Oregon’s top high school football players: Meet the state’s best running backs

You recently read our list of 200 players we can’t wait to see in action during the 2024 Oregon high school football season. 
 
However, that list barely even began to describe all the players to watch throughout the state. So as the season begins to gear up for the starting whistle, we will be going position by position with Oregon’s premiere athletes. 
 
In this list, I take time to look at the running backs. Who are the best running backs in the current Oregon high school football ? When you go through the list of suggestions we present here, be sure to tell us of any other player you feel should be included. 
 
Angel Valenzuela, Mountain View, junior Sunset Fame team. 
 
Valenzuela’s arrival in the Cougars backfield was the last piece in their building of last year’s 5A championship game. He was an all-state first team selection, 1,827 yards on the ground as well as 27 touchdowns. 

Ansu Sanoe, Lakeridge, junior 
 
A move on the field for one of the University of Washington coups under the new coaching staff involving Jedd Fisch, Sanoe is set to join the team in April as he is among the best players in the state for the class of 2026 as per the 247Sports and On3 recruiting services whereby he was an outstanding performer for the Pacers sophomore year. He earned the 6A all-state second team with 661 rushing yards and eight touchdowns that ranked first on the team amounted to this after sitting out the last three games due to a high ankle sprain that was aggravated in the early part of week eight of the season against West Linn. 
 
Asa Pritchard-Moa, Central, senior 
 
Pritchard-Moa will have a big impact in helping the Panthers remain a contender for the new league which is 5A Special District 2 after being selected to the all-Mid- Willamette Conference honorable mention last year where he was the team’s leading rusher with 418 yards and scoring five touchdowns. 
 
Ashtyn Irwin, Tillamook, senior 
 
Irwin comes from the Oregon Coast and played the previous two campaigns at Enterprise in the Wallowa Mountains; he was selected all-league twice; and during the prior season, he produced 1,079 yards rushing while scoring 15 touchdowns. “We are happy that he has the skills and what he will have to offer to the team,” said Cheesemakers coach Kye Johnson. “He’s got a great summer and he has been as much a senior leader as you would imagine. ” 
 
Ayrel Garcia, Century, junior 
 
Last year Garcia was named to the all-Pacific Conference honorable mention list and as a sophomore, he was the Jaguars’ leading rusher with 172 yards and two touchdowns. 
 
Blake Barger, Estacada, junior 
 
The Rangers will have the combination of Barger and Lincoln Rathmanner, the other all Tri-Valley Conference selection in the backfield this year. The second team included Barger who as a sophomore had rushed for 288 yards and three touchdowns. 
 
Bridger Foss of South Medford high school is a senior. 
 
New this week : Foss, a junior, made the all-South Central Football Conference second team for the Panthers as one of their main ball carriers, gaining 756 yards and scoring eight touchdowns. 
 
Bryce Kuenzi, Cascade, junior 
 
In his first full season at the Cougars, Kuenzi shone for the Cougars, being selected in the first team 4A all-state after accumulating a total of 1,644 rushing yards which ranked third in 4A as well as third most among returners and scoring 21 touchdowns to help the Cougars play in the state quarterfinals. 
 
Cascade Christian, junior Bryce Lewis; Chelan, junior Trevor Malley 
 
Moody played quarterback last season and Scaglione backed him up but he was too talented to sit on the bench so he played running back, which he led the team with 694 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns while also had 12 receptions for 128 yards and four touchdowns. He completed out of 11 passes for 85 yards passing. 
 
Camari Owens, Grant, senior 
 
Last year, Owens was one half of the Generals’ 1,000 yard rushing calvary as he gained 450 plus yards and scored six touchdowns on forty-five carries and first team all-PIL recognition. 
 
Cayden Baker, Scappoose, senior 
 
Baker was two-way for a 4A semifinalist and earned 2023 all-state honorable mention as a running back totaling 553 yards and 14 touchdowns while pulling 67 tackles with 11 for losses and 5½ sacks at the linebacker position. 
 
