It’s finally here, the reason we play the regular season games in the first place, it’s playoff football time in Oregon. In past years there had seemed to be a top tier of three or four teams that had a shot at winning the state title. This year seems much different in my eyes as I would include seven or eight teams in the conversation of who has a legitimate opportunity to play for a state crown at Hillsboro Stadium come December.
Before I break down the last three weeks for the Generals and make my predictions for this week’s first round, I must say sorry about the absence of articles for the last couple of weeks; midterms for a double major are two weeks from hell, and there was little time that wasn’t spent studying.
The last three weeks have revealed a lot about our Grant Generals. We went from a four game winning streak, to a disappointing showing against what many who saw the game consider an inferior Sprague team, to holding on in a nail-biter against an athletic Roosevelt team.
Despite having Homecoming spoiled by the Olympians, bouncing back to limit a high octane offense under 20 points in completing an impressive turnaround from the 2-8 record of the 2013 season. Adding in the fact that the impressive team performance clinched the PIL championship makes whatever happens in the playoffs icing on the cake for the Generals. Now in no way does that mean this team will be satisfied with what the have done, as they truly believe they could make a run at winning the school’s first playoff game since their second round
But forget the missed chances, the what-ifs, as everything goes out the window once the playoffs start. November football in Oregon is a strange land where anything can happen as it’s win or go home every single week. Yes, top ranked teams such as Central Catholic and Tigard have a home field advantage by their performance in the regular season; but in the playoffs, a place where one play can make or break a season, we get treated to some of the most entertaining match-ups of the year, and some upsets nobody can predict.
Grant unfortunately took a tumble in the rankings as a result of Sprague, Lincoln, and Cleveland all losing last week, which means they will have top travel to West Albany in what could be the best game to watch in the first round. I will break down this match-up later this week, so for now I’ll make my picks for the other games that will be taking place this week.
#1 Central Catholic over #32 Thurston
#17 Grant over #16 West Albany
#9 Clackamas over #24 Lincoln
#8 West Linn over #25 Roosevelt
#5 Sherwood over #28 Roseburg
#12 Westview over #21 Lakeridge
#13 Oregon City over #20 McNary
#4 Sheldon over #29 Canby
#3 Grant’s Pass over #30 Barlow
#14 South Medford over #19 L.O.
#11 West Salem over #22 Beaverton
#6 South Salem over #27 Southridge
#7 Jesuit over #26 Gresham
#10 North Medford over #23 Wilson
#18 Sunset over #15 Sprague
#2 Tigard over #31 David Douglas
In addition to my own predictions, I have designed a bracket challenge for you to take part in this year. Simply follow the link at the bottom of this article, and use the following instructions to make your entry into our contest:
1) Once you click the link, click on the “Predict It!” link in the upper left under the list of hyperlinks above the bracket.
2) Create an account giving your name and email. We need at least this much info to keep our standings corrct and updated and to notify you if you are one of our winners. This part pnly takes 30 seconds to fill out.
3) The website will send an email with a password to the email address you provide. Follow the link in the email and login to make your predictions for the tournament.
4) Read the bracket challenge details under the bracket before making your predictions.
We will be updating the standings each week, and will announce our winner immediately following the state championship game. Stay tuned for updates on your Grant Generals and the rest of the teams in the state playoffs.
Generals Football Blog 