Beaverton High School varsity football coach Bob Boyer knows a thing or two about winning. With over 100 career wins, Boyer is one of the most successful coaches at a school that is known for its century-long history and traditions. While the Beavers have always been solid under their long-time head coach, it’s been a while since they won their last Metro League title.
That last title came 15 years ago when the Beavers went 11-2 en route to winning the Metro League in 2004. The one constant between that year's team and this year is Boyer, who cannot stress the importance of this Friday night's game enough.
“We’re the smallest school in the league and I think our school needs some good things,” Boyer said. “It’s been a while since one of our teams have won a league championship or had the opportunity to win a league championship. There’s a lot of buzz right now, there’s a lot of excitement.”
He added: “[A win] sets the tone for the whole year. It sets the tone for the school year, it brings the pride back to Beaverton High School. Every sport is big, every sport is important, but there is something about Friday night lights that I think the community identifies with a little bit more.”
This week Beaverton finally has its shot at a one-off game for the title, but it will be no walk in the park. On the other side of the field is Jesuit, a program that has winning in its DNA and one that has claimed six-consecutive Metro titles. It will be going for its seventh-straight at 7 p.m Friday at Beaverton High School.
The Crusaders are a team that always exudes confidence, but players and coaches are still well aware of their vulnerabilities. It will be difficult slowing down Carson Budke, Trent Walker, and an offense that scored 91 points over the past two weeks. One thing coach Ken Potter and his team are focusing on are preventing the big plays.
“Like any offense, you want to limit the big plays,” Potter said. “They’ve had a lot of big plays. They do a good job of completing passes long, but also completing some short passes then running after the catch.”
“It’s going to be a tough one for us because at times we have had trouble defending the pass.”
Offensively, the Crusaders employ many weapons of their own that are sure to give the Beaverton defense fits. In its game against Sunset last week, running back Cade Wisher rushed for 300 yards and three touchdowns as the Crusaders racked up 520 yards of total offense.
“The thing about playing a Jesuit team is that you can’t afford to get behind,” Boyer said. “You’ve got to be able to match score for score. If you fall behind just because of how they do things with their offense, they can fill an entire quarter on one drive by running the ball and milking the clock, and that’s happened to us in the past.”
“If we are within a touchdown going into the fourth quarter than I feel good about our chances.”
Jesuit’s sole league loss this season came in a disappointing 42-41 defeat to Aloha, but even that made headlines as it was the Crusaders' first league loss since falling 26-21 to Southridge in 2012. While a result like that could prompt any coach to worry about their team’s focus each week, Potter said that he is not concerned in the slightest.
“We don’t have to be worried about our focus this week,” he said. “We’re playing a team that is undefeated in league and only has one loss in the entire year. It’s one of those things where you don’t want to get overhyped. Don’t worry about your opponent as much as yourself.”
Beaverton may be the underdog, but it is coming into Friday fresh off a dominant 49-14 win over rival Southridge a week ago. Quarterback Carson Budke threw five touchdowns and receiver Cody Davidson racked up 220 yards and four touchdowns as Beaverton ran away early, but players still believed that they could play better.
“We have to be more physical than we were this week, that’s for sure, and then have confidence,” Budke said after the game against Southridge. “Not let them come onto our field and let them think they can just roll over us. We have to have confidence, and I think we are pretty confident right now so we have to have a good week of practice and get ready.”
At the end of the week Beaverton will be playing in its biggest game since the early 2000’s against a team that is used to playing in these big, pressure-packed games, albeit this is most certainly not a situation it is used to being in this late into the season. It all sets up what will be Friday night lights at its finest.
No. 8 Tualatin (7-1, 4-1 Three Rivers) @ No. 1 Tigard (8-0, 5-0 Three Rivers), Friday, 7:00 p.m.
Two of the most successful teams in the Three Rivers Conference will take the field against one another on Friday night in yet another league title-deciding matchup.
Only one loss separates these two powerhouse teams that have run rampant through their schedules this season both literally and figuratively. Tualatin fell to West Linn two weeks ago, but rebounded to defeat No. 2 ranked Lake Oswego 35-8 last week for its first win against the Lakers since 2015.
The Tigers come into Friday night as the favorites, winning convincingly in every game that it has played. Its closest game was last week's 42-21 win over West Linn, the only team that managed to defeat the Timberwolves this season. Tigard running back Josh Burns went for 171 yards and four touchdowns against the Lions and could be set up for another dominant game against Tualatin.
