Oregon High School Football Week 5: Who's Up, Who's Down

Week 5 of the Oregon high school football season is in the books, and we saw a Three Rivers League power rebound from a disappointing loss and a 2025 state finalist finally earn their first victory.

So, who saw their fortunes rise as we crossed the halfway point of the season? And who will be looking to rebound as they can see the finish line approaching at the end of the month?

Three Up

West Linn

A week ago, the Lions — ranked No. 4 in this week’s High School On SI Oregon Top 25 rankings — were stunned on their home field by Nelson in the final seconds, giving up a touchdown and a two-point conversion in a 36-35 defeat to close out their nonconference slate.

But first-year coach Anthony Newman wouldn’t let them hang their heads. “Having speed is about recovery,” he said. “You’ve got to be able to bounce back.”

And West Linn did just that in its Three Rivers League opener, traveling to No. 2 Tualatin and handing the Timberwolves their first loss of the season 42-14. Senior QB Sloan Baker threw for four touchdowns and ran for two, and the Lions forced five turnovers, with senior S Shane Peters recovering two fumbles, forcing one and getting one of three interceptions, as did University of Oregon commit Josiah Molden.

Central Catholic

The Rams avoided their first 0-5 start since 1995, finally getting off the schneid in their Mt. Hood Conference opener. Armani Tonga and Summit Grant each ran for two touchdowns as Central Catholic defeated Clackamas 42-12. The Rams, whose losses were to teams all ranked in either the Oregon or Washington Top 25 (West Linn, Lake Oswego, Graham Kapowsin and Jesuit), will look for a top-two finish in the MHC to guarantee themselves an OSAA playoff spot.

Aloha

The Warriors are only three years removed from a 27-game losing streak that spanned the 2021, 2022 and 2023 seasons. They went 4-5 last season and matched that win total with a 39-36 victory over Forest Grove, getting a career-high 230-yard, three-touchdown night from senior RB Alexis Hernandez Diaz Leal. “You’ll see us in November,” senior Rafael Sanchez Rojas said. “I promise you. We’ll be there.”

Three Down

Cole Hachmeister

This isn’t for anything the Tualatin senior has done on the field, but just for the terrible run of injury luck he has experienced the past two seasons. As a junior, he missed half the season after injuring his hip flexor in the season opener against Clackamas.

This year, he suffered a hamstring injury in Week 0 against Mountainside and missed three games. He returned for the Wolves’ showdown with West Linn, only to injure his knee in the second quarter and miss the rest of the game. Here’s hoping for a speedy recovery and good health the rest of the season.

Ontario

The Tigers started the season 2-0, but then, all hell broke loose. Head coach Billy Brost posted on social media that he had stepped down immediately after their win over Payette (ID). Athletic director Josh Mink took over as the head coach. And the team, which went 1-8 a year ago, has lost three in a row — the most recent defeat an 84-8 loss to rival Vale in the Vikings’ Homecoming game.

Taft

The Tigers looked like they were set to end their three-game losing streak. They led Tillamook 27-12 with seven minutes remaining and still held a 34-28 advantage until 5 seconds remained, when senior RB Aden Camacho Garcia capped a 209-yard performance with his second touchdown run of the fourth quarter to give the Cheesemakers a 35-34 win.

Who rises and falls next? High School On SI will return each week with Three Up, Three Down from around the Oregon high school football scene.

Add us as a preferred source on Google