GRANTS PASS – Reigning 4A football champion Henley rallied from a two-touchdown deficit in the fourth quarter to beat Cascade 21-14 in overtime in a semifinal Saturday at Grants Pass High School.
Hornets quarterback Mark Carpenter, filling in for injured starter Joe Janney, ran for a four-yard touchdown on the opening series of overtime, and the defense stopped Cascade to clinch the win.
Down 14-0, Carpenter threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Bryson Montag with 6:01 left in the fourth quarter to pull Henley within 14-6. On fourth-and-goal from the Cascade 1-yard line, Carpenter ran for a touchdown to make it 14-12 with 19 seconds left.
Carpenter completed a pass to Conner Shively for a two-point conversion, tying the score 14-14 and forcing overtime.
Carpenter had 30 carries for 100 yards and one touchdown and completed 6 of 22 passes for 73 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions in place of Janney, who missed the game with a knee injury.
"Everyone was really locked in, and we wanted to get back to where we were last year,” Carpenter said. “Everyone put in all of their effort and it happened.”
The third-seeded Hornets (11-1) will play No. 1 Marist Catholic (11-1) in the championship game for the second year in a row. They beat Marist Catholic 42-28 in last year's final and 19-16 in a nonleague game this year.
“Marist is really much improved from when we played them earlier this year, but if we play our game, we'll be fine,” Carpenter said.
No. 2 Cascade led 14-0 at half on an eight-yard touchdown run by Carter Condon, a safety and a 23-yard scoring pass from Cade Coreson to Charles McFerron. But the Cougars couldn't hold on, finishing their season with a 10-2 record.
Cascade outgained Henley 232-174. Condon had 39 carries for 128 yards and one touchdown. Coreson completed 8 of 12 passes for 96 yards and one touchdown with one interception.
-- Jeremy McDonald contributed to this report
3A
No. 4 Vale 20, No. 9 North Valley 3: The Vikings (12-0) advanced to their 17th state title game with a win over the Knights (9-3) on Saturday at Summit High School in Bend. Vale, which owns a state-record 12 titles, will face No. 11 Burns in the final.
"Our successful program goes back a long ways, and it's something that's definitely bred into the kids each year, and each year they just want want to have their own little part of our winning tradition," said Vale coach Jeff Aldred, who led the Vikings to the 2015 title in his first year as head coach.
North Valley's Carson Smith booted a 31-yard field goal in the first quarter to put the Knights on top, but they wouldn't score again. The Vikings held North Valley to 126 total yards and collected four interceptions, two by Troy Dalton and one each by Damick Eddy and Landon Haberman.
"This group of kids not only has expectations of getting to the state championship game, but they also want to win it,” Aldred said. “Winning the title is something that our seniors have been wanting to do for the last four years. Now we're hoping that we can really accomplish that goal."
The Vikings took the lead midway through the second quarter when senior running back Kase Schaffeld (31 carries, 178 yards) scored on a four-yard touchdown run. Schaffeld scored on a two-point conversion run, putting Vale up 8-3.
Vale extended the margin to 14-3 in the third quarter when Schaffeld scored on a four-yard run. The Vikings' momentum continued in the fourth quarter, when quarterback Brooks Aldred (5-for-9, 52-yards passing) scored on a two-yard run to make it 20-3 with 5:24 left.
"They did some good things, and they played extremely inspired football and they gave us everything they had,” Jeff Aldred said of the Knights. “We battled through some of the adversity and it felt like our wheels were spinning a little bit. Then we just got some fantastic group efforts and we punched the ball into the end zone just enough to get the win."
-- Mike Weber
No. 11 Burns 22, No. 2 Banks 15: The Hilanders (10-2) defeated a third consecutive higher-seeded playoff opponent by knocking off the Braves (10-1) on Saturday at Summit High School in Bend.
Burns, guided by third-year coach Matt Bruck, will play Vale (12-0) in an all-Special District 6 championship game. It will be a rematch of an Oct. 4 overtime contest that Vale won at home 18-12.
