West Linn Lions football: A look at the next talent wave

The West Linn Lions football program is arguably the deepest and healthiest in the state of Oregon.   Sure, from top to bottom the Lions win.   But the emphasis is on playing everybody, which leads to retention, developing skills and keeping the terminology - not the actual playbook - the same all the way through so kids can learn the game quickly.   Because of that approach, and all the details that go with it, it's not uncommon for the high school coaches to already have knowledge of the young players coming up in the program.   And given the structured path of development, a lot of times West Linn's coaching staff can accurately see “who's got next” among the middle schoolers and freshmen.   In fact, with the trust and blessing of legendary West Linn coach Jon Eagle, freshman coach Jowan Matthews is tasked with identifying early traits and developing those skills.   And he seems to both love and maximize that role.   “The cool part of this freshman class, for me, is that I've known then since they were sixth graders, so I know al little bit about them,” he said.   Every fall, his job becomes more hands-on, as he takes raw middle school talent and works to refine them on the freshman team for a role on future varsity squads.   That development, Matthews explained, comes before winning, although the two approaches go hand-in-hand.   “Overall, we like to win games, but I'm all about progressing and getting better,” he said. “I want guys to be able to compete as sophomores to play varsity.”    With that in mind, the next wave of stars for West Linn, a perennial 6A state title contender, are always emerging.   There's a lot more work to do, and the idea of “high school prospect” is still a year or two away.   But Matthews - with Eagle's blessing - highlighted a handful of incoming West Linn freshmen (2029) who could flourish this fall and become stars in the future.   >>> <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2025/07/west-linns-jon-eagle-retiring-anthony-newman-likely-next-coach/">Jon Eagle set to retire after season; Anthony Newman likely to take over program</a>   Here's a look at those athletes:    ATH [player_tooltip player_id='1558034' first='Zane' last='Zellick']: “Zane, for me, is projected as a running back, quarterback and outside linebacker. He's a running back first, quarterback second. He's just an athlete. He's one of those game-breaker-type kids that at any point in time he could hit his head on the goalpost. You can give him the ball and let him go to work.”   “He shows up to everything. He goes to every workout. Right now, we are doing summer lifting and he's been to every one this year.”   “I'm really excited to have him on the team to see what kind of situations I can put him in.”    OL [player_tooltip player_id='1705963' first='Ronan' last='Crawford']: “Ronan is a special case. A lot of times people see Ronan, and because he's so big… his size at his age can be intimidating to other kids. But Ronan is probably one of the most coachable kids I've ever been around. Everything is always, ‘yes coach, no coach.' I never have to ask for effort. He gives 100 percent the whole time.”   “He's obviously a freshman and a young guy, so he's going to make mistakes. I always tell my guys that mistakes at 100 percent are better than mistakes at 50 percent doing the right thing.”    “He will go 100 percent for you as long as you need him to. He wants to be good. The hardest part about this game is sometimes kids get distracted by the other things and social media. Ronan wants to work.”    “It's not very often you see guys who can play varsity as freshman. I've met two. One was [West Linn All-American cornerback] [player_tooltip player_id='632957' first='Josiah' last='Molden'], the other was my little brother [Coastal Carolina running back] Jalen John. Those are the only two I've met in my life. I'm not sure this class has anyone quite on that level, but the closest would be Crawford. He just needs to get stronger and being able to compete at that level.”    ATH [player_tooltip player_id='1705965' first='Dylan' last='Baltz']: “He's probably going to end up being our defensive leader. When it comes to being vocal and communicating and building teammates up Dylan is one of the best kids I've seen at this age. When you get to freshman year, everybody wants to win. But they don't realize our weakest point has to be our strongest point to be successful. Dylan is going to take care of every guy that's struggling or hanging their head and he's going to bring them along and take them along and keep them with the team.”   “What was most impressive during the all-state game was that he was the same type of leader with the kids he just met as the kids he's been playing with since the third grade. Sometimes kids shy away from the limelight because it's an all-star game - everybody is good. But he impressed me as a leader.”    OL [player_tooltip player_id='1705967' first='Dayn' last='Ree']: “Dayn, by far, is one of the smartest offensive linemen I've met at this age. It's funny… when you see Dayn, you see Ronan. They are typically always together - and they play beside each other too as a tackle and guard. They are so locked in with each other and it all starts with Dayn. He's the guiding force for the offensive line with the freshman team. I'm going to lean on Dayn a lot as far as leading the team, leading the line and making them one cohesive piece.”    [player_tooltip player_id='1705970' first='Quinn' last='Baker']: “He's projecting out as a quarterback/safety. I'm impressed with him with his quarterback skills. A lot of times when you have a young quarterback, a freshman quarterback you want a guy who isn't afraid to lead. Quinn isn't afraid to lead - even when you're dealing with big personalities like Zane, who is also a quarterback himself. You have to be able to tell another kid, ‘This is what you're thinking, but here's what we've got to do.' Quinn is that kid.”   “He's looking to compete and he's looking to win. That's the guy I want touching the ball every time when I'm looking for a quarterback.”    WR [player_tooltip player_id='1705972' first='Dejon' last='Allen']: “I first met Dejon as a seventh grader. The first thing I noticed is that he has elite speed. He ran the 100 in the low 12s as an eighth grader. Dejon can move.”   “He's probably going to play slot. I like to get my slots in space and let speed take over. Nowadays in football, we are playing in space, so I like to get my athletes in space and let them go.”   “I want to see what Dejon can do. In the past, he was playing running back. That's 11 guys coming after you, but in the slot… that's one or two. So I'm looking forward to see what he can do in space and in one-on-one coverage and plays in that manner.”   WR [player_tooltip player_id='1705976' first='Anthony' last='Buttson']: “He was on the Rosemont Ridge 4x1 team that actually qualified for Nationals. I don't know if they went and competed, but they broke the Rosemont record set by the sophomores we have now.”   “As a sixth grader, Anthony played tackle because he was one of the tallest kids and he was super athletic. But he was too fast for quarterbacks to throw him the ball. This year, I'm hoping we can unlock that, where he can be our vertical threat at any point in time with his speed and ability to eat ground. I'm looking forward to seeing how we can develop that so he can help us in the future.”

The West Linn Lions football program is arguably the deepest and healthiest in the state of Oregon.