An unexpected second straight loss by Sprague at the hands of McKay topped the highlights of the second week of Central Valley Conference football action.
McKay 24, Sprague 21
The McKay Royal Scots rattled off the first 24 points of the game and made it stand up as they held off a furious Sprague rally to beat the Olys 24-21 at McKay.
As Sprague, the perennial league champion, struggled offensively in the first half, the host Scots took advantage with big plays that translated into two touchdowns in the first half.
A 60 yard pass play from John Brewer to Solomon Frank, followed seven plays later by an eight yard Frank TD run gave McKay a 7-0 advantage early in the first quarter.
The Scots quickly extended the lead to 14-0 on the very next drive when running back Tony Gonzales dashed 85 yards to stun the Olys and their fans.
A 23 yard field goal by Cole Mahaffey made it 17-0 Scots at half.
McKay extended the lead right out of the locker room on their first drive of the third quarter, when Gonzales ripped off another long run--this one a 75 yard scamper--to make it 24-0.
Then came the Sprague comeback bid.
An extended Sprague drive was capped by a Rory McManus TD run of eight yards to cut the lead to 24-7.
The Olys got excellent field position on their very next possession when the kick bounced off a McKay helmet and an alert McManus fielded the ball and advanced the ball to about midfield. That set up a 32 yard TD run by Tony Wilson--his eighth TD of the season--to narrow the Sprague deficit to 24-14.
The lead shrank to 24-21 with six minutes left in the game when quarterback Adam Kniffin ran it in from five yards out on the next drive, after setting himself up on a 46 yard pass to tight end Colin Casad.
Sprague had two late opportunities to tie the game or take the lead.
The first chance began 99 yards from the goal line, as a Mahaffey punt for the Scots pinned Sprague back at their own goal line. Sprague picked up a couple of first downs, but turned the ball back to McKay on downs when Kniffin was sacked on fourth down with just over three minutes left.
But the Scots failed to run out the clock and gave the ball back to Sprague with 1:20 left. The Olys came up a yard shy of a first down on a fourth down pass play with under five seconds remaining, and McKay took a knee to seal the victory.
Gonzales topped McKay offensively with 258 yards on 21 carries. The Scots (1-1 in CVC play) travel to North Salem next Friday. Sprague (0-2) hosts Lakeridge in next week's non-league contest.
West Salem 48, North Salem 0
The fifth ranked Titans were far from gracious hosts in the game against North Salem. West took advantage of the Vikings' poor field position, penalties and short punts in the first seven minutes of the game to forge a 14-0 lead, and coasted in for the easy seven touchdown victory.
On its first possession, North was penalized twice and netted zero yards, forcing them to punt from their own ten yard line. A stiff head wind helped produce a 14 yard punt, and West took over at the Viking 24 yard line.
Just four plays later, Titan running back Jordan Jenkins pounded the ball into the end zone from three yards out to make it 7-0 with 8:54 left in the opening quarter.
An almost identical scenario on North's second possession--including a short, 12 yard punt--gave the ball back to West at the North Salem 37. Again, Jenkins scored--this time from four yards out--to make it 14-0 Titans with five minutes left in the second quarter.
Although North did improve its offensive performance in subsequent drives, they did not advance past midfield against West the entire half, while the Titans rattled off three more scores in the second quarter. North had just 54 yards in total offense at half time, including minus-5 in the passing department.
Quarterback Aaron Hire, who saw limited playing time last week against Sprague due to injury, looked to be back at full strength. He hit Jake Simpson with a 58 yard TD pass early in the second quarter to extend the Titan lead to 21-0. Hire finished the game with three TD passes and a total of 140 yards on 6 of 7 attempts.
West's Jordan Bishop made it 28-0 with just over seven minutes left in the half when he weaved his way through Viking tacklers on a 75 yard punt return.
The Titans weren't quite finished. Hire threw his second TD pass of the game when he hit Matt Alto from ten yards out with 1:30 left in the half. The score was 35-0 as both teams went to the locker room.
West took the opening posssession of the third quarter into the end zone, engineering a 10 play, 80 yard drive that was capped off by a 21 yard pass from Hire to Bishop. The Vikings blocked Ryan Allen's extra point, but the Titans led 41-0.
West running back Thomas Hoover tallied the last score of the game just 14 seconds into the fourth quarter with a diving 7 yard TD run.
West rolled up 379 yards in total offense, including 239 yards rushing. Hoover had 96 yards on 11 carries for West, and Jenkins 81 yards on 11 carries.
