Friday night lights up for Clatsop County football

“This is a very tough league we got put in with teams who made the playoffs last year,” Freeman said. “We were excited at the prospect of getting a chance to play in a tough league like this one. … It’s one game at a time, kind of the same as always. We have Dayton next, who really kind of took it to us last year, so we’ve got to get things dialed in and ready to go.”

Seaside: Happy homecoming

Friday night was a happy homecoming for Seaside football.

The early homecoming festivities inspired Seaside as they laid down the hammer against new 4A-opponent Taft. After moving up to 4A this summer, the Tigers entered an already grueling Cowapa league. Meanwhile, the Seagulls are looking to continue building on their play each week. Last week, Head Coach Dennis Olstedt said he believes the Seagulls are a playoff caliber team in 4A — and a Friday night victory moved them one step closer to that.

Due to the summer reclassifications, the top three teams from each league will earn automatic bids, with the highest-placed fourth team also qualifying for the 4A state playoffs. The Seagulls’ victory saw them keep pace with league favorites Banks and Scappoose.

The 28-7 victory was Seaside’s most impressive win score wise for 2026 and evened up their record at 2-2. Next up for Seaside is a road trip to Tillamook. After graduating a number of seniors from last season’s team, the Cheesemakers are off to just a 1-3 start and also had to forfeit their game last week against Scappoose.