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November 11, 2005. West Salem High School is poised for its first-ever state playoff game, facing the Lincoln Cardinals on their home field in West Portland. When it was all over, the visitors were headed home to turn in their gear, as the Cardinals shut down West in a decisive 25-3 win. Lincoln, led by junior quarterback Connor Kavanaugh, advanced all the way to the championship game that season, losing to Jesuit 14-10. Fast forward two years and ten days. West Salem will host Lincoln this Saturday in the quarterfinals of the OSAA 6A football playoffs, but this time, the guys in green are the favorites in this one. Bad bounces of the ball not withstanding, the Titans have the superior talent to move to the semifinals next weekend at Portland’s PGE Park, provided they also turn in the superior performance on the field. Here’s the breakdown of this quarterfinal matchup set for one o’clock Saturday: Offense: At first glance, this game could be a real track meet. Both teams are ranked in the top ten in scoring, West Salem at 31 points per game, Lincoln at just over 30. However, consistency is on the side of the Titans on a weekly basis. At 6-5 on the year, Lincoln has been up and down all season in terms of points. When they won during the regular season, the Cardinals scored no less than 34 points in each game. In their losses outside the defensively-limited PIL, Lincoln struggled to generate offense (read that as 14 points or less) against everyone but Tigard in their opening contest. The Cardinals have plenty of potent weapons to keep West occupied. Quarterback Jayson Hobby, a second team all-PIL pick, threw for over 1400 yards and 22 TDs during the regular season, but showed he could also run the ball with 95 yards and two touchdowns in last week’s win over David Douglas. Senior receiver Jordan Polk brings another challenge for the West Salem defensive secondary with more than a 1000 yards in receptions and 18 TDs--second best in the state. Running back Nate Kirkpatrick, who was on the PIL first team with Polk, rushed for over 650 yards and five TDs. West Salem brings the decidedly superior running attack to this contest, averaging 228 yards a game. Central Valley Conference POY Jordan Jenkins, who led West with over 160 yards on the ground last week, will be a marked man. Passing-wise, Titan quarterback Aaron Hire suffered his first interceptions of the season last week against West Linn—for a total of three. But the pick-offs didn’t phase him as he threw for 216 yards and three TDs to high-wire receiver Jordan Bishop. Defense: Lincoln features Division-I d-liine candidate Ethan Johnson. At 6-5 and 270 pounds, Johnson will provide quite an obstacle for the always undersized Titan offensive line. Joining Johnson will be linebackers Mason Wiederhorn, Charles Holmes and Reni Diaz, who provide good mobility and lots of hitting power. In the secondary, Ross Meinhart is the anchor. West Salem’s defense has similar credentials with first team all-leaguers Tyler Steele and Alex Fox anchoring the line, John Gallagher, Jenkins and Chase Sexton wreacking havoc at linebacker, and Bishop, Brett Weisbrodt and Jake Simpson blanketing the secondary. Again, consistency belongs to the Titans, who have given up just 8 points a game, best among all 6A teams. Lincoln has yielded nearly 26 points a game, including a combined 79 points in their last two PIL games of the year. Final analysis: If only the game were played on paper, West would be guaranteed the win. But Lincoln has already beaten two higher seeds in Southridge and David Douglas. Certainly no gimmee. This game will be about the well-worn sports clichés of desire and determination, something West displayed last week in the shoot out against West Linn. It’s the “above the neck” aspects of football that are sometimes the toughest to maintain. The Titans must not look beyond the Cardinals, something coach Shawn Stanley and his staff have probably been preaching all week. Hopefully, the team has been listening carefully.
Mark Gilman can be contacted at mark@fullaccesssports.com
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