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Olympia has scheduled a home-and-home series with Oregon 6A powerhouse and nationally-ranked Lake Oswego (Ore.) High School starting this fall. The Lakers will travel to Ingersoll Stadium to face Olympia in the 2012 season opener Aug. 31, then Olympia will travel to Lake Oswego School District Stadium for a Week 1 showdown against the Lakers to open the 2013 season. Earlier this fall, Lake Oswego dispatched eventual Washington 4A state champion Skyline, 56-46. Lake Oswego is also the high school alma mater of current NBA star Kevin Love.
LO, coached by Steve Coury, capped off the 2011 season by defeating Sheldon of Eugene, 47-14, in December’s 6A state championship game to earn the school’s first state title in football. They finished the season 15-0, which earned them a No. 23 national ranking by ESPN/Powerade Fab 50 final poll.
“Over the past few years, we’ve been wanting to really challenge ourselves,” Olympia coach Bill Beattie said. “This is another step. I think we want to push our kids and reach the new level of playing some big-time teams at that level.”
By scheduling a team with such prestige as Lake Oswego, Beattie said he believes it will bode well in his team's preparation for the postseason at the 4A level. Since 2004, the Bears have won the Narrows League title five times and have a 68-19 win-loss record, but the Achillies’ heal has been deep postseason runs. The program hadn’t made it past the state quarterfinals since 2003 when the Luke Kravitz-led team advanced to the 4A state semifinals. This past fall, Olympia lost to Lake Stevens, 21-17, in the 4A state quarterfinals. In addition to LO, Olympia has soon-to-be-2A Capital in Week 2 and 3A Timberline in Week 3 to round out the nonleague portion of the 2012 schedule.
“It should be fun,” Beattie said. “We’re going to find out really quick where we stand.”
