The Philomath High School football team will attempt to clear a major program hurdle Friday night in Klamath Falls by reaching the Class 4A semifinals for the first time in 11 years.
The Warriors in the 2013 playoffs rolled over Ontario and Gladstone in their first two games before falling to eventual champion Ridgeview in the semifinals. Before that playoff appearance, you’d have to go back to the 1988 state championship season to see the team go that deep into the bracket.
Standing in the way to that level of success this season is third-seeded Henley. The two teams will meet at 6 p.m. Friday on Mazama High’s field in Klamath Falls with the winner advancing to the semifinals on Nov. 23 against the winner of Cascade vs. Pendleton.
PHS coach Alex Firth said Wednesday after practice that Henley runs an offense similar to sixth-seeded Philomath, which makes preparation a little more seamless.
“It’s in our wheelhouse — it’s what we practice against every day so we’re familiar with it and we kind of know the strengths and weaknesses so it’s easier to practice,” he said. “Obviously, it’s easier for us to replicate their offense also for the defense.”
Henley’s junior quarterback, Joe Janney, has seen a high level of success this season on the ground and through the air. Heading into the playoffs, he had
Junior Joe Janney had thrown 23 TD passes with senior Mark Carpenter being his top target with 804 yards receiving. In the team’s first-round 43-35 comeback win over Seaside, Janney ran for 206 yards and five touchdowns and completed 8 of 14 passes for 191 yards and another TD. Carpenter was on the receiving end of all eight of those completions, including a 63-yard TD strike that put the Hornets up 29-28 late in the third quarter.
“Their quarterback has a good arm and he’s really mobile — he’s a dual-threat quarterback,” Firth said. “He’s probably a little bit better with his feet. If you lose contain with him, he can hit a home run with his legs so keeping him in the pocket is probably a big deal for us because he can really move in open space. He throws well but if you lose contain and you let him run, you’re going to pay a price.”
Philomath comes at Henley with a potent passing attack that features senior quarterback Caleb Russell and a stable of receivers that includes junior Rocco De La Rosa, junior CD Nuno, senior Warwick Bushnell and senior Hudson Raab. De La Rosa had a career-best game in the 39-27 first-round win over La Grande with nine catches for 179 yards and three receiving touchdowns to go along with 58 yards rushing and another touchdown. Nuno had a big night receiving as well with 132 yards on nine catches and a TD.
Russell finished the game with an impressive stat line of 25-of-36 passing for 369 yards and four touchdowns.
Firth said the opponent’s Philomath game video will give them a sense of the Warriors’ offensive attack — although weather and field conditions did factor into play calling in two of those games.
“We’ll play on turf and it’ll be a little cold but it should be dry,” Firth said. “Offensively, going against your defense, it’s like any other week. Our receivers are pretty good and their shell is good. I mean, I think they beat Marist earlier this year so they’re obviously a good football team.”
Henley beat Marist Catholic in mid-September, 19-16. The Warriors lost to the Spartans squad on Nov. 11 by a 34-6 count. The only other common opponent this fall was North Bend with both teams defeating the Bulldogs by similar margins — Henley, 48-24, and Philomath, 43-20.
Firth said Philomath will come at the Hornets with its core attack.
“We don’t want to confuse the kids,” Firth said. “We want to play fast when we’re out there. For the most part, we stay close to what we normally run.”
Philomath has added a few new wrinkles to its offense late this season, including last week with the wildcat formation.
“You always want to experiment with something a little bit different or something that may take advantage of their defense but you don’t want to go wholesale and go from a spread team to a wishbone team in a week,” Firth said.
The running game has produced more yards in recent weeks. With senior Grant Niemann still out with an injury, junior Lake Mulberry has picked up more carries and had a 100-yard game a few weeks ago. In the first-round victory over La Grande, La Rosa and CD Nuno both had some success running the ball.
“Part of it was weather-based and field conditions knowing that we’d be playing on grass and that the rain obviously isn’t really that conducive to throwing a ball so we had to lean on the run a little more later in the year,” Firth said about the stretch run to the regular season. “I think that in the playoffs, as long as you know we’re on turf … we don’t have to maybe lean quite as heavily on the run as we did towards the end of the season. So, we’re probably back to a little bit more like we were in the early to midseason.”
In the other quarterfinal games, ninth-seeded Stayton will play at Marist Catholic in Eugene, 13th-seeded Tillamook will head to fifth-seeded Scappoose and seventh-seeded Pendleton plays at second-seeded Cascade at Willamette University in Salem.
Firth summed up Philomath’s playoff challenge this week against Henley in this way:
“It’s just making plays,” he said. “Whatever team makes the most plays or the least mistakes is going to determine who wins.”