Ceville Pasi, Churchill, senior 
 
Despite the fact that last season was not very successful, Pasi was an all-state honorable mention list at the 5A for offense and defense. In 5A he ranked fourth in terms of touchdowns with 1,289 rushing yards (19 touches). 
 
Chase Sorenson, Caldera, senior 
 
Sorenson was the leading rusher for the Wolfpack last year carrying the ball 91 times for 394 yards and was selected to the all-Intermountain Conference second team. 
 
Clay Smith of St. Paul MN a senior 
 
Smith was an 1A eight-man all-state selection as a two-way performer in the first team last year; he rushed for 901 yards and 20 scores and also made 140 tackles (12. 5 loss). 
 
Cole Hachmeister, Tualatin, sophomore 
 
Last spring he was also the Oregon Freshman Championship in 100 and 200 meters and in Ferraro’s mind that type of speed will be valuable in Tualatin’s up tempo offense and in the back end of the defense. 
 
Colton Kowalski, Gladstone, senior 
 
Kowalski earned second team all-Tri-Valley Conference honors and contributor to the Gladiators 4A state playoff performance last year. 
 
Daniel Heninger, Glencoe, junior 
 
Last year he had two seniors ahead of him, and he only carried the ball 12 times in a total of five games. Ian Reynoso, the Crimson Tide coach described him as a great player who has lots of potential for his team adding that “He is one of the most athletically intelligent athletes I have ever coached and he has superior acceleration”. 
 
Desmond Armstrong, Parkrose, senior 
 
Armstrong also had an excellent year at running and passing last season with 426 yards and four touchdowns at running and 11 catches for 144 yards passing for the Broncos, and was named as an all-Tri-Valley Conference Honorable Mention. 
 
Dontrell Betts, Roosevelt, senior 
 
During the regular season, Betts contributed greatly to the Roughriders getting to last year’s 6A state championship bracket finishing 10 th in 6A amassing 961 yards and 14 touchdowns from 143 carries. He even was selected in the all-PIL first team. 
 
Gabe Williamson, Oakland, senior 
 
The all-state makers of Class 2A coaches’ voted Williamson to the first team at both his main positions in the last year when he had rushed for 1,490 yards and 18 touchdowns on 136 carries besides tallying a team-high 87 tackles for a state semifinalist team. 
 
Gus Karpstein, Bend, senior 
 
Even in junior year Karpstein was able to make 71 tackles which earned him 5A all-state honorable mention. He was Gino Womack award Inter mountian Conference running back honorable mention. 
 
Heath Thompson, Westview, junior 
 
Thompson last year took the big shoes of all-state running back Jordan Fisher and came second in the Metro League with 976 rushing yards for five touchdowns on 171 carries and was duly placed as the second-team all league.

Hudson Hardy of West Linn is a senior at his school. 
 
Harden’s junior season was only two games into the season, ending in Week 2 due to a torn ACL, the Lions though were excluded from the playoffs, after the first two games shows potential of a breakout senior season. 
 
Hunter Vaughn, North Douglas/Yoncalla, junior 
 
Vaughn was able to rush for 1,376 yard as a sophomore and was named to the 2A All-State second team. 
 
Ishon Ortiz, Ridgeview, senior 
 
Ortiz was selected as all-Intermountion Conference second team last year after leading his team in total rushing with 356 yards and scoring seven touchdowns. 
 
Jacob Hadley, Willamina, senior 
 
Becoming the first all-state first-team 2A selection for the Bulldogs in the last six seasons, Hadley rushed for 2,036 yards and 36 touchdowns for 216 carries last year. 
 
Jake White, Seaside, senior 
 
White had half of his junior year cut short due to an injury, however he came back just in time for the playoffs and especially aided the Seagulls advance to the 4A state semifinals. In the year he ended the year with rushing yards of 557 and 8 touchdowns in the 101 carries that he made. 
 
