High school football: 13 Lane County teams earn shot at the playoffs - Lookout Eugene-Springfield
By Google News Sports ·
Sheldon, Thurston, Lowell, Triangle Lake host first-round games, while other county teams will chase road upsets Friday.
Thirteen Lane County football programs are moving onto this week’s state playoffs after the regular season wrapped up last week.
Four will enter the postseason as partial or full league champions: Sheldon and Willamette split the 6A-Special District 2 title after the Irish won a thriller last Friday night, while Thurston won the 5A-Special District 5 championship and Triangle Lake bagged the 1A six-man Special District 2 crown.
Six-man Crow qualified for the 1A field, but won’t play until Nov. 13.
First-round games begin at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, unless otherwise noted. Rankings reflect seeds in the Oregon School Activities Association playoff brackets.
The Irish are riding high after an emotional win over No. 9 Willamette in the league title-deciding classic last Friday. Now, head coach Tyler Martell said, they’re prepared for the home playoff game that they earned in that game last week.
Lakeridge arrives Friday night battle-tested from a conference with three top-five teams in the state, and Martell’s team must continue to shine to move on in November.
Sheldon got two touchdowns from second-string players in that Willamette win, which emphasized how deep and diverse this team is.
Backup quarterback Keaton Welch, who was a potential starter in the game after Ryker Rohaley dealt with an injury over the week of practice, stepped in with the Irish in goal-to-go in the first quarter and punched in a rushing touchdown. Welch (6-1, 190 pounds) has stacked scores and crucial conversions in those situations all season.
“Obviously Ryker does a fantastic job, and Ryker played really well on Friday night, but from a physicality standpoint, he and…
Originally published by Google News Sports
