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There is still plenty of football to be played, but teams are starting to show their relative strengths in the Central Valley Conference—and there is just one big surprise to date. West Salem—a top ten team in the latest Associated Press 6A poll, has been a dominating defensive team, giving up 8 1/2 points a contest through September 28. Their latest game—a 48-0 romp over North Salem—also shows the Titans can score plenty, too. They are now averaging 32 points a game. Aaron Hire is back at quarterback after recovering from a shoulder injury. That means West’s offense is now at full force, which is bad news for the rest of the conference. With four games left in league play, the Titans are the front runners for the CVC crown. Redmond—not ranked, but offensively potent—is also proving to be playoff worthy. The Panthers’ 29-7 trouncing of South Salem included a run-of-the-mill offensive show from big guns Cody Johnson (202 yards passing) and Ty Nordstrom (3 rushing TDs—7 total in the past two games) for coach Craig Ruecker. A young offensive line is starting to come together to protect Johnson, who suffered numerous sacks in the preseason. The Panthers can really make themselves a West's top contender with a win at home this week against McNary. The surprise of this current season is out at Sprague, where the Olys are 0-2 in league play for the first time since 2001—when they finished 4-5 in the old Valley League. Robin Hill’s team is looking to find consistency, especially on offense. Quarterback Adam Kniffin has a strong arm, but has yet to throw a TD pass for the 1-4 Olympians. And the normally steady Sprague running game has had some bad quarters. Realistically, Sprague will have to win at least three of their last four games to have a shot at returning to the playoffs as per usual. With McNary and Redmond on remaining on their schedule, it will prove to be a formidable task for the boys in orange. Speaking of McNary, the Celtics got a small dose of reality sent their way last week in the non-league loss to Clackamas, their first setback of the season. The 2-2 Cavaliers’ pass-happy offense caused lots of problems for the Celts. Coach Rick Ward also had to operate his offense without playmaker Zach Brown, who is nursing a separated shoulder. It gets no easier as McNary travels to Redmond (see Panthers above). The Celtic faithful are hopeful Brown is ready for that game, or it could be a difficult night for their formerly undefeated team. McKay may be in playoff contention again this year. They certainly made the case for such talk after jumping on top of Sprague early and holding on to win 24-21. Speedy halfback Tony Gonzales, who finished sixth last year in the 100 meter dash as a sophomore track standout, is making Scots fans forget about the graduation of Romeco Bose. Gonzales took advantage of a tightly bunched Sprague defense in ripping off two long runs for TDs in last week’s game. He now has over 600 yards rushing for a Scots team that is beginning to believe in their offense. Of note: South Salem’s 1971 state championship football team will be inducted into the school’s hall of fame this week, with ceremonies scheduled just prior to the Saxon’s game with West Salem on Friday. My father, Jerry, was an assistant coach for that South team that beat Grants Pass 20-6 at Autzen Stadium 36 years ago. Yours truly was a ball boy for the squad. Mark Gilman can be contacted at mark@fullaccesssports.com
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