Lake Oswego downs Sheldon 47-14 for state title

Steven Long rushed for 322 yards and four touchdowns as Lake Oswego beat Sheldon 47-14 in the OSAA Class 6A state championship game at Jeld-Wen Field.

The Lakers won their first state title in four trips to the championship game in style. Lake Oswego (14-0) pulled away from Sheldon by scoring 33 unanswered points, more than half coming on three second-half touchdowns by Long.

"This is for all the people who have been a part of this program," Lake Oswego coach Steve Coury said.

Lake Oswego's milestone win was fueled by Long, a senior running back who transferred from Sherwood to Lake Oswego last summer. Long had 42 carries and ran for touchdowns of 1, 2, 50 and 51 yards. It was the fourth time Long has run for more than 200 yards in a game this season. The Portland State-bound Long capped a senior year in which he ran for 2,205 yards and 37 touchdowns.

Long, who player on Sherwood's Class 5A state championship team last season, said the Lakers had something to prove because Sheldon (13-1) had been ranked first in the state throughout the 2011 campaign.

"We felt like people were disrespecting us. We were motivated. We had something to play for," Long said. "This is something special. We can say we finally did it at Lake Oswego."

Long was a workhorse who Sheldon couldn't contain, particularly in the second half. Long had 110 yards during the first half, but after halftime, ran 23 times for 212 yards.

"They kind of wore us down. We really had no answer for Steven Long. He looked good on film, but he looked way better in person," Sheldon coach Lane Johnson said.

Lost in Long's offensive onslaught was a Lake Oswego defense that silenced Sheldon during the second half. The Irish had just 30 yards after halftime.

"They were good, weren't they?" Coury said.

Lake Oswego outgained Sheldon 490 to 216 in yardage. Connor Strahm rushed for two touchdowns to lead the Irish.

Lake Oswego led 17-14 at halftime after Harrison Greenburg kicked a 35-yard field goal with 12 seconds left.

The Lakers began to pull away when, on the third play of the third quarter, Long ran 51 yards for a touchdown to increase the lead to 24-14. Later in the quarter, Long had eight carries on a 10-play drive, ending on his 2-yard touchdown run.

Lake Oswego continued to distance itself from Sheldon early in the fourth quarter when Long slipped several tackles on the way to a 50-yard touchdown run. The lead then grew to 40-14 when the Lakers got a safety on the ensuing kickoff. J.B. Holmes capped Lake Oswego's 30-point second half with a 1-yard touchdown run with 3:29 remaining in the game.