Three years ago, Aloha football couldn't buy a win. On Friday, Oct. 30, the Warriors play for a conference championship.
Aloha (7-1, 4-0 Greater Metro Conference) travels to Wilsonville (6-2, 4-0) for the inaugural GMC title game. The winner claims the first championship in the newly created league.
The turnaround has been steep. Head coach James Mitcham went 0-27 in his first three seasons leading the program from 2021 through 2023.
After dropping from the 6A Metro League to the 5A Northwest Oregon Conference, the Warriors went 5-4 in 2024 and 4-5 last year, as first reported by The Oregonian.
This fall, everything clicked.
Senior quarterback Jason Kwasnik has thrown for 1,586 yards and 23 touchdowns while completing 67% of his passes with just four interceptions, ranking eighth in Oregon in passing yards according to MaxPreps.
His top targets are seniors Luca Blanchet (43 catches, 593 yards, nine touchdowns) and Cayden Dunne (35 catches, 412 yards, six touchdowns). Blanchet ranks 14th statewide in receiving yards.
The ground game took off when senior running back Alexis Hernandez Diaz stepped into the featured role.
In four GMC games, the 5-foot-7, 175-pound back has rushed for 544 yards and eight touchdowns, per The Oregonian. He ranks 24th in the state in rushing yards on MaxPreps.
Up front, returning second-team all-state tackle Scottland Telesa anchors a deep offensive line rotation. Telesa, also the reigning 6A shot put state champion, is tied for the team lead in tackles for loss with six alongside senior linebacker Gabe Giannola, per The Oregonian. Senior cornerback Wyett Hooper has four interceptions, tied for 10th in Oregon per MaxPreps.
Senior kicker Rafael Sanchez Rojas has been clutch. He drilled a 40-yard field goal in overtime to beat Canby 31-28 and is 37 for 39 on extra points this season, The Oregonian reported.
Mitcham told The Oregonian the program's belief never wavered through the losing years. "In my 22 years here at Aloha, we have always put our focus on winning in life at the forefront of what we do," he said.
Wilsonville presents a stiff test. The Wildcats have lost one league game in the past 10 seasons and have won two 5A state titles and reached five finals since 2016, per The Oregonian. They rank No. 17 in the SI.com Oregon Top 25 and No. 23 in the MaxPreps statewide rankings.
Senior quarterback Trevor Glos has thrown for 2,187 yards on the season, third in Oregon per MaxPreps. During Wilsonville's current five-game winning streak, Glos passed for 1,398 yards and 22 touchdowns, The Oregonian reported.
Wilsonville coach Adam Guenther told The Oregonian after the Wildcats' Week 8 win over Canby that his team had set itself up for a championship game on the final night of the regular season.
Kickoff is 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30, at Wilsonville.
