By James Day
Somehow it all fits. A coach named Turner coaches a Turner team to a state title, 35 years after he was an assistant coach on the last Cascade High team to capture a state football title.
“Around here everybody is happy,” Steve Turner said a few days after the Cougars vanquished Scappoose 37-28 at Hillsboro Stadium to win the Class 4A title. “It’s real good to see. It can be a springboard to other activities.”
It was the first Cascade football title since Karl Elliott coached the Cougars to a title in 1980, with a young assistant coach named Steve Turner on the staff.
Turner eventually moved on to head coaching positions at Rainier, Crook County and Mountain View (state title in 2011) while also winning a state title at North Medford as a defensive coordinator.
In 2012, he came back to Turner to coach the Cougars (while taking over for Elliott, who also had come back to Cascade). In year one, Cascade lost in triple overtime in the state semifinals to eventual champion Baker. A loss in the first round of the 2013 playoffs to North Bend was followed by a trip to the quarterfinals in 2014.
This year Turner and the Cougars hit the jackpot, scoring a thrilling 35-34 win against league rival Philomath in the quarterfinals and overcoming a 14-0 deficit to beat Scappoose 37-28 in the championship game.
“So many things were involved,” Turner said. “Commitment from the kids and coaches. They did a lot of extra stuff and hard work that people don’t see. Offseason weight training. Competing in other sports.” Turner strongly encourages his players to participate in multiple sports. “You can get toughness from wrestling, skills from baseball and basketball and conditioning from track. It all came together.”
The Cougars were an offensive machine in the playoffs, scoring at least 35 points in all four games, led by workhorse running back Garrett Coffey and the leadership of quarterback John Schirmer.
Coffey pounded his way to 2,548 yards and 30 touchdowns, but he had tons of help from tight end Kyle Braff, blocking back Isaiah Roniger and the offensive line of Dom Federico, Malachi Gonzalez, Aiden Littau, Tristyn Combs and Cody Teal.
“We can’t do the things that we do without those guys,” Turner said of the O-line while noting the contributions of offensive line coach Josh Beckett.
“And it’s not just the offensive line, but the defensive line, too,” Turner said.
Cascade used a nine-player rotation on the defensive front, with line coach Nick Thompson using Gonzalez, Littau, Combs and Teal as well as Gabe Pointer, Mitchell Bell, Kade VanDeHey, Lane Bogenoff and Chris Allen.
Cascade played a five-man D-line vs. Scappoose, allowing defensive coordinator Steve Miller to drop six defenders back to take on the Scappoose passing game. And the Cougars didn’t panic, despite falling behind 14-0 in the first quarter.
“They are a fast-starting team,” Turner said. “They did some things defensively we weren’t ready for and we had to adjust. That fast start wore them down. You could see it in their faces. We’re physical. We wear teams down. From the second quarter on we dominated.”
Coffey battered his way for 155 yards and three touchdowns on 40 carries. Quarterback Schirmer was 12 of 20 for 232 yards, averaging nearly 20 yards per completion. Receivers Camreron Molan (4 catches for 90 yards), Lucas Bjorklund (4 for 50), Michael Biddington (2 for 55) and Hunter Thomas (1 for 29) made big play after big play.
“Schirmer doesn’t get a lot of credit for being the outstanding quarterback he is,” said Turner, who praised the work of assistant coach Brandon Bennett. “He was our team leader. It’s like having a coach on the field. He was the best quarterback we saw in the state playoffs. The key to the championship game was for us to be able to throw.”
And don’t forget the special teams, Bjorklund, who scored a school-record 281 points in his Cascade career, produced a critical 32-yard field goal that gave the Cougars a nine-point lead with just 3:21 left in the title game.
During the interview with Our Town, Turner brought out a yellow legal with individual statistics that he had kept from the team until the end-of-the-season banquet. As good as Coffey was he had no idea of his rushing totals.
“I didn’t want them to be worrying about numbers,” Turner said.
Coffey’s influence was huge. He carried the ball a totel of 76 times in the semifinals and finals and was tackled for just 4 yards in losses. “”He’s got great vision and great knowledge,” Turner said. “He watches a lot of film of himself and guys who played here in the past. I can’t think of too many guys who had a greater senior year.”
Guys from the past … a coach named Turner returning to Turner. It all fits.
“The people were waiting for this team to come,” Turner said. “When we went through Aumsville the day of the (championship) game on the bus people were lining the streets and waving signs. Guys from the 70s and 80s came back to support these guys. It doesn’t matter what sport it is … they support the teams tremendously, both boys and girls. They expect us to win.
“Just because you expect something doesn’t mean you are going to get it. You’ve got to put in the work. That’s the philosophy for this community: Work hard and good things will come to you.”
