How Eugene-Springfield area teams stack up for the 2022 high school football season

The summer is over and that means one thing – it’s football season.

Local high school teams have been practicing for the last two weeks, with many participating in jamborees as a final tune-up before the real games begin. Lane County players and coaches are excited to get a new season officially under way Friday.

“I’m really comfortable with where we’re right now,” Junction City coach Max Wall said. “Ten practices and one jamboree in and we’re light years ahead of where we’ve been in the past. But still, everybody’s got a lot of work to do this time of year.”

Here’s a look at where things stand for local teams, including changes to leagues and conferences that affect some Lane County teams, as the season gets started.

Class 6A: Sheldon only local school in new 10-team conference

Sheldon will be the only local 6A school this football season.

The Southwest Conference added some members in the offseason with five arrivals from the Salem area: McNary, North Salem, South Salem, Sprague and West Salem. The new 10-team league will also include Grants Pass, Roseburg, North Medford and South Medford, along with Sheldon.

The Irish have been a model of consistency over the years, qualifying for the playoffs every season since 1999. They looked sharp during a jamboree last Friday against state powerhouse Central Catholic out of Portland and a talented West Salem team.

Sheldon returns do-everything quarterback Brock Thomas, who passed for 2,175 yards and 22 touchdowns last season while also rushing for 1,494 yards and 21 TDs. He will have a lot on his shoulders as he attempts to guide the Irish past the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 2018, when Sheldon lost to Lake Oswego in the state championship game.

Thomas will have plenty of offensive weapons at his disposal and the Irish feature a fast and aggressive defense, which should pay big dividends with the extra talent the Salem schools bring to the new-look league.

Class 5A: Consistently dominate Thurston filling shoes

The Midwestern League remains the same, except the addition of South Eugene and Willamette, the pair of 6A schools playing down a classification. South Eugene has been without a football program for two seasons. The Axe is once again trying to build up a football program revived under former coach Chad Kessler.

The one constant in the league is the utter domination of Thurston over the past few seasons. The Colts have won three straight MWL titles and they also won back-to-back 5A state championships in 2018 and 2019, then lost to Silverton in last year’s state final.

Thurston graduated 26 seniors off last year’s team, so there will plenty of unknowns who need to step up and fill the shoes of departed all-league and all-state players. Still, head coach Justin Starck has a history of getting the most from his players no matter the circumstances.

“We’re excited. Man, the first groups have really been playing well,” Starck said. “They’re a quality unit. The junior class is a strong group. We have a small senior group this year, but just a bunch of top-notch kids.”

Never one to back away from a challenge, Starck scheduled two nonleague games to open the season against perennial playoff contender Wilsonville and a loaded Summit team that Starck said could probably win a 6A state title this season.

“That was the plan, was to challenge ourselves right off the bat,” he said. “If things go well, great, we will take that and build on it. If we struggle then we’ll try to figure out what we need to fix and work on it during the league season.”

As far as the rest of the league goes, Springfield could be a surprise this season with a large and talented junior class. North Eugene has been rebuilding and features an exciting quarterback in senior Devon Anderson, who had 1,500 total yards and 15 touchdowns in six games last season. There's big questions surrounding the rebuilding jobs at Churchill, South Eugene and Willamette.

But first things first for Thurston, and that will be Wilsonville and Summit.

“We definitely want to use these first two games as a gauge of where we are,” Starck said. “Hopefully we settle in during the league season, qualify for the playoffs and get a good seed, and we’ll see what we can do from there.”

Class 4A: New set up for league formerly known as Sky-Em

The Sky-Em League is no more.

In a massive shuffle, local teams Cottage Grove, Junction City and Marist will play in a more northern league along with Cascade, Philomath, Stayton and Sweet Home. The southern league will feature Ashland, Henley, Hidden Valley, Klamath Union, Marshfield, Mazama and North Bend.

Each team will play everyone in their league once, plus one crossover game against an opponent from the other league.

Marist coach Frank Geske has no problems with the new setup.

“I’m happy because most of these schools are one-hour travel,” he said. “Those three, three-and-a-half-hour bus rides are a different deal. There’s no doubt the competition will be tougher, but I like the travel aspect of it.”

Junction City dropped down 3A classification last season in order to reinvigorate the program, and coach Wall said he’s happier to have the Tigers back at the 4A level.

“This is where Junction City belongs,” he said. “I’m not a big fan of moving teams around and changing classifications all the time. Dropping down to fix your problems doesn’t fix your problems. You’ve got to put in the work and fix your own problems.”

The Tigers largely did that last season, going 5-3 overall and losing a late-season nailbiter against eventual 3A state champion Siuslaw before falling in the first round of the playoffs. Wall said 60 players turned out for football this year, so the outlook is positive.

“Our team speed is good. That’s going to help out this year because we didn’t have as much team speed last year,” Wall said. “Up front our offensive line should be pretty good. We’ve got three seniors who started last year, and they’re all back. I’ve been pleased with the development of the line. I think they’re going to be pretty formidable.”

Marist will be breaking in a lot of new faces, but the younger players have gained invaluable experience playing behind a group that led the Spartans to two 4A state title games and one semifinal appearance.

“We graduated a great group of seniors that were good football players and just really good to be around,” Geske said. “This is just a brand new group. There’s so many new pieces, so we’ll play a lot of kids and try to figure things out.”

Smaller schools conferences see shifts

The 3A Mountain Valley Conference will have a decidedly local flair with Creswell, Elmira, Harrisburg, Pleasant Hill and defending state champion Siuslaw. The other members for this year are La Pine and Sisters.

At the 2A level, local teams will compete in Special District 2. That league will include Central Linn, Lowell, Monroe, Oakridge, Taft, Toledo and Waldport.

This year 1A schools have the option to play either 8- or 6-man football. Mohawk is the only local school opting for the 8-man game, while Crow, Mapleton, McKenzie and Triangle Lake will play 6-man.

Follow Zack Palmer on Twitter @zpalmer_11 or email at zpalmer@registerguard.com.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Sheldon, Thurston ready for 2022 Oregon prep football season