A couple years ago, the Portland Interscholastic League (PIL) made a bold and oft criticized decision: to have all of its schools compete at the 6A level, the highest enrollment level of high school athletics in Oregon. Previously, the conference was a hybrid, with many of the 9 schools playing in different classifications. By bringing them together again, the schools could build up their rivalries again.
However, the move to a unified 6A did have its drawbacks. The PIL has a wide range of enrollments, from Jefferson at 391 (per the OSAA website), which is in the 4A range to Lincoln’s league biggest 1,505. The PIL has the lowest average enrollment of every 6A conference. Even more glaringly, the conference has never had a team win in the playoffs at the 6A level.
Lincoln looks to change that.
Their road has been a struggle. Two years ago, in 2013, the Lincoln Cardinals won 2 games. Then, the program instituted a new system, a punishing run-heavy, Wing-T offense known to high school football fans in the Pacific Northwest as the Bellevue High School system. Current Head Coach Wes Warren was part of the team that brought this new system to the team. In 2014, the team improved to 5 wins.
This year, at the time of this writing, Lincoln is an undefeated 7-0 with expectations (at least, outside the program) that they should end the regular season an undefeated 9-0. How have they done it?
As much as the story centers around the new offensive system being implemented, the unit this year that has impressed has been the defense. Some of the stats jump off the page. Through 7 games, the Lincoln defense has surrendered precisely 46 points. That’s less than a touchdown (including extra point), per game. It is exactly 6.57 points per game (they’ve scored more than 36 per game). The next closest defense in 6A? Sherwood, who has given up 118 points.
Their defensive line and their linebackers are largely to credit. They’ve notched 32 tackles for a loss and recently kept the state’s leading rusher, Wilson High’s Riley Tindell, out of the endzone in a 40-7 drubbing of the Trojans. This unit is anchored by standouts like Linebacker Steven Barnes, Defensive End Blake Long and lineman Kayode Rufai.
On offense, the Cardinals’ rushing attacks features a ton of players, so many that it can be hard to keep track. There isn’t such a thing as a selfish Cardinal running back. The feature back in the start of the season was Garrett Cheadle, who was felled by a season ending injury. Since then, Edmund Slevin has stepped into that role, supported by nearly a dozen runners, including Jared Chin and Malachai Rodriguez.
Through 7 games, the Cardinals appear to be clicking on all cylinders, although Warren believes they have a lot of room to improve. They commit a lot of avoidable penalties, particularly at the line of scrimmage. In Wilson’s single scoring drive last week, the Cardinals gave up 35 penalty yards. The team holds a #8 ranking in the Oregonian’s media poll but Warren has been vocal that the team needs to improve to earn that spot.
They aim to take their next step tonight, against Franklin High School. If the Cardinals win, they clinch the PIL title. Already, the Cardinals are playoff bound and an undefeated regular season would earn Lincoln home field advantage for at least a couple rounds in the state tournament.
By the way, at the start of the season, my Lincoln High School broadcast partner Shane Downey asked coach Warren what his goal was going into the season. His immediate response: “Earn a home playoff game.” Pretty soon, he may have to start looking to win that very game and make history for the PIL.
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