second half for a 21-14 win at Westview (5-3, 3-1) in a battle for first place in the 6A Metro League. The Crusaders clinched at least a share of their 12th league title in 13 seasons, and can claim it outright by beating Sunset (3-5, 2-2) at home in the regular-season finale.
Jesuit stayed the course after losing to No. 2 Nelson 38-0 and No. 6 Willamette 54-31 in nonleague games.
“Everyone doubts us every single second,” senior running back Luke Ortner said. “It's nothing new to us at all. We knew everyone was doubting us coming into this.
“People are always at us, like, 'Oh, Jesuit, they're nothing this year.' That's not true at all. We're a team to be contested in the playoffs. I hope everyone realizes that now. We're not a quitting team.”
Ortner rushed for 131 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries, raising his season total to 846 yards. He ran for a six-yard touchdown in the third quarter to make it 14-14 and for a 17-yard score with 4:24 left in the fourth quarter to put the Crusaders ahead 21-14.
Senior quarterback Jack Wilson continued his stellar season by completed 13 of 18 passes for 214 yards and one touchdown, a 16-yard strike to senior tight end Oliver Holverson in the first quarter.
“We came so far since that first week,” Wilson said. “I don't think that was a true image of our team. We've grown tremendously.”
Staying on top of the Metro is especially meaningful for the Crusaders considering they did it under first-year coach Phil Rombach, who replaced longtime coach Ken Potter, the state's all-time leader in wins.
“We really wanted to get it for Coach Rombach and the rest of the staff,” Wilson said.
The Crusaders have connected with Rombach, according to Ortner.
“He's a big family guy,” Ortner said. “He's always on the sideline jumping. He brings us the energy. That's a big win for us and for him, just kind of building that new era. Jesuit is coming, I promise you that.”
Rombach said his players have gotten “a little bit better every week.”
“It's definitely a process,” Rombach said. “I'm definitely impressed with our team and how much we've improved from Week 1 until now.”
The Crusaders had to adjust to a new approach.
“Definitely a big change on offense and defense in terms of schemes that we're running,” Rombach said. “So that takes time. … We're definitely not the same team we were in Week 1.”
The most noticeable change from the Potter era is Jesuit opening up its passing game. Wilson has passed for 1,475 yards and 20 touchdowns with one interception.
“It's a game-changer for me, too,” Ortner said. “Last year, I was used to seeing eight in the box all the time. But it really spreads out the box sometimes. … We're back and forth, running game, passing game. We're dangerous in all sides of the ball this year.”
Westview, which shared its only Metro title with Jesuit and Southridge in 2007, had its sights fixed on its first outright league title this season. The Wildcats entered the game 1-31 against Jesuit, dropping the last 30 meetings between the teams, but were confident that this was their year.
They led 14-7 after one quarter on touchdown runs of 38 and 5 yards by senior quarterback Hank Whitworth, But with the game tied 14-14 midway through the third quarter, they suffered a critical blow when Whitworth left the game with a left knee injury after catching a pass from junior receiver Takhai Smith.
Sophomore Owen Weaver replaced Whitworth, but the Westview offense lost its spark. The Wildcats did not gain another first down the rest of the game.
“Coming into the game, we were looking to make history,” Smith said. “We knew that we had the better team, and it showed all up until our quarterback got hurt. ... It's pretty disappointing. It was going to be a huge win. The game just turned on us.”
A deciding sequence happened midway through the fourth quarter. Westview junior Reid De La Cruz broke loose for a 12-yard run and an apparent first down, but Jesuit sophomore Alex Goeckner stripped the ball away and junior teammate Carson Floberg recovered at the Wildcats' 41-yard line.
Less than one minute later, Ortner's 17-yard run put Jesuit ahead. The Crusaders' defense secured the team's most important win of the season.
“We faced adversity,” Wilson said. “Coming out of the half, we knew what we had to do.”
Jesuit outgained Westview 328-222. Wilson was in command, spreading the ball around to Holverson (four catches, 64 yards, one touchdown) and seniors Nolan Eilers (four catches, 87 yards) and Penny Harrison (four catches, 58 yards).
The Wildcats rushed for 145 yards. De La Cruz had 65 yards on 16 carries and Whitworth had 51 yards on five carries.
jerryu@osaa.org
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