Scan the OregonPrepSports.net database and you find that everyone reads the polls. Read the forums, and a lot of people will say they don’t mean anything, and they don’t care about them, yadda, yadda, yadda. But sports fans always check out the “Top 10”. And usually take exception to it, unless, of course, their team is ranked #1.

In that vein, I looked back at the year that 2007 was in Oregon High School Sports, and tried to identify the top stories we followed in the year that passed. Here’s my picks from a full year of fun following fantastic young men and women.

1. 4A Football Playoffs.

The only championship game upset was supplied by the Marist Spartans, when they finally found the 36-28 key to conquering the Sisters Outlaws, who had handled them twice in two years in high profile contests. A corollary was seeing how high the Outlaws’ Cory McCaffrey could set the bar for career rushing yards before his fabulous career came to an end. Coincidentally, Coach Bob MaCauley concluded his coaching career (at least for now) with a run to a title game, and a Coach of the Year selection.

Before the final Saturday at Reser Stadium, Ontario almost horned in on the party, but Sisters won one of the wilder playoff games, 50-49 in the semi-finals, following an even wilder 50-46 quarterfinal victory over North Bend.

As if that wasn’t enough, the breakout game by Marist’s Bobby Edwards, the “Other #1”, who was a rotation back until getting a start, and a hot hand, in the biggest game of his life. Always a good time to have the best day of your career.

2. Portland Christian / Kim Hill

Claiming their second consecutive 2A Volleyball championship was the highlight so far, though a basketball repeat is still a definite possibility too. Winning the girls’ basketball championship was a big part of the story as well. The Royals are a top program, as their success in various 2A exploits reveals, but none of the girls’ team championships would probably have happened without standout (and more importantly, stand tall) star Kim Hill. One of the top athletes in the state in recent years, Hill has dominated the 2A scene to a degree rarely seen at any level.

The degree of what Hill has accomplished may not be fully appreciated until it isn’t repeated for some time.

3. Stayton Basketball double, part of Super Saturday.

The Eagles looked to take both the girls’ and boys’ 4A titles, and the girls’ rode the most dominating defensive effort of the post season to accomplish their part, in an all Capital Conference final against Gladstone.

But Baker celebrated a lost classmate, Mayce Collard, and burst the Eagles’ bubble in the boys championship game that followed, which was the final game (for now anyway) for Stayton Coach and Athletic Director Jamie McCarty.

McCarty has done something rarely seen in sports these days, putting his young family ahead of his career, electing to step away from the big time to spend evenings with his small children until they aren’t so small anymore.

The night also saw North Eugene’s boys complete an unbeaten season to claim the 5A state championship, and the conclusion of the Kevin Love – Kyle Singler high school rivalry, as Singler and South Medford claimed the 6A championship.

4. Mohawk wins 1A semifinal football game with a field goal.

Mohawk went undefeated, and won the 1A 8-man football title as the favorite, but the “Sporty” Game of the Year saw something that has never happened before. Mohawk beat Crane with a field goal as time ran out in the semi-finals. It was the first playoff game winning kick in the history of Oregon 8 (or 6) man football.

Kicking is a constant adventure in 8-man football, and the goal posts could be eliminated from most 1A facilities with absolutely no impact on the games. So the Indians’ 37-34 victory etched Brody Wilkins’ name in Oregon High School football history for all time.

5. Forest Grove’s 6A Softball Title, and a Crater Sweep.

Forest Grove was the Cinderella story of a super softball season, as the Vikings surprised the state. Barely even making the playoffs, the odds were probably longer on this small-town team winning over all the “super programs” than any other champion of any sport at any level all year. So when they defeated Central Catholic 5-1, even the other big story of “Diamond Super Saturday” on the first Saturday in June was eclipsed.

Not that the other story of the day wasn’t special as well. Crater completed the I-5 double, as the OSAA adjusted the schedules, so the Comets could open the day with a morning game at Oregon State, where they claimed the softball championship with a 7-5 win over Glencoe, and then frantically load the bus for the run to Volcanoe’s stadium. Once there, the Comets claimed an even more exciting 2-1 win over Churchill in the 5A Baseball championship.

6. West Albany dominates 5A Football.

Rebounding from a heart breaking triple overtime loss in the 2006 championship, the Bulldogs, who have been playing football since before World War I, won their first ever football championship.

