Now The Rubber Meets The Road
Central Valley Conference football 2009 starts this week
Commentary by Mark Gilman, Full Access Sports

The games that meant next-to-nothing are done.  Now the Central Valley Conference schools play for keeps beginning this week with a full slate of games:  Sprague visits McKay, West Salem travels to McNary and South Salem journeys to Redmond.  Only North Salem is outside the conference schedule—playing Rex Putnam for homecoming.

The preseason games leading up to league contests were not without merit.  After all, players tire of beating on one another in practice.  And the non-conference contests provide a general assessment of team strength, and give media types like yours truly a chance to speculate on the future fortunes of schools and leagues.  From my perspective, the Central Valley Conference should be one of the top thee leagues in Oregon this year.

The exclusive Full Access Sports coaches poll put Sprague, South Salem and West Salem at the top of the CVC.  All three teams have had good pre-seasons and appear poised to fulfill the survey prophecy.  As always, there will be a fight for most of the league’s four playoff slots.  McKay and McNary should be in the mix.  Redmond is adjusting to a new coach and will probably struggle, but North Salem looks much sharper this year under second-year coach Jeff Flood.  How that translates into wins remains to be seen.

This is the year of the quarterback for the Central Valley.  West Salem’s Brett Smith and South’s Conor Lynch have gotten the most pre-season hype, but Sprague’s Jeff Kidd has vastly improved his game from last year, while juniors Ian Silbernagel of McKay and Cole Ferguson of North will continue to hone their skills.  Lots of pressure on the signal callers.

As far as CVC pivotal games for 2009, there are a few to consider.

McKay at South Salem/Oct. 2:  The Royal Scots get an early test of their skills against last year’s defending champs.  Both teams have good skill players.  Can McKay compete with the Saxons’ depth on the road?

Sprague at West/Oct. 9:  This could be a track meet.  Both teams can run up the points, but West will be challenged to control the line of scrimmage against one of the biggest and best lines that the Olys have fielded in several seasons.

West at South/Oct. 16:  An intriguing quarterback match up—West’s Smith vs. South’s Lynch.  This game may not be decided until the very end.

South at Sprague/Oct. 23:  These teams have had  many memorable games with playoff positioning on the line.  This year will be no different.  Look for lots of TV cameras at this contest.

More columns to come—so stay tuned.  One last piece of advice:  get out to the games and enjoy! 

You’re welcome.

Mark Gilman can be contacted at mark@fullaccesssports.com