Chris went all out this week and added previews of the 6A MWL games
WEEK 4 GAME PREVIEW
It’s a short drive to Roseburg and if you make the trip, you are guaranteed a special high school football memory. Roseburg Coach Thurman Bell goes for career win number 300 Friday night in Roseburg, when the Thurston Colts travel south to take on the Roseburg Indians. This is the featured game for our week number four Preview:
THURSTON COLTS AT ROSEBURG INDIANS: Thurston (2-1) travels south to play the #8 Oregon Live ranked Roseburg Indians (3-0) with the big story line Roseburg Coach Thurman Bell going for his 300th win as a head coach. Can the Colts pull the upset and prolong Coach Bell’s quest to join an elite group containing only two other coaches, Marshfield’s Kent Wigle and Dayton’s legendary Coach Dewey Sullivan? Thurston has had to deal with some injury issues at key offensive positions. Last week the Colts beat Crater 10-3 with a solid defensive effort. Thurston will need an even better defensive effort against the Roseburg ground game. Perhaps the best matchup of the night will be the Indians monstrous offensive line against the Thurston defensive line, led by Senior Kraig Akins. It’s either a Thurston upset victory or win number 300 for Bell; either way high school football fans can’t lose on this game.
NEXT WEEK: Thurston at Grants Pass.
GRANTS PASS CAVEMEN AT SHELDON IRISH: The Sheldon Irish trounced Grants Pass last year 63-18. No doubt this was motivated by a three overtime 42-41 loss to Grants Pass in 2008 that snapped Sheldon’s league winning streak. What will motivate the Irish this year? How about a #2 Oregon Live ranking and the need to continue perfecting their well oiled offense. Sheldon has put up 112 points in three games for an average of 37 points per game. Junior quarterback Dillon Miller has been efficient, with 11 touchdown passes and only 5 interceptions. Receivers Daniel Herr, Dontee Prevost and Joe Bando have been the main targets. This could be a good game for the Irish to balance out their offense and establish a running game with running backs JJ Juilfs and Trevonn Robinson. The Grants Pass defense has given up 105 points in three games.
NEXT WEEK: Sheldon hosts North Medford.
SOUTH EUGENE AXEMEN AT NORTH MEDFORD BLACK TORNADO: South Eugene (0-3) needs a win and this might be one of the few remaining opportunities. North Medford (1-2) is also struggling, having lost last week to 5A Mountain View 43-10. The Axemen offense needs to get on track having scored a total of 26 points so far this year. Quarterback duties have been split thus far between Senior Taylor VanderKley and Sophomore James Banks. The South defense has given up 117 points in three games, including 51 last week to Sheldon.
NEXT WEEK: South Eugene hosts Crater.
SPRINGFIELD MILLERS AT MARIST SPARTANS: Springfield is 2-0 in league and 2-1 overall and received enough votes to fall into the “others receiving votes” category and a #13 ranking on Oregon Live. Marist is ranked #2 and is going for their second league win after a 50-0 rout of North Eugene last week. Can the Miller offense score enough points to keep up with Marist? Both teams are lighting up the score board and average 41 points per game. The obvious match up of the night is the Springfield offense versus the Marist defense. But the real story line might be Springfield’s struggle to control the passing game of both Silverton and Willamette in weeks one and two. The Millers will certainly be tested by the Spartan air game this week.
NEXT WEEK: Marist at Eagle Point; Springfield hosts Churchill.
Gary’s Prediction: Springfield QB Levi Green has been almost mistake free this year with 11 TD’s and 1 INT. The Millers will score. However, Marist’s defense will get the ball back enough for the win. Marist 28 Springfield 17.
NORTH EUGENE HIGHLANDERS AT CHURCHILL LANCERS: Both the Highlanders and the Lancers are 0-2 on the season, so the good news is one team will get their first win of the season tonight. The bad news is one of these teams will be 0-3 at the end of the night. The slow start by Churchill has been a surprise. Defense needs to improve and the offense will have to be a lot better if the defense does not improve. North Eugene is struggling and things may not get better this week. The Highlanders have some offensive weapons in running back Alex Wilson, quarterback Dylan Lubonski and receiver Jackson Lundgren but are searching for consistency.
NEXT WEEK: Churchill at Springfield; North Eugene hosts Willamette.
Gary’s Prediction: Churchill should win this one. However, the Highlanders are skilled and scrappy enough to steal the win if the Lancers try and give away the game. Churchill 35 North Eugene 14.
EAGLE POINT EAGLES AT MARSHFIELD PIRATES: Just how good is #8 ranked Eagle Point? Senior Aaron Foster has been doing it all scoring touchdowns through the air, on the ground and on special teams. He scored four last week and the Eagle offense rushed for 400 yards in a 58-19 win over Willamette. It could be a long night for the Pirates (1-2). They gave up 351 total yards to Springfield last week and it could be worse this week if they cannot slow down the high flying balanced offense of the Eagle Point Eagles. The game is currently scheduled for Saturday at 3PM at North Bend High School.
NEXT WEEK: Marist at Eagle Point; Marshfield at Ashland.
Gary’s Prediction: Marshfield fans will get to see two great MWL 8 teams in North Bend this year. Eagle Point and Marist. Pirates need to eliminate turnovers. Eagle Point 35 Marshfield 14.
WILLAMETTE WOLVERINES AT ASHLAND GRIZZLIES: Willamette has struggled so far this year and is 0-3. Ashland (1-2) lost their first two games and got their first win last week against Churchill 21-14. Willamette is without senior leader and standout two way starter Danny Granillo, who sustained an anterior cruciate ligament tear in the loss to Springfield. The Wolverines have shown they can move the ball with sophomore quarterback Kamerun Smith and Senior running back Skyler Mohr. The Wolverine offense put up 393 yards passing in a loss to Springfield in week two.
NEXT WEEK: Willamette at North Eugene; Marshfield at Ashland.
Gary’s Prediction: If the Wolverines have kept the faith like I think they have, I believe their offense will kick into high gear. If it does, they're likely to score a ton of points and win. But I’m going with Ashland for two reasons. The game is in Ashland and Ashland had good fortune with their new two quarterback rotation. Ashland 28 Willamette 21.
Stats are up for rushing, receiving, passing and scoring. It takes a lot of hand entering of data to get the stats going, so please let me know if I've misspelled a name or have other info incorrect. Stats are missing for one Marshfield and one North Eugene game. Quarterbacks are looking pretty good. http://www.mwathletics.com/football/stats/2010/Passing.htm
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