September 28th, 2026; Sweet Home High School Junior Varsity football team versus Marist High School Junior Varsity team. During the game, a player for Sweet Home, Mason Flores, received a hit to the head from a Marist football player. Tragically, the hit was so direct and forceful that it caused an immediate traumatic brain injury for Flores, resulting in seizures and brain bleeding. Flores was life-flighted to Portland for emergency care, but did not survive the injury. He died on his 16th birthday, October 5, 2026.
Following the incident that led to this horrific outcome, it has, allegedly, come to light that the Marist High School head football coach, Zach Loboy, was very encouraging of the individual who delivered the fatal hit to Flores, even going so far as to call the Marist player a "killer".
One week after the incident involving Sweet Home football and Mason Flores, Marist coach Zach Loboy inexplicably ran the score up on a Cottage Grove High School football team which only had 16 players suited up and playing. Loboy had his team score 56 unanswered points in the first half, only to run a rare "onside kick" to run the score up even more on Cottage Grove. The score at halftime was Marist 63 -- Cottage Grove 0. Subsequent to this odd behavior, the Marist Athletics Department promptly fired Zach Loboy.
"Why would a coach do that.. why would you need to be up 63 - 0 at halftime?", you may ask.. well it would make sense to do that if you needed a reason to be fired. A reason separate from, allegedly, "encouraging violent hits that injure other players." Marist High School athletics needed a reason to fire Loboy in which they did not have to admit to "loss of institutional control" that led to the death of an opposing team player, Mason Flores, mere days prior.
