PORTLAND, Ore. -- No. 1 West Linn (14-0) made history Saturday afternoon, winning its first football state championship Saturday afternoon with a dominating 62-7 victory over No. 7 Central Catholic (11-3) at Providence Park.
The Lions began the year ranked No. 1 after losing 21-14 to Jesuit in the state championship game last season and left no doubt all year who the best team was.
Senior quarterback Tim Tawa and running back Elijah Molden led the way for West Linn, much like they have throughout their high school careers.
Tawa, who owns many of the state's high school passing records, finished 16-24 for 248 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also rushed for 66 yards and 2 touchdowns. Molden, the University of Washington commit, carried the ball 10 times for 186 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Molden got the scoring started with a 70-yard touchdown run on West Linn's first possession. The Lions scored on their first three possessions of the game to lead 21-0 and took a 28-0 lead going into halftime.
Central Catholic opened the second half with a 38-yard touchdown pass from Cade Knighton to Trey Davis, but West Linn's juggernaut offense was too much for the Rams, who won the state title in 2013 and 2014.
The Lions compiled 583 yards of offense and had twice as many first downs as Central Catholic. In addition to Molden and Tawa's contributions on the ground, Dawson Jolley rushed 7 times for 65 yards and 2 touchdowns. West Linn wide receiver Qawi Ntsasa finished with 7 catches for 100 yards and a touchdown. Wide receiver Justin Altenhofen also had 6 catches for 80 yards.
It was a dominant performance to put a stamp on West Linn's perfect season. The Lions only had one game decided by less than 10 points and scored 40 or more points in 11 of their 14 wins.
And now for the first time, the Lions are state champions.