QuickTake:

The Highlanders come off an early bye to face Caldera after losing to South Albany. Elsewhere, winless Willamette searches for an answer against Sherwood, Pleasant Hill looks to keep rolling and Springfield heads to Corvallis in a battle of undefeated teams.

Dominant wins told the tale in the first official week of OSAA football in the Eugene-Springfield area. Four local teams — Junction City, Pleasant Hill, Marist Catholic and Crow — shut out their opponents as nonleague play was marked by enormous margins and defensive success. 

Last year’s titans haven’t all been successful, though. Willamette is 0-2 after a loss to Silverton, and Thurston fell to 1-1 with a loss to West Albany. Week 2 offers opportunities for teams to bounce back and for programs that claimed early wins to build on that success. We’re breaking them all down here.

Unless otherwise noted, all games listed kick off Friday, Sept. 11, at 7 p.m.

Home games 

Murray’s pick: North Eugene (0-1) vs. Caldera (1-1)

North Eugene returned talent in 2026 — most notably senior quarterback-safety D’Mariyae Ireland. That didn’t help the Highlanders, though, in a lopsided 28-7 loss at South Albany.

They didn’t play last Friday. Instead, an early bye week offered a chance to reboot, which North Eugene head coach Rick Raish called a “blessing in disguise.” 

“We’ve been practicing, cleaning everything up, and then doing a lot of film work and classroom work and just taking advantage of the time,” Raish said.

This week, the Highlanders look to take advantage of a chance to reset expectations against a Caldera team with two games already under its belt. Among the items in the cleanup aisle for Raish were messy snaps and repeated offside calls from a team that included several first-time varsity starters.

“Those tiny little mistakes, they were totally fixable,” Raish said.

Caldera running back Waylon Clarke leads the way for the Wolfpack with demonstrated track speed — the junior took 5A bronze in both the 200 meters and 400 meters at the OSAA outdoor track and field championships in June. Caldera fell to 6A Sprague a week ago — Raish, though, said Caldera “looked better” in that game.

“I know one thing — that (Caldera) didn’t quit,” Raish said. “They fought the whole way, and they’ve got a couple of kids that really love to hit, so it should be a fun game. I’m excited about it.”

Other home games in a sentence

  • Willamette (0-2) vs. Sherwood (0-1): The Wolverines need to dig themselves out of an early hole after last week’s 33-12 loss at Silverton compounded their opening loss to Lake Oswego.
  • Sheldon (1-1) vs. Summit (0-1): The Irish are renewed after backing up a strong defensive performance in their loss to Thurston with a 31-14 win over West Salem last Friday.
  • Pleasant Hill (1-0) vs. North Marion (1-0): The Billies eviscerated Amity, 49-0, last Friday and enter another home nonleague matchup Friday against a North Marion team that beat Woodburn, 14-13.
  • Elmira (0-1) vs. Kennedy (1-0): After a 49-0 loss opened Elmira’s season, the Falcons face a Kennedy team with a one-score victory under its belt.
  • Triangle Lake (0-1) at Crow (1-0): A matchup of Lane County teams; the Cougars pitched a shutout in their opener while Triangle Lake was held to a single score by North Lake.

Away games

Murray’s pick: Springfield (1-0) at Corvallis (1-0): The Millers, who opened with a one-score win over Bend, face a Corvallis program, which is also 1-0, thanks to a road win over McNary.

There’s experience for Springfield at the helm, with head coach Frank Geske, and across the field. Geske talked preseason about quarterback Brayden Wickersheim, who stepped into the role last season, and three-year starters Jackson Rich and Adam Hernandez as his weapons. They’ll key the battle against Corvallis, where fans should also keep an eye on the Millers’ ability to convert on the goal line — something Geske talked about preseason, too.

If Springfield can pull off a victory this week, it’ll head into league play undefeated, with a local matchup against Thurston coming a week after the Millers’ league opener next Thursday against Eagle Point.

Other away games in a sentence

  • Marist Catholic (1-0) at Crescent Valley (0-1): Marist posted a 35-0 win over a Stayton team that last year played 2025 Sky-Em champion Junction City close, while Crescent Valley lost 49-0 to reigning 4A champion Cascade.
  • Junction City (1-0) at Scappoose (1-1): The Tigers joined the shutout club with a 21-0 win over Seaside last Friday; Scappoose hung 41 points on Pendleton before falling to 2025 3A champion Cascade Christian by a similar margin.
  • Cottage Grove (1-0) at Mazama (0-1): The Lions won a local battle over Creswell, 25-18, and face a Mazama group that lost a close game at Klamath Union in Week 1.
  • Creswell (0-1) at Harrisburg (1-0): Creswell looks for a first win against Harrisburg, which held North Valley to six points in its opener.
  • Siuslaw-Mapleton (1-1) at Newport (0-1): Siuslaw-Mapleton is even on the year and looking for a big bounce back after the Vikings were brought back to earth in a 57-8 loss at league favorite Vale.
  • Oakridge (0-1) at Vernonia (0-1): Oakridge is winless, too, but has something to build off en route to Vernonia after a ridiculous quadruple-overtime game last week ended 70-68 in favor of Neah-Kah-Nie.
  • Mohawk (1-0) at Glendale (1-0): Mohawk started with a bang in its 52-6 win over Pilot Rock-Ukiah, and heads to a Glendale team that shut out Reedsport on the road, 64-0.
  • South Eugene (0-1) at Lebanon JV (Monday, Sept. 14, 6 p.m.): The rebuilding Axe continues its independent campaign against its first junior varsity opponent of the fall.