As things currently stand, Marcus McCauley will be suspended for the final game of his high school football career in Oregon. The senior outside linebacker and wide receiver was ejected for a controversial targeting penalty on Friday.
Was it a clean hit?
The governing body of high school football in the Beaver State will review the incident over the weekend and make a ruling on whether the ejection was truly deserved. McCauley should then learn his fate by the middle of next week.
Parkrose high school football player Marcus McCauley was ejected and will be suspended.
Opened in 1913, Parkrose High School is located in Portland, Oregon. It enrolls approximately 1,000 students in Grades 9-12. The Brocnos compete in Class 5A-1 of the OSAA as members of the Northwest Oregon Conference. Their football team is not very good.
Parkrose lost seven of its first eight games by a combined score of 338-52. It won only one game against Centennial by a score of 40-12. There is one game remaining in the regular season. The Broncos are not going to make the postseason.
That is an unfortunate reality for the senior class. There is only one high school football game remaining in their four-year careers. Most of them will not play in college. Next Friday will be the last competitive football game of their entire lives.
Marcus McCauley is not necessarily one of those players. The 6-foot-2, 180-pound outside linebacker and wide receiver earned 2nd Team All-League honors last season. He is playing just as well this season. As a result, he has earned a scholarship offer from the University of Pacific and received interest from schools like Idaho State and Dakota State.
However, McCauley may not get his final opportunity to showcase his talent during what is supposed to be his final high school football game. A one-game suspension is looming.
What is targeting?
Parkrose High School lost to Putnam by 57 points on Friday. Marcus McCauley was not able to contribute on defense during the second half. He was ejected.
The Oregon high school football officials determined that the outside linebacker made a dirty hit on the Kingsmen wide receiver. They flagged him for unsportsmanlike conduct and threw him out of the game for targeting. It was a questionable decision.
McCauley made a big hit on a bang-bang play. The wide receiver caught the ball on a screen and got clobbered. Take a look:
Got ejected for this play was this a clean hit or not? Hopefully this isn’t the last play of my high school career…
— Marcus “J3” McCauley | 2027 OLB/WR (@Marcus3Mccauley) October 24, 2026
2027 LB/DB/WR pic.twitter.com/W2ANmkRID4
Per the rules of high school football, McCauley will be required to serve a one-game suspension because he was ejected. That would mean that he will be required to miss the final game of his high school football career.
Targeting is defined by the National Federation of State High School Associations under rule 2-43 as “an act of taking aim and initiating contact above the shoulders with the helmet, forearm, hand, first, elbow or shoulders.” Did McCauley commit targeting? Did he deserve to be ejected, and subsequently suspended? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!