Burns has reached the final for the first time since 2014, when it won the 2A title.
"It's been a wild ride and of our kids are just playing lights out right now," Bruck said. "There's no stopping the momentum that we have because they're all just playing fantastic. It think being underdogs has helped provide the team with motivation.
“I'm so proud of the team. I was glad to see the way they kept fighting and we just kind of survived a roller-coaster type of game.”
After a scoreless first half, a low scoring third quarter followed as both teams played outstanding defense. The Hilanders capitalized on a Braves turnover to gain possession deep in Banks territory at the 16 yard line. On the very next play, junior quarterback Jack Wright threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Canon Winn. Wright ran for the two-point conversion, putting Burns up 8-0 with 2:42 left in the third quarter.
The teams combined to score 29 points in the fourth quarter. Burns recovered a Banks fumble in the end zone to build a 16-0 lead with 9:53 left in the game. On the ensuing kickoff, Banks junior Lane Gilbert scored a on an 84-yard return, followed by his two-point conversion, making it 16-8 with 9:42 left.
The Hilanders responded with a 67-yard scoring drive, capped by Wright's 18-yard touchdown pass to Coltin Miller, making it 22-8. After an exchange of possessions, a 69-yard Braves scoring drive was finished off by a Gilbert three-yard TD run. The PAT made it 22-15 with 2:55 left.
On Banks' last possession, Gilbert threw incomplete into the end zone as the clock expired.
"They made a nice comeback. They're a fantastic team, and they sure didn't make anything easy for us," Bruck said. "We're having a rematch with Vale, which is good, and we're really excited about playing them in the championship game. Vale is a great team, but we're going to go in there and fight and give it everything we've got and it's going to be a good game.”
-- Mike Weber
2A
No. 5 St. Paul 18, No. 1 Heppner 12: In a defensive battle, St. Paul scored its game-winning touchdown late in the fourth quarter to beat the Mustangs in a semifinal Saturday at Caldera High School.
“I just want to pass out,” St. Paul coach Tony Smith said. “We’ve lost games like that.”
St. Paul (12-0) advances to the championship game, where it will take on Oakland. The Buckaroos have been to the 2A semifinals four times, but this is the first time they have reached the title game.
The Mustangs finished the season 11-1 in coach Greg Grant’s final season at Heppner. In 35 years at the helm, he never had a losing season.
“I think a really good team beat us,” Grant said. “This team just did such a nice job of working hard every day and getting better. We had great commitment and great accountability toward one another.
“I feel bad they are done as a team. We’ve only gone home satisfied three times in my career. This was a good year. The kids should be proud of what they accomplished and how they conducted themselves. I am going to miss many parts of what I do.”
Smith said he will miss Grant and his commitment to high school football.
“I knew I would feel bad if we won, but just for a minute,” Smith said. “He has done so much for football, and not just in Heppner. It’s never about him. It’s a huge loss. If they were playing anyone else, I would have rooted like crazy for them.”
With time running out in the fourth quarter, Grady Wolf hit Clay Smith with a 24-yard pass on third-and-4 to put the ball at the Heppner 10-yard line.
Wolf then connected with Hudson Wyss for 9 yards for third-and-goal at the 1-yard line.
The Mustangs stuffed Smith at the line of scrimmage, but on fourth down, Diego Medina scored with just 20 seconds left to give the Buckaroos the lead. The two-point conversion attempt failed, giving St. Paul an 18-12 lead — it’s first of the game.
Heppner got the ball back with 20 seconds on the clock. The Mustangs were able to pick up two first downs, but ran out of time.
“Sometimes you win and break someone’s heart, and at times it goes the other way,” Grant said.
The two high-scoring teams, which are also two of the stingiest, battled each other all game for yards and points.
St. Paul opened the game with a fumble on its first possession, giving the Mustangs the ball at the St. Paul 35 after Landon McMahon recovered the ball.
