By James Day
There will be a distinct changing of the guard for local high school football programs this season.
Three of the five schools will have new coaches for the campaign, which began Aug. 31, after Our Town’s presstime. Also, powerful Scio will face some different competition this season as the Loggers move up a class.
Regis High School, which has battled the coaching turnover bug in recent years, has brought in Drew Carter, who brings a wide range of experience to the Rams, including two stops at big-school powerhouse Sheldon High School.
From 1999-2004, Carter was freshman head coach and varsity assistant at Sheldon, and he returned to the Eugene school last season as a volunteer scout.
During Carter’s time at Sheldon the Irish won one state big-school title and finished second twice.
Carter also was the head coach at Oakridge from 2005-07, and his teams advanced to the state playoffs in his second and third years with the team. He was an assistant coach at Tualatin in 2009 and was defensive coordinator for the Wilsonville junior varsity team in 2010.
“I am ecstatic to be on the Regis campus,” said Carter. “This is a golden opportunity; I feel very fortunate. Regis has a long history of success and the football program is in a great position to take to the next level.”
The Rams were 6-5 overall and 3-2 in the Tri-River last season under coach Kyle Fessler. Regis advanced to the OSAA Class 2A quarterfinals in 2011 before falling to eventual state champion Gold Beach. The Rams opened Aug. 31 at home against Jefferson, get a return match on the road against Gold Beach in week two and open the league season Oct. 5 at Culver.
Cascade High School, meanwhile, reeled in a state championship coach Steve Turner to replace the veteran Karl Elliott. Turner’s Mountain View (Bend) team was 13-1 last season and won the OSAA Class 5A title with a 14-13 victory against Sherwood.
Turner said he has a good turnout from senior and juniors, however, his sophomore and freshmen teams have a low turnout.
“I see the conference as one of the best at the 4A level. With Central in the league, you always have one of the best teams in the state,” Turner said. “Newport will again be a team to contend for the league championship along with Stayton and Philomath. Top to bottom tough league! Cascade will be in the mix for one of the playoff positions. For us it will be a team effort, I think our guys understand that. That’s the way our team is approaching things.”
The Cougars opened the season Aug. 31 against visiting Banks. The Cougars open league play Sept. 28 at Newport. Cascade was 3-7 overall and 1-4 in the Oregon West Conference a year ago.
The third new coach in the region is Brad Emmert, who replaces Ryan Hein at Santiam High School. The Wolverines were 0-9 overall and 0-6 in the Tri-River a year ago. Emmert was an assistant coach at Silverton.
Santiam opened its season Aug. 31 at Monroe and will open league play Oct. 5 at home vs. Kennedy High School.
Scio High School, which won the 2009 and 2010 OSAA Class 2A titles and took second in 2011, will play in the Class 3A PacWest Conference this season with Blanchet Catholic, Chemawa, Creswell, Harrisburg, Jefferson, Pleasant Hill, Salem Academy, Santiam Christian and Toledo. Santiam Christian High School won the OSAA Class 3A title a year ago. Scio finished 12-2 in 2011, with losses only to Class 3A runner-up Dayton and in the Class 2A title game to Gold Beach.
Stayton High School was 5-6 overall and 2-2 in the Oregon West last season. The Eagles defeated La Grande 47-11 in a Class 4A play-in game before falling 35-13 to Douglas in the first round of the playoffs. Stayton opened the season Aug. 31 against visiting Madras and kicks off the Oregon West season Sept. 28 at home against Taft.