Despite its dominant season, Tigard coach John Kemper is not too worried about his team overlooking the Timberwolves because that’s not a part of the team’s identity-- one that has been instilled since his early days as a head coach.
“That’s something we’ve always talked about,” Kemper said. “That each game is of equal importance, and the most important game we’re playing is the game that week no matter who we’re playing. Since they’ve heard it for so long they don’t know anything different.”
While the defeat to West Linn could ultimately be considered a disappointment, its win against the Lakers was a definitive statement. Quarterback Blake Jackson threw for just 127 yards and a touchdown through the air, but he rushed for just shy of 100 yards. Running back Kainoa Sayre also contributed in big ways with 131 yards and three touchdowns. This week it will all come down to taking care of the ball.
“It’s really going to come down to who makes the fewest mistakes,” Tualatin coach Dan Lever said. “I anticipate it being a tight ball game. Usually, tight ball games come down to 3,4, 5 plays and who makes them and who doesn’t.”
“Last year turnovers in critical situations absolutely hobbled us and so far we’ve done a much better job in that area. If we’re walking off the field with a win on Friday night it’s because we protected the football and played a clean game.”
The Timberwolves haven’t beaten the Tigers since 2015, and if that statistic holds up, it means that Tigard will be walking away with the league title. If Tualatin wins then both teams will split the title. With these high stakes, coaches can only preach one thing: focus.
“You just have to play one game at a time,” Kemper said. “It just so happens to be that the game we’re playing this week is against our inner-district rival.”
The feeling is mutual.
No. 25 Westview (2-6, 0-4 Metro) @ No. 14 Sunset (4-4, 2-2 Metro), Friday, 7:00 p.m.
Regardless of record, whenever the Westview Wildcats and Sunset Apollos get together spectators can expect an exciting game between two local rivals separated by just three miles.
It’s been three years since Westview last conquered its local foes in one of the Metro League’s longest-running rivalries-- winning 35-27 back in 2016. That year, the Apollos' current stand-out quarterback, Callum Craig, was just a freshman. On Friday night--a week after contributing 229 all-purpose yards against Jesuit--he will be taking the field as a senior in his final regular-season game.
After a strong start to the season, Sunset is entering its final game of the regular season fresh off consecutive Metro defeats against Beaverton and Jesuit. It’s likely not where the team wants to be at this point, but a win on Friday will give the Apollos its second-consecutive winning season.
On the other side of the field, Westview is looking to end a tough season with a quality victory. Coming off of a 38-8 defeat against the Mountainside Mavericks, the Wildcats have one final shot at getting a league win. After winning its opening two games, Westview has dropped six straight. A win against its biggest rivals in the season’s final game could do a lot for the Wildcats before a long offseason.
No. 2 Lake Oswego (6-2, 3-2 Three Rivers) @ No. 21 Lakeridge (3-5, 2-3 Three Rivers), Friday, 7:00 p.m.
The Lake Oswego Lakers and Lakeridge Pacers will match up on Friday night in yet another exciting end-of-season rivalry game.
Coming off of a disappointing 35-8 loss against Tualatin in which the Lakers were held to its lowest offensive output of the season, Lake Oswego will be looking to build some momentum before trying to maintain their claim as 6A champions in the playoffs starting next week. Three-star running back Casey Filkins rushed for 143 yards and a touchdown against the Timberwolves a week ago, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the Lakers from suffering just its second loss of the season.
Like Sunset, the Pacers are also trying to snap a two-game skid in its final regular-season game. Fresh off a narrow 34-33 defeat in Bend last Friday, the Pacers will be ready for senior night, but it won’t be easy against Lake Oswego. Seven seasons ago the Pacers took home an impressive 20-14 victory against its rivals and have yet to win a game against the Lakers since.
No. 24 Glencoe (5-3, 2-1 Pacific) @ No. 16 Newberg (6-2, 2-1 Pacific), Friday, 7:00 p.m.
It’s all coming down to the final week in the Pacific Conference.
While the keys to a league title may not be in its hands, with a little help in the form of a Sherwood loss, the Tigers will win the conference title with a win against Glencoe.
Last Friday night Glencoe won its third game in four tries, this one a close 17-14 game outing against Century, while Newberg running back Prince Pothier put up 109 yards and two touchdowns in a 21-0 win over McMinnville.
Both of these teams will make the playoffs; the only question is whether or not the Tigers can do enough--and get the necessary luck on its side--to win the conference title. It looks like we will find out late Friday night.
