The Philomath High School football program could be ready to take the next step.
A year ago, the Warriors posted their first winning season in Class 4A since 2016. The coaching staff remains largely unchanged with Alex Firth returning for a fourth year. And a lot of familiar names with exceptional athletic ability will lead the charge with intentions on reaching the playoffs.
Perhaps the team will even come away with a signature win in the final three weeks.
“We have a group of seniors and juniors — kids that have been in the program now for four years — so they know what’s going on,” Firth said. “I think that having some success in the summer at the Oregon Passing League and then at the Dayton Passing Tournament kind of sets the expectations for the kids. So there’s a lot of excitement amongst the players.”
The season begins Friday at Newport. The kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
“The goal, like every year, is to make the playoffs,” Firth said. “We were one game short last year and we really don’t want to be in a position this year where us making the playoffs is a function of someone else. We want to control our own destiny.”
A promising group of players will be back in uniform for the Warriors. After last season, 10 players at 19 positions earned all-league recognition. Nearly 70% of that presence on the gridiron returns.
Senior Caleb Russell returns to call signals and he’ll have exceptional targets in junior CD Nuno, junior Rocco De La Rosa, senior Warwick Bushnell and senior Hudson Raab.
“We’ll be even more pass heavy than in the past with a good group of receivers,” Firth said. “It would be a shame not to get them the ball.”
Sophomore Kaden Howard, sophomore Bryce Hruska and junior Josiah Peters will also be catching balls.
Said Firth, “That’s probably our deepest position.”
Nuno and De La Rosa in particular will likely cause problems for opposing defensive backs with both having attracted major college attention. Raab will work out of a tight end/H-back spot.
In the backfield, the running back options include junior Lake Mulberry, senior Grant Niemann, junior Mathew Ropp and sophomore Gavin Bennett.
“I think we have guys that can run the ball and I think we’ll be fine there,” Firth said.
Mulberry moved to running back after playing on the line last season.
“Having him in the backfield helps us,” Firth said. “I mean, he’s a big body, he’s hard to tackle and he’s actually a lot faster than people think.”
Sophomore AJ Altishin will return in a backup role at quarterback.
“We’ll get AJ in varsity games in spots just to have him go against varsity competition because too often, I think the backups are getting in garbage time and they’re not learning anything,” Firth said. “So it’s about opportunities to get him into a real game where the whole playbook is available and not just going in there to hand the ball off to someone.”
On the offensive line, Firth said he’s got some depth.
“There’s not a noticeable dropoff necessarily from the 1s to the 2s,” he said.
Senior Brady Russell anchors the trenches from his guard position. Other top contributors include senior Zack Powers, junior Tiernan Bovbjerg, sophomore Jamin Peters, sophomore Chase Leslie, junior Nick Challe, senior Peyton Humphrey, sophomore Isileli Tuiaki and junior Ben McGovern.
Switching to the other side of the ball, Philomath will operate out of a 4-3 scheme.
“We changed up some stuff in the spring coverage-wise and hopefully that will help us,” Firth said. “We’re really trying to emphasize stopping the run this year.”
Firth wants to force opponents into throwing the ball.
“I think our back end can hold their own against pretty much anybody, so being able to have seven guys in the box to stop the run is really critical for our success this year,” Firth said. “There are some teams that really throw the ball well and that will challenge us but for the most part, I think most of the teams are pretty run-oriented.”
On the line, the Warriors will have a lot of the same players that go on offense. Again, Brady Russell will anchor the group with Raab, Bovbjerg, Jamin Peters, Leslie and others. The three starters at linebacker will be Josiah Peters, Mulberry and Niemann. Nuno is penciled in at strong safety, Bushnell at free safety and Howard and De La Rosa on the corners.
Philomath, which has the second-smallest enrollment in 4A, has 37 athletes out for football. Firth said he would’ve liked to have seen that number hit at least 40 and preferably up to 45.
Following Friday’s opener, the Warriors will play their first game at home in Week 2 against Milwaukie. Philomath will then finish out the nonleague schedule with a trip to North Bend and a home game against The Dalles.
The team gets into Special District 3 play with Sweet Home on the road followed by Stayton at home. Philomath has a challenging stretch to end the season with games against Cascade (home), Junction City (away) and Marist Catholic (home).
