Friday Night Lights: Wells takes PIL crown, Central Catholic survives scare

The regular season has come to a close for local football teams following week nine last night.

Ida B. Wells and Lincoln stole the spotlight with a battle for the PIL crown, meanwhile Central Catholic, Franklin and Cleveland all played important battles for seeding and playoff positioning.

Ultimately, five out of the 12 local squads survived and will play again next week in the postseason, check out the unofficial brackets below plus our normal weekly recap down below!

6A and 5A State brackets

The OSAA went to bed last night instead of posting the 6A and 5A state brackets officially. But using the final standings and frozen rankings, here’s a look at what each bracket should look like as you’re waking up this Saturday morning.

6A state

No. 16 Sherwood at No. 1 Lake Oswego

No. 9 Willamette at No. 8 Sprague

No. 13 Grant at No. 4 Tualatin

No. 12 Lakeridge at No. 5 Sheldon

No. 14 North Medford at No. 3 Nelson

No. 11 Grants Pass at No. 6 Wells

No. 10 Lincoln at No. 7 Jesuit

No. 15 Central Catholic at No. 2 West Linn

6A Columbia Cup

No. 24 Century at No. 17 Westview

No. 21 Glencoe at No. 20 South Salem

No. 23 Tigard at No. 18 West Salem

No. 22 Mountainside at No. 19 Franklin

5A state

No. 16 Crater at No. 1 Silverton

No. 9 Dallas at No. 8 Milwaukie

No. 12 Churchill at No. 5 Wilsonville

No. 13 Aloha at No. 4 Mountain View

No. 14 Springfield at No. 3 West Albany

No. 11 Canby at No. 6 Summit

No. 10 Ridgeview at No. 7 Sandy

No. 15 St. Helens at No. 2 Thurston

Ida B. Wells 38, Lincoln 23

In a Battle of the Birds to decide the PIL title, Wells came out on top 38-23.

I covered this one for OSAAtoday, so head to the link here for free to check out the story about Jude Nolan and the Guardians defense forcing three turnovers in the win.

Franklin 48, Cleveland 3

The Southeast Portland rivalry matchup got out of hand in a hurry as Franklin rolled to a 48-3 win.

The Lightning led 41-0 at half as Finnegan McTaggart and Levi Rountree each scored twice on the ground. LaQuante James and Eli Riggins each found the end zone once on the ground.

Rounding out the scoring was Micah Skoke catching a TD.

The win secured Franklin a spot in the 6A Columbia Cup as the No. 19 seed and it will host No. 22 Mountainside next week.

For Cleveland, the loss dropped the Warriors to No. 25 in the OSAA rankings, one spot shy of the postseason as their season ends at 4-5.

Roosevelt 29, Jefferson 15

With bragging rights on the line, Roosevelt took care of business at home in a 29-15 win over Jefferson.

The Roughriders went up 29-0 thanks to two receiving TDs from Naheem Campbell, and a rushing TD each from Marlan McCowan and Jay Jay Buell.

Juliano Dawson and Buell helped out on the defense as well, each picking up an interception.

Roosevelt ends the season at 4-5 overall and 3-5 in the PIL while Jefferson ends at 2-7 overall, 2-6 in league.

Grant 41, McDaniel 6

McDaniel hung tough in the first half, but Grant put it away in the second half in a 41-6 victory.

QB Gage Creasy stayed hot with three more passing TDs, one going to JaCory Jackson who also had a rushing TD.

Grant closes the season out 7-2 overall and 6-2 in the PIL. The Generals will head to the 6A state tournament as the No. 13 seed and will play at No. 4 Tualatin next week.

McDaniel’s season comes to an end at 1-8 overall, 1-7 in the PIL.

Central Catholic 16, Grants Pass 10

Central Catholic nearly fumbled away the win at home in Hillsboro Stadium, but an interception by EJ Tonga closed out the game for a 16-10 Rams win.

The game was scoreless after the first quarter, but Central Catholic opened up the scoring in the second with a 1-yard TD run from Armani Tonga to make it 7-0 Rams.

Grants Pass responded with a field goal to make it 7-3 Rams at halftime.

Central Catholic got the ball to start the third quarter and marched down for another TD, this one a 23-yard TD pass from Kody Grant to Tonga, making it 13-3 Rams after a missed PAT.

The Rams got a stop and turned that into three points to take a 16-3 lead, which stayed that way until a Grants Pass touchdown with 51 seconds left in the game, cutting the deficit to 16-10.

On the kickoff, the Cavemen were able to recover the onside kick and get a shot at tying or winning the game.

However, the drive went nowhere and Grants Pass took a couple shots to the end zone as the clock moved to zero.

The win moved Central Catholic into the top 16 of the OSAA rankings and got it into the 6A state tournament. The Rams will be the No. 15 seed and play at No. 2 West Linn in round one next week.

La Salle Prep 35, David Douglas 0

St. Helens 30, Parkrose 14

Final Standings

PIL

1. Ida B. Wells 8-0, 9-0 overall

2. Lincoln 7-1, 7-2 overall

3. Grant 6-2, 7-2 overall

4. Franklin 5-3, 6-3 overall

5. Cleveland 4-4, 4-5 overall

6. Roosevelt 3-5, 4-5 overall

7. Jefferson 2-6, 2-7 overall

8. McDaniel 1-7, 1-8 overall

9. Benson 0-8, 0-8 overall

Mt. Hood Conference

1. Nelson 4-0, 8-1 overall

2. Central Catholic 3-1, 4-5 overall

3. Clackamas 2-2, 3-6 overall

4. Barlow 1-3, 4-5 overall

5. Reynolds 0-4, 4-5 overall

5A Special District 1

1. Sandy 4-0, 6-3 overall

2. Hood River Valley 3-1, 6-4 overall

3. Gresham 2-2, 3-6 overall

4. David Douglas 1-3, 1-8 overall

5. Centennial 0-4, 0-9 overall

5A Special District 2

1. Milwaukie 4-0, 5-4 overall

2. St. Helens 3-1, 6-3 overall

3. Putnam 2-2, 4-5 overall

4. McKay 1-3, 1-8 overall

5. Parkrose 0-4, 1-8 overall