Jordan Fisher rushed for four of his five touchdowns in the second half Friday at Hillsboro Stadium. (Photo by Jon Olson)
Jordan Fisher rushed for four of his five touchdowns in the second half Friday at Hillsboro Stadium. (Photo by Jon Olson)

HILLSBORO – In a career filled with big games, Jordan Fisher saved his best for last Friday.

The Westview senior tailback rushed for a career-high 417 yards and five touchdowns on 36 carries to lead the No. 18 seed Wildcats (8-5) to a 51-22 win over No. 28 North Salem (8-5) the inaugural Columbia Cup football final at Hillsboro Stadium.

Fisher surpassed his previous best of 351 yards, set in Week 2 against Wilsonville, and hiked his season totals to a state-leading 2,972 yards and 40 touchdowns.

Fisher, who rushed for 4,444 yards and 63 touchdowns as a Wildcat, said he was hoping to end his high school career with a bang.

“The O-line has bolstered me to some great games throughout the year, and last year as well, but I knew this was the last one, win or lose, so I knew I had to turn the switch on,” Fisher said. “I had to go to a different level. And they did, as well.”

Fisher had a chance to reach 3,000 yards for the season on Westview’s last series, but opted to come out of the game so junior Irason Kekaualua -- who suffered a season-ending injury in the team’s opener – could get in the game and take a knee.

“That’s what kind of person he is,” Westview coach Ryan Atkinson said. “That is special, man. That’s what football is all about.”

Fisher ran for an 88-yard touchdown to make it 13-0 in the second quarter. He added scoring runs of 15 and four yards in the third quarter and 41 and seven yards in the fourth quarter.

“I always say, ‘It’s not rocket science to give it to 34,’” Atkinson said. “The thing I can’t say enough about him is he’s the greatest teammate.”

Senior Jonathan Collyer returned an interception 68 yards for a touchdown to give the Wildcats a 20-0 lead at half. Fisher’s second score made it 28-0 early in the third quarter.

North Salem closed within 28-14 when junior TC Manumaleuna II threw touchdown passes of 64 and 44 yards to senior Erick Gonzalez, the latter set up by a fumble recovery by senior Kyler Hammond.

The Vikings drew within 36-22 on an 18-yard touchdown run by junior Pierce Walker on the first play of the fourth quarter, but Fisher finished the scoring with two touchdown runs.

The Wildcats become the first champions of the Columbia Cup, the 16-team secondary bracket in 6A.

“It was just an opportunity for our seniors to play together as long as possible,” Fisher said. “We’ve been playing together for a while, so it meant the world to us to say that we’re the first team to win the Columbia Cup.”

Atkinson raved about how his team fought through the season.

“We wanted to play the toughest schedule in Oregon. That was the first thing we wanted to do,” Atkinson said. “We grew from it, we handled adversity, and we were still playing at the end.

“We can’t control the split and all that. We control who we play, right? So we reached our goals. We don’t really care much what the outside world thinks about it. They’re going to get some hardware, and they’re going to enjoy it.”

Collyer had one of Westview’s four interceptions of Manumaleuna, the others coming from seniors Jaydon McBreen and Miguel Rubio and junior Aiden Cox.

Manumaleuna completed 11 of 26 passes for 265 yards and two touchdowns. Gonzalez caught seven passes for 154 yards and two scores.