JaMar Thurman, Lowell, senior 
 
The Red Devils had never claimed a state baseball title until last year, and with Thurman steering a lineup that can rightly be called stout, he received 2A All-State honors as the offensive player of the year. He scored five goals and caught a pass for a sixth touchdown in the final to sum up a season in which scored 44 touchdown rushing for 2958 yards and caught passes for 411 yards and four score. 
 
Jarrett Martin, Banks, junior 
 
Martin was a factor in Gaston’s first league championship since 2012 and he was named 2A all-state third team as a sophomore before moving up Highway 47 to Banks this year. 
 
Jobany Sotelo, Nyssa, senior 
 
Sotelo last season was a first-team all-Eastern Oregon League selection on both sides of the ball for the Bulldogs under the new first-year head coach JoJo Sanchez. 
 
Jordan Hicks, Mountainside, junior 
 
In his sophomore year Hicks received the Metro League honours as the leading rusher with 1,325 yards and 16 touchdowns. And this year he was on the all-state honorable mention list. 
 
Justin Craigwell, Lake Oswego, junior submit. 
 
He was instrumental in Sunset’s drive to the 2023 Columbia Cup champion, as both an all-Metro League second-team linebacker (98 tackles, nine tackles for loss, and four fumble recoveries) and third-team running back (668 yards, 12 TDs). He moved over to Lake Oswego during the period in between the seasons. 
 
South Medford senior, Kameron Rague 
 
Rague moved from Cascade Christian, which has the 3A league where he was named the offensive player of the year during his sophomore year and joined the 6A Panthers last year. He was named on the all-South Central Football Conference second team in the secondary helping to record 42 tackles and three interceptions while as a running back and receiver, he was able to rush for 614 yards on 89 attempts with 6 touchdowns. 
 
Kase Schaffeld, Vale, senior 
 
In addition to being chosen to the 3A all-state team of defense end, Schaffeld was also selected as the first team in the Eastern Oregon League in the backfield OB where he gained 990 yards on the ground, received 10 passes for 228 yards and scored 10 touchdowns. 
 
Kayden Hartman a Senior Student at Lost River 
 
Hartman was a first team all state on defense for the 1A eight man champions the Raiders last year and may get more involved in the offense after Dunlea the state player of the year graduated. In the playoffs Hogan rushed for 244 yards and scored two touchdowns. 
 
Kenny Schroeder, Centennial, senior 
 
The second-team all-Northwest Oregon Conference selection ran for 493 yards and scored seven touchdowns while on the field on 87 carries during the past season. 
 
Kenya Johnson, Sprague, senior 
 
Johnson played for South Central Football Conference and in the previous year he scored the total of 1,047 yards for 189 times and 15 touchdowns. Second team of the South and Central Florida Conference all-star squad was featured by him. 
 
Killian Sombe, Central Catholic, junior 
 
Sombe came from Roswell, Ga. , the summer prior to his rookie year, and though he played one season at Westview before transferring to Central Catholic, he rushed for 703 yards (9. Hood Conference honors. 
 
Kristopher Baldwin, Mazama, senior 
 
Baldwin was the teams lead back in the Vikings power running game last season and was awarded 4A all-state honorable mention after rushing for 953 yards and scoring 13 touchdowns. 
 
LaMarcus Bell, 6-7 junior forward for Lake Oswego. 
 
Bell was the thunder to Zavier Russell during his tenure at Lakers as the latter was primed to be the lightning by rushing for 1,116 yards and 11 touchdowns as a sophomore that received a second-team all 6A honors. He is ranked third overall at 247Sports and On3 among class of 2026 recruits and he has the scholarship offers from Nevada, Oregon State, and Washington State. 
 
Lebros: Landyn Meeker, North Medford High School, senior 
 
Meeker saw herself likely to get more playing time this season as Robbins, one of its top rushers last year, graduated. The all South Central Football Conference honorable mention selection entered his junior year and completed his junior year with 479 yards while scoring four touchdowns. 
 
Lincoln Rathmanner, Estacada, senior 
 
The Rangers will rely on two-way threat last year Rathmanner was a first team all Tri-Valley Conference tailback (258 yards, two touchdowns) and second team linebacker (six tackles for loss) to help get the Rangers back to the Tri-Valley Conference champions. 
 
