STAYTON — Senior running back Hunter Mollerstrom carried 27 times for 244 yards and five touchdowns Friday night as Stayton scored 40 unanswered points in a 40-14 football win over Philomath.
The Warriors (3-5 overall, 2-3 4A Special District 2) scored the game’s first and last touchdowns, but a banged-up roster couldn’t keep pace with a Stayton ground game that piled up 349 rushing yards and averaged 7.4 yards per carry. The Eagles, playing on senior night, improved to 4-4 overall and 2-3 in league play.
Gallery: PHS football at Stayton (Oct. 23, 2026)
A collection of photos from Philomath High’s 40-14 football loss at Stayton on Friday.
“I thought we started off pretty well, and then I think we just kind of got a little tired,” Philomath coach Alex Firth said. “At the point of attack, we had some guys get tired. We had a couple guys going to the wrong gap a couple times, and they caught us with it. But other than that, I thought we held up as well as we could. We just started getting tired. We started running out of dudes.”
Philomath opened the scoring with a 14-play, 81-yard drive that took 4:09 off the clock. The Warriors converted twice on fourth down to keep it alive. Senior quarterback AJ Altishin hit senior Kaden Howard for 15 yards on fourth-and-9 at the Stayton 47, then found senior Bryce Hruska for 5 yards on fourth-and-4 at the Stayton 26.
A 14-yard completion from Altishin to senior CK Kvidt moved the ball to the 7, and two plays later, senior Gavin Bennett scored from a yard out for a 7-0 lead with 1:44 left in the first quarter.
The Philomath defense also started strong. Junior Cole Barron and senior Camaron Kvidt made back-to-back tackles for loss on Stayton’s first possession.
From there, it was Mollerstrom’s night. He scored all three Stayton touchdowns in the second quarter on runs of 44, 8 and 4 yards to give the Eagles a 20-7 halftime lead. Sophomore Reed Laro added a 2-yard touchdown run early in the third quarter, and Mollerstrom followed with scoring runs of 26 yards later in the third and 2 yards in the fourth.
We just struggled stopping the toss sweep, so that was probably the one thing that was the toughest,” Firth said. “It’s hard. You’ve got two guys coming at you to block you. It’s tough.”
Mollerstrom also threw a 55-yard pass to Charlie Benefiel and caught a 27-yard pass from Myles Emmert.
Senior lineman Jamin Peters provided a bright spot for the Warriors by blocking two Stayton extra-point attempts.
“He lulled him to sleep and then blocked it,” Firth said about Peters’ blocks. “He was telling jokes and then he ran by him and blocked it.”
Philomath’s offense struggled to run the ball, finishing with 19 yards on 14 carries.
“We threw the ball well at times, and then there were times we just missed guys that were open,” Firth said about the passing game. “So it was kind of fits and spurts. We didn’t really have a lot of success running the ball. We thought we could. They had been playing drop eight at one point, and we just couldn’t run the ball against it. So there are things we can build off of there.”
Altishin completed 16 of 31 passes for 187 yards. Howard led the receivers with five catches for 84 yards. Kvidt had four receptions for 56 yards, and Hruska caught four for 35.
“I felt really good with AJ,” Howard said. “During the season, I got hurt, struggling with the shoulder, so it slowed me down, and then the ankle tonight, but we got through it.”
The Warriors’ final touchdown came after they trailed 40-7 with 4:11 remaining. Hruska broke loose on an 83-yard kickoff return, but the touchdown was wiped out by a Philomath holding penalty. The Warriors still had a short field at the Stayton 36. On second-and-10, Altishin connected with Howard for 19 yards to the 17, and on the next play Altishin found Kvidt for a 17-yard touchdown pass with 3:11 left. Sammy Hernandez kicked both Philomath extra points.
Philomath fumbled three times but kept possession each time. Altishin fell on a bad snap, and senior David Vargas Juarez and Howard each recovered Warriors fumbles on the same second-quarter possession.
“There were guys that stepped up and made some plays,” Firth said. “Jamin played a hell of a game. Cole played a hell of a game. So there’s stuff to build off of. It’s not a train wreck.”
Injuries continued to pile up for the Warriors. Senior lineman Jonah Sailor and Vargas Juarez both left the game with injuries. Bennett, a running back and linebacker, hobbled off the field midway through the third quarter but returned.
“Guys are pretty beat up this time of year, so it is what it is,” Firth said. “It’s been a long year.”
Philomath closes its season at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30, at home against Estacada on senior night.
Estacada runs a flexbone triple-option offense, which will put Philomath’s defense to another test.
“Stopping the option,” Firth said of the focus for the week. “Got to stop their fullback, force them to go outside and pitch. It’s no secret how to stop it.”
Howard said the matchup won’t be all that different from Friday’s.
“Estacada is a similar team to Stayton, so we just have to stop the run, and they run that pitch too,” Howard said. “Everyone’s just got to do their job, and we’ll have a good game.”
Stayton 40, Philomath 14
Friday, Oct. 23, at Stayton HS
Team 1 2 3 4 F Philomath (3-5, 2-3) 7 0 0 7 14 Stayton (4-4, 2-3) 0 20 14 6 40
FIRST QUARTER
PHS — G. Bennett 1 run (S. Hernandez kick), 1:44
SECOND QUARTER
SHS — Mollerstrom 44 run (Laro kick), 8:20
SHS — Mollerstrom 8 run (Laro kick), 3:22
SHS — Mollerstrom 4 run (kick blocked), 1:50
THIRD QUARTER
SHS — Laro 2 run (Laro kick), 7:21
SHS — Mollerstrom 26 run (Laro kick), 3:02
FOURTH QUARTER
SHS — Mollerstrom 2 run (kick blocked), 4:11
PHS — Kvidt 17 pass from Altishin (S. Hernandez kick), 3:11
Category PHS SHS First Downs 12 21 Total Net Yards 206 443 Rushes-Yards 14-19 47-349 Passing Yards 187 94 Punt Returns 0-0 4-49 Kickoff Returns 7-134 3-56 Interception Ret. 0-0 0-0 Comp-Att-Int 16-31-0 3-4-0 Punts 5-34.8 1-39.0 Fumbles-Lost 3-0 1-0 Penalties-Yards 6-50 4-45
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Philomath, Altishin 4-11, Hruska 1-6, G. Bennett 4-1, M. Bennett 5-1. Stayton, Mollerstrom 27-244, Carlgren 8-63, Laro 9-44, M. Emmert 3-(-2).
PASSING—Philomath, Altishin 16-31-0-187. Stayton, M. Emmert 2-3-0-39, Mollerstrom 1-1-0-55.
RECEIVING—Philomath, Howard 5-84, Kvidt 4-56, Hruska 4-35, M. Bennett 1-7, G. Bennett 1-4, Iverson 1-1. Stayton, Benefiel 2-67, Mollerstrom 1-27.
MISSED FIELD GOALS—None
