For a proud football program like Sherwood, back-to-back losing seasons is borderline unthinkable.
After finishing 5-6 last season, the Bowmen had high hopes for 2018, only to stumble through a 4-5 regular season.
But Sherwood always believes it can battle with anyone, and Friday’s 6A first-round playoff game against visiting Sandy (5-4) gives the Bowmen a chance to right a wrong while keeping alive an impressive streak.
Beating Sandy not only would serve as payback for a 24-7 home loss on opening night, it would extend Sherwood’s run of consecutive seasons with a playoff win to 11. The winner will face either No. 3 Sheldon or No. 20 Centennial in the second round.
“The first game with Sandy, I don’t think we were ready yet,” Sherwood coach Greg Lawrence said. “We had a couple of new offensive linemen and we weren’t ready for the pace, and they just got us.
“But our kids are 100 times better than the first time we played them. We look forward to the rematch, and see what our kids can do, and show, ‘Hey, we’re a pretty good football team.’ And we always have a shot.”
Sherwood’s two sophomore starters on the offensive line – Noah Culbertson and Bryan Cuthbertson – have a full season under their belts. And the rest of the Bowmen are battle-tested after playing a schedule that included eight teams with winning records. That tough schedule is the reason why they have a home playoff game despite a losing record.
“In those first five games, we were playing all those tough teams, it was about getting better,” Lawrence said. “They believed that. No one got down or started pointing fingers.”
Sherwood set its sights on the Pacific Conference title, but had to settle for second place because of a 40-33 loss to first-place Liberty in Week 8. The Bowmen gave up the winning touchdown on a 70-yard punt return by Aidan Maloney with 1:21 left.
“The Liberty game was a disappointment,” Lawrence said. “We just set a new goal that we were going to get in the playoffs and go as far as we can.”
In their losses, the Bowmen just couldn’t seem to get their offense and defense playing at a high level at the same time. The wing-T offense, which tried to implement more passing plays and use of the shotgun formation, has struggled to find a groove.
It didn’t help when speedy senior running back Ryan Scroggin injured his ankle in Week 4 and did not return until the Liberty game, taking away one of the team’s big-play threats.
With Scroggin out, the team turned more to senior Ian Stormont (5-7, 190), who responded with several big games. Stormont has rushed for 881 yards and 15 touchdowns this season, with about 600 yards coming in the last four conference games.
“He’s rocking it,” Lawrence said. “He’s not a big kid, so I don’t think they see him when he comes through the line, and he’s got decent speed.”
Sandy, which moved up from 5A this season, will try to duplicate its opening-night success at Sherwood. In that win, the Pioneers held the Bowmen to 223 yards and forced three turnovers and quarterback Chet Chamberlain threw two touchdown passes.
Sandy has won one playoff game in its history, defeating Bend 24-6 in 1998. The Pioneers lost in the first round of the 5A playoffs the last two seasons.
A glimpse at other first-round games:
6A
No. 17 Grants Pass (6-3) at No. 16 Oregon City (4-5): Another opening-night rematch. When the teams met Aug. 31 at Grants Pass, Oregon City’s Zakhayas Dennis-Lee rushed for 323 yards and four touchdowns on 20 carries and returned a kickoff 91 yards for a score in a 64-41 win. But Dennis-Lee injured his foot last week against West Linn and is questionable for Friday. Grants Pass had a chance to share the Southwest Conference title but lost to Sheldon 56-6 last week.
No. 21 Beaverton (4-5) vs. No. 12 Barlow (6-3) at Gresham High School: Beaverton’s passing game, featuring quarterback Carson Budke (2,626 yards, 29 touchdowns) and receiver Ethan Wilborn (12 touchdown catches), goes up against Barlow’s running attack, led by Jobadiah Malary, who has rushed for a Mt. Hood Conference-high 1,435 yards and 23 touchdowns. Malary is coming off a 300-yard, seven-touchdown game.
No. 22 McNary (4-5) at No. 11 Lakeridge (6-3): The game includes two of the state’s top running backs in McNary’s Junior Walling, who ran for 452 yards in the last two weeks, and Lakeridge’s Jalen John (1,308 rushing yards). McNary, largely forgotten after an 0-5 start, rallied with four consecutive wins to take the Mountain Valley Conference title.
5A
No. 9 Lebanon (7-2) at No. 8 Crater (6-3): Lebanon, which lost only to No. 4 Silverton and No. 5 West Albany, has built momentum with a four-game winning streak. Crater’s losses have come against No. 1 Wilsonville, No. 2 Churchill and No. 7 Thurston. Crater likes to air it out with quarterback Trever Davis. Lebanon quarterback Colton Shepard is a dangerous runner.
No. 14 Crescent Valley (6-3) at No. 3 Pendleton (8-1): Pendleton will try to bounce back from getting handled by No. 1 Wilsonville 53-7 in the Northwest Oregon Conference title game, a defeat in which it fumbled eight times, seven on snaps. Crescent Valley, with a resume that includes a 27-14 win over No. 4 Silverton, has a powerful line led by senior Kaimana “Bubba” Wa’a and an Oregon State-bound linebacker in Omar Speights.
No. 11 North Bend (7-2) at No. 6 Scappoose (7-2): Two former 4A powers that moved up to 5A this season will collide with a quarterfinal berth on the line. The last time they met was in the 2015 4A semifinals, with Scappoose prevailing 37-21. North Bend’s Divenson Willis (1,338 rushing yards, 17 touchdowns) and Scappoose’s Connor McNabb (1,103 rushing yards, 13 touchdowns) are having big seasons.
4A
No. 12 Woodburn (6-3) at No. 5 Mazama (6-1): Woodburn, which moved down from 5A this season, has its first winning record since 1991 and will appear in the playoffs for the first time since 1973. The Bulldogs are 0-3 all-time in the postseason, falling in 1959, 1963 and 1973. Mazama, a semifinalist last year, has lost only to Del Norte (Calif.).
3A
No. 9 Clatskanie (6-3) at No. 8 Santiam Christian (7-2): Clatskanie is looking to end a streak of eight consecutive first-round losses, but it won’t be easy against Santiam Christian, last year’s state runner-up, which is allowing 12.0 points per game. Clatskanie’s only losses have come against No. 1 Rainier, No. 2 Amity and No. 5 Vale.
2A
No. 10 Kennedy (7-2) at No. 7 Heppner (7-2): Kennedy’s high-powered offense has a dynamic athlete in 6-foot-3, 205-pound junior running back Emorej Lynk. Heppner, which has won seven in a row, has a talented quarterback in sophomore Jayden Wilson and playmakers in sophomore running back Blake Wolters and junior receiver Mason Lehman.
1A
No. 9 Elkton (8-1) at No. 8 Camas Valley (6-1): Elkton, which has won only one playoff game in its history (1981), is having a special season. But the Elks know that Camas Valley, which beat them 52-6 in the 2017 regular season, will provide plenty of resistance. The Hornets made the quarterfinals last year.