The Bulldogs absolutely demolished the 5A competition, as no one came closer than three touchdowns all season. But the best part of the story was the emotional element, as QB Reece Miller lost his father to cancer before the season. The tears of joy from numerous members of Bulldog nation afterwards were one of the memorable moments of the era, never mind the season.

7. Valley Catholic’s Overtime win over Regis in 3A Basketball.

The Valiants’ 52-50 overtime win at Willamette over rival Regis was the perfect end to a season that saw Valley Catholic open 2-5, and an evening that earlier saw the Valiant girls lose the girls’ championship to Nyssa by 20 points.

It almost never happened, as a three quarter length of the floor shot at the end of regulation almost won it for the Rams, who made a remarkable post season run against an array of taller teams to the title game.

8. Tualatin Timberwolves’ run to the title game, as well as Sheldon’s Win.

Sheldon’s 6A football championship win with a sophomore QB was a huge story too, as was Coach Marty Johnson’s brilliant game plan that produced a surprisingly solid 41-21 win over Grant & Andre Broadous. All that came after an improbable quarterfinal overtime win at top ranked Lake Oswego, when an extra point kick sailed wide, sinking another of Steve Coury’s teams’ title hopes.

But crusty old Coach Craig Hastin proved that coaching and conditioning count, as the Timberwolves were the only unranked team in any of the 6 classes to advance to the semi finals, much less make a championship game appearance.

The Timberwolves’ 21-20 comeback win at PGE park against West Salem sent the Timberwolves to the title game despite depending on defense and a bruising rushing game instead of a Sportcenter highlight offense so often considered a requirement to win anymore.

The Timberwolves opened the season 2-2, and were 4-3 after losing their homecoming game, but Coach Hastin never stopped making adjustments, and teaching hard nosed football that looked like something out of a 60’s vintage NFL highlight film. That hard nosed football also left a lot of bruised opponents wondering what runaway truck hit them, and rewarded what was easily the loudest and largest throng of supporters seen all football season with all anyone can ever ask for, a shot at the championship.

9. Sisters Volleyball Upset of Estacada, and Events that followed.

Not many top ten sporting events happen at 8 AM in the morning, but that is when the first first round 4A state tournament match started, and tournament co-favorite Estacada won the first game. But Sisters completed a surprising 3-2 comeback win to eliminate the Rangers, who have recently been regulars in the final match. That alone was big volleyball news. But it was the catalyst that provided the beginning for the Outlaws’ remarkable run, and a remarkable weekend at Lane Community College.

Twice more, Sisters managed 3-2 wins, including a come from behind win over top ranked La Grande in the final, where the Outlaws won three of the last four games, including two elimination games against the Tigers, to claim their first volleyball championship since 1996.

Golly, that was a great run, topping even Burns’ perfect season, which culminated in the 3A title. The Hilanders were 9a in the top ten, with only a single game loss, to Portland Christian and Kim Hill; see above, all season. Coach Paula Toney’s squad ran roughshod over the 3A Volleyball scene all season, leaving the only question being how far the Hilanders would have gone in the higher classes.

10. Legal Proceedings Grab Lots of Headlines.

It’s more of a bottom 10 item, but lawyers were involved in Oregon High School Sports to an unprecedented degree in 2007. And diverted dollars that could have been spent on programs.

Multiple Molalla players faced multiple charges in multiple courts, and continued commotion about redistricting, even after it was fully implemented, consumed funds in legal fees that could have been used to construct better facilities.

Coaches were hired because other coaches were hired, but wound up appearing in court, and being sidelined, before ever appearing on the sideline at their new school.

A cultural clash between Roosevelt and the MidWestern League resulted in an investigation by a state Supreme Court Judge, and more road trips that didn’t even involve game schedules.

Lawyers and administrators submitted bills for time and expenses focused around how to pay for repainting gyms and replacing uniforms that included native American images. Which, notably, were put in place by individual communities, who are more in touch with their local history than any external “experts”.

More money was spent on whether tour buses, which were used more than ever as a result of redistricting, and are better built than any yellow school bus, should be allowed to be used.

Many more magic moments, memorable all, and too numerous to enumerate, marked a marvelous year in high school sports. Drop by the forum if you like, to highlight your favorites that I overlooked.

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