As far as nonleague football rivalries go, Wilsonville-Thurston has become one of Oregon's best.
The Wildcats and Colts met in the 5A playoffs four times between 2016 and 2021, including Thurston's dramatic 30-27 win in the 2018 state final. They played again in Week 1 last year, with Wilsonville prevailing 38-35 in overtime.
So Friday night, when the No. 2 Wildcats play host to the No. 3 Colts in the season opener, the teams will be bracing for a battle.
“Those guys will never cave,” said Wilsonville coach Adam Guenther, who is 1-3 in the playoffs against the Colts. “They're just a bunch of country boys that just get after it. It's always a fun game. It's a true 5A rivalry.”
On the surface, it appears Wilsonville has the edge. The Wildcats bring back 14 starters from last year's state runner-up, including dual-threat senior quarterback Kallen Gutridge. Thurston returns only seven starters from a semifinal team.
Colts coach Justin Starck sees Wilsonville as the state favorite, even though reigning champion Summit earned the No. 1 spot in the OSAAtoday preseason 5A coaches poll.
“They've got my pick, for sure,” Starck said. “They've got great skill kids. They fly to the football defensively. They're not real big, but they are aggressive and strong. We know we've got our hands full.”
The Wildcats' attack revolves around the 6-foot-4, 190-pound Gutridge, who passed for 2,476 yards and 34 touchdowns with 11 interceptions as a junior. Guenther said Gutridge reminds him of Nathan Overholt, the quarterback for the 2018 team.
“He's a special athlete,” Guenther said of Gutridge, who ran for 356 yards and four scores in four playoff games last season. “I honestly think he's the most overlooked quarterback in the state. He needs to work on his short-game accuracy, but he's got a cannon for an arm. He can throw the ball 60, 65 yards down field.”
Gutridge has a big-time target in junior Mark Wiepert (6-1, 190), who had eight touchdown catches last season. Wiepert, committed to Oregon State for baseball, also is a force on defense at strong safety.
“Mark could be the most electric kid I've ever coached,” Guenther said. “He does everything. He could be a Division I football player.”
Guenther said the Wildcats have good size on their line “for the first time in a long time.” They are loaded with tall, stout linemen, including 6-5 senior Gavin Waddell and 6-5 junior Emmitt Fee.
Thurston also returns its starting quarterback in junior Noah Blair (6-2, 175), who passed for 22 touchdowns in 2022. Blair was impressive in the Colts' jamboree against Sheldon, Sprague and Springfield on Friday, completing 21 of 27 passes for 183 yards and four touchdowns without an interception.
The Colts are looking for Blair to improve in the RPO game and to start make changes at the line of scrimmage.
“We're giving him more responsibility to read defenses and make adjustments,” Starck said. “Last year, we didn't ask him to do a lot outside of what we do. Now we really want him to make more decisions on the fly.”
Thurston has a first-team all-state tight end in senior Luke Newell (6-3, 205), who last season caught seven touchdown passes and averaged 26.1 yards per reception. Senior Walker Bonar (6-3, 180) had a team-high eight scoring catches in 2022 but broke his collarbone in the Les Schwab Bowl and is doubtful for Friday, according to Starck.
Senior all-state guard Michah Hannah (6-1, 250) anchors the offensive line and plays defensive tackle. Sophomore defensive end Caleb Jones (6-1, 190) is ready for a breakout season.
“He has a tremendous motor,” Starck said. “He's just a fireplug. He's got a lot of energy. He gets after the quarterback really well. He's become the emotional leader out there as a sophomore.”
Overall, the Colts are young and inexperienced.
“We're going to rely on the few seniors that we have,” Starck said. “We don't have a real big senior class, but we've got a few that have been in quite a few big games.”
In last year's game against Wilsonville at Thurston, the Colts rallied from a 32-10 deficit to tie and were driving for a go-ahead field goal at the end of regulation but Blair threw an interception.
“We dug ourselves a hole,” Starck said. “I was so proud of the way our kids fought back. We put ourselves in position to win it.”
Both teams will get a chance to test themselves against Summit in nonleague games. The Storm goes to Thurston on Sept. 8 and visits Wilsonville on Sept. 22.
A look at other top matchups in Week 1:
Thursday
6A No. 10 Nelson at 6A No. 1 West Linn, 7 p.m.: The reigning 6A champion Lions graduated lots of high-end talent, but the program is loaded, and can build around four returning starters on the offensive line and twin senior receivers Wiley and Gus Donnerberg. The third-year Hawks, who made the playoffs last season, have a fourth-year starter at quarterback in junior Avirey Durdahl.
North Medford at Tigard, 6 p.m.: North Medford features an Oregon commit in senior tight end/defensive end AJ Pugliano. Tigard, playing its first game under interim coach Ken Feist, is looking to make a jump from last season, when it started 6-0 and finished 6-4.
Friday
6A No. 5 Tualatin at 5A No. 1 Summit, 7 p.m.: A rematch from last season's opener, when the Timberwolves won 19-12, handing the 5A champion Storm their only loss of the year. Both teams are breaking in transfers at quarterback, Tualatin with 6-4 junior Nolan Kenney (Westview) and Summit with 6-3 senior Jimmy Hughes (San Marin, Calif.).
6A No. 3 Jesuit vs. Skyview (Wash.) at Kiggins Bowl, Vancouver, 7 p.m.: Jesuit slipped past Skyview 24-21 in the opener last year, handing the Storm one of their three losses on the season. Crusaders coach Ken Potter needs seven wins this season to become the state's all-time leader.
Mililani (Hawaii) at 6A No. 4 Sheldon, 7 p.m.: The Irish, 6A runners-up last year, must retool after graduating quarterback Brock Thomas, who accounted for 114 touchdowns in the last three seasons. Milihani lost its opener Aug. 12 but bounced back to win its last two games by a combined 117-14.
5A No. 8 Dallas at 5A No. 4 Silverton, 7 p.m.: The hotly contested Mid-Willamette Conference gets started with a game between Silverton, which shared the conference title with South Albany and Central last season, and Dallas, which was one game behind. The Foxes defeated the Dragons 40-29 in the opener last year.
4A No. 4 Estacada at 4A No. 1 Mazama, 7 p.m.: Estacada, coming off the first state title in the program's century-old history, gets a crack at revenge against the Vikings. The Rangers lost at home to Mazama 26-14 in the opener last year before reeling off 12 consecutive wins to take the title.
2A No. 3 Gold Beach at 2A No. 2 Heppner, 7 p.m.: An early showdown of top teams in 2A. Heppner, a semifinalist the last two seasons, is hoping to have a big year behind senior quarterback Landon Mitchell. Gold Beach went 9-2 and fell in the quarterfinals in 2022.
Saturday
Bellevue (Wash.) vs. 6A No. 2 Central Catholic at Hillsboro Stadium, 2 p.m.: Bellevue was the champion in Washington's second-highest classification in 2021 and the runner-up last year. The Wolverines will want some payback against the Rams, who went to Bellevue in last year's first game and won 24-23 on a field goal with three seconds left.
1A-8 No. 2 St. Paul vs. 1A-8 No. 1 Lost River at Dufur HS, 7:30 p.m.: A rematch of last year's state final, won by Lost River 43-0. The Raiders lost at St. Paul 46-32 in Week 3 last year but handled the severely shorthanded Buckaroos in the state final. Lost River graduated the state player of the year in Nathan Dalton but has a new candidate this season in senior Connor Dunlea, who in 2022 scored 17 touchdowns and had 15 interceptions, including three in the state championship game.
jerryu@osaa.org
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