Mountain West has familiar feel.

Byline: Steve Mims The Register-Guard

The new look of the Mountain West League might seem familiar.

"You might as well just call it the Trico League," Mohawk football coach Laric Cook said.

2A/1A FOOTBALL

Lowell and Crow are the latest two schools to drop down from the Class 2A Trico League to the 1A Mountain West League for eight-man football. Mapleton, Mohawk and McKenzie all made the drop during the past decade.

"It's a Trico reunion," McKenzie coach Rick Gardner said.

Five of the nine teams that were in the Trico League in 1996 are now in the Mountain West. Only Monroe, Harrisburg, Oakridge and Central Linn remain in the Trico from that year.

The five schools that dropped down were not very competitive at the end of their Trico time when enrollment dropped below the 2A cutoff of 115 students.

All of those schools have become more competitive at the 1A level.

Mohawk and McKenzie both reached the 1A state semifinals last year, while Mapleton finished with a winning record.

Lowell is 3-0 in the Mountain West this season, and although Crow is 1-4 overall, the Cougars have not suffered blowout losses like they did against Trico foes.

"It got to the point where you had some schools like Harrisburg and Oakridge with close to 300 kids and then you had other schools that were beaten year after year and they were on the border of having 115 students," Lowell coach Dan Goss said. "It is kind of nice to have a league as competitive as this with no one team that is guaranteed to win league. From week to week, you don't know what will happen."

Mohawk, McKenzie and Lowell are all ranked among the top 10 teams in 1A, while Mapleton is just outside that list.

"This is better for everyone involved," Gardner said. "You look at the Crows, Lowells and us. It doesn't do any good for us to play at the 2A level and get clobbered, and it doesn't do Monroe or Harrisburg any good to play games against teams they know they can take out in two and a half quarters."

Mohawk, which opened the season with a 12-0 win over defending 1A champion Powder Valley, is ranked No. 3 in state after a 5-0 start.

"Only time will tell, but if the kids keep working hard and give themselves an opportunity to get into the playoffs, anything can happen at that point," Cook said.

The Indians lost running back Brady Tennent for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Senior fullback Cameron Austin and freshmen Tyson Ludwig and Brody Wilkins have filled in at running back.

Junior Jason Wilkins is the returning starter at quarterback.

The Indians travel to Lowell this week to face the 10th-ranked Red Devils, the only other unbeaten team in the league. Lowell played an independent schedule last year but has become a title contender during its first season in the Mountain West.

"Our seniors last year sacrificed being voted for all-league and postseason honors and decided to play a nonleague schedule," Goss said. "This year our kids have a lot different outlook. There is something to play for and it's not just to be in the game. We have postseason and individual honors out there too."

Senior running back Bruce Eyles rushed for 238 yards in a win over Crow and is averaging nearly 125 yards rushing per game. Sophomore Jared Neet also rushed for more than 100 yards against Crow.

Senior Brett McNichols was injured early in the season but has returned, and sophomore Mac Green filled in nicely for him.

"We've got good talent and our team is better than last year," Goss said. "We have as good of talent as last year, but one season later we have more experience in eight-man football."

Lowell knocked off eighth-ranked McKenzie 30-14 last week to knock the Eagles into a tie for third place in the league with Triangle Lake.

The Eagles lost a solid senior class from a year ago but return senior Ryan Rux, who moved from receiver to quarterback this season. Dillon Bellmore is the top running back for McKenzie.

While the Mountain West has become one of the top 1A leagues in the state, the Trico League has not had as much playoff success. The league has only one playoff victory since 2000, and no team has advanced past the quarterfinals since Crow in 1994.

One additional team will reach the playoffs this season because the 2A bracket has been expanded from 16 to 24 teams so that the top three teams from each league qualify and the league champion has a bye in the first round.

The 1A and 2A championship games will be played during a doubleheader on Friday, Dec. 10, at Autzen Stadium.

The Trico League does not have a team considered a contender for the state title in the latest 2A poll. Twenty-one teams received at least one vote in the poll, but none of them was from the Trico League.

Jefferson is emerging as the favorite in the Trico after wins over Monroe and Harrisburg.

"I think Jefferson has to be the favorite but I still look at the league as wide open," Monroe coach Max Wall said. "The league looks like anyone can win it."

Monroe has won or shared the league title during eight of Wall's nine seasons as coach and has lost a total of only seven Trico games since 1995. This year, the Dragons are 1-3 with losses to No. 5 Santiam Christian and Myrtle Point in addition to Jefferson.

Monroe has battled dwindling attendance like other schools but retained a strong 2A program.

"People don't realize we've got 135 kids in school and it's been that way for five or six years, but we have maintained our JV program and made sure we maintained it when schools like Crow and Lowell dropped down to 20 players and quit playing a JV schedule," Wall said. "We have been able to persevere and win games. It is catching up to us a bit this year with injuries, but we are still going to be competitive. We are battling every day and we've got 27 kids playing football and only four seniors."

Junior running back Mark Goracke and junior lineman Chris Poorman were both lost for the season due to injuries.

Quarterback Nick Payne was moved to tight end in the single-wing offense, while Kurt Hartshorn moved to quarterback with running backs Devin Simmons and Caleb Neu.

Monroe travels to Central Linn on Friday night to face the Cobras, who are 1-0 in league and 2-4 overall. Central Linn played a tough nonleague schedule that included two ranked 2A opponents - including No. 1 Dayton - and 3A Riverside.

"We did that on purpose and even though we got beat, the kids improved with each game," Central Linn coach Scott Reed said. "We took those lessons to heart. It is a win-win situation when you play Dayton. You play hard and you learn so much."

Running backs Jeff Harper, Michael Sayer and Travis Anderson all rushed for more than 100 yards in a win over Waldport when the Cobras totaled 550 yards on the ground. Seniors Cole Logan, Murry Scanlon and Justin Benson anchor the offensive line along with juniors Mitchell Scanlon, Fernando Rodriguez, Eli Marchbanks and sophomore Justin Correia.

CAPTION(S):

Mohawk defenders Adam Smith (26) and Steve Aranda chase down Mapleton quarterback Eric Wolgamott. Smith eventually brought him down for a sack.