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2013 football preview
lake oswego review/west linn tidings
August 29, 2013
and Sanders could be among
the best in the league along
with Ben Torkelson and Gia-
como Pacioni.
Up front the Lakers may end
up playing some linemen on
both sides of the ball. Kyle
Layman will handle the nose
guard duties and Coury be-
lieves he could end up being
the next in a long line of stand-
out performers at that posi-
tion.
Parker Brisbee will also
make an impact at defensive
end.
Although the
Lakers are re-
placing so many
standouts, it’s un-
likely that the
team will have
any less of a tar-
get on its back
this year after
making the state
title game two
years in a row.
Once again,
Lake Oswego will
tackle one of the
toughest non-
league schedules in the state,
opening up with Jesuit on Fri-
day.
The Lakers will
then face Olym-
pia, Wash., Cen-
tral Catholic and
Southridge, and
all four teams fig-
ure to be state ti-
tle contenders
this fall.
“It’s a brutal
schedule for us
again but that’s
what we like,”
Coury said.
Lake Oswego
will then have to navigate an
exceptionally deep Three Riv-
ers League that doesn’t ap-
pear to feature a single weak
link.
Teams will certainly be ea-
ger for their shot at breaking
the Lakers’ longstanding
league winning streak.
Canby returns a very strong
class of seniors and is big on
both sides of the ball while Or-
egon City, Lakeridge, Clacka-
mas and West Linn are all ex-
pected to be improved from
last year.
“The kids just want to make
their own mark. It’s probably
as good as the league has been
in a while,” Coury said.
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Friday
Lake Oswego at Jesuit 7 p.m.
Sept. 6
Olympia, Wash. at Lake Oswego 7 p.m.
Sept. 13
Lake Oswego at Central Catholic 7 p.m.
Sept. 20
Southridge at Lake Oswego 7 p.m.
Sept. 27
West Linn at Lake Oswego 7 p.m.
Oct. 4
Canby at Lake Oswego 7 p.m.
Oct. 10*
Lake Oswego at Clackamas 7 p.m.
Oct. 18
Lake Oswego at Lakeridge 7 p.m.
Oct. 25
Oregon City at Lake Oswego 7 p.m.
*Denotes Thursday game.
SCHEDULE
K
eeping their confidence up may be a hurdle for Lake Oswego this year. Fortu-
nately for the Lakers, the program seems to instill confidence in its players even
if the players are relatively inexperienced at the varsity level.
Lake Oswego is a unique program in that, even with replacing 25 players
which made up the vast majority of its starters on both sides of the ball, the team’s depth is
such that those players called upon to take their place won’t be out of their element in the
least.
The Lakers have also been involved in enough lopsided games over the years that those
former back-up players have received significant varsity minutes and often against the op-
posing team’s starters.
Still, Lake Oswego may take some early lumps as the team looks to pick up steam heading
into league play. The Lakers play another brutal non-league schedule against a handful of
state title contenders, many of which will be primed to knock off a team that you could prac-
tically pencil into at least the state semifinals for the past few years.
With the talent and coaching that exists at Lake Oswego, it’s a safe bet that the team will
still be among the best in the state by the time playoffs roll around and while teams may be
chomping at the bit to break the Lakers’ long league winning streak and run of TRL titles, it
won’t be an easy prospect.
Key to the
SEASON
48
Number of consecu-
tive Three Rivers
League victories
that the Lake Oswe-
go football team has
rattled off after run-
ning the table once
again last year.
Teams will no doubt
be looking to end
that streak this year
along with the Lak-
ers’ stranglehold as
the league champi-
on. While Lake Os-
wego is less of a
known entity this
season than it has
been in a number of
years, the squad is
still likely the team
to beat this fall with
a talented and bal-
anced squad.
21
Most number of
points that Lake Os-
wego’s football team
relinquished to an
opponent in a single
game last year. The
Lakers possessed
one of the best de-
fensive squads in
school history last
season en route to
another trip to the
state title game.
Even though the
Lakers ultimately
came up just short
against Sheldon, the
Lakers only gave up
13 points in that ef-
fort. The defense
will likely be a
bright spot for the
team again this sea-
son as the Lakers
are solid up front
and loaded with ath-
leticism.
25
Number of seniors
that the Lakers lost
last season. That’s
more than an entire
starting line-up on
both offense and de-
fense. However, Lake
Oswego has another
strong senior class
this season, one that
is slightly inexperi-
enced compared to
the program’s last
few teams but one
that is imminently
familiar with the
Lakers’ system and
one that will likely
figure prominently
in the playoff race
yet again this fall.
By the
NUMBERS
■
From page B9
Beat:
Team faces another tough schedule
“The kids just
want to make
their own mark.
It’s probably as
good as the
league has been
in a while.”
— Steve Coury,
Lake Oswego head coach
fILE PHOTO: vERN UyETAKE
Nick Underwood is one of the few returning starters for Lake Oswego this year. He figures to be a bruising tailback on offense and will help anchor
the defense at linebacker.
