North Medford senior running back Cameron Nix rushed for 137 yards and four touchdowns as the Black Tornado punched its ticket to the final of the 6A Championship bracket
No. 14 North Medford beat No. 15 Jesuit 42-32 in a semifinal at Willamette High School in Eugene.
North Medford will face rival No. 13 South Medford in the 6A bracket championship game on Friday. South Medford defeated No. 16 Newberg 17-0 in the 6A bracket semifinals Friday at Roseburg High School.
Nix scored three of his touchdowns in the second half. He clinched the win for North Medford late in the fourth quarter on a 30-yard touchdown run to extend the Black Tornado's lead back to 10 points with less than a minute left.
Earlier in the fourth quarter, Nix scored his third touchdown of the night on an 11-yard run into the end zone to give North Medford a 35-25 lead.
North Medford junior quarterback Traeger Healy was 14 of 19 for 166 yards and a touchdown. Healy found senior receiver Easton Curtis for a 22-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter.
Curtis ended the game as North Medford's leading receiver with four receptions for 62 yards and a touchdown.
Facing a 14-7 deficit with less than a minute left in the second quarter, North Medford (8-4) suddenly tied the score before halftime on an interception returned 15 yards by senior defensive back Nolan Kelly.
Black Tornado senior tight end Teagan Neron had four receptions for 33 yards. Kelly had two receptions for 43 yards. Senior linebacker Landyn Meeker led the team defensively with seven total tackles.
Jesuit (9-3) faced a 28-17 deficit early in the fourth quarter, but senior quarterback Trey Cleeland seemed to will the Crusaders not to give up.
Cleeland scored two rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Each of those touchdowns brought Jesuit to within three points of North Medford. He ended the game with 12 carries for 33 yards rushing and three rushing touchdowns.
Throwing the ball, Cleeland was 18 of 29 for 276 yards and two interceptions.
In Jesuit's final possession of the game, the Crusaders faced a fourth-and-12 on the North Medford 35-yard-line. Cleeland completed a pass to junior receiver Nick Zervis for just a 9-yard gain, turning the ball over on downs.
Crusaders senior receiver Grant Valley was the game's leading receiver with nine receptions for 144 yards. Junior receiver Jack Tuenge had four receptions for 68 yards. Zervis had two receptions for 16 yards. Sophomore running back Luke Ortner ended with 13 carries for 33 yards rushing and a touchdown.
Valley also led the Crusader defense with six total tackles.
-- Nick Celario
No. 13 South Medford 17, No. 16 Newberg 0: The Panthers intercepted three passes in their shutout of the Tigers in the semifinals of the 6A Championship bracket Friday at Roseburg High School.
South Medford scored both of its touchdowns in the second quarter. The first touchdown was scored when Panthers junior running back Kellen Lefebvre dashed for a 51-yard run into the end zone on the first play from scrimmage to get out to a 10-0 lead.
The Panthers then got a 17-0 lead right before halftime when senior receiver Ajani Ingram hauled in a 5-yard touchdown reception from junior quarterback Makana Brown in the end zone.
South Medford scored its first points on a 24-yard field goal by junior kicker Jaeden Thonstad.
-- Nick Celario
5A
No. 2 Mountain View 40, No. 6 West Albany 17: Angel Valenzuela scored on runs of 61. 96 and four yards to help lead the Cougars (12-0) past the Bulldogs (9-3) in a 5A football semifinal Friday at McNary High School.
Valenzuela finished with 237 rushing yards on 24 carries for the Cougars, who pulled away after leading 20-17 at halftime. They advance to the championship game to play No. 5 Wilsonville in a rematch of last year's final, won by the Wildcats 29-23.
Mountain View took a 14-3 lead in the second quarter as quarterback Mason Chambers threw touchdown passes of two yards to Langston Belding and 19 yards to Jack Foley. West Albany (9-3) drew within 20-17 in the final minute of the first half as Kaden Martirano threw a 20-yard scoring pass to Tyler Hart-McNally.
Valenzuela pushed the lead to 27-17 on a 96-yard touchdown run with 4:09 left in the third quarter. Mountain View added two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
The Cougars finished with a 539-310 edge in total yards. Chambers completed 14 of 19 passes for 242 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. Jordan Best had three catches for 94 yards.
Hart-McNally rushed for 151 yards on 22 carries and had two catches for 29 yards and one touchdown for West Albany. Martirano completed 14 of 26 passes for 160 yards and one score.
-- Jerry Ulmer
