Mt. Hood Conference’s Central Catholic looks to “three-peat” state title

As October came and went, so did the regular season for high school football throughout Oregon.  November brings the 6A division state championship playoffs, initially featuring five teams from the Mt. Hood Conference.

The 32 teams seeded began tournament play the weekend of Nov. 6, with Central Catholic headlining the conference as a No. 5 seed.  Oregon City followed at No. 11, Clackamas at No. 12, Centennial at No. 15 and lastly Sam Barlow, coming in at No. 29. Centennial lost to No. 18 Tigard, 34-22, in the opening round, however, and No. 4 seed Sheldon knocked out Barlow, 63-21.

The Pioneers of Oregon City advanced as they defeated No. 22 Southridge, 53-15, as did the Clackamas Cavaliers, beating No. 21 South Medford, 35-21. The Rams of Central Catholic look to defend their state title and win a third straight crown, and had a promising start, dispatching No. 28 McNary, 42-21.

The second round of 16 starts today and continues through Saturday evening. It matches the Rams against the division rival Cavaliers at Hillsboro Stadium, simply by design of their rankings. The Pioneers will travel to South Salem to take on the sixth-ranked Saxons.

To say Central Catholic has had a good run would be an understatement.  The Rams began their playoff winning streak in 2013, eliminating  Jesuit in the championship by a score of 38-28.  The next season, they stretched their streak to eight games after pulverizing eventual second place winner Tigard 49-nil.  Now they look to record their 10th win in their last 10 tournament games when Clackamas comes to town.

The Rams’ title defense will end up having to go through The “Belle of the Ball” in this year’s playoffs: the same Jesuit Crusaders they defeated in 2013. This time though, Jesuit is the top ranked school in the tournament, and has buzz-sawed through opponents with relative ease.  The Crusaders are undefeated on the season and have swept the Player of the Year awards in the Metro league. Crusader running back and Offensive Player of the Year Jason Talley will not be easy to contain through the tournament.  The 6-foot-3-inch senior uses all 215 pounds to punish defenses, to the tune of 1,556 yards and 28 touchdowns on the year – all while playing very little in the second half of blowout victories.  Defensive back Jordan Happle won Defensive Player of the Year honors for the second year in a row, leading a Jesuit defense that allowed only 80 points in league play this season. Oh, and Happle is a first-team all-league selection at wide receiver, also for the second consecutive year.

The Rams do have the No. 11 ranked prep athlete in the country on their side, La’Mar Winston.  Winston is a dual positioned threat on both sides of the ball, and is committed to the University of Oregon next year.

Central Catholic lost to the Crusaders 27-14 back on Sept. 4, and there’s no promise of a rematch with the possibility only existing in the semifinal round of four.  The Rams would have to go through Clackamas before potentially handling the winner of No. 4 seed Sheldon vs. No. 20 Sunset.  Jesuit hosts Westview this weekend, then would look to take on the winner of the intriguing matchup of No. 9 Beaverton at No. 8 Tualatin.  It’s a long shot, but it could happen.

In the end, it may not matter.  Jesuit has the ability to score at will and limit opposing offenses to three-and-out drives.  Their “powerhouse” reputation will live up to the hype, and the state title will be theirs to lose.

Advocate Staff