While the Tigard football team lost its first two games of the season, it doesn’t mean the year is over. All they have to do is look at last year’s team.
Last season, the Tigers opened the year on a four-game winning streak, but things got a bit harder once Three Rivers League play started. The league is regarded as maybe the toughest the state, and it proved quite a challenge for the Tigers.
Tigard lost all five of its league games last year, but still earned a spot in the state playoffs. The Tigers drew an opening-round matchup against South Salem, which boasted one of the state’s most explosive offenses. The Tigers shut out North Salem, 17-0, for their first win in a month and a half.
In the state quarterfinals, Tigard was shutout by Sherwood to end its topsy-turvy season.
So two losses to open the year don’t spell doom for the Tigers, especially a team playing so many younger players and with a new head of the program in Todd Crist, who was hired as head coach prior to this season.
“Two losses doesn’t define us right now,” said senior linebacker Ivan Morales. “We’re going to go back to the drawing board and work it out.”
For seniors like Morales, Crist is their third head coach in three years. Former head coach John Kemper resigned in April 2023 after leading the program for four years. It was a bit too late to conduct a full search for a head coach, so the school named Ken Feist as interim coach for the year. Feist spent previous season as the freshman team coach, but had spent more than a decade as a coach in the Tualatin Valley Youth Football League. After last season, he took his name out of the running for the full-time heading coaching position.
“It’s a different shift,” Morales said. “As a senior on team, I’ve been through a lot of coaching switches. It’s been a real rollercoaster. We’re just trying to trust the process and buckle down.”
The school hired Crist, who had been an assistant coach on the team and had coached in the football and youth program for more than a decade and a half.
Morales said Crist came into a tough situation and has done a solid job steadying the program out after the last few years.
“He’s done a really good job running the program so far,” Morales said. “We’ve had a bunch of guys transfer out or quit. He’s really just tried to pick up with what we have, and he’s done a really good job when it comes to organization and having a game plan.”
Morales is one of the leaders on the defense, and was named to the Three Rivers League’s honorable mention team last season as a junior when he led the team in tackles.
At Tigard’s home opener in Week 2, Jesuit took its first drive down to the end zone for an early score. After a three-and-out, Jesuit was marching again and had the ball on Tigard’s 8-yard line. Morales jumped in front of a receiver on a pass attempt for an interception to keep Tigard close.
Tigard couldn’t capitalize on the ensuing drive, however, kind of a theme of the game. Jesuit would seem in control for a bit, Tigard would battle back inch-by-inch but the Tigers just couldn’t get back into the game fully.
Jesuit led 21-0 midway through the second quarter, and Tigard’s offense led by sophomore quarterback Aris Dimick got into a bit of a groove, finally moving the ball and picking up first downs. Senior running back Trevin Laird capped off the drive with a touchdown run and after a successful point after touchdown, Tigard trailed 21-7 with 3:13 left in the first half.
The momentum was short-lived, however, as Jesuit returned the ensuing kickoff for a score. With Jesuit driving again later in the half, Tigard senior Colt Ness picked off a Jesuit pass in the end zone to keep the score 28-7 heading into the half.
Tigard struck first in the third one an Owen Wright touchdown run to make it 28-13. Another Jesuit touchdown made it 35-13. Tigard picked off a third pass in the game when senior Miles Ott came down with a tipped ball and returned it for a touchdown. Dimick connected with Ness in the back of the end zone for a two-point conversion to make it 35-21 with 10:41 left in the game.
That was as close as Tigard would come, however, dropping the game 42-21.
Next up for Tigard is a trip into Portland to face Roosevelt, followed up by a playoff rematch against Sherwood. After that, Three Rivers League play opens. The Tigers know that even a few early losses don’t mean an end to the season.
“We have to have our leaders step up. It starts at practice. We’ve got to toughen up and bounce back,” Ness said. “We do great things when we rally together.”
