It has been a few days since we took a look at the best players left still playing out there. And there is a load of top talent still battling for the OSAA State Football Championship here in 2012.
We take a look at the 5A and the 6A levels and do a quick run through of the top guys left expected to play on Friday.
5A State Championship – Saturday at 7:30 – Hillsboro Stadium
#1 Sherwood VS #2 Marist –
In a nutshell this game is going to be a battle. Sherwood appears to be the stronger of the two teams right now mainly due to injuries. The two teams battled it out early in the season as well with Sherwood beating Marist 38-20 on a night where they ran 51 of 56 plays.
For Sherwood their biggest recruit is Senior Cristian Morris. We have covered him several times and he sits atop the Best of The Rest list with Tigard's Zach Floyd. Morris has 1680 yards and 23 TD's and averages an amazing 16 yards per touch. He is going to garner offers from D-1AA programs in our estimation in the next month. At 6' and 190 he is one of the bigger power backs in the Region. He also is a leading tackler and receiver on the team and one heck of a talent.
More On Morris right here: http://www.northwestprepreport.com/cristian-morris-sherwood-high-school-athlete
Other Athletes we are tracking at Sherwood
- Junior Mickey Schaeffer – RB 6'1"- 175 pounds – 986 yards and 13 TD's
- Junior Keegan Lawrence – 5'11"- 180 Pounds – 700 yards – 9 TD's
- Junior Scott Skurdahl- 6'1"- 190 Pounds – 380 yards- 3 TD's
- Junior Jake Reimer- 5'10"-190 Ppunds – 390 Yards- 7 TDS
- Senior Joey Balfour 6'0"- 180 Pounds – Leading Tackler at LB – 6 Sacks- 3 Ints-7 PD
- Junior Harrison Shelburne- 46 Tackles
- Junior Jordan Kurahara- 5 Sacks – 35 Tackles – 6'10"- 225 Pounds
For Marist it has to be Kamerun Smith at QB, Josh Harper at DE/WR, and Austin Baird (Out with Knee Injury)
Senior Kamerun Smith is proving to be the top QB in State this year. At 6'5", and close to 200 pounds Kamerun is getting better and better. He has thrown for 2, 422 yards, is 62% completion ratio, has thrown just 4 picks, and 34 TD's on the year. The young man said he had a full package worked out with Southern Oregon University and was speaking to academic schools and Big Sky teams too.
His go to guy and clearly the star of the Spartans squad is Austin Baird; the Portland State Recruit. He however ended his season 2 weeks ago and is our awaiting knee surgery or rehab. He had an amazing year.
Andrew Park – Junior RB- 5'9"-170 Pounds – The Junior has picked up the slack where Baird left off and is very fast. He has run for 885 yards and 14 TD's and had 109 yards and 4 TD's against #1 Redmond last week to help secure the Victory. Kid could be a real factor in this final.
Senior Josh Harper – 6'3"- 195 Pounds – WR: You will see a lot of this guy on defense and he is a great player. But the WR spot is where he shines. One of the premier guys in the State in a year where we see a lot of big targets. So far he has 921 Yards receiving and 16 TD's. A 17 yard per catch average! Big Time skill guy who has colleges looking close.
Others- Junior Austin Owen – 512 Yards Receiving and 6 TD's; Junior WR Liam Henshaw- 350 yards receiving and 2 TD's; Senior WR Kaelyn Byrum 6'1"- 180 Pounds Wr- 280 Yards and 7 TD's Receiving. Junior Linebacker Cody King- 6'1"-225 Pounds- 7 Sacks- Leading tackler
An almost All Run Team against a Passing team! Classic. Can the Spartans man up to the Bowmen. That is going to be a Tall order but this is the game they just might pull it all together. Congratulations to both of these fine Squads, to Coach Frank Geske and Staff and Marist HS, and to Coach Greg Lawrence and Staff at Sherwood we wish you all a Safe and prosperous State Championship Game!
