Five Must-Watch Matchups Oregon High School Football Quarterfinal Matchups

The postseason heats up with heavyweight clashes, historic runs, and revenge games as top teams battle for spots in the Oregon semifinals

Willamette defensive lineman Tony Cumberland leads the Wolverines into a Class 6A quarterfinal matchup with Central Catholic. / Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It’s quarterfinal week in the Oregon high school football playoffs, and High School on SI Oregon has all the scores you need in one place as we make our way through the postseason.

As we head into the quarterfinals, here are five games to watch around the state matching teams in this week’s High School on SI Oregon Top 25.

No. 7 Central Catholic (8-2) at No. 2 Willamette (10-0), Friday

The one knock on the Wolverines during their best season since 2007 — the only other time they’ve won 10 games — is they haven’t beaten any of the traditional Class 6A powers. They can erase that criticism and break the school record by beating the Rams, who’ve won seven state titles and are in the quarterfinals for a ninth consecutive season.

Rams senior KK Sombe ran for a season-high 100 yards and a touchdown in their 42-14 win over Newberg in Round 1, while DE Hudson Coe has 19.5 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks this fall. The Wolverines have a trio of defenders — senior DE Tony Cumberland (25 TFLs, 14 sacks) and juniors DT Tripp Johansen (21 and 10) and LB Kawai Chamberlin (15 TFLs) — with double-digit tackles for loss.

No. 15 Grants Pass (7-3) at No. 3 Lake Oswego (9-1), Friday

The Cavemen last reached the quarterfinals in 2014, but they haven’t faced an offense as dynamic or multifaceted as the Lakers this season. University of Utah commit RB LaMarcus Bell went over 1,000 yards in their first-round win over Sprague and has 1,066 yards and 16 touchdowns this season.

Grants Pass counters with one of the top passing combos in 6A, with junior QB Jordan Rossetta (2,229 yards, 24 TDs) and WR Brevik Hill (81 catches for 997 yards and 13 TDs) needing to have big games if it hopes to upset last year’s 6A finalists.

No. 13 Lakeridge (6-4) at No. 5 Nelson (9-1), Friday

The Hawks already have posted the most wins in a season in the five-year-old program’s history, and with senior RB Corbin Croslin (118 yards, TD in last week’s 35-12 win over West Salem) back from a hamstring injury, they’re eying a first-ever semifinal berth. 

Now, they must slow down University of Washington commit RB Ansu Sanoe, who ran for a career-high 195 yards and five touchdowns in Lakeridge’s 35-21 first-round win at Glencoe and would love to help his team avenge a 26-21 loss to Nelson in Week 0.

No. 10 Wilsonville (9-1) at No. 11 Silverton (9-1), Friday

The Wildcats survived an upset bid from Ridgeview last week to keep their hopes of a third straight 5A title alive. Now, they travel to the Mid-Valley to meet a Foxes team that rolled past Crater in Round 1 and want nothing more than to avenge their loss to Wilsonville in last year’s state semifinals.

No. 21 Dallas (7-3) at No. 6 Mountain View (9-1), Friday

The Dragons snapped a three-game losing streak with a dominant defensive performance against Milwaukie, but a trip to Central Oregon to meet the two-time 5A finalist Cougars is a different beast altogether. Mountain View boasts a running back tandem in junior Ryder Carpenter and senior Angel Valenzuela, who’ve combined for 30 touchdowns this season, that few teams in any classification can match.