West Linn junior receiver Josiah Molden had two touchdown catches in Friday's win at Lake Oswego. (Photo by J.R. Olson)

LAKE OSWEGO – West Linn's football team stood tall on the shoulders of its 5-foot-10, 170-pound junior quarterback Friday night.

Sloan Baker continued his impressive debut season as the starter by leading the reigning 6A champion Lions to their most important win of the season, 38-16 at Lake Oswego in a rematch of last year's state final.

He seemed to make all the right reads – passing for four touchdowns and running for a score – as No. 2 West Linn (7-0, 3-0) rolled over the No. 1 Lakers (6-1, 2-1) with first place in the Three Rivers League on the line.

“I felt a lot of pressure, but I was able to get the ball out quick and find my guys,” said Baker, who completed 12 of 17 passes for 217 yards and rushed for 47 yards on 13 carries. “They had a ton of blitzes on, and a lot of pressure trying to get through, and I trusted my guys and I had them go get it.”

Baker tossed scoring passes of seven and 49 yards to junior Ashden Marquis and 34 and seven yards to junior Josiah Molden. Marquis had four catches for 103 yards and Molden had six catches for 97 yards.

“He can do it all,” Molden said of Baker, who has thrown 22 touchdown passes with two interceptions this season. “He can run, he can pass, he can read the defense. It's just truly amazing.”

Senior receiver MJ Kennybrew said of Baker: “He's a player, just a straight baller. First-year starter, he's like a veteran.”

West Linn outgained Lake Oswego 392-313. Lions senior running back Viggo Anderson, in his second game back after missing four games with a broken foot, rushed for 128 yards on 26 carries.

West Linn's defense did its part by limiting Lake Oswego to a season-low point total. The Lions held senior running back LaMarcus Bell to 73 yards on 15 carries and stymied senior quarterback Hudson Kurland, who completed 10 of 26 passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.

“Our defense really held it down for us,” Baker said. “That was a big test for us this week, 'How are we going to do against a really good offense?'”

Kennybrew stood out on defense at cornerback. Early in the second quarter, he broke up a pass in the end zone on fourth-and-goal at the West Linn 3-yard line. In the third quarter, he recovered a Bell fumble and intercepted Kurland, both plays leading to West Linn touchdowns.

“We know they're a very, very explosive offense, and a good team overall,” Kennybrew said. “Our coaches gave us a scheme and a plan to stop them, and we just stuck to it.”

Baker scored on a one-yard run with 30 seconds left in the first half to put West Linn up 14-3. The Lakers seized the momentum to start the third quarter, though, as Kurland threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to junior Jasiah Agnimel and they forced a punt, giving them a chance to take the lead.

That's when Kennybrew recovered Bell's fumble near midfield, leading to a 34-yard scoring strike from Baker to Molden to make it 21-10. Molden was all by himself up the left sideline after a Baker pump-fake.

“We practice that so much. That's just a connection that me and him have,” Baker said.

Said Molden: “We saw that before the play. I looked at him, he looked at me, and we knew what was going to happen.”

The Lions made it 28-10 when Baker threw a quick pass over the middle to Marquis, who turned it into a 49-yard touchdown. Baker delivered the ball quickly when he saw the safety out of position.

“He hiked the ball fast. He saw it,” Marquis said. “He knew that they were ripe. He sees the game really well.”

Baker passed to Molden for a seven-yard score as the lead grew to 35-10 early in the fourth quarter. Kurland answered with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Agnimel, and West Linn senior Zander Morris capped the scoring with a 26-yard field goal.

The Lions took satisfaction in the victory, but they are keeping their eyes on the bigger prize. Last year, they lost at home to Lake Oswego 21-17 in the regular season and beat the Lakers 44-30 in the state final.

“It feels good to win, but we're still not done,” Anderson said. “We've still got playoffs. It's one game on the schedule.”

Lake Oswego will have time to course correct for the playoffs.

“We'll learn from it. We'll regroup,” Lakers coach Steve Coury said. “It's not different now than it was before the game, except they beat us. It's still all ahead. We've got to figure out what it was and try to correct it.”

A fully healthy Bell would help. Bell returned to the lineup after missing one game with a sprained ankle.

“He was probably 80 percent, but he wanted to play,” Coury said. “There's no excuse there, either. He ran hard, and they stopped him.”