Les Schwab Bowl’s inaugural ‘evaluation day’ shows continued growth of Oregon’s signature all-star football event

By Dan Brood 

They came from all around the state. 

They all had one big goal in mind — well, maybe two goals. 

They all wanted to improve their chances of getting selected to play in the Les Schwab Bowl, and they all wanted to improve their game.

While it’s still to be determined who will get to play in the Les Schwab Bowl, a high school football all-star game featuring many of Oregon’s top players, the consensus was that everyone upped their football performance after taking part in the Les Schwab Bowl evaluation day Saturday at McDaniel High School.

“For sure, I learned a lot here today,” Heppner junior quarterback Landon Mitchell said. “The coaches here really know what they’re talking about. It was really cool to get advice from them and to throw to great receivers and play against great (defensive backs).”

“I learned a lot from all the coaches here,” Sherwood junior quarterback Kasen Covert said. “(Central Catholic) Coach (Steve) Pyne definitely helped me with my footwork, from a quarterback standpoint.”

The evaluation day marked the latest evolution of the Les Schwab Bowl. After many years of being a North vs. South contest, last year was the first year the teams were drafted by coaches, and the game was Team Columbia vs. Team Willamette.

Saturday’s event was the first Les Schwab Bowl evaluation day. To participate in the event, which featured the coaching staffs from the Les Schwab Bowl as well as some college coaches in attendance, players had to be nominated by their high school head coach to play in the Les Schwab Bowl. 

“Since we changed the format the last couple of years, from being seniors-only to getting all the underclassmen involved, and then changing it to a draft format, with Team Columbia and Team Willamette, instead of geographical, we’ve had so many kids who’ve wanted to play,” said John McCallum, president of Prime Time Sports, which presents the Les Schwab Bowl. “So, talking with the coaching staff, it was like, ‘How do we get kids looked at, outside of just the nominations?’ So, we decided to have this evaluation day, corresponding with the first day of the evaluation day with the NCAA and college coaches.”

The idea turned out to be a popular one.

“I think it was better than maybe we expected it to be for the first time,” said Pyne, who will coach Team Columbia in this year’s Les Schwab Bowl, with Sheldon’s Josh Line coaching Team Willamette. “We’ve had this vision in our head about what it could be, but the turnout we had this morning was great, and I think we’ve got pretty good numbers this afternoon, so that is encouraging. We want to keep growing this thing and get more college coaches here.”

“We’ve been planning this for the past month and a half,” McCallum said. “We were expecting maybe 40 kids coming out to showcase their talent, because they have to be nominated by their head coach to even get out here. We want these kids to all get reps and, even if they don’t get picked, that they walk away with a good football experience, more than anything.

“We’ve had kids from all over the state, all levels, out here. That speaks volumes. We have more than 100 kids out here, total, between the two sessions, skill positions and linemen, signed up to try to play in the game.”

For Mitchell, from a Class 2A school that plays 9-man football, it was important to get the chance to show his talent to the Les Schwab Bowl coaches — even if it meant a long road trip to McDaniel High School in Northeast Portland.

“It was about 3 hours and 15 minutes. We came over last night, and then over here this morning,” he said. “It was pretty cool when (Heppner) Coach (Greg) Grant told me I made it. One of my other teammates (Caden George) did, too. I was pretty proud of him, and it was pretty cool that I got to come out here and experience this.”

For Mitchell and the other players at Saturday’s event, the main goal is to get drafted when Pyne, Line and the Les Schwab Bowl coaching staffs draft the players to play in the game, which will be held July 1 at Linfield University in McMinnville.

“It would mean a lot,” Liberty senior receiver Vincent Cabezudo said. “Ever since I found out about it, I’ve been working hard to get out there. It would be a lot of fun.”

“It’s a prestigious event, so if I was to be selected, it would be awesome,” Covert said. “It would really mean a lot.”

Mitchell is trying to follow in the footsteps of Heppner graduate Jayden Wilson, who played quarterback in the 2021 Les Schwab Bowl.

“He’s an inspiration, for sure,” Mitchell said. “He’s helped me throughout the years with training and how to perform. It would be really cool to play against all of these great athletes.”

One player at Saturday’s event who knows what the Les Schwab Bowl is all about is Marist Catholic junior lineman Sam Keen, who last year played for Team Columbia, which defeated Team Willamette 28-9.

“That was the best week of my life. I want to do it again,” Keen said as he prepared for Saturday’s linemen session at the evaluation day. “It’s a pretty fun game. That would be great if I got to play in it again.”

Les Schwab Bowl officials are hoping the game, and the evaluation day, will continued to grow. 

“The interest level, with the changes, has been a very positive thing, and it’s led to this,” McCallum said. “And the ultimate goal is to have the 150 best players from around the state to be here, so the college coaches can, at one time, see them all. And hopefully everyone out here today had a good football experience.”

It sounds like that goal was met.

“It was really fun. It was a good day to come out here, play some football against some great competition,” Cabezudo said. “This was cool, seeing all of these guys that are really talented. It was great to see all of this talent representing Oregon.”

“It was great coming out here. It’s a top showcase and brings all of the top kids in the state here together. It was a lot of fun,” Covert said. “There are a lot of great athletes here, from all over the state. This was super fun, and I learned a lot from all of the coaches.”

“It was really fun, just to see all the other talented athletes from around the state. At 2A, sometimes you’re shielded from that,” Mitchell said. “Now, I’m going to go home and work on all the stuff we did here.”

Keen had a tone of enthusiasm in his voice as he got ready for Saturday’s linemen session.

“I’m ready to go,” he said. “I’m excited to see Coach Pyne and Coach Line here. And two of my teammates (Dawson Relling and Brody Borrevik) are here. We’re going to give it our best. I’m looking forward to this today. I see a lot of faces that I’ve seen before. I’m ready to compete.”

Saturday’s early session, for skill position players, ended with New England Patriots receiver Kendrick Bourne, a Milwaukie High School graduate and Les Schwab Bowl alumni, talking to the group.

Pyne, as well as anyone, knows the importance of the tradition of the game, which was first played in 1948, when it was known as The Shrine Game. 

“I think this game is extremely important to our state, and to our game,” he said. “I’ve probably missed a few years here and there, but from the time I was probably 9 or 10 years old, I’ve been going to this game, back when it was The Shrine Game. It’s a unique experience, and the more we can evolve the game and the process, the better experience it’s going to be.”

Pyne, like many of the players who were competing at McDaniel High School on Saturday, had a smile on his face. 

“Today was a blast,” he said. “It’s been a few months since we’ve got to coach, so coming out here and being with the kids was great. This is a great group of kids.”