3 Up, 3 Down in Oregon High School Football After Week 0 Action

Week 0 of the Oregon high school football season is in the books, and there were notable results around the state. It’s definitely too early to call anything a trend, but we can note some teams that took a step up this week — and who might need to rethink things.

Three Up

Lake Oswego Passing Game

We shouldn’t be surprised that Steve Coury and his longtime offensive coordinator, Nick Hallberg, would have senior Ryder Lemm ready for his first start behind center. He overcame some early hiccups to throw for 285 yards and four touchdowns, including two to Cameron Elijah (who also had a pick-six) in a 34-7 victory over Willamette.

“Ryder played well once he settled into the game,” Hallberg said. “He forced a few things, but overall, his decision-making was good.”

Ridgeview

Summit and Mountain View will be the favorites again in the 5A Intermountain Conference, but anyone who thought the Ravens might take a step back following the graduation of all-state QB Gage Hobbs and several other standouts should take notice after they went on the road to defeat defending Mid-Willamette Conference champion Lebanon 35-21.

“I’d say we grew up quite a bit tonight,” Ridgeview coach Patrick Pileggi said. “We had seven guys getting their first significant varsity time tonight as starters on both sides of the ball, so we knew there were going to be some growing pains. I’m proud of how the kids stepped up and got better as the game went on.”

Banks

The Braves won a 4A state title in 2018 before dropping to 3A for the past four seasons. They returned to 4A this year, and their first game back was a 58-0 thumping of Philomath in which they held a potent Warriors offense to 75 total yards and forced six turnovers, including pick-sixes by Ben Lyda, Grady Lucia and Damien Robles, while senior DT Cade Wilson dominated the line of scrimmage.

“He spent the entire night in their backfield and disrupted everything they were trying to do,” coach Cole Linehan said of Wilson, who holds offers from Oregon and San Jose State. “To go on the road in August, in our first game of the season, and play the way we did was extremely impressive. This team is hungry, and it showed from the very beginning.”

Three Down

Willamette

The Wolverines had high hopes that they’d learned from their 6A quarterfinal loss to Central Catholic and could contend with the Portland Metro powers this fall. Their season-opening defeat to Lake Oswego served as a harsh lesson that they still have a ways to go if they want to put together a deep run in November.

“We were not prepared to play fast enough for a fourth-quarter game against Lake Oswego tonight,” Willamette coach Josh Line said. “I did not get us ready to play at the speed that we would need to go for four quarters, and unfortunately, at the end, we allowed them to separate from us.

“For us, it’s back to the drawing board and getting better and hopefully preparing a little bit better. I’m really excited about what we can be, but we’ve got to make some changes and how we get ready if we want to be a team like that or even compete.”

Silverton

Another team with high hopes is the Foxes, who won the 5A state championship last season and returned the bulk of their offensive line and defense this fall. However, a humbling 37-7 loss to Idaho power Coeur d’Alene, which saw standout QB Tannar Stern throw for four touchdowns and run for another, will send coach Dan Lever back to the same drawing board with Willamette looming next week.

“We need to go back to work and get better,” Lever said.

Burns

The Hilanders knew life after graduating two-time 3A offensive player of the year QB Jack Wright, who led them to a state championship in 2024 and the title game last fall, plus six other all-state performers would be challenging. But a 34-0 loss to Weiser, an Idaho 4A quarterfinalist the past two years, was probably not what they expected from their opener.

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