No more history would be made for the Redmond Panther team on Friday, as the IMC Champions suffered their first lost of their storied season in a 40-8 defeat at this year’s 5A OSAA/US Bank/Les Schwab Tires High School Football Semifinals in Salem.
And, just like 1988, RHS came just one win shy of the state title game.
For Marist High School of Eugene, the win would be their 11th of the year, earning them their 6th trip to a state championship in the last 10 years.
Call it an upset, but the Spartans came out strong and fast in the pouring rain at drenched McCulloch Stadium, scoring on all four of their first possessions.
Marist received the opening kickoff and capped off a 13-play, 69-yard drive in the first four minutes with a 1-yard touchdown run from junior FB Andrew Park.
Following a four minute drive of their own,Redmondwould turn the ball over on downs to Marist with 4:22 left in the first quarter.
The Spartans had a near identical drive as their first, going up 13-0 on another 1-yard touchdown run from Park.Redmondwould block the PAT after the 70-yard scoring drive.
In the 2nd quarter, Marist would score twice again, this time through the air.
First, senior QB Kamerun Smith connected with junior WR Liam Henshaw on an 18-yard throw for a touchdown, making it 19-0. Henshaw finished with 3 catches for 42 yards. Clark Morton missed the PAT, following the 11-play, 70-yard drive with 8:23 left in the half.
Redmondsenior QB Andrew Leeland missed his first six passes of the game, including one that was picked off by Spartan DB Kaelyn Byrum. MHS capitalized on the turnover, going 30 yards in six plays for a touchdown. It was Smith to senior WR Josh Harper from 10 yards out.
Redmond nearly got on the board at the end of the first half.
Following a 27-yard pass from Leeland to senior WR Matt Dahlan, the Panthers lined up quickly, but failed to reach the endzone on one run up the middle from the Marist 2-yardline, and could not stop the clock before the half.
The score stood 27-0.
In the second half, the Panthers punted their first possession, leaving the Spartans to add on to their lead. In four plays, Marist went 46 yards, and Park scored his third touchdown run of the night, this time from 9 yards with 8:56 left in the 3rd.
It was 34-0 before Redmond got on the board.
The only Panther touchdown came on Leeland’s longest pass of the game, as Dahlen hauled in a 54-yard pass over two defenders, running the last 35 yards for the TD. A missed PAT made it 34-6 with 4:09 left in the quarter.
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Redmondhad the only defensive score of the night. With 2:21 left in the 3rd, the Panthers had already pinned Marist back -13 yards on their drive from two 5-yard penalties and a sack from senior LB JD Abbas. Marist lined up to punt from their endzone, but the snap shot the football over the head of the Spartan punter for a safety.
Just before the end of the 3rd quarter, Marist scored a final time, another 9-yard touchdown run for Park. He finished the night with 17 carries for 109 yards and 4 TD’s, and was not stopped for a loss all night.
Neither team scored in the 4th quarter.
With about 5:00 remaining, first year Panther Head Coach Nathan Stanley started subbing as many players as he could into the game, on offense and defense.
Redmond graduates 29 seniors from their team this year, and many who had seen little to no action this year got to play in the state semifinal.
Redmond Player of the Game Matt Dahlen ended with 4 catches for 94 yards and 1 TD, while Player of the Game senior S Brennan Lash came up with an interception off Smith, the only Marist turnover of the game.
Rushing was big for the Panthers, as they managed 142 yards, 62 from senior FB Trevor Genz from his 17 carries.
Leeland finished the night 7 for 15, 124 yards, 1 TD, and 1 INT. He was also sacked four times.
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For Marist, Smith threw 14 for 23, 136 yards, 2 TD, and 1 INT, getting sacked once. While running backs Colton Bloom and Travis Walcott totaled 55 yards on 11 carries in senior RB and team captain Austin Barid’s absence.
Redmond finishes the year 11-1 in their first year as a 5A team, a year after finishing 3-7, and totaling a 24-38 record in six years as a 6A team.
Marist is 11-1, and advances to play the Sherwood Bowman (12-0) Saturday, December 1st in Hillsboro for the OSAA/US Bank/Les Schwab Tires 5A State Championship, a rematch of the 2010 championship that Sherwood won, 26-23.
Also, Marist’s only loss this season was against the Bowman, 38-20.
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