Heppner took advantage of the miscue and went on to score on a 2-yards touchdown run by Tripp Stewart with 8:41 left in the quarter.“We had them at third-and-long and gave up a long pass play,” Smith said. “They scored right after that.”
The Buckaroos turned around and used an 11-play drive, capped off by a 3-yard touchdown run by Smith to tie the score with 2:46 left in the first.
The easiest way to keep St. Paul out of the end zone, is to keep the ball out of the Buckaroos’ hands.
Heppner ran out the rest of the first quarter, and chewed up 5:37 of the second before Stewart scored from 1 yard out to give the Mustangs a 12-6 lead.
Stewart ran for 18 yards on the day, and caught six passes for 75 yards.
St. Paul got off to a good start on its ensuing drive as Smith took the ball up the middle for 18 yards. The Buckaroos crossed midfield and into Heppner territory, but on third-and-4, Keaton Koiner took down Medina for a 4-yard loss, forcing St. Paul to punt.
The Mustangs methodically moved the ball down the field, eating up the remaining 4:02 of the second quarter to preserve their 12-6 lead at the half.
The Buckaroos turned the ball over on downs twice in the third quarter, while Heppner punted twice.
After St. Paul turned the ball over the second time, Heppner took over in its own 33-yard line, and moved the ball to the St. Paul 39 before two consecutive false start penalties put the ball at midfield. The Mustangs ended up punting with 8:03 to play.
“They played the pass pretty well,” Grant said. “We got a few passes off. We could run the ball on them and we did. They adjusted a little bit like we did. We weren’t able to sustain it, a couple penalties killed another drive.”
St. Paul would score 2 minutes later in a 46-yard run by Smith, and with the 2-point conversion pass intercepted by Heppner’s Nick Wenberg, the score stood at 12-12.
Heppner punted on its next possession, and Wolf had a big return of 22 yards to put the ball at the Mustangs’ 40-yard line.
The Buckaroos would score seven plays later to take the lead for good.
“We weren’t quite ready and didn’t adjust to their perimeter run game early,” Grant said. “We adjusted. We made some plays, but weren’t able to establish any at the end. It was a close enough game. It was the small things. Tony and I talked after the game. It was the way a game should be played. Two groups that play the game right, played their butts off, and came out on top.”
On the day, Wolf completed all 10 of his passes for 83 yards, with Sullivan Grott on the receiving end of five passes for 35 yards. Clay Smith ran for 123 yards on 17 carries.
Defensively, Wolf had 16 tackles, Clay Smith 15 and Wyatt Smith14.
Mason Orem completed 5 of 11 passes for 75 yards — all to Stewart — while Alakai Rodriguez led the ground game with 50 yards on 12 carries. Nick Wenberg added 40 yards on 11 carries, while Orem ran for 30 yards.
-- Annie Fowler
No. 2 Oakland 28, No. 6 Gervais 14: The Oakers (12-0), 2022 champions and semifinalists last year, returned to the final by turning back upstart Gervais (9-2) at Cottage Grove High School.
Gabe Williamson rushed for 287 yards and three touchdowns on 29 carries to lead Oakland, which had a 358-267 advantage in total yards. Silas Arscott caught an eight-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Fullerton and had an interception on defense.
It is the second year in a row that the Oakers have eliminated the Cougars by two touchdowns. In 2023, Oakland defeated Gervais 32-18 in the quarterfinals.
Gervais, appearing in the semifinals for the first time since 1951, got a big game from Johnny Mariano, who rushed for 155 yards and one touchdown on 26 carries. Quarterback Frank Ojeda ran for a score.
Oakland led 8-0 at half on a 45-yard touchdown run by Williamson. Gervais pulled within 8-6 in the third quarter when Mariano scored on a five-yard run.
Williamson added scoring runs of 10 and six yards, and Arscott caught a touchdown pass, as the Oakers opened a 28-6 lead with 2:07 left in the fourth quarter.
