Regis High is scoring points at a punishing rate in its second year of playing 9-man football in Class 2A.
The Rams were 4-0 overall, 2-0 in Tri-River Conference play and ranked No. 3 in the state heading into the Sept. 29 nonleague game at Oakridge (0-4 overall, 0-2 Special District 2) after Our Town presstime.
Regis downed Colton 63-22 on Sept. 22, avenging their lone league loss of a year ago. The Rams have scored 213 points in their 4 games, an average of 53-plus.
Leading the way has been quarterback Kollin Schumacher, who passed for 335 yards and 6 touchdowns while also intercepting three passes from his safety position vs. Colton. Schumacher has thrown for 1,346 yards and 21 TDs in his 4 games. Fletcher Gould (107) and Noah Koening (100) both rang up 100 or more receiving yards against Colton, which had outscored the Rams 50-48 last Sept. 23.
Cascade, meanwhile, is off to a 3-1 start (1-0 in the Oregon West) under veteran first-year coach Shane Hedrick. The Cougars fell 33-21 to top-ranked Henley of Klamath Falls Sept. 22, with the Hornets rallying from a 14-0 deficit. Cascade, which is ranked 13th in Class 4A by the OSAA, faced Cottage Grove on Sept. 29 after the Our Town presstime.
Stayton was 2-2 overall and 0-2 in league heading into the Sept. 28 matchup with Philomath (2-2, 1-1). The Eagles are ranked 11th in Class 4A, with their losses coming against No. 2 Junction City and No. 3 Marist Catholic.
Cross country: A total of 34 teams and nearly 500 runners participated in the Silver Falls Oktoberfest Invitational on Sept. 13 on the fire roads and the Maple Ridge Trail at Silver Falls State Park. The meet, jointly run by Silverton and Kennedy, included teams from Class 1A through 5A, with a big-school team, Class 5A Corvallis, dominating the proceedings. The Spartans sent out 56 runners and won team titles in all 4 events, boys and girls varsity and boys and girls JV. Corvallis also produced one individual champion, Miles Betts in boys JV.
In the 5K boys varsity race Matthew Resnik of South Albany triumphed in 15:19.8. Trevor Reese was 31st in 18:26.7 for Cascade, which finished 11th as a team. In the girls varsity race Daisy LaLonde of Class 2A East Linn Christian took first in 18:48.4. Makaila Kuenzi of Cascade was 10th in 21:00.3.
The girls junior varsity race of 3,400 meters, was won by Clara Persons of Regis in 14:20.3. Cascade finished 4th in the team race, led by Allison Course, who finished 13th in 16:42.8. Regis finished 5th in the boys JV team race, led by Stuart McLaughlin, who finished third in 12:04.0.
Soccer: The Stayton boys are off to another strong start. The Eagles, who won a Class 4A state title in 2010 and have 5 runner-up finishes since, were 4-1 overall, 1-0 in the Oregon West Conference and ranked No. 3 in the state heading into the week. Stayton had allowed just 2 goals and scored 20 in their 5 matches, with the lone loss against No. 7 Tillamook by a 1-0 count on Sept. 14.
Key competition in the league includes No. 2 Newport/Waldport and No. 6 North Marion, which ousted Stayton 3-2 in last year’s quarterfinals. The Eagles, coached by Chris Shields return all-league performers Ismael Esparza, Jesse Wright, Owen Samuell, Angel Garcia and Addison Samuell.
Meanwhile, the Stayton girls broke a lengthy win drought with a 2-1 nonleague win Sept. 14 against Gervais/Kennedy. The Eagles are 1-5 overall and 0-1 in the Oregon West. Cascade’s girls are 2-2 overall and 0-1 in league, while the Cougars boys are 1-4 overall and 0-1 in the OWC.
Volleyball: The Cascade girls are off to a 10-3 overall start as well as a 2-0 record in the Oregon West. The Cougars, who won the 2021 Class 4A state title and finished second a year ago, are ranked 4th, behind three teams from the Sky Em League, No. 1 Marshfield, No. 2 Marist Catholic and No. 3 North Bend. Marshfield defeated Cascade in last year’s title match in Springfield. Stayton currently is running even with Cascade in league play with a 2-0 record. The Eagles are 5-4 overall and ranked 11th. Regis is 6-4 overall and 3-4 in the Tri-River. The Rams are currently 5th in the league. The TRC has four automatic Class 2A playoff berths, with three at-large teams to be selected. Regis is ranked 15th.
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