Fans at Preece Memorial Stadium were confused at the end of King’s Way Christian’s first possession Friday against La Center.
It looked like the Knights were lining up to attempt an 84-yard field goal.
But in high school football, the change-of-possession rules are the same whether the ball is punted or place-kicked.
A place-kicked ball can be returned by the defense if it lands in the field of play. And if the defense chooses not to return the ball and the kicking team downs the ball, that is where the defense takes over possession of the ball, just like in a punt.
Still, the decision to place-kick the ball on fourth down instead of punting was an interesting one by King’s Way coach Dale Rule.
Rule said the first time saw a high school team punt from a placekicking formation was about 25 years ago in Oregon. And when the Knights struggled to find a punter on their roster this season, a suggestion was made by one of Rule’s assistant to placekick the ball.
“I said ‘alright, we’re putting it in. Done,’ ” Rule said. “To me, it feels like it eliminates some variables. And it helped us flip the field a couple of times on Friday.”
Rule has a good kicker in senior Rylan Richter. But for whatever reason, Richter just couldn’t get the hang of punting.
“Rylan is a pretty high-level soccer player,” Rule said. “But interesting enough, he can’t punt to save his life. He came up to me and said ‘Coach, I’m just terrible at punting.’ ”
But he can boom the ball from a place kick. The only mishap Friday with the strategy was a bad snap on the Knights’ second place-kicking punt, which gave La Center the ball at the Knights 5-yard line. The Wildcats scored a touchdown on the next play.
Rule said prior to that play he had about five players sent off because they had tinted faceshields. He was able to get most back on the field in time for the kick. But one player he could not get back quickly enough was his long snapper.
“So I had to have a kid long-snap who hadn’t long-snapped this season,” Rule said. “And I was like ‘Oh boy. This could be a tragedy.’ ’’
But the rest of the night, the place-kick punt seemed to work for the Knights.
“In my opinion, it helped us immensely,” Rule said. “I’ll have to have a dude who’s kicking it 50 yards as punter for me to actually go back to punting. That’s how much I liked what happened Friday night.”
— Tim Martinez
Camas embraces Mill Town uniforms
It took nearly a month into the 2024 high school football season to arrive, but Camas High’s new home uniforms made their debut in Friday’s 48-14 victory over Oregon City. The uniforms arrived just days before Friday’s game at Doc Harris Stadium that pushed top-ranked Camas to 4-0.
The Papermakers’ all-black uniforms with white and red trim read ‘Mill Town’ in cursive across the front.
Sophomore Thor Brody, who had an 11-yard touchdown reception in Friday’s win, spoke postgame about the players’ decision to use ‘Mill Town’ instead of traditional school or mascot names. It’s a way not only to give a nod to Camas’ past, but also what it represents to the current generation of Papermakers. Brody, along with his brother, senior Titan Brody, and a host of other Camas players helped put work in on the uniform design back in the spring.
“It’s what we are here,” Thor Brody said of ‘Mill Town’ … “That’s what we’re all here at Camas. All of the people out here (gesturing to the crowd), they help make us who we are. We’re all a family out here.”
— Meg Wochnick
Teammate’s return gives Ridgefield a boost
Ridgefield players and coaches were laser-focused leading up to Friday’s game against Hudson’s Bay, but there was one thing weighing heavily on their hearts and minds.
The Spudders were thinking about teammate Brian McLemore III after the junior had a freak accident in last week’s game against Hockinson. McLemore collided with the back of another player’s cleat, resulting in an internal injury that required a four-hour surgery and a week-long hospital stay.
Last the team heard, McLemore was supposed to return home from the hospital on Saturday, the day after Ridgefield’s game, so it came as a pleasant surprise when he walked into the Spudders’ locker room at Kiggins Bowl before kickoff on Friday.
“It was electric,” Ridgefield coach Scott Rice said. “We were talking about him at walk-through, we were talking about him at dinner, there’s not a guy in our program, probably, that loves the game the way he loves playing the game. … Him showing up, it just kind of lit the place on fire and guys were ready to go. They love him to death and it was pretty special.”
McLemore stood alongside his teammates when they lined up for the National Anthem and cheered them on from the sideline throughout Ridgefield’s 49-0 win over Bay. Though the injury will keep him out for the rest of the 2024 season, according to Rice, the Spudders are thrilled to have one of their leaders back with the team.
“He’s a tough kid and he bounced back,” Rice said. “I’m proud of him. That’s a big deal. He’s rehabbing and getting back into it. But he’s a great kid, he’s been such a leader for us and done such an awesome job.”
— Will Denner
Heritage benefits from offseason work
Heritage spent the entire offseason focusing on one goal – getting a win that would end a 20-game losing streak.
Since getting that season-opening victory, the work the Timberwolves did over the summer continues to pay off. Heritage improved to 3-1 for the first time since 2016 with a 49-7 win over Kentlake on Friday.
Owen Daley, who threw for four touchdowns and ran for another, said there was a different tone around the Heritage workouts this summer.
“We’ve known since Week 9 last year that this is the end (of the losing streak),” Daley said. “The turnaround started one week after the season ended. Everyone bought in and everyone is fighting for the same goal. It has really turned out good.”
Two straight winless seasons could demoralize a team. Not the Timberwolves.
“In the offseason they were doubting us,” said Delo Holmes, who caught two touchdowns Friday. “But we’ve were in the weight room every day.”
Daley’s eight touchdowns rank third among area quarterbacks. After being outscored 416-52 last season, Heritage has outscored opponents 125-65 this season.
— Micah Rice
Quarterback emerges at Mountain View
Making his first start of the season, Cashton Liedtke injected life into Mountain View’s offense. The junior quarterback nearly rallied the Thunder from a 20-point deficit in a 20-18 loss to Mountainside of Beaverton, Ore., on Friday.
In Mountain View’s first three games, quarterbacks had completed a combined 20 of 60 passes for 129 yards. The Thunder offense had managed just 18 points.
Liedtke found his rhythm Friday after a rocky start, in which he missed a series after suffering a late hit out of bounds. He connected with Dylan Huber for a 51-yard touchdown late in the second quarter.
In the second half, the offense found its groove with a mixture of short passes and runs by Jaden Brown. Liedtke completed 15 of his last 20 passes and had Mountain View in position for a go-ahead score before a turnover on downs at the 8 yard line with under two minutes to play.
Huber has been Liedtke’s most reliable target. The senior caught 14 passes for 135 yards Friday to give him an area-best 18 catches this season.
— Micah Rice