1A-8
No. 1 Adrian 34, No. 4 Crane 26: Brooks Martin scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 16-yard pass from Trey Bayes with eight seconds remaining as the undefeated Antelopes held off the Mustangs in Saturday’s 1A 8-man football semifinal at Eastern Oregon University in LaGrande.
Adrian running back Rance Jordan had four touchdown runs and Colten Bayes scored on a pair of two-point conversion runs to help send the Antelopes (11-0) into next week’s championship final against No. 3 North Douglas (11-0).
Crane quarterback Josh Zander threw four touchdown passes — three to Cody Siegner and one to Casey Roozeboom. Zander’s 53-yard scoring strike to Siegner, followed by another pinpoint pass to Roozeboom on the two-point conversion tied the game at 26-26 with 1:14 remaining.
On the ensuing kickoff, Kash Morford 14-yard return set up Adrian at its own 45-yard line with 1:09 to play.
Five plays later, the Antelopes were out of timeouts and facing second-and-10 at the Crane 13 when Siegner sacked Trey Bayes with the clock ticking inside 30 seconds.
Facing third-and-13, Trey Bayes refrained from spiking the ball to stop the clock and instead spotted Martin, the junior tight end, wide open in the end zone on the right side for an easy pitch and catch.
“I actually kind of think Crane thought we were going to spike it,” Adrian coach Bill Wortman said. “We ran the play and Brooks got behind the cornerback. When Trey saw the corner’s back turned, he put it out there and Brooks was opened and we finished it off.”
Colten Bayes’ two-point conversion run made it 34-26.
Crane (8-3) had just enough time to throw two final passes — one that fell incomplete and one that Colten Bayes intercepted to end the game.
“I thought it was two really good teams playing,” said Wortman, whose team never trailed in the game. “It just came down to that last possession and our boys really stayed confident and finished it out. But that was two really good teams going at it.
“It’s always great to win. I’m just so proud of our players and coaches. They work their butts off. Regardless of the outcome, I would have been just as proud, because I know they gave it their all. It is satisfying to win, obviously, but I’m just super proud of the effort and the finish.”
Jordan, Adrian’s 6-foot-3, 195-pound senior, finished with 22 carries for a game-high 218 yards, including touchdown runs of 17, 3, 25, and 7 yards. Colten Bayes added another 143 yards rushing on 24 carries.
“Rance has been a tremendous player for us for three years,” Wortman said. “He broke his collarbone his freshman year and he was in line to start. If people didn’t know him, they know him now, because he is one hell of a football player. I’m just proud of his effort and everything he puts into it during the offseason. Tonight he was just a senior taking over a game, you know.”
The Antelopes are back in the final for the first time since 2021 when they defeated Powder Valley 46-38 to cap a perfect 13-0 season.
Can they do it again?
“We’re going to play Adrian football and try to do what we do,” Wortman said. “For our boys, their goals is to win a state championship. It has been since there in fifth grade and here we are. We’ve lost some seniors from this group, but this core group of four (Colten Bayes, Zeke Bayes, Rance Jordan, and Derek Faulconer) has stuck with us forever.
“We have some tremendous underclassmen that are continuing to get better every week, so it’s great that we get this playing time for them. And our seniors get a chance to tack another one on for us.”
-- Jim Beseda
No. 3 North Douglas 50, No. 2 Crosspoint Christian 6: Hunter Vaughn rushed for 287 yards and four touchdowns on 13 carries, caught a 60-yard scoring pass and had an interception as the Warriors (11-0) rolled to the win at Grants Pass High School.
Vaughn had touchdown runs of 55, 79, 76 and 38 yards. He has scored 59 touchdowns this season, 45 on the ground.
North Douglas gained 425 yards in the first half in building a 42-0 lead. At half, Vaughn had 11 carries for 246 yards and three touchdowns and the 60-yard scoring catch.
Jaycen Marois rushed for 115 yards and one touchdown on eight carries and Jayden Montgomery threw a touchdown pass and ran for a score for the Warriors.