Linkin Zamudio, Umatilla, sophomore 
 
Zamudio was also the Viking’s leading rusher a year ago with 192 yards and two TDs and third on the team in tackles with 39 at linebacker. Umatilla’s coach Steven Williams on Zamuio stated that “this year he will have to take a more important position in the team. Is really dedicated and trained hard to develop during the off season. ” 
 
Logan Johnson South Albany Site senior 
 
Johnson earned all-Mid-Willamette Conference honors as a senior in both defensive end and running back positions; he scored for the winning thirteen seconds to spare against the crosstown West Albany team which ended what had been a seventeen-game Osbournes losing streak in the rivalry. 
 
Maddox King and Weston McEwen/Griswold
 
In his junior year, King was selected to the 2A all-state third team as the TigerScots reached the state final for the second year in a row, and he had 1,085 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns from 190 carries as well as 11 receptions for 167 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Maison Teel, Prairie City/Burnt River, junior 
 
Teel was named to the 1A six-man all-state second team as a sophomore in high school in which he gained 1,445 yards and scored 18 touchdowns in 184 carries in a season that saw his Panthers reach the semi- finals of the state championships. 
 
Mana Tuioti, Sheldon, senior 
 
Teitum, Tuioti’s older brother has adapted well to the college level and Mana is expected to join him at that level next year. He played as a linebacker in the 6A all-state second team in the last season; he recorded 70 tackles, two fumbles and two pass deflections. He was an offense first-team all South Central Football Conference selection (296 rushing yanrs, 6TDs). 
 
Manu Tanzambi Student : School , Grade: La Salle Prep graduating senior 
 
All Tri-Valley Conference first team honoree helped the Falcons to their first league championship in over a decade while gaining a team best 609 yards and scoring 10 touchdowns for the junior year. 
 
Marcus Rouse Jr. , grant Senior 
 
Rouse last season was a second-team all-PIL honoree and ran with first-team selection Cameroon Owens; he gained 673 yards and scored seven touchdowns out of 75 carries. 
 
Max Reynolds, Siuslaw, senior 
 
In 2023, Reynolds who was selected as a third team all-state in Iowa’s 3A class gained 1,070 yards and scored 11 touchdowns, and never fumbled the ball while being carried 143 times for the Vikings. 
 
Mitchell Johnson, Oregon City , 12 
 
As a junior, Johnson was honorable mention on the 6A all-state team after rushing for 529 yards and scoring four touchdowns on 104 attempts as the Wildcats of Johnson finished third in the Three Rivers League. 
 
About 19km Participation Noah Scharer of South Salem High School in the senior category. 
 
Scharer last year playing in the South Central Football Conference compiled 87 tackles (10 of them solos) and four sacks to earn first-team all-SCFC honors. He was honorable Mention running back who had scored five touchdowns. 
 
Noah Tishendorf, Lakeridge, junior 
 
Tishendorf first made himself known by announcing last year as a class of 2026 prospect when he had with 20 TFL, 9 sacks, 56 total tackles and 6A all-state honorable mention. Toward the end of his season, which was as a blocker in the Pacemakers’ backfield, Pacers coach Spencer Phillips converted him into running back and Tishendorf finished the season with 135 yardage with 3 touchdowns on 31 carries. He says he has been recruited by, among others, Oregon State University, Washington State University and UNLV. 
 
Owen Scholes, Sunset, senior 
 
Scholes contributed to an enhanced Apollos run offense during their path to the 2023 Columbia Cup triumph, (906 total rush yards and eight touchdowns to go with it, earning second-team all-Metro League honors again) in the playoffs. 
 
Rowan Gandert, Nelson, senior 
 
Gandert played the position of a tight end and a slot receiver until the middle of last season for 2 and a half seasons as a starter until the Hawks, the team, had no running back for the Junior varsity match against Central Catholic. “We knew we couldn’t play them in empty all game,” Nelson coach Aaron Hazel remembered; so, the staff put Gandert into the slot — and he laid a 250-yard performance. Now, he’ll be the RB1 on Friday nights, and “he has committed to the weight room to handle the increased workload,” Hazel said. 
 
