HILLSBORO – Once again, a little slice of humility went a long way for West Linn's football team.
Just like two years ago, the Lions avenged a humbling regular-season defeat in the state championship game, turning back Lake Oswego 44-30 in the OSAA/OnPoint Community Credit Union 6A Open final Saturday afternoon at Hillsboro Stadium.
The second-seeded Lions (11-1) scored on their first four possessions to take a 24-0 lead and spent the day fending off top-seeded Lake Oswego (11-1), making up for a 21-17 home loss to the Lakers in a Three Rivers League game.
It was reminiscent of 2022, when West Linn suffered its only regular-season loss to Sheldon and beat the Irish to take the title.
“Sometimes when you're winning all the time, you kind of drink the poison that comes from articles and that stuff,” said West Linn senior left tackle Jake Normoyle, an Oregon State commit. “But once you get beat, you get a little bit of humility, it makes you work harder, and it makes you come out on top in the end.”
West Linn senior tight end/defensive end Baron Naone, committed to Washington, said the loss to the Lakers stuck with the Lions.
“That loss humbled us a ton,” Naone said. “We came into this game with a chip on our shoulder, for sure. We knew we had to come out fast and physical and punch them in the mouth and I think we did just that.”
The Lions were hungry to prove themselves against Lake Oswego.
“Even if they weren't the team we were playing, we were watching them, just getting ready,” Normoyle said. “We schemed pretty well, but it came down to the players making a few plays.”
Junior Viggo Anderson rushed for 204 yards and two touchdowns on 28 carries and senior Baird Gilroy threw three touchdown passes to senior Danny Wideman for the Lions, who owned a 438-300 edge in total yards.
Anderson's performance overshadowed Lake Oswego junior star tailback LaMarcus Bell, who rushed for 87 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries and caught a scoring pass.
“I felt like it was a competition, me against him, because obviously their offense runs through him,” said Anderson, who rushed for 1,508 yards and 15 scores for the season. “But I just had to show everybody that I can do the same thing, too.”
Lake Oswego, going for its first title since 2018, lacked the firepower to keep up with the Lions.
“I've said all along that's the best team in the state,” Lakers coach Steve Coury said. “I said that before the year, and I said it during the year, and now it's proven. We were close, but close isn't the top.”
West Linn took control from the start. The Lions drove 80 yards on the game's first series, starting with a 37-yard run by Gilroy and ending with a five-yard touchdown run by senior Hudson Hardy.
Gilroy's 10-yard scoring pass to Wideman made it 14-0. After senior Zander Morris drilled a 32-yard field goal, Anderson ran for a 14-yard touchdown as the lead grew to 24-0 early in the second quarter.
Lake Oswego battled back to within 31-14 at half and made it a two-score game in the third quarter, cutting the lead to 38-22, But unlike the teams' first meeting, when the Lakers came back from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter, the Lions would not fold.
“Last game, we didn't finish a lot of our drives,” Naone said. “This game – our offensive line, our defense – we finished ever play.”
West Linn's defense came through in key moments. The Lions got sacks from Naone and juniors James Johnstone and Cole Dickson and interceptions from Dickson and senior Xavier Harris.
Wideman finished with four catches for 46 yards and three touchdowns, giving him 18 scoring catches for the season. He was among a handful of seniors that played on the 2022 championship team.
“It's nice to lead this team, me being a senior now,” said Wideman, committed to Oregon for baseball. “We had a lot of studs on the 2022 team, and I took a lot of notes. You know, Mark Hamper, I watched him a lot. I'm just happy I can do my thing, play the game with no fear. I'm going to play baseball now. My last football game, I'm just glad to leave it all on the field.”
Gilroy completed 12 of 22 passes for 181 yards and three touchdowns, raising his season totals to 2,638 yards and 36 touchdowns. Gilroy threw three interceptions in the first game against Lake Oswego, but none Saturday.
“We didn't throw it to them. That's a good place to start,” Lions coach Jon Eagle said.
Wideman praised Gilroy.
“He did his thing,” Wideman said. “Two-year starter, that's the man right there. I grew up with him. We have a great connection. He balled out today. We wouldn't have won the game without him.”
It is the third title for West Linn, all coming since 2016. It's also the second title in three seasons under Eagle, who won two Washington big-school titles at Camas.
“Every year is different,” Eagle said. “The journey is always different. It's always special. We want kids to learn that hard work pays off. We told them good things happen to good people who work hard. This is the result of that.”
For Normoyle, the title had a different feel than in 2022.
“Two years ago, we had some ballers who are now in college,” Normoyle said. “I think what made this team special is we've been playing with each other since the fourth grade.”
It was a frustrating day for Lake Oswego, which kept fighting back but was undone by penalties and an inability to get off the field on defense.
“We never gave up,” Coury said. “We kept it close, and had we had one stop, we might have made it a little bit closer. … We had our chances at times, to at least get back in it, put the pressure on them. We could never get that play.”
jerryu@osaa.org
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