It was North Douglas' second dominant win over Crosspoint Christian in the past month. The Warriors won at Crosspoint Christian 52-14 in a Special District 1 game Oct. 25.
Crosspoint Christian quarterback Kody Sparks rushed for 116 yards and one touchdown on 15 carries and completed 9 of 16 passes for 99 yards with two interceptions.
North Douglas will play in its first final since 1952, when the school was known as Drain and the team finished as the B runner-up.
1A-6
No. 2 Harper Charter 65, No. 6 Prairie City/Burnt River 22: Junior running back Cope Christensen scored three of his six touchdowns in the second half as the Hornets ran away from the Panthers in Saturday’s semifinal at Eastern Oregon University’s Community Stadium in La Grande.
Harper quarterback Richard Joyce threw three touchdown passes — two to Maddox Martinez and one to Colt Bentz — and also had a touchdown run to help lift the Hornets (10-0) into next week’s championship game against the top-ranked Powers Cruisers (11-0).
“Our boys just won’t quit,” Harper coach David Marker said. “They just are tenacious and they don’t know how to surrender. Our theme is, ‘It’s hard to beat somebody who won’t quit,’ and our boys have no quit in them. They just keep coming.”
Prairie City’s Kingdon Mitchell-Kirby caught touchdown passes of 50 and 55 yards, and Maison Teel added a 49-yard touchdown run for the Panthers, who were still within striking distance trailing 25-22 at halftime.
Harper dominated the second half, capitalizing on five Prairie City turnovers as the Hornets scored on all six of their possessions after halftime and outscored the Panthers 40-0.
Prairie City’s comeback bid took a hit when the Panthers got hit with a clipping penalty on the first play of the second half. The Panthers’ initial drive of the third quarter then ended with a turnover on downs after four plays netted minus-10 yards.
Harper turned around and mounted a six-play, 65-yard scoring drive that ended with Christensen scoring on a 27-yard run to give the Hornets a 31-22 lead.
The Hornets’ defense helped put the game out of reach, forcing turnovers on Prairie City’s next four possessions. First, Hoss Johnson forced a fumble that Bentz recovered. Then Joyce grabbed interceptions at the end of Prairie City’s next three drives.
“We made a simple adjustment at halftime and locked on their receivers (Mitchell-Kirby) with Richard Joyce,” Marker said. “Richard is a sophomore, but he is such a leader on the field. He had three interceptions in the second half and just shut down Prairie City’s offense, more or less.”
After Christensen’s final touchdown run made it 58-22 and triggered a running clock with seven minutes remaining, Johnson recovered a Prairie City fumble on the ensuing kickoff to help seal the decision.
And now it’s on to the finals.
“We’ve never been in this position before,” Marker said. “We have a routine down, week to week what we do. I see us scouting Powers and trying to figure out how to slow down their offense. Powers is going to be a heckuva challenge, that’s for sure. Our kids are excited. We’ve only been to state one other time and that was last year, so they are definitely excited.”
-- Jim Beseda
No. 1 Powers 40, No. 5 South Wasco County 30: Rene Sears had 18 carries for 139 yards and two touchdowns and passed for two scores to lead the Cruisers (11-0) to the win over the Redsides (8-4) at Cottage Grove High School.
Powers took the lead for good late in the first quarter on a 67-yard touchdown pass from Braden Bushnell to Patrick Mahmoud. The lead grew to 40-22 midway through the third quarter when Sears threw a six-yard touchdown pass to Brody Harless.
Mahmoud had three catches for 88 yards and two touchdowns for the Cruisers, who finished with a 440-407 edge in total yards.
Powers advances to the final for the first time since 2003. The Cruisers haven't won a title since a three-peat from 1996 to 1998, their only championships.
Storm McCoy completed 18 of 33 passes for 431 yards and four touchdowns with one interception for South Wasco County, which finished with minus-24 rushing yards. Gavin Hagan had seven catches for 191 yards and one touchdown and George Barnett had five catches for 147 yards and one score.
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