Weird.
Bizarre.
Odd.
Those are three words to describe the schedule.
The Class 4A Greater St. Helens League played league games Friday night.
In Week 3 of the high school football season.
Gotta go back to 2015 the last time that happened.
These days, the 4A GSHL only has four teams. So, for years, the league has scheduled three league games — all at the end of the season, in Weeks 7, 8, and 9.
That also meant trying to find non-league games for the first six weeks of the season.
That was getting more and more difficult. In fact, there have been seasons when teams only played eight regular-season games, failing to find that final non-league contest.
So this year — and already planned for next year, too — sports administrators came up with a six-game league schedule.
Four teams but six league games?
Oh, the math works, but only if every team in the league plays each other twice.
The coaches are not loving this schedule, even if they understand the reasons behind the change. Beyond just trying to find non-league games, those non-league games are often against teams outside the region. Travel costs can mess with an athletic department’s budget.
Skyview coach Matt Hamlin said that for travel and scheduling purposes, this is much easier.
“I hope it’s a short-term solution,” Hamlin said Friday night before his Skyview team beat Camas 38-21. “I don’t want it to be a long-term solution.”
After all, Skyview just beat Camas for the first time since 2011. And this year, Skyview will have to play Camas again in four weeks.
Interestingly enough, two 4A GSHL teams did play each other twice in the same season back in 2015, when Camas beat Skyview in the regular season and then again in the state playoffs. That second meeting, however, was not scheduled. It was two quality teams clashing in the playoff bracket.
This 2026 GSHL schedule is bringing up challenges that high school football coaches and players rarely face.
A couple of years ago, Camas put up 60 points in a league game against Battle Ground.
“The thought of being in that situation is awful,” Battle Ground coach Mike Woodward said. “Then you have to come back four weeks later? Imagine that pre-game speech.”
On the flip side, how does a coach motivate his players if they just crushed an opponent the previous month?
Woodward also wondered about seasons when there is parity in the league. He envisions the top teams splitting. (Could that happen this year?) Would a wonky tiebreaker determine the league champion?
Union coach Steve Pyne took a different approach. No team should win a league title or earn a playoff spot from a lucky bounce or a fortunate call.
“The cream will rise to the top because you play everybody twice,” he said. “It will work itself out like it was supposed to.”
That does not mean he is a fan of the system. He said he just wishes Evergreen, Heritage, and Mountain View were Class 4A programs, to give Southwest Washington seven big schools.
Camas coach Adam Mathieson said from an administration’s point of view, this schedule makes sense. As a coach, and an advocate for the athlete? Not so much.
“Kids need to see different venues, different teams. The ‘Kid Experience’ is important,” Mathieson said. “You want to go to different stadiums, play different teams. I love everybody in the league, but I’d like to see them once. I’d like our kids to have nine weeks of (different) experiences instead of six.”
On Friday night, Skyview got a 17-point win, but it was a three-point game early in the fourth quarter. Battle Ground ended up beating Union 34-14, but that was a seven-point game at the half.
Now, those coaches from the wrong end of the scoreboard get a chance to look at game video, come up with a new approach, and look for a different outcome next month. And the winning coaches will have to persuade their players that winning once does not necessarily accomplish much. Gotta go get the sweep.
“As a coach, it’s new to me,” Woodward said. “Not in favor of it, but no sense in complaining about it now.”
The players will adjust. Football is football, right?
“I’m not used to it, but I’m sure our team will adapt,” Skyview’s Adarius Sparrow said after he caught three touchdown passes on Friday. “We’re going to get used to it.”
