UPDATE 12/29: Chiloquin athletic director Valli Lonner said the current plan is for the Panthers football team to remain in the 1A 8-player division. If Chiloquin does remain in 1A[8] and Klamath Union’s request to move to 3A is granted, the Basin would have two 4A (Henley and Mazama), two 3A (Lakeview and Klamath Union), two 2A (Lost River and Bonanza) and two 1A[8] (Crosspoint Christian and Chiloquin) teams for the 2024 season.
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As many as four Basin football teams could be playing in new classifications next season.
On Dec. 14, the OSAA football ad hoc committee determined that Chiloquin and Klamath Union were eligible to play down a classification starting in 2024. OSAA rules allow football teams to request a move down if they win less than 22 percent of their games against teams in their classification over a two-year period. Chiloquin is 2-12 against other 1A 8-player teams and Klamath Union is 1-15 against other 4A teams in the past two seasons.
Klamath Union athletic director Tyler Baker confirmed the Pelicans football team will request a move to 3A Thursday. At publication time, Chiloquin had not confirmed whether its football team will request a move to the 1A 6-player division. The Panthers haven’t played 6-player football since 1946.
Baker said Klamath Union intends to continue the Canal Bowl series with Mazama regardless of a classification change.
The football ad hoc committee’s ruling comes on the heels of the OSAA executive board voting to move Lost River and Bonanza from 1A to 2A Dec. 11. While the move applies to all sports, it will most visibly affect the schools’ football teams; the Raiders and Antlers will go from playing 8- to 9-player football, which was adopted for 2A in 2022.
Bonanza head coach Kelly Greif, who took the Antlers to the 1A[8] playoffs in his second season this fall, said he welcomed the move up.
“I think it’s a step in the right direction,” Grief said. “The goal is to bring 11-man back to Bonanza.”
Bonanza had played 11-player football since the program’s inception in 1930 before being moved to 1A in 2018. The Antlers went 26-25 in their six seasons of 8-player football.
Lost River head coach Dennis Dunlea, who has led the Raiders to state championships in both 11- and 8-player football since taking over in 1998, said he expects the transition to be “pretty seamless.”
“It’s all the same stuff for us, all the same plays,” Dunlea said. “It’s just another guy out there and defensively we add a player in the secondary. So it’s just not a big deal, honestly.”
Similar to Bonanza, Lost River had played 11-player football for its entire 50-year history before it was moved to 1A in 2020. In four seasons of 8-player football, the Raiders went 37-4 and won two state championships. They also played a 9-player game against now-fellow 2A squad Heppner in each of the past two seasons, beating the Mustangs 31-6 in 2022 and 20-6 this year. Heppner went on to make the 2A semifinals in 2022 and made the quarterfinals this year.
“We’ve showed that we can play with the best teams in 2A,” Dunlea said. “But by and large, I think you’ve got to worry more about yourself…than about the other guys.”
Bonanza and Lost River are two of four football teams set to move to 2A next season. Myrtle Point was also moved up from 1A in all sports by the OSAA executive board, and Enterprise–which had been playing down–was automatically moved back up by the football ad hoc committee after winning a 1A[8] playoff game this season. Those four could also be joined by Brookings-Harbor, Harrisburg, Jefferson and McLoughlin, which are all eligible to play down from 3A.
Klamath Union is one of five 4A teams eligible to play down, along with Astoria, Cottage Grove, Madras and Sweet Home. Chiloquin and Pilot Rock/Ukiah are the only 1A[8] teams eligible to play down.
Teams eligible to play down have until Jan. 8 to request a move or opt to remain in their current classification. The football ad hoc committee will draft special districts at its next meeting Jan. 10.