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Olys complete CVC playoff picture A coin-flip wasn't needed to determine the final seeding for Central Valley Conference entries in the OSAA 6A football playoffs, as Sprague's win over South Salem simplified the process in the final week of the 2007 CVC football season. Sprague 35, South Salem 7 The host Olympians went to their bread-and-butter rushing attack exclusively in the second half, and breezed to an easy win over rival South Salem to clinch the CVC's third seed in the state playoffs. The game was tied 7-7 at halftime. South Salem got on the board first when quarterback Jonathan Sigado hooked up with Blake Miller on a 57 yard TD pass just a little over a minute into the ball game.
In the second half, Sprague went to all-conference fullback Tony Wilson to take the lead, scoring two TDs in the third quarter. The first drive—covering 71 yards on 11 plays, ended with a five yard Wilson TD run. The second, set up by a Wilson interception, was capped with a four yard TD run by the fullback. In all, Wilson had 66 yards in the pivotal third quarter as the Olys jumped out to a 28-7 advantage.
With the victory, Sprague (3-3 in CVC action) earned the conference’s number three seed, and will play at Centennial of Gresham, the Mount Hood Conference’s second place representative. South Salem (3-3) fell to the fourth seed, but received a bit of a surprise when defending state champion Jesuit lost in overtime Friday night. Instead of playing the Crusaders next week, the Saxons will travel to Westview of Beaverton, who won a coin flip used to determine the top three seeds from the Metro League. West Salem 21, McNary 0
Titans wide receiver Jordan Bishop, returning from an injury suffered three weeks ago, accounted for the only score of the first half with an 18 yard TD pass from returning QB Aaron Hire, who also had been hobbled for the past month. The extra point by Ryan Allen gave West a 7-0 advantage with just under 5 ½ minutes left in the first quarter. In the second half, West started with a bang as Bishop returned the kickoff 52 yards to set up the Titans at the McNary 35 yard line. Jordan Jenkins ripped off a 26 yard run, and Hire then threw his second touchdown of the night to back up fullback Landon Kuenzi to make it 14-0. West Salem scored on their next drive, as freshman quarterback Brett Smith, who rotated signal calling duties with Hire, found wideout Matt Alto with a 33 yard TD strike to give the Titans the final score of the night. McNary had one golden opportunity for a score slip by on the next series. After Steven Rodriguez returned the ensuing kickoff to the West 49 yard line, he completed a reverse pass to Sheldon Austria to give the Celtics a first down inside the Titan 20. But the West Salem defense—tops in the CVC—stopped McNary on the next four plays and took over on downs. Jenkins led the West Salem rushing attack with 174 yards on 24 carries, but only carried the ball three times in the second half. Hire threw for 42 yards on 5 of 7 passes in limited field duty. For McNary (2-4 in CVC play), Sam Wilkerson topped the Celtic offense with 52 yards rushing on 13 carries. The post season will continue for the Titans (6-0) in two weeks, when they will host a second round game against the winner of the West Linn-Beaverton matchup next Friday. Redmond 41, North Salem 41 Redmond tuned up for its first round playoff game next Friday with a convincing win against visiting North Salem.
Johnson ended the game with 299 yards on just eight of eleven passes. Clayton York topped a balanced Panther rushing attack with 76 yards on five carries. North Salem (0-6 in CVC play) scored their points on a 55 yard punt return by Corbin Garner late in the third quarter, and a 12 yard TD run by Juan Benavidez midway through the fourth quarter. Redmond (5-1) advances to the 6A playoffs as the second place team from the CVC, hosting Oregon City—the number four seed out of the Three Rivers League. West Linn 34, McKay 19 McKay’s season came to an end with a home loss to ninth ranked West Linn that was closer than the final score indicated.
McKay cut the margin to 10-7 on an 18 yard TD run by Tony Gonzales. But the Lions stretched the lead back to 10 points when quarterback Bryce Baker hit Justin Monahan with a 25 yard TD pass with a minute left in the half to give West Linn at 17-7 advantage. The Scots got the game down to just a four point margin when Solomon Frank ran in from two yards out with just under 9 ½ minutes in the third to make it 17-13. The two teams traded early fourth quarter touchdowns to make it 24-20 with eight minutes to go. West Linn gave themselves a little breathing room with a 25 yard field goal by Truax with 3 ½ minutes left to make it 27-19. McKay turned the ball over on downs deep in its own territory leading to the final TD by the Lions for the final margin of victory. Gonzales led McKay (2-4) with 162 yards rushing on 29 carries. Baker threw for 242 yards in the win for West Linn. The Lions play Beaverton next Friday in the 6A playoffs, with the winner traveling to West Salem for round two. Check the OSAA playoff bracket here
GAME PHOTOS BY JAYNE ONCEA (North-Redmond) AND NISHA STRAUCH
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But with 4 ½ minutes left in the opening period, Sprague got the first break of the game when Sigado fumbled at his own eight yard line. The Olys recovered and Rory Mc Manus scored on a six yard run two plays later.
The Olympians added two more scores in the fourth—a four yard run by Wilson, and a three yard plunge by Chad Coburn to put the game away for the defending Central Valley Conference champs. South Salem managed just one positive yardage play in the second half, as the Olympians held the ball for all but five minutes of the third and fourth quarters. 
Still nursing injuries to several of its top players, fourth-rated West Salem still produced a convincing win at McNary in clinching the first football championship in the school's six year history.
The Panthers led 29-0 at halftime, as first team all-conference quarterback Cody Johnson threw for three touchdowns, include a 98 yarder to Bo Guthrie, and a 58 yard strike to Christian Arsenault.
West Linn, the second seed out of the Three Rivers League heading into the playoffs, got out to a 10-0 lead on a two yard scoring run by Justin Williams and a 35 yard field goal by Robert Truax.