North managed just 114 yards in total offense. Quarterback Casey Reyes was the lone bright spot for the Vikings with 70 yards rushing on 10 carries.
West (2-0) plays at South Salem next Friday, while North will host McKay in their homecoming game.
Redmond 39, South Salem 7
South Salem got off to a fast start against visiting Redmond Friday night when Corey Bickler ripped off a 69 yard TD run in the first quarter. But the Panthers controlled the rest of the contest, scoring 39 unanswered points to post a big win in their first conference game of 2007.
Bickler's electrifying run was the only highlight of the game for the Saxons, who were limited to just two yards passing against the aggressive Panthers defense.
Redmond began taking control with a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter.
On the Panther's second possession of the period, running back Ty Nordstrom broke loose for a 41 yard TD, bowling over Saxon defensive back Dominic David at the goal line. A missed extra point let South hold on to a 7-6 lead.
On Redmond's next possession, CVC first team quarterback Cody Johnson hooked up twice on passes to running back Clayton York--first for 29 yards, and then for 26 yards and a touchdown. A missed two point conversion made it 12-7 Panthers at half time.
In the third quarter, Redmond exploded for three touchdowns. Nordstrom scored his second TD of the night on a three yard run as the Panthers took less than three minutes on their opening drive to extend the lead to 19-7.
It became 25-7 when the Panthers scored on the first play of their next possession as Johnson hit Bo Guthrie on a 77 yard bomb down the middle of the field. On the next Saxon possession, York picked off a Joey Placek pass and returned it 46 yards for yet another Redmond TD to make it 32-7 at the end of three quarters.
Nordstrom tacked on his third TD of the night early in the fourth period on one more three yard run to round out the scoring for the night.
South did accumulate 249 rushing yards on 35 carries--with Bickler accounting for 188 of that total on 19 carries. But the limited South passing attack--combined with three Redmond interceptions, made for a long night.
Panthers quarterback Cody Johnson had 181 yards through the air on just 6 of 9 passes. Nordstrom talllied 108 yards on 19 carries to lead the Redmond ground attack.
South (1-1) will host West Salem next Friday night. Redmond (1-0 in CVC play) will be at home next week in a showdown with McNary.
Clackamas 28, McNary 14
The short handed Celtics fell from the ranks of the unbeaten Friday night as traditional state power Clackamas scored the first 21 points of the game enroute to a 28-14 home victory in the CVC's non-league game of the week.
McNary, ranked eighth in the state, played without the complete services of wide receiver Zach Brown. Brown, who came into the game with a team best 276 yards in catches and five TDs, was limited to kicking duties after suffering a shoulder injury in last week's win over McKay.
The host Cavaliers took advantage of the situation as McNary struggled to find its offensive identity early.
Celts quarterback Brent Williams had a pass picked off by Clackamas's Brad Inahara, who ran it back 38 yards for a touchdown as Clackamas led 7-0 early in the first quarter.
The Cavs added two more scores in the second quarter, as senior quarterback Ryan Cook connected with receiver Ben Adler on touchdown passes of 17 and 9 yards each to make it 21-0.
McNary finally got on the board late in the half, driving 70 yards in eight plays. Running back Sam Wilkerson fumbled the ball into the end zone from one yard out on the final play of the drive, but receiver Sheldon Austria jumped on the loose ball for the touchdown to cut the Clackamas lead to 21-7 at half.
More offensive frustrations for McNary in the third quarter helped the Cavalier cause, as they re-established their three touchdown advantage on a 23 yard pass from Cook to Inahara to make it 28-7.
The Celtics still had their chances, opening the fourth quarter by driving to the Clackamas one yard line. But the Cavs stopped McNary short of the goal line on fourth down as Wilkerson failed to get into the end zone.
The final Celt score came with just under four and a half minutes left when fullback Darian Kauffman rumbled in from six yards out to make it 28-14. But Clackamas recovered an onside kick attempt to seal the win.
McNary (1-0 in CVC play, 4-1) returns to conference action next week with a big game on the road at Redmond.
Injury report: Sprague running back Rob Hamlin and South Salem lineman Bryant Gehring both suffered significant injuries Friday night. Hamlin was carted off with a serious leg injury that team officials treated as a broken bone. Gehring took a hard hit and lay motionless on the field before being transported by medical crews. The extent of his injuries was not disclosed. The two players suffered the injuries midway through the fourth quarter of their respective games.
GAME PHOTOS BY JOE GOTTSCH (WS-NS) AND NISHA STRAUCH