Week three provides drama
North, West win Friday night CVC thrillers
October 9 , 2009

West Salem won a shoot out between two top-ten teams, and North Salem ended an 18 game losing streak dating back to 2007 as part of Central Valley Conference week three action.

North Salem 40, Redmond 35

The North Salem Vikings took care of business in a battle of two teams seeking their first wins of the 2009 season, defeating Redmond at home 40-35. It was the first win for the Vikings in nearly full two seasons.

North racked up 408 yards of total offense and came up with some timely defensive stops to take the win over a pesky Panther team.

Drew Bolliger ran for 119 yards on 17 carries and Cole Ferguson hit on 10 of 15 passes for 120 yards to pace the Vikings.  Mitch Dahlen of Redmond countered with 262 yards passing hitting 15 of 20 passes for three scores.  Running back Christian Welsh paced the Panther rushing attack with 118 yards on 24 carries.

The Vikings scored on two of their first three possessions with Robert Eason scoring on runs of 13 and one yards.  On their first drive of the second quarter, Redmond got on the board with a three-yard Welsh run.  Following a one yard Bolliger touchdown for North, Dahlen hooked up with speedy wideout Kyle Bemrose for a 37-yard touchdown strike, and the Vikings took a 21-14 lead into intermission.

The second half was a back and forth affair with each North Salem touchdown answered by a Redmond scoring drive.

After Redmond pulled within five at 40-35 on a Welsh scoring run, the Panthers recovered the ensuing onside kick with just over three minutes left in the game.  With a spectacular drive that included two fourth down conversions, Redmond reached the North 16 yard line.  Facing a fourth and one with under a minute to play, North’s Joel Rocha-Torres sliced through to deck Welsh for a four yard loss and seal the victory for the Vikings.

North (1-1) will travel to Sprague next Friday while Redmond (0-2) will play at McKay.

West Salem 61, Sprague 52

17 touchdowns, 113 points, a thousand yards of offense. Fans certainly got their money's worth at West Salem, as the ninth-ranked Titans outgunned #3 Sprague to remain in a first place tie with South Salem atop the Central Valley Conference standings.

West raced out to a quick 14-0 lead. The Titan's Cole Pittman took the opening kickoff 75 yards to the Sprague 15, and Sal Hererra scored on the very next play--the first of his five TDs on the night--to put West Salem up 7-0 just 18 seconds into the game.

Sprague was forced to punt after just three plays, and West marched 73 yards on 11 plays and Kadin Robago ran in from a yard out to take a 14-0 advantage.

Sprague scored on their next drive--a 60 yard drive on nine plays, capped by Parker Miles one yard plunge to make it 14-7. But Hererra scored on the next play from scrimmage for West, scampering 70 yards to make it 21-7.

The two teams traded touchdowns the remainder of the half, scoring nine in total--and West holding a commanding 41-21 lead.

But Sprague came out firing on all cylinders to start the third quarter.

The Olympians began their opening drive their own 23, with halfback Chad Coburn connecting on a 37 yard pass to Alex Black. Coburn was hit late and a 15 yard personal foul penalty moved the ball to West Salem's 25 yard line.

Sprague quarterback Jeff Kidd then hooked up with running back Brian Conklin on a 25 yard TD pass on the next play to reduce the West lead to 41-27.

The Titans had a holding call to stall their opening drive of the half, and Sprague took advantage quickly with a four play, 80 yard drive that took just over one minute. Kidd hit Coburn with a 62 yard pass to reduce the Oly deficit to 41-33.

West gave Sprague a short field on their next series when punter Cole Pittman had to field a high snap and was forced to run, coming up well short of the first down. The Olys took over at the West 29--taking just three plays to push it into the end zone and pull to within 41-39.

But the Olys would never get any closer as West found its offensive rhythm and traded scores with Sprague the rest of the way.

The final Titan drive with 6 1/2 minutes left was the difference. Quarterback Brett Smith, who returned to the line up after missing three games with a cracked elbow, engineered a seven play, 70 yard drive, culminating with Hererra's fifth touchdown of the night--a 24 yard dash--to give West a 61-52 edge with 2:31 left.

Sprague's last drive came up short. Time ran out on the Olys at the West Salem 18 yard line, and the three hour track meet was over.

Hererra finished the night with 268 yards on 25 carries to pace the West offense. Kidd threw for 398 yards and three touchdowns for Sprague on 27 of 33 passes. Oly receiver Jeff Weisenhaus had 8 catches for 182 yards.

Sprague (2-1) will host North Salem next week, while West (3-0) will battle unbeaten South Salem at South's Bennett Field.

South Salem 47, McNary 13

In the CVC's only Thursday night game on inservice weekend, Conor Lynch threw for three touchdowns and South Salem raced out to a 40-0 lead in Keizer before settling for a 47-13 win over McNary.

Lynch was 15-18 for 177 yards on the night, connecting on two TD passes to Junior Espitia, and another to Will Sloan. The senior signal caller now has 14 touchdown passes on the season, against just two interceptions.

Colby Wall rushed for 104 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries for the Saxons. All totalled, South had 288 rushing yards on 40 carries for the game.

South (3-0) will entertain West Salem next Friday, and McNary hosts Lakeridge and former Celtics coach Tom Smythe in a non-league encounter.

Milwaukie 21, McKay 19

The McKay Royal Scots came within a two-point conversion of forcing overtime in their non-league road game at Milwaukie, but quarterback Ian Silbernagel came up a yard short of the goal line as the Scots fell to the Mustangs.

McKay jumped out to an early lead after Milwaukie fumbled away the opening kickoff. Angel Delao scored on a one yard plunge with 8 1/2 minutes left in the opening period, capping a seven play drive--giving McKay the 7-0 advantage.

Milwaukie scored on the next drive to tie up the contest, and took the lead midway through the second period on a one yard run by Kenny Spencer to make it 14-7.

McKay struggled with mistakes the entire night, fumbling away the ball twice and having potential touchdowns called back on penalties.

The Scots did cut the lead to 14-13 with 9 1/2 minutes remaining in the third quarter on a nine yard Kevin McCurdy run.

But the Mustangs pushed the lead to 21-13 with five minutes left with a 75 yard touchdown drive.

Silbernagel directed McKay on an 84 yard drive, scoring himself on a three yard run with just 40 seconds left. But Silbernagel scrambled on the two point conversion and could get into the end zone, leading to McKay's fourth loss of the year against just one win. He ended the night with 145 yards rushing and 115 passing yards on 10 of 23 attempts.

The Scots (0-2) return to CVC action at home next Friday against Redmond.

Game action photos courtesy of Jim Rowland and Joe Gottsch