High school football: Backfield depth buoys Willamette to first league win

QuickTake:

Despite an injured star, the Wolverines leaned on a pair of tough backs as they eased to a win in their league opener at home, 28-0 over North Medford.

Willamette football head coach Josh Line says the Wolverines have a “three-headed dragon” in its backfield. Two heads, it turns out, are still enough for Willamette.

With senior running back Zuzi Alwineyan unable to go due to injury for the Wolverines Friday, Oct. 2 for their league opener against North Medford, Line turned to sophomore Jonny Jenkins and senior Conner Harvey in the Willamette backfield. Harvey (139 rushing yards), Jenkins (66 yards) and the Willamette offensive line rewarded him with a dominant ground game as the Wolverines (3-2, 1-0 league) cruised to a 28-0 win over the Black Tornado (2-4, 0-2).

“Those guys worked their tails off this offseason, and they’ve both got a lot of confidence,” Line said of Harvey and Jenkins. “We call them the three-headed dragon — we’re down one, and we’re really excited about the possibility of Zuzi coming back next week, but they all bring something to the table.”

With the Wolverines leading 8-0 after one quarter, quarterback Zeke Thomas handed off to Harvey on third-and-9 outside the red zone. The senior stepped on the burners for a 28-yard gash, then thundered past his right tackle on the next play to secure the Wolverines’ second score from 6 yards out.

“Me and Jonny have just been splitting reps and putting in the hard work,” Harvey said. “Our o-line has really been working on the run game, so I knew we were going to take care of business as soon as the game started.”

Willamette’s Conner Harvey (23) and Ethan Lamb (28) celebrate after Harvey scored a touchdown against North Medford in Eugene Oct. 2, 2026. Credit: Payton Bruni / For Lookout Eugene-Springfield

“(Harvey) is a physical back,” Jenkins said. “He does not go down easy. He just wants to hit. That’s when he’s good.”

Jenkins, who missed the start of Willamette’s season due to injury but returned, broke free on a 30-yard rush in the first half to help sustain the Wolverines’ offense while the passing game remained on-and-off.

“Jonny is young and he’s explosive,” Harvey said. “He’s one of the most explosive players on our team, and if you get the ball in his hand, it’s going to be an explosive play.”

When the Wolverines’ passing game did click early, it was from Thomas (14 of 24, 146 passing yards, 3 TD) to Knox Smith, who caught a 14-yard touchdown to open the scoring on the Wolverines’ first drive. Kawai Chamberlin made 30 yards out of a screen to keep the Willamette possession driving.

Thomas, though, made most of his first-half noise on the ground, where he racked up 37 rushing yards before halftime. After the Wolverines drove inside the red zone over the final three minutes of the second quarter, including a Harvey fourth-down conversion rush, Thomas pulled the ball down with seconds remaining and tucked it toward the goal line — but was hit and ruled down inches short as time expired.

Derek Earl kept the Wolverines’ defensive shutout intact when the Black Tornado breached the red zone with a diving third-quarter interception off a fade ball into the Willamette end zone. Willamette forced punts the rest of the way to shut out North Medford despite 57 rushing yards on nine attempts from Mason Vaelua.

“I thought we executed really well defensively,” Line said. “I thought our young secondary improved a ton — Derek Earl made an unbelievable play in the end zone, so that was a highlight — but I was really proud of our guys in the box who just battled all night against a really good North Medford team.”

Thomas, who flipped his commitment from Boise State to Oregon State last week, redeemed himself through the air with a pair of 29- and 17-yard fade balls to Sterling Holland in the second half, then burst through the line on a game-sealing fourth-and-1 quarterback sweep.

After the Wolverines emerged from their first four games at 2-2, Line asked his team to do some “soul-searching” during the bye week which preceded Friday’s game. Jenkins said he found a “not-quitting, not-giving-up drive.” For his part, Harvey said he was “dealing with some injuries, so I had to really dig deep and do recovery and practice.”

Thomas finished the night at the head of the Wolverines’ postgame huddle, speaking about family and drive and not quitting.

“Since transferring to Willamette, Coach Line’s biggest thing for me has been my leadership and not being afraid of conflict,” Thomas said. “This bye week, I think I really worked on that — not because I was fighting my teammates, but holding them to the standard that we have here at Willamette. I think I did a better job of doing that … it showed today how the soul-searching worked.”

Willamette continues league play next Friday, Oct. 9, at South Medford.