![At the bottom of the third inning, the Lions are still scoreless. Rowe stands at home plate, preparing to bat, while Vandenbrink stands off to the side as the next batter up. Despite having the bases loaded, the team was unable to score any runs. “It’s just the beginning of the season. We’re just going to be playing out best by June, [and] that’s where champions are,” Rowe said.](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/IMG_3077-1200x900.jpg)
![All smiles. The group poses for a photo with last year’s book, “This is Our House,” along with their award for third Best in Show. Meikle, who was an Editor-in-Chief for the yearbook last year as well, holds both and stands at the center of the group. “That was an amazing feeling, going and grabbing the third place award,” Meikle said. “All of it paid off. I cried so much over that book, being able to receive [the award] was one of the highlights of my high school career, it was like the coolest thing ever.”](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/8bookpose_philly-1200x800.jpg)
The school headed to Idaho on Sept. 7 to face off against the second ranked team in Idaho, Eagle High School.
After losing 19 seniors last year, the high school adds Will Ingle, senior, to the roster who earned 5A honors at Wilsonville last season. Baron Naone, senior, committed to the University of Washington last spring and the four star tight end looks to have an exciting season and lead West Linn to win another state championship. Baird Gilroy, senior, was named starting quarterback last year, beating out Nick Sakys and wants nothing more than a state championship.
“My goal is to obviously win a state championship, but when it comes to stats and stuff, I honestly don’t really care,” Gilroy said. “I just want to be a good enough leader for this team, and be the best I can to lead this team back to a state championship.”
Entering his senior year, Gilroy was given a different role to play than he did last season.
“I’ve been pushed more into a leadership role than what my role was last year, and that is not natural for me. I’m kind of a quiet guy, but I think it’s a bigger responsibility, and that’s something I’m looking forward to improving on,” Gilroy said. “My main goal is to push our values we have as a team, hard-work, dedication, and being an example to the younger players, being good people on and off the field.”
Sherwood made the 20-minute drive to West Linn on Sep. 13 for West Linn’s home opener, which resulted in a 35-0 in West Linn’s favor. After this match, West Linn has two out of state opponents, in Sumner and Skyview, both from Washington, before the Three Rivers League (TRL) play kicks off.
Lakeridge, who went 8-3 last year, is led by Ansue Sano, senior, who recently committed to the University of Washington. Sano has been on their varsity squad since his freshman year, and last year he busted his shoulder to be out for the season. He is now healthy and looks to carry Lakeridge back to a state championship where they haven’t been in a decade.
Tualatin fell to Central Catholic in the State championship game last year 49-21, and is in the hunt for a ring this year. Tualatin is led by quarterback Nolan Keeney, senior, who committed to Brigham Young University (BYU) last spring.
“A lot of our guys are close with the guys at Tualatin, who we know is gonna be really, really talented this year,” Gilroy said. “I think it’s gonna be a really good game, and it should be really exciting.”
Wyatt Smiley, senior, is a wide-receiver who has played with Keeney before.
“I’m good friends with [Keeney]. He’s obviously really good, he’s going to BYU for a reason,” Smiley said.
Smiley and Keeney played Team Lillard 7 on 7 together this past spring.
“Nolan Keeney, three star quarterback going to BYU. Really excited to face off against him,” Gilroy said.
The matchup West Linn wants is a rematch between Central Catholic, who last November, eliminated them in the semi-finals.
“I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to play Central Catholic again in the playoffs. Get some revenge for what happened last year,” Gilroy said.
Central Catholic beat number one seed West Linn last November 12-7, in a tense game. Central Catholic ended up beating Tualatin 49-21 in the state championship game a game later. Central Catholic who was led by quarterback Cru Newman and Wide-Receiver Zhaliel Smith, who this year have both departed from Central Catholic’s program due to graduation and the transfer portal.
“We want to avenge the seniors that didn’t get a ring last year, and to do that we’re going to need to get past Central Catholic,” Smiley said. “They crushed our hopes of going back to back, we want to return the favor this year.”
Both Smiley and Gilroy want to end their high school football career off with a bang by winning a state championship and bringing back some hardwood to West Linn.
Catch West Linn at their Homecoming game against Tigard on October 4th.
