West secures CVC crown
Titans, South, Sprague, McKay to post season

The final games of the 2009 Central Valley Conference regular season went according to plan, and West Salem, South Salem, Sprague and McKay all wrapped up a trip to the 6A playoffs.

West Salem 33, McKay 6

West grabbed their second CVC title in three seasons with a convincing win over McKay in East Salem.

The Titans led 14-0 at halftime on a 38 yard pass from Brett Smith to Chase Fowler, and a one yard run by Kaden Robago. Sal Herrera, who rushed for 89 yards on 20 carries in the mud at McKay, added a 12 yard TD run on West's opening drive of the half to make it 20-0.

The Royal Scots narrowed the deficit to 20-6 on a 19 yard pass from Ian Silbernagel to Majed Abdelrasul with two minutes left in the third quarter, but West tacked on two more TDs in the fourth quarter to cruise to their eighth straight victory.

West (6-0 in the CVC, 8-1) will have an opening round bye in the 6A playoffs, hosting the winner of Roseburg-Barlow. McKay (3-3, 4-5) will travel to second-ranked Jesuit next Friday.

Sprague 41, Redmond 14

The Olympians led 28-14 at half, but shutout the winless Panthers in the second half to clinch the number three playoff spot out of the CVC. Sprague's win, combined with the McKay loss to West Salem, clinched the conference's number three seed.

Sprague (4-2, 6-2) will travel to Portland next Friday to face Lincoln in the first round of the OSAA 6A playoffs.

North Salem 36, McNary 20

North Salem had plenty to celebrate Friday night, despite being in a game that had no playoff implications. The Vikings picked up their second win of the season, defeating short-handed McNary at North's Littlejohn Field.

McNary took the early lead on their opening drive with an eight yard pass from Dan Hockanason to Jarrett Dunnigan. North countered with a drive of their own later the quarter that culminated with a ten yard run by Robert Eason to tie the game at seven.

The visiting Celtics took a 14-7 lead with just under four minutes left in the half on Tyler Gordon's three yard rush, and appeared to have momentum on their side.

But North turned the tide with a pair of touchdowns before the end of the second quarter. Quarterback Cole Ferguson hooked up on a pair of TD passes with sophomore receiver Avery Holmes of 33 and five yards to give North a 19-14 lead at half.

The momentum carried into the third quarter, as the Vikings took the ensuing kickoff and scored on a 25 yard run by Jonny Garza. North then intercepted a Hockanson pass in McNary territory, and took advantage of the short field to add another TD on an eight yard run by Garza to make it 33-14.

An Erick Chavez field goal of 38 yards halfway through the fourth quarter made it 36-14. On the following kickoff, Gordon raced 83 yards for a touchdown to cut the deficit to 36-20, but that was all the offense the Celtics could muster the rest of the night.

Ferguson finished the game with 10 completions on 13 passes for 166 yards and two touchdowns. Drew Bolliger topped the Viking rushing attack with 77 yards on twelve carries. Gordon had nine carries for 70 yards for McNary.

North Salem finished the year with a 2-4 CVC record, 2-7 overall. It was a marked improvement for a program that was 0-10 last year. McNary ended the season 1-5 in conference play, 3-6 overall.

Of note: South Salem had a bye for the last week of the season, and will host David Douglas in the first round of the playoffs next Friday.