High School Football Preview: Clatskanie making plenty of preseason noise
Brace for Impact – Tigers shuffle skill players around to wreak havoc in '25
By Drew Lawson for Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
The Basics
Team: Clatskanie Tigers
Head Coach: Sean Gorley (4th season)
Last Season: 3-6 (one win shy of a playoff berth)
What’s New: The Rainier Columbians have dropped down to join Clatskanie in the 2A ranks, meaning the Highway 30 Hootenanny is back on the docket.
CLATSKANIE— Around 30 Tigers braved the heat over the last two weeks for the beginning of football season across the big river in Oregon. The energy has been cranked up to match the music on Wallace Field, and the Clatskanie coaching staff is confident it’s locked onto a formula for success.
The Tigers wrapped up last season with a 40-22 win over Corbett in Week 9. That victory still left Clatskanie one win shy of a playoff berth, but it also provided a blueprint for the future of 9-man football in an evolving 2A Special District 1 league.
“Any time we can get in the 30’s for nine-man we feel good about that, for sure,” Clatskanie head coach Sean Gorley said.
The Tigers are coming off a season in which they finished with a record of 3-6, and will be heavily reliant on its skill players to help improve upon that record. The first move made was to move senior Daylon Gutierrez from under center and out to wide receiver. Clatskanie is hopeful Gutierrez’ talents, paired with those of returning starter Ayden Blackshire, will create matchup problems for opponents on the outside.
A relatively deep depth chart has allowed the Tigers to get creative.
“Most of our skill kids are returning,” Gorley noted.
Clatskanie will host a jamboree a Dick Manick Field on Friday starting at 5:30 p.m. Keep scrolling for the full additional videos, a photo gallery, and the full scouting report on the Tigers.
— Intensity spikes during a one-yard goal line drill on Wednesday, Aug. 27, in Clatskanie. Tigers’ players called each other out by name, testing who could win the battle in the trenches. / Video by Skyler Smith for Blast Zone Media —
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