A sports year that almost didn’t happen now looks like it will have a postseason, including a state championship football game.
Class 4A, which includes Stayton and Cascade, has been particularly aggressive on this front, with rankings-fueled systems in place for eight-team brackets in soccer and volleyball and a BCS style football system.
The football piece is simple. The two teams ranked No. 1 and No. 2 will play for the state title. Those in the third and fourth spots will battle for third. And Cascade, which is just 2-2 but has played some fierce competition, currently is ranked fifth. The Cougars are coming off a convincing 52-0 win against injury-riddled Stayton. But all four teams ranked ahead of them – Mazama, Marist, Gladstone and Marshfield – also won last week. So the Cougars will need to win the regular-season finale Friday, April 2 against Sweet Home and hope someone above them falters.
Cascade was running on all cylinders against Stayton, scoring on its second play from scrimmage and amassing 496 yards of total offense.
The win was the fourth in a row in the rivalry series for Cascade, which also has won eight of the past nine meetings. Six different Cougars ball-carriers scored TDs, with Blake Lewis scoring twice and rushing for 177 yards on 17 carries. Lance Van Hoose added 110 yards and a score on just four carries. QB Jacob Hage (47 yards) and wings David Kanoff (51 yards) and Shawn Kuenzi (30 yards) all rushed for scores, as did Ariel Tobiasson, whose 1-yard wildcat TD came during the same week she scored five goals for the girls soccer team.
Regis also is making a late-season surge. The Rams, currently ranked 12th in Class 2A, have scored a pair of impressive wins in the past two weeks, a 33-0 home win vs. Santiam and a 52-18 win at Jefferson. The Rams close the season with Culver.
Boys Soccer: Stayton, which lost to Woodburn in last year’s Class 4A title game, was 8-0 with a 42-3 goal differential heading into the regular-season finale against Sweet Home. The Eagles almost assuredly will be one of the top seeds in the eight-team bracket that will determine a state champion the week of April 5.
“The season has had its ups and down for sure but overall we have done our best to keep the team in a routine,” veteran Stayton coach Chris Shields told Our Town. “We are fortunate to have support from the district and (athletic director) Darren Shryock, which has allowed us to keep our guys busy during the offseason, which has paid dividends.”
The COVID-fueled schedule at one point had the Eagles playing three matches in four days “which we would have never done during a ‘regular’ year,” Shields said.
Shields moved Julian Flores, a top defender a year ago, to center forward, and the senior has responded with 12 goals. Junior Jayden Esparza, state player of the year as a sophomore, has moved to the right side and “has been an issue for teams to deal (with) his ability to get the ball into dangerous places.”
Freshman Ishmael Esparza is third on the team in scoring, while Shields said Omar Garcia, Damien Uribe, Owen Samuel have all impressed on defense. Carlos Gomez made the move from forward to goalie and “has been outstanding.”
Volleyball: State competition in Class 4A works the same as for soccer but at presstime Cascade and Stayton both were on the outside looking in.
Cross Country: Postseason is looming for area runners. Stayton and Cascade will compete in the Oregon West Conference district meet on April 3 at the Community Chapel course near Sweet Home, tangle in a dual meet April 7 at Stayton Middle School and then close out the season at the Class 4A state meet on April 10 in Tillamook.
Class 2A is taking the same approach, with Regis and Santiam participating in district competition April 1 and the state meet April 10. Both events will be at Cheadle Lake Park in Lebanon.
Alumni watch: Tyrell Williams, the former Cascade and Western Oregon standout, is now a member of the Detroit Lions. The Las Vegas Raiders cut ties with the veteran wide receiver in February. Williams missed the entire 2020 season with a shoulder injury. The Lions signed him to a one-year contract on March 9. Williams has 197 career catches for 3,181 yards and 23 touchdowns.
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