In a contest between two Top 10 5a Teams the Lebanon Warriors (3-1) squeaked out a victory over the previously undefeated Wildcats of Wilsonville (3-1). The Non conference matchup featured Lebanon’s misdirection offense lead by returning conference player of the year Ben Duerr (6-0 170 QB/S Sr.), and Wilsonville’s plethora of returning all league athletes.
The Mid Willamette Conference and The Northwest Oregon Conference both produce Top 10 teams on a regular basis so the game lived up to its hype. In the end Lebanon showed they would be riding the legs of Duerr and returning first team all league athlete Garrett Urrutia (6-0 173 RB/DB Sr.). The Warriors were less then impressive through the air, but that’s not a secret (2/7 passing, 17 yds, 2 ints). The focal point remains the ground game as Urrutia carried the ball 19 times for 148 yards and a touchdown, while Duerr did his thing (20 carr, 70 yards, 1 Td).
Lebanon did what was necessary to keep Wilsonville off balance and work the clock and keep the high powered Wilsonville offense off the field. The Wildcats were lead by Jayden Cooper (5-10 165 SB/DB Sr.) who was the state leader in interceptions (9) a year ago. He was all over the field and almost single handily kept Wilsonville in the game early.
Wilsonville took a 7-0 lead when Cooper hauled in a 29 yard Td Pass from QB Jacob Haqq to start the game. After a quick Lebanon score Cooper returned the next kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown. Cooper finished with 5 receptions for 112 yards and a 2 Tds. (1 receiving, 1 kick return). He did it on all ends picking off another pass, scoring multiple touchdowns, and showing that he was one of the top returning athletes in the state.
Lebanon took a 23-21 lead into the 4th quarter where they were able to keep the Wildcats offense on lock down. Wilsonville had 29 carries for 42 yards as a team, something they were not used to. Junior running back Ryan Walsh (5-11 165 RB ) went for 206 yards against Sandy the week before but was kept in check against the Warriors (13 carr, 39 yds). Lebanon’s D did a good job making sure the ground game never got going.
Come watch some NEI TV as we show you a couple of Oregon’s Top 5a Teams.
