Photos: Marcella Norris
This Saturday, Rugby Oregon enters its final series tournament before the state 7s championship on Oct. 28. The competition in the top league, the Gold Division, has been particularly tight, with single-digit decisions and no team with a perfect record. Linn Benton currently sits atop the standings and is guaranteed a berth to the championship. A fall 7s title would cap a very special year for Linn Benton, which has already celebrated a state championship in 2017.
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Curt Betts is approaching three years as Linn Benton’s coach, although his association with the team aligns with the playing career of daughter Sophia, who graduated last spring. He described a team that had been finishing at the bottom of the division and then turned a corner in spring 2017, when Linn Benton defeated the Valley Panthers 39-35 for the state varsity 15s title.
“There’s a lot of energy coming from there – going from the bottom of the division to the top,” Betts said. “We’ve been able to keep it going through quite a bit of experience.”
Experience indeed. Those juniors who helped Linn Benton to that state 15s title are back and account for all but one teammate – Utah transfer and sophomore Amaiah Miramontes – on the Gold Division squad. These seniors have a couple of years playing together, and the team is just as invested in the fall 7s season as it is the spring 15s season.
Emily Train is the field captain and she’s supported by vice captains Jazmyn Stewart and Kate Looney. All three seniors are involved in the Rugby Oregon High Performance program, which kicked off last weekend and develops the elite player pool. Last summer, Linn Benton sent five players to the varsity Red Hawks team that competed in the Great Northwest Challenge, and even more have represented the state all-star team in the past.
That combination of momentum, experience and desire for continued growth have spurred a 10-1-1 fall thus far.
“We don’t have as much speed as other teams, but we have a lot of power, and we use it to our advantage,” Betts said. “We have smart, big 7s players, who run and play well, and know what to do with the ball … when to pass and when not to, when to go through.”
Betts pointed to Stewart as the emblem of power, size and speed. Miya Claborn, one of the 2017 Red Hawks, is also a power runner, who “is not very tall but a solid block of muscle. She runs people over left and right,” the coach said. Wing Cindy Wong also grabbed high praise for her support of those line-breaking forwards, making herself available for the offloads and finishing off team efforts in the try zone.
Grant (8-1-3), the reigning club high school state champion, has been Linn Benton’s biggest foe this fall. After tying each other 19-19 in week one, Linn Benton won 20-17 in the week-three rematch. Grant upped the pressure last Saturday, and Linn Benton’s discipline in its passing game wavered. The Generals took Saturday’s game 28-26.
“You can’t count out the Renegades either. Realistically, we just beat them,” Betts said of the 8-4 team. “The competition in the league has been great. If you look at the top four teams, we’ve come out on top on a lot of those games, but only by a few points.”
Separating the field into developmental and elite competitions has also been crucial to league-wide success.
“Last fall we pushed hard for this two-division structure,” Betts said. “When everyone’s out there with 12-14 teams, there’s such disparity in ability and blowouts happen. That’s how it’d still be if there was one division. They’re learning in the Silver Division and not getting beat up by experienced teams.”
Linn Benton will play the Bravehearts, Highlanders and Renegades Saturday, but regardless of the outcome, the team has enough standings points to advance to the state semifinals. Grant and the Renegades are guaranteed final four spots as well. The odds favor the Valley Panthers for the fourth berth, but the Highlanders aren’t mathematically ruled out either (per the standings).
The state championship is a two-game affair for all teams.
“It plays a little to our advantage,” Betts said. :As a bigger team with a lot of power players, we can get a little more tired than the faster players. They can handle three games but it helps us a little bit having just two games.”
Rugby Oregon will post the Gold and Silver championship match-ups after this weekend’s tournament.
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