Art by Samantha Dunn

With experienced coaches, including head coach Dom Ferraro and assistants Servando Osorio and Erik Moen, who have 40 years of coaching between them, it is no surprise that Tualatin High School has dominated the football field this season. As of Oct. 9, the boys’ varsity football team has a winning record of 5-1.

Success is not a foreign word to the Timberwolf football team; throughout the 31 years of Tualatin’s rich football history, many players have made a name for themselves and led the Timberwolves to success against teams outside the 5A/6A league.

In 2022, star player and former alumni Jack Wagner made a name for himself by setting five Tualatin High School football records in just one season. In the 2022-23 season, he made 29 touchdown passes, which still stands as the most touchdowns made by a single player in a single season in the 31-year history of Tualatin High School. During the same season, Wagner made a pass to current senior AJ Noland that might have seemed like just another pass, but ended up being the longest pass completion in school history. Wagner managed to throw an astounding 99.5 yards to Noland, a feat notable even by NFL standards. 

Some players from the ‘90s have held records for almost 25 years now, such as Luke Staley, who is a five-time record holder from Tualatin’s 1998 football team. In just one season, Staley scored 216 points, with 332 total in his career. He broke records including most yards rushed in a game, season and career with 319 yards, 2,036 yards and 3,627 yards, respectively.

Nathan Suyematsu, a noteworthy player in the school’s history, holds the unofficial record for the most records held. To this day, he currently holds eight records, even though he last played for the team in 2011. This is evidence he pushed his boundaries so far that nobody since then has been able to overtake him. The only time players have come close to this is by tying with him for the most field goals in a game.

There are many single-record holders in Timberwolf history that are just as important, as well. It’s hard to believe that someone on the varsity team, in their short career of only two years, was able to amass a total of 125 tackles. Class of ‘21 alum John Miller was able to do exactly that. Jordan Franco in ‘98 set both the record for most punting yards in a season and in a career, despite his career just being a season long.

This season, the varsity team recently lost to West Linn, and while that may be a sore subject with the players and coaches, it is not the time for fans to give up and stop supporting the team, as there is still plenty of time.

With the way the season is currently going, with a notable 5-1 record overall and 1-1 league record under Tualatin’s belt, it is still possible for the varsity football team to secure a top three spot, as they currently sit at #2 in the OSAA rankings and #3 according to MaxPreps.