4A Games to Watch in Week Seven

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>St Helens @ Scappoose (Friday 10/13 @ 7pm)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>St Helens feels like a team on the rise, but can they go punch for punch against their rivals on the road? Scappoose dominated this one last year, and generally has been in control of the rivalry for decades. Is this Lions team different?</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); Scappoose: [player_tooltip player_id='511860' first='Max' last='Nowlin'] (Jr, QB), [player_tooltip player_id='1224410' first='Cayden' last='Baker'] (Jr, RB/LB), [player_tooltip player_id='1095889' first='Eli' last='Harrah'] (Sr, WR/DB)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Junction City @ Cascade (Friday 10/13 @ 7pm)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Cascade is on the doorstep of being a great team. The run game is there, the defense shows flashes of dominance, and few teams are more physical. Great teams win games like this one, a solid playoff caliber team in Junction City coming to town, convincingly and early. So the question is for Cascade to answer: Are they a great team?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Players to Watch: Junction City: Cooper Rothenberger (Sr, QB/LB); Cascade: [player_tooltip player_id='1234447' first='Bryce' last='Kuenzi'] (So, RB/LB), Karsten Sande (Sr, WR/DB), Teagan Allen (Sr, OL/DL)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Philomath @ Marist (Friday 10/13 @ 7pm)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Philomath showed some good stuff against Cascade, and could've pulled off the win if the ball had bounced differently on a ew occasions. Marist's offense looks like one of the best in the state, and [player_tooltip player_id='1322050' first='Nick' last='Hudson'] is in the midst of a POTY campaign. Is Philomath up to the challenge? If they can compete in this one for much of the game, is there a chance they're a playoff spoiler in a couple weeks?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Players to Watch: Marist: [player_tooltip player_id='1322050' first='Nick' last='Hudson'] (Jr, QB), [player_tooltip player_id='209673' first='Aiden' last='Hazen'] (Sr, RB/LB); Philomath: Caleb Russell (Jr, QB/LB), Kaden Muir (SR, RB/LB)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>La Salle @ Molalla (Friday 10/13 @ 7pm)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Possibly the league title game for SD2–easily the most chaotic league in all of small school football. La Salle has the speed, Molalla has the power. Both teams are drastically improved from a year ago and have serious ambitions, but neither has been on  stage like this before. On the grass in Molalla, someone could clinch a home game in the first round of the playoffs Friday.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Players to Watch: La Salle: [player_tooltip player_id='285879' first='Jacob' last='Thayer'] (Jr, TE/LB), Daniel Rodriguez (Sr, OL/LB); Molalla: Mason King (Jr, QB/DB)</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->