Prep football: Caldera runs over North Eugene for win

Caldera High School running back Waylon Clarke already has a high school track resume with flash.

Friday night, he showed the North Eugene Highlanders how those track skills can translate to the football field.

Clarke used his speed to roll up 306 yards on the ground and four touchdowns, a career-best night, as Caldera (2-1) claimed a 61-23 win over the Highlanders (0-2).

“It was a great game, and the offensive line did amazing,” said Clarke, who claimed bronze medals in the 200- and 400-meter races in last June’s OSAA track and field championships. “It was the best blocking I’ve seen all season.”

By the end of the first half, Clarke had racked up 284 yards and all four touchdowns on 12 carries through the often-enormous gaps his line opened. Two of those scores came by way of 79-yard breakaway scores in which he dissected the Highlanders’ defensive line with a cut and didn’t give the second or third level a chance to catch up.

“At running back, there’s a lot more than just straight-on moving compared to track,” Clarke said. “It’s a lot of cutting, and vision is really important for seeing those openings. Then, it’s when you’re able to utilize those openings that you see, and then just really turn on the track speed and make it happen.”

Twice, Clarke’s scores saved the Wolfpack in fourth-down situations. When he didn’t punch it in, it was because he’d recovered a fumble, reversed field, and secured a first down; or because he had half the Highlanders hanging off his pads.

“He’s fast, man,” North Eugene quarterback D’Mariyae Ireland said. “He’s real fast. When you’ve got that high school speed like that — that 4.8, 4.7 (second) speed in this 5A class, you’re going to do some things for sure.”

North Eugene’s first points came by way of a Caldera long snap that sailed out of the back and the end zone and a Josiah Corsini first-half kickoff return of 85 yards. But the Highlander offense never got off the ground. Ireland turned the ball over three times in the first half, and the Highlanders couldn’t get up off the mat.

When Clarke wasn’t scoring, Caldera quarterback Preston Green had a chance to flash his arm with 42-, 25- and 33-yard touchdown passes to Lucas Ninneman (three catches, 100 yards) and a 12-yard score to Zander Rogers.

At the half, North Eugene coach Rick Raish told his team to ignore the scoreboard and play their game. They did that, to the tune of a pair of rushing touchdowns from Ireland and Corsini off the back of a 42-yard Ireland-to-Cohen Rushing completion and a muffed kickoff, respectively.

Ireland added a strong pass breakup as a safety, too, and registered snaps all over the field.

“He’s an ironman,” Raish said. “We’ve got a couple of guys who are like that — Josiah Corsini and Drake Anderson. They’re all heart, man, and they’re good football players. Everyone else is a little inexperienced, but those kids are tough and they lead us and they’re good.”

Ireland finished with his rushing touchdown and four completions to Anderson (84 receiving yards) among his passes and 37 rushing yards. Corsini totaled 54 yards on the ground and the goal-line score in the second half to go with his kick return.

“We still see success (this season),” Ireland said. “We don’t just see everything going downhill because we’re losing. We play good teams … just because we lost to those teams doesn’t mean nothing…we’re not counting ourselves out at all.”

North Eugene opens league play against Roseburg next Friday at 7 p.m.

Scoreboard

Friday, Sept. 11

• Willamette 37, Sherwood 28
• Sheldon 21, Summit 14
• Caldera 61, North Eugene 23
• Springfield 34, Corvallis 0
• Mazama 52, Cottage Grove 16
• Kennedy 39, Elmira 6
• Crow 54, Triangle Lake 19
• McKenzie 8, Eddyville 7
• Scappoose 42, Junction City 14
• Crescent Valley 42, Marist Catholic 35
• Harrisburg 40, Creswell 0
• Siuslaw-Mapleton 28, Newport 3
• Lowell 34, La Pine 6
• Oakridge at Vernonia, 7 p.m.
• Mohawk at Glendale, 7 p.m.
• North Marion at Pleasant Hill, 7 p.m.