The Lions kick off the Jon Eagle era in fine fashion in Eugene
Now that’s how you kick off a season.
The West Linn football team, operating under first-year head coach Jon Eagle, made its 2022 debut a sparkling success, with the Lions routing North Medford 52-6 at Willamette High School in Eugene on Friday, Sept. 2. The game was originally scheduled for Medford’s Spiegelberg Stadium, but was moved north due to poor air quality from wildfires in Southern Oregon.
“I was very pleased with how we flew around on defense and played very active,” Eagle said. “And offensively, you know, we’re making strides.”
The Lions started making those strides immediately on Friday, capping their first drive with a 1-yard touchdown run by senior Koffi Kouame that — along with the first of senior Gage Hurych’s seven extra points — gave West Linn a 7-0 lead.
West Linn was back in the end zone just four plays later, with the Lions’ defense forcing a three-and-out on the Black Tornado’s first series and West Linn senior Mark Hamper taking the ensuing punt back 61 yards for another TD and a 14-0 lead.
The Lions kept the heat on the rest of the half, too — they scored on every one of their seven first-half possessions — piling up a 24-0 lead at the end of the first quarter and extending their advantage to 45-0 at halftime.
“I love the development of our offensive line, how they performed with very few errors,” Eagle said. “And obviously, our quarterback (senior Sam Leavitt), I thought, played very well. We really spread the ball around which I liked.”
Hurych added a 34-yard field goal and Hamper an 11-yard TD run to cap the first quarter, while in the second period, senior linebacker Earl Ingle picked off a pass by North Medford senior quarterback Caiden Lacey and took it back 30 yards for a TD, Hamper hauled in a 17-yard scoring pass from Leavitt and junior wide receiver Wiley Donnerberg scored on a 7-yard strike from Leavitt for that 45-0 halftime lead.
“We caught them a little bit,” Eagle said. “We just had some early big plays and the return by Hamper really opened things up.”
On the defensive side of the football, Hamper had two tackles for losses, Ingle had one, and senior linebacker Ben Winjum and junior linebacker Gus Donnerberg also received plaudits from Eagle for their play.
Eagle added that “I feel really good about our young secondary — no big plays — and our ‘D’ line was very athletic. So I like the way our defense played.”
For the game, Leavitt hit on 10 of 15 passes for 118 yards with two TDs. He also had six carries for 49 yards to lead West Linn rushers.
“He’s done very well,” Eagle said of Leavitt. “He’s a very quick processor of information. … With football the way it is today is, we make decisions after the snap … and he does very well with that.”
Sophomore wide receiver Wyatt Smiley — who caught a 70-yard touchdown pass from Leavitt for West Linn’s sole second-half score — led Lions’ receivers with two catches for 74 yards, while Wiley Donnerberg made three catches for 60 yards and one TD.
For North Medford, Lacey went 7 for 16 passing for 101 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Senior tight end Kellen Thomey led Black Tornado receivers with three catches for 49 yards and one TD (a 35-yard grab in the third quarter), while senior running back Ty Pugliano finished with 66 yards on 16 carries.
Next up, West Linn (1-0 overall) will host Sheldon (1-0 after a 56-0 non-league home win over Glencoe) at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 8.
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