It was late October of 2007. The Jesuit Crusaders were 7-1, and looked almost completely unbeatable. They were beating teams by more than 40 points on a consistent basis. But then a funny thing happened on their march to the state title game. It was called Southridge.

AP file photo

Jesuit's 2005 championship winning game

The Skyhawks beat Jesuit on the final game of the regular season 28-27 in overtime. Southridge was a good team, but the loss seemed to stay with the Jesuit players. A week later, The Crusaders lost in a shootout with Canby, in the first round of the playoffs. Its not the ending the Jesuit seniors had dreamed of. "There was one team that was really happy last year, and that was Sheldon, and there were alot of us that weren't too happy," Jesuit Head Coach Ken Potter said.

Its a new season, but expectations at the Catholic High School on Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway are the same as ever. Potter says every coach feels the pressure, but he'd rather be a favorite than an underdog.

Jesuit plays last year's runner up Tualatin Friday in their season opener. A game that should give both teams a gauge on how good they are, or how far they have to go. "The goal for every team is 14 games, you know, play in the championship game. So that's what we'd love to be able to do."