A savvy veteran and a promising newcomer will take the stage at quarterback Friday night when No. 3 Summit visits No. 2 Silverton in a season-opening 5A football nonleague showdown between 2023 semifinalists.
Silverton has a talented dual threat in 6-foot, 200-pound senior Sawyer Teeney, who passed for 1,999 yards, ran for 640 yards and accounted for 29 touchdowns last year.
“He's pretty much the offensive coordinator this year,” Silverton coach Dan Lever said. “He's far and above what I expected. He knows this thing like the back of his hand. It's going to be fun to watch.”
Lever said that Teeney will have “a lot of flexibility” in directing the offense.
“He makes great decisions,” Lever said. “He can hurt you with his feet. He's extremely accurate, and he can make the tough, long throws, too. He really can do it all, it's just going to come down to protecting him.”
Teeney's counterpart is 6-4, 200-pound Summit sophomore Andrew Guthrie, who will make his varsity debut. Coach Corben Hyatt raves about the potential of Guthrie, putting him in the same category as former Storm standout quarterbacks John Bledsoe and Hogan Carmichael, who also started as sophomores.
“His anticipation on throws is head and shoulders above those guys,” Hyatt said of Guthrie, who played on the freshman team last year. “He's got the same skill set as those guys, arm talent, but his anticipation and understanding of the offense, and his demeanor, just really is great.”
Hyatt said that Guthrie not only is “super talented,” but he's an elite competitor. He pitched for Summit in the 5A baseball quarterfinals as a freshman.
“He's a football player, he's not just a quarterback,” Hyatt said. “If we would let him play defense, he might be a starter at safety. He likes to hit, he likes to run. He's not one of those quarterbacks that's going to dive out of bounds. We're excited about that element because we haven't had that.”
The game between the Storm, the state champion in 2022, the Foxes, who won the title in 2021, could shed some light on what promises to be a highly competitive 5A division this season.
Summit is rebuilding its offense after losing nine starters, including its all-time leading rusher in Sam Stephens, but returns six starters on defense.
“With some of the younger guys that don't have a lot of experience, we'll see how they develop,” Hyatt said. “I feel really confident about where we'll be later in the season. Defensively, I feel like we're a little ahead of schedule. Our defense will obviously every year keep us in the mix.”
Silverton has more experience than Summit, bringing back rotational players at 15 positions.
Teeney has no shortage of receivers in senior Hudson Waples, juniors Sutton Kuenzi and Logan Uitto and senior tight end Brody Kuenzi (6-4, 215). On the line, the Foxes feature seniors Brash Henderson and Eli Willis, 5A first-team picks on offense and defense, respectively.
Hyatt said the Foxes are the clear favorite, calling them “probably the leader in the clubhouse in 5A,” but likes his team's competitive edge.
“I feel like we've played in a lot of big games, and I feel like our guys will kind of step up when needed,” Hyatt said.
Silverton has high respect for the Storm.
“There's not going to be a lot of room for error in this ballgame,” Lever said. “They're going to be ready. … I'm excited for that moment to see how we face adversity.”
Both teams have treacherous nonleague schedules. Summit's next three games are against reigning state champions in Highland (Idaho), 5A No. 1 Wilsonville and 4A No. 3 Henley. Silverton faces 6A No. 9 Mountainside and 6A No. 4 Lake Oswego in the next two weeks.
Other top 5A teams also have scheduled aggressively.
“We've all looked at our schedules and gone, 'Good grief, what have we done to each other? We're going to beat up each other,'” Hyatt said. “I don't think there's going to be a 5A team that's not with a couple losses before we get to playoffs.”
Lever said he welcomes the challenge.
“The approach has got to be, this is going to make us better in November,” Lever said. “If it goes great, we can't get too high, and if things don't go our way, we can't get too low.”
Other top matchups in Week 0:
Friday
(2023 records in parentheses)
Leilehua, Hawaii (5-6) vs. 6A No. 2 Central Catholic (13-0) at Hillsboro Stadium, 12 p.m.: Reigning 6A champion Central Catholic plays its first game under new coach Charlie Landgraf, who came over from Marist Catholic to replace Steve Pyne (five state titles), now at Union of Vancouver. It is the third game for Leilehua, which enters 1-1.
South Medford (9-4) at 6A No. 4 Lake Oswego (6-4), 7 p.m.: It could be a big season for Lake Oswego junior running back LaMarcus Bell, who rushed for 1,116 yards and 11 touchdowns as a sophomore and has offers from Oregon State, Washington State and Nevada. South Medford, the Columbia Cup runner-up in 2023, has a dangerous running back combo in seniors Bridger Foss and Kameron Rague.
5A No. 7 Canby (6-4) at 5A No. 6 West Albany (8-3), 7 p.m.: Canby has one of the state's physical specimens in 6-6, 215-pound senior receiver/safety Jackson Doman, a BYU commit who was an undefeated wrestling state champion. West Albany features senior receiver/linebacker Austin Simmons, who is committed to Washington State.
4A No. 10 Estacada (4-6) at 4A No. 7 Tillamook (7-3), 7 p.m.: Estacada defeated Tillamook 32-8 in the 2022 state final, but the Cheesemakers got payback last year, going on the road to beat the Rangers 48-22 in a nonleague game. Both teams lost in the first round last season.
4A No. 2 Scappoose (10-2) at 4A No. 8 Pendleton (7-3), 7 p.m.: Scappoose, a semifinalist the last two seasons, has high hopes this season behind an offense that features senior quarterback Max Nowlin, who passed for 2,937 yards and 26 touchdowns in 2023. Pendleton brings back starters at 14 positions, including senior quarterback Colson Primus and junior running back Tugg McQuinn, its leading rusher last season.
1A-8 No. 1 Crane (10-1) vs. 2A No. 6 St. Paul (10-2) at Dufur HS, 4 p.m.: Crane, last year's state runner-up, gets an early test against St. Paul, a perennial 1A-8 contender that has moved back to 2A, where it played from 2014 to 2017. Crane has senior tight end/defensive end Cody Siegner (6-7, 225), who has committed to Oregon State.
2A No. 5 Heppner (8-3) at Gold Beach (8-3), 7 p.m.: Heppner kicks off its final season under longtime coach Greg Grant (339 wins, three state titles, 34 seasons) with an eight-hour bus trip to Gold Beach. The teams met in the opener last year, with the Mustangs prevailing at home 42-14.
1A-6 No. 2 South Wasco County (7-3) at 1A-6 No. 1 Powers (8-1), 1 p.m.: The two two teams in the OSAAtoday preseason 1A-6 coaches poll – both quarterfinalists in 2023 – square off in a matinee. Powers hasn't won a title since a three-peat from 1996 to 1998, but has an outstanding squad that has a pair of two-way first-team all-district seniors in running back/defensive end Jayce Shorb (6-0, 210) and receiver/defensive back Patrick Mahmoud.
Saturday
3A No. 3 Vale (9-1) vs. 3A No. 1 Cascade Christian (13-0) at Summit HS, 2 p.m.: Two-time reigning state champion Cascade Christian has won 26 consecutive games, but had to go overtime to beat Vale 27-26 in a quarterfinal last year. In that game, the Challengers scored a touchdown and two-point conversion to tie with 1:14 left in regulation, and in overtime stopped a two-point conversion attempt to seal the win.
