4A Games to Watch in Week Nine

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>St Helens @ Seaside (Friday 10/27 @ 7pm)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>St Helens needs a win here in order to jump Marshfield and make the playoffs. A loss, no matter how close, is going to shut the door on their playoff hopes and make sure either Ashland, North Bend, or Marshfield claims the at-large bid. A Seaside loss likely means a road trip for them in the first round of the playoffs, albeit likely a short one to La Salle. Seaside has the athletes to hold with St Helens on the edge, so the Lions will have to go blow for blow with Seaside's run game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Players to watch: St Helens: Austin Stockwell (Sr, RB/LB), Colby Shafer (Sr, WR/DB), Mason Stroud (Sr, WR/DB); Seaside: [player_tooltip player_id='511862' first='Jake' last='White'] (IF HEALTHY) (Jr, RB/LB), Gavin Pugh (Sr, TE/DL), [player_tooltip player_id='1112406' first='Ryder' last='Jackson'] (So, RB/DB)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>The Dalles @ Estacada (Friday 10/27 @ 7pm)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The team not involved in this game, but heavily invested in the outcome, is Gladstone. The Gladiators have an avenue to the playoffs if Estacada wins this matchup because of their tie break with The Dalles (Gladstone won the matchup 21-8) and Molalla (14-12). Week nine in SD2 is going to be absolutely wild, with four out of the five teams below league champion La Salle with realistic shots at automatic playoff berths.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Players to watch: Estacada: Andrew Riedel (Sr, QB/DB), Elliot Coyle (Jr, RB/DB); The Dalles: Emerson Traub (Jr, QB), Nolan Cates (Jr, WR)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Marist @ Junction city (Friday 10/27 @ 7pm)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>League title game few would have predicted in the pre season. Winner hosts in the first round and has a decent shot of making the state semifinals, loser likely goes on the road in the first round–possibly to La Salle–and will travel to Henley in the second round if they get past the Falcons. HUGE stakes for this game which will happen on the JC grass rather than the Marist turf–do not underestimate the role the playing surface could play in this one.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Players to watch: Junction City: Cooper Rothenberger (Sr, QB/LB); Marist: [player_tooltip player_id='1322050' first='Nick' last='Hudson'] (Jr, QB), [player_tooltip player_id='209673' first='Aiden' last='Hazen'] (Sr, RB/LB)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Stayton @ Cascade (Friday 10/27 @ 7pm)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cascade and Stayton, as unlikely as it seemed a few weeks ago, meet each other in a “win or go home” situation. Either with a win would clinch an automatic berth into the playoffs as the SD3 #3, the loser will have to hope to get the at-large bid currently being contested by teams like Marshfield and St Helens. Both teams can potentially knock their rival out of the playoffs with a win on Friday.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Players to watch: Cascade: [player_tooltip player_id='1234447' first='Bryce' last='Kuenzi'] (So, RB/LB), Karsten Sande (Sr, WR/DB), Teagan Allen (Sr, OL/DL); Stayton: [player_tooltip player_id='408639' first='Hudson' last='Hughes'] (Jr, QB/DB), [player_tooltip player_id='407437' first='Tanner' last='Starbuck'] (Jr, RB/LB)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Mazama @ Marshfield (Friday 10/27 @ 7pm)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>If everything else goes the way it is supposed to, Marshfield can win this game and make the playoffs, whether as the at-large or as an automatic qualifier. A loss for the Pirates and things can get hairy with teams like St Helens coming up from behind and potentially Cascade being knocked free from up top. Mazama needs a win after getting blown out by Henley in order to ensure they don't travel in the first round, which a loss to Marshfield might cause them to have to do.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Players to watch: Mazama: [player_tooltip player_id='738761' first='Tyson' last='Van Gastel'] (Sr, QB/DB), Armondo Galindo (Sr, OL/DL), [player_tooltip player_id='1326582' first='Kristopher' last='Baldwin'] (Jr, RB/LB); Marshfield: [player_tooltip player_id='511868' first='Lucas' last='Folau'] (Jr, OL/DL)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Baker @ Pendleton (Friday 10/27 @ 7pm)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>League title game over east, another situation where the winner hosts and loser has to travel next week. Baker has rapidly improved since their 0-4 start, winning four in a row and looking like a legitimate top-10 team in the state, possibly even a fringe contender. Pendleton has not lost a game to an Oregon opponent so far, but has had their fair share of bumps in the road. The door is open for Baker to pull the upset and put everyone on notice going into November, otherwise they might be traveling to Scappoose or Marist in the first round.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Players to watch: Baker: [player_tooltip player_id='769993' first='Rasean' last='Jones'] (So, WR/LB), Paul Hobson (Sr, QB/DB), Hudson Spike (Sr, WR/DB): Pendleton: Benito Jennings (Sr, WR/DB), Thaiden Cannin (Sr, WR/DB)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->