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4 Salem-area teams to watch in the 2023 OSAA high school football state semifinals

olivia stevens, salem statesman journal
·2 min read

The OSAA high school football state semifinals will be played Friday and Saturday with a number of Mid-Valley teams competing for a chance to advance to the championships.

Here are four teams to watch from the Salem area.

Silverton

No. 2 Silverton (11-0) and No. 3 Mountain View (11-0) will face off at 7 p.m. Friday at McNary High School in Keizer.

Silverton head coach Dan Lever declined to explain his plans ahead of the Class 5A semifinal game but said he's expecting a tough matchup against "a great team."

"When you get to this point in the year, all the teams that are playing deserve to be here," Lever said. "Games like this come down to a few mistakes and few plays … We're just hoping to be that team that makes the critical plays down the stretch to play our best football."

Dayton

Dayton's No. 3 Pirates (11-0) will take on Cascade Christian's No. 2 Challengers (11-0) in what's sure to be a competitive Class 3A semifinal matchup at 1 p.m. Saturday at Cottage Grove High School.

"We're just hoping for a good physical battle," said Pirates head coach Jacob Peterson. "It's two different styles — they're a fast spread, throw it around team and we're a physical, pound and run the ball team. It should be fun."

Regis

The No. 4 Regis Rams (11-0) will face No. 1 Weston-McEwen/Griswold (10-0) at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at Hermiston High School in the Class 2A semifinals.

Regis head coach Joe Manibusan said the team is "working on the little things" to prepare to go head-to-head with the top team in their division.

"We turned the ball over way too much last game," Manibusan said. "We're trying to cut down on all our turnovers and execute our plays a little bit better."

St. Paul

In the Class 1A semifinals, No. 5 St. Paul (10-1) and No. 1 Lost River (9-0) will meet at 1 p.m. Saturday at Caldera High School in Bend.

St. Paul knows Lost River well, having played them already this year and twice last year, head coach Tony Smith said.

"I feel like we're pretty evenly matched," he added. "We didn't have any of our starting five guys at the beginning of season. I don't think anyone expected us to get to this point … That's really exciting and a testament to those kids and how hard they've worked."

Olivia Stevens is the Statesman Journal's sports intern. You can reach out with comments or questions at ostevens@statesmanjournal.com or on Twitter @byoliviastevens.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: OSAA high school football semifinals: Salem-area teams to watch