Roman Kealoha, Wilsonville, junior 
 
rugby Kealoha tallied more than 900 yards of total offense in his sophomore year playing for the 5A state champion Tigers Wildcats: Amassing 728 yards rushing and seven touchdowns while adding 213 yards and four touchdowns receiving 15 passes. 
 
Ryder Jackson, Seaside, junior 
 
Last year when all-state running back Jake White went down with an injury Jackson proved more than capable of filling that role for a team that made it to the 4A state semifinals. He was the all state second team on offense, and ran for 1,146 yards and 16 touchdowns. 
 
Sam Vyhlidal, Mountainside, junior 
 
Vyhlidal joined the varsity squad early in his freshmen year and skyrocketed last year for the mavericks earning him membership to the all-Metro League first team on both offense and defense. On the ground, he ran for 415 yards from fifty seven attempts. 
 
Spencer Davis, Sisters, sophomore 
 
Davis got some spot duty on the varsity as a freshman . Outlaws coach Gary Thorson had him penciled in as a starter on both sides of the ball in the backfield and defensive back field this year. 
 
Taleni Liua of Hidden Valley, junior. 
 
Liua transferred to Grants Pass last summer after spending his freshman season playing football for Liberty High School in Henderson, Nevada and the Mustang became an instant starter for the team being selected to the second team All Big Sky Conference. 
 
Tallen Kraushaar, Seaside, senior 
 
Kraushaar is the first-team Cowapa League last year playing as a running back. 
 
Travis Hull, Reynolds, senior 
 
Hull contributed to nearly half of the Raiders’ offenses last season in what was an all-Mt An honorable mention of the Hood Conference, he accumulated 840 rates, nine touchdowns on the ground, and 112 receiving yards, two touchdowns on the passes. 
 
Treyson Eddleman, Lakeridge, senior 
 
Eddleman converted 11 touchdowns in the previous season while playing for Sherwood where he was a wing-T fullback. 
 
Tugg McQuinn, Pendleton, junior 

The first-team all-Greater Oregon League selection named the Buckaroos to the 4A playoffs last year, where he gained 496 yards on 76 carries and 10 touchdowns. 
 
Tyson Davis – Football – Central Catholic, Junior 
 
Last season, Davis aided in giving the 6A state championed team a balanced offense, he garnered 6A all-state honorable mention having averaged 10. Averaged 9 yards per carry (53 for 576 yards adn 10 touchdowns) while also catching 17 passes for 415 yards and four touchdowns. 
 
Uriel Valdez, Bend, senior 
 
Valdez last season ranked second in Intermountain Conference in yards from scramble 590 and touchdowns nine to be on the all-conference first team. 
 
Valentin Rodriguez, Crater, senior 
 
Rodriguez was second in 5A averaging 1,427 yards (15 touchdowns) on 265 carries by the end of last season. He was able to make second team all-state. 
 
Viggo Anderson, West Linn, junior 
 
Anderson is expected to do duty as a partner to the just-returning Hudson Hardy in the Lions backfield this season. Anderson got playing time in six matches in the sophomore season and earn 176 yards and scoring four touchdowns. 
 
Wilson Medina, Sherwood, senior 
 
Medina last season was even a two-way player for one of the state’s most unanticipated teams last year leading the Bowmen into the 6A state semifinals while also being named as part of the all-Pacific Conference first offense team while also being part of the second defense team offense and defense; senior signal caller averaged 652 rushing yards with 16 touchdowns on the year. 
 
Wyatt Andler, Wells, senior 
 
The Guardians’ offence is as inconspicuous as a freight train, and the one pulling the handle is Andler, who was 6A all-state honorable mention and rushed for 1,070 yards and 19 touchdowns last year, making the first unified PIL title in the last twenty years possible.