By Pigskin Pete

 While folks in Portland, Eugene and Corvallis celebrate the unprecedented gridiron success of our state’s major universities,  they have no higher expectations for football good fortune this fall than the 527 residents of Dufur, the hamlet just uphill from the wheatfields of north central Oregon.  

Their beloved high school Rangers rule the roost in 8-man football, seeking their third straight state title. 

They got off to a great start, smoking what was expected to be a prime challenger for state honors, Alsea, 40-24 in the season opener, then whipping Touchet from neighboring Washington state, 54-20.  Only two players graduated from last year’s Ranger squad, which crushed the Powder Valley Badgers, 50-12 in the state championship match.  All three offensive stars in the Dufur backfield return.  These veterans may be facing the Butte Falls Loggers in this year’s state title battle, since the latter opened their season with impressive 26-8 and 58-8 wins over Camas Valley and Days Creek, respectively.  Dufur coach Jack Henderson expects tough state title challenges from St. Paul and the same Alsea squad he vanquished in the opener.  He reports the latter as “the biggest team I’ve ever seen at this level…”they’re like a college squad, averaging 260 lbs.”

Speaking of size, Henderson recalls the considerable challenge posed by Powers’ end Jeremy Mowe (6-5, 240) in last season’s state semi-final play.  Henderson says Mowe, now matriculating at Idaho State, was “not only big, but he could run down our fastest kids.”  Mowe, incidentally, is the brother of Portland Fire (and ex-Oregon Duck) basketball player Jenny Mowe.  

Henderson has practiced his entire head coaching career (since 1987) at the school.  Injuries in high school play precludes Henderson from playing in college, but he was an obvious student of the game at Central Washington University.  He credits his teams’ success to “good kids and really supportive parents.”  

Offense rules

As the foregoing scores indicate, 8-man football stages few close defensive battles.  It’s a wide open game, with 3 backs and 5 linemen, two of whom function primarily as receivers in this pass-happy pastime.  Your correspondent was vastly entertained by the offensive fireworks he witnessed in the 1999 state title match, as Dufur outlasted the St. Paul Buckaroos, 56-38.  We agree with Dufur coach Henderson that the 8-man game is “really great entertainment” and the state title match is now an annual event in Portland’s PGE Park during a full day of prep championship play at every level.

Dufur’s success somewhat pales when you consider the records of the nation’s top two 8-man grid machines.  Southern California’s Rio Hondo Prep has captured 9 state championships, had a 111-6 record through the ‘90’s and currently sports 56 straight victories.  Morrison of Oklahoma betters that with 91 successive wins starting this season and also boasts 9 state titles.

Montana mentoring

The cultural seat of 8-man play seems to be Montana.  The state’s coaches have produced a web site (http://www.8manfootball.com) that offers in-depth study of all the possible 8-man strategies and has contributions from other state’s coaches.  Obviously, our nation’s smallest towns support this level of play, and the isolated communities in the West are its hotbeds.

Oregon’s 8-man grid athletes hale from the wide open spaces east of the Cascades and leftover logging towns amid our coastal forests.  Dufur plays in the Big Sky league, which also includes Ione, Echo, Arlington, Maupin and Condon (the latter is Dufur’s traditional rival).  You need a very detailed state map to find the sites of our 8-man touchdown terrors.  The Casco league contains the westernmost schools in this category, including Eddyville, Falls City, Jewell, Perrydale, Triangle Lake, Oregon School for the Deaf, Alsea, Mohawk and St. Paul.

Schools combine to play

Other 8-man leagues are Skyline North (Camas Valley, Days Creek, Elkton, North Lake, Paisley, Powers, Prospect and Butte Falls) and Old Oregon, which has the state’s three 8-man teams that combine players from several schools to gain a playing quorum: Harper/Huntington, Spray/Wheeler and Dayville/Monument/Mitchell.  This league also includes Adrian, Burnt River, Cove, Jordan Valley, Powder Valley, Prairie City and Crane.  It also offers mascot confusion, with both Crane and Jordan Valley sporting the sobriquet Mustangs.  Oregon 8-man play also involves two sets of Cougars, Prospect and Echo.

Our favorite team names are the Adrian Antelopes, South Wasco (Maupin) Redsides (named for the prize piscatorial denizens of the area’s Deschutes River), and the Harper/Huntington Locomotives, reflecting Huntington’s function as a railroad switching point.  The Arlington Honkers also deserve mascot mention.

When state prep title time comes around this year, get thyself to PGE Park and be on time for the 8-man clash that opens the day, or you will miss the first of many scoring plays.