No. 4 Tualatin gets its shot at the Three Rivers League's top spot when the Timberwolves travel to unbeaten No. 1 Lake Oswego for a 7 p.m. kickoff Friday, Oct. 23.
The stakes are straightforward. Lake Oswego (7-0, 3-0 TRL) controls the league race. Tualatin (6-1, 2-1 TRL) sits one game back after a 42-14 loss to West Linn on Oct. 2 in the league opener. A Timberwolves win would pull Tualatin even with Lake Oswego at 3-1 in league play, according to MaxPreps standings.
A loss would drop Tualatin two games behind with two league contests remaining.
The Lakers have won 13 straight games dating to last season, when they captured the Class 6A state championship., according to Your Oregon News. Their defense forced six turnovers and held Tigard to 198 total yards in a 35-0 shutout on Oct. 16, per SI's state rankings.
Senior quarterback Ryder Lemm has been the engine. Against Tigard, Lemm completed 20 of 33 passes for 333 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. He also ran for a score. In the Lakers' 21-7 win over West Linn on Oct. 9, Lemm threw for 199 yards and two touchdowns but also threw one interception. He rushed eight times for 53 yards and another score.
Lake Oswego head coach Steve Coury, now in his 37th year leading the program, said before the season that Lemm followed the same path as past championship quarterbacks who waited their turn in the system. "He's a really good quarterback and adds a lot of dimensions," Coury told the Lake Oswego Review in August.
Lemm's targets are dangerous, too. Senior wide receiver Jasiah Agnimel had 29 catches for 490 yards and five touchdowns through six games, according to a Your Oregon News feature. Senior Cam Elijah added five catches for 117 yards against Tigard. Sophomore running back Jacob Lugo gained 88 yards on five carries in that game.
Tualatin counters with an offense that has scored at least 42 points in four of its six wins. Iden Rule led the Timberwolves with 220 total yards and two touchdowns in a 42-0 rout of Oregon City on Oct. 16. Junior quarterback Lincoln Keeney completed 10 of 20 passes for 147 yards and a touchdown in the season opener, a 52-13 win over Mountainside on Aug. 28.
The Timberwolves have bounced back from the West Linn loss with consecutive blowouts: 62-35 over then-No. 7 Lakeridge on Oct. 9 and the shutout of Oregon City.
Tualatin head coach Dom Ferraro set the tone for this kind of moment early in the season. After the Aug. 28 opener against Mountainside, Ferraro told the Valley Times: "We've got to come out here and prove ourselves on the football field every week."
Lake Oswego received all 15 first-place votes in the OSAA Week 6 coaches poll. Tualatin held steady at No. 4.
Kickoff is at Lake Oswego High School.
