Gladiators face Eagles in Playoff Qualifier

Gladstone and Estacada rolled on, while Stayton stunned La Salle with takeaways, and North Marion stumbled down south.

The Gladiators' Taylor Taft completed every pass he attempted in the second quarter, and completed eight straight, on his way to a four touchdown performance, and a 41-6 win in Gladstone's Homecoming. Stayton won the turnover margin against La Salle 6-0, and as a result, the game, 13-7.

The "E"s posted shutouts, as Estacada rolled Molalla 44-0, and Elmira collared North Marion 14-0.

I was 3-1, 26-9 for the season.

#2 Gladstone Gladiatiors (6-0, 3-0) at Stayton Eagles (5-2, 3-1). The last home game for the Eagles, at least in the regular season, is the game of the week. The winner is guaranteed a trip to the playoffs unless North Marion runs the table from here on out. So figure on the playoffs for the winner.

The first key will be Taft against the Eagle secondary, led by Kelly Theurkoff. The Eagles have the best secondary in the league, and they intercepted La Salle's Thomas O'Dell three times. Taft hasn't tossed an interception all season. Something has to give.

The difference will more likely be which running game goes for the most. Stayton uses the one-two punch of Kyle McGrath and Tyler Mikolas, while Gladstone may be minus Kris Ackerman, leaving Taft and Tyler Smith to make the major carries. The difference will still come down to run defense, and Stayton was run over by Estacada, while Gladstone has gradually gotten better against the rush.

Look for the Gladiators to manage the game better than most of Stayton's victims, and for Taft to engineer the win that keeps Happy Rock happy and rocking.

Estacada Rangers (5-2, 3-0) at North Marion Huskies (3-4, 1-2). The Huskies have lost three in a row, and scored a total of 14 points in the process, repeating the trend of recent seasons, where promising starts to seasons die during the Capital Conference stretch run. In the meantime, the Rangers have rushed to 121 points in their last three blowout wins.

Even if North Marion's Kelly Maguire gets back on track, the Ranger rushing attack will limit the Huskies' opportunities. Estacada can't pass, but with two legit 200 yard threats, never mind 100 yards, in Alex Purcel and Jake Hyde, they don't often have a need to. The bigger Rangers will bang away at the Huskies, and beat them down.

Cascade Cougars (1-6, 1-3) vs. #9 La Salle Falcons (4-2, 1-2) at PGE Park. A 5 PM start for Homecoming for the Falcons, part of a parochial double header, as Barlow takes on Central Catholic immediately following this game.

The Cougars are playing in their third consecutive homecoming game, paying the price for being a "victim" team. The Falcons are finding reloading a tougher task than they had hoped, especially when they make their own life difficult with mistakes. The Falcons are also playing in their second consecutive homecoming contest. And while this one is theirs', it isn't even in their town, never mind on the field they call home.

While Cascade is slowly recovering from some of the injuries that derailed their season, La Salle is still the deeper team, and the one that is better in the rushing game, offensively and defensively. The Cougars will contest the issue, but the Falcons will fly off with a homecoming victory this time.

The Molalla Indians (0-7, 0-4) have the week off, after sinking to the bottom of the defensive rating in the state. The Indians will need to spend the time working on defense for the last two weeks of the season, as they give up an average of exactly 40 points per game.

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