There's nowhere to go but up. If anything else, that's the simple truth the Canby High School football team can claim as it tries to recapture the magic that made it a Class 4A power throughout the 1990s.

Last year was an aberration - a dismal 1-8 campaign riddled with mistakes and missed opportunities. It was the program's worst season since the Nixon administration.

This fall will be different.

"We'll be back in the hunt for a playoff spot and perhaps even a league title," says 10th-year head coach Mike Doty with confidence. "We're much improved over last year, with a number of returning starters and the addition of some transfers. This is also a group that has worked long and hard over the off-season.

''You can talk all you want. The bottom line is, you need to be prepared, and this group is prepared.''

Doty and staff again have bodies to work with - 140 players had turned out as of last week - and of the 50 on varsity, 20 are returning lettermen.

Offensively, the line boasts experience in Steve Schrader at left tackle, Rath Cyrus at center, Lucas Short at right guard, Jesus Hulett at right tackle and Woodburn High School transfer Scott Doman at tight end.

Also figuring into the mix will be Aaron Porter, Ed Brown, Derek Gitts, guards Brett Rhodes and Jess Driggers and center Joe Smith.

They aren't imposing in size - Doman is 6-foot-3, 230 pounds, Brown weighs in at 215 and is 6-2 and Rhodes is 6-2, 220 - but they are quick.

"That's really our strength - what we lack in size we make up for in quickness," Doty said.

Together, they'll be protecting junior quarterbacks Erik Wiesehan and Derek Devine. Wiesehan started the team's final game last season, while Devine is a transfer from Wilsonville. Doty was still unsure who would emerge as the regular last week.

Also in the backfield, Ross Doman, a transfer from Turlock, Calif., and cousin to Scott, figures to be the top wingback. Varsity returners Marc Koch and Jeff Wilson are the fullbacks, Jake Wilmes and Brian Stuhr the halfbacks and Todd Ricksger, Joe Yoder and Kevin Downing the split ends.

"We'll have a familiar look, the wing-T, but we've also added a portion of the West Coast passing game to accommodate the strengths of our quarterbacks," Doty said. "Defensively, we'll play an even front and may go with more of a zone look in the back since we have the athletes who can do it."

On defense, Doman and Yoder figure to split time at safety; Wiesehan, Stuhr and Ricksger will anchor the corners; and Gitts figures to be the weak outside linebacker. Wilmes and Wilson are the strong-side backs, Nick Coleman and Koch the inside linebackers and Schrader and Scott Doman the ends.

If there is one question mark, it's the interior of Canby's defensive line, where four of five spots are anchored by juniors.

The kicking game also has its question marks, although Doty has been pleased with Brown's punting ability and Peter Brands' proficiency on place kicking. Koch can also serve as a kickoff man, and an Austrian exchange student may be on hand to kick field goals.

All told, the Cougars will have six two-way starters: Schrader, Coleman, Scott Doman, Koch, Wilmes and Ricksger.

In evaluating the quarterbacks, Doty sees an accurate thrower in Devine while Wiesehan is the more experienced player in the system.

"The QB spot is huge and will be key to our success," Doty said. "If we can stay away from mistakes at that position, we'll be fine. That's a concern - we can't avoid throwing it up for grabs or dropping the ball on the ground."

On the plus side, Doty can't say enough about the team's overall work ethic, competitiveness and desire. Several players took part in summer camp, two passing leagues and weight room workouts.

"We had two dozen varsity kids in here four nights a week," he said of summer workouts. "Preparation is the name of the game. We plan on being back to where we were the eight years before last season - in the playoff hunt and challenging for a league title."

The early-season predictions call for Newberg, Tualatin and Tigard to be battling for the league's top spot, but Doty believes the Pacific-9 Conference will be a six-team race, with Canby, Dallas and Silverton also vying for a postseason berth.

The Cougars open the year at Marshall this Friday at 4:30 p.m.

Since his arrival in 1988, Canby High School head boys soccer coach Scott Enyart has helped put together one of the school's most successful athletic programs.

It's a team that, year in and year out, is in contention for a league title and a potentially long stint in the Class 4A state playoffs.

This season, little has changed at CHS. Enyart is back at the helm, and with him are eight returning lettermen from a squad that went as far as the quarterfinal round of the playoffs.

Not that the Cougars don't have their holes to fill. They did lose their top two scorers, three-time conference player of the year Cody Hagler and first-team all-leaguer Won Ah Park, and with them graduated one of the Pacific-8 Conference's top goalkeepers in Brett Fuge.

But, as they have every year since Enyart arrived, the Cougars figure to be playoff bound.

"We basically reload around here," says Enyart, who guided the team to a third-place conference finish in 1999. "We lost at both ends - in the front (forward spots) and back (keeper) - but we're still solid in the middle and on defense, and I'd say we're quicker than we were last year.

''We just need to play somebody. We're tired of beating each other up, and we really can't judge how good we are until we play someone other than our lower-level teams.''

The Cougars went on a scoring spree against the program's jayvee squad at the team's annual Blue-Gold scrimmage, scoring 11 goals in 50 minutes. It may look good on paper, but Enyart insists it tells him little about his team's firepower up front.

For one thing, the Cougars will be going with a different offensive philosophy this season, relying more on a scoring-by-committee approach rather than the one-two punch of Hagler and Park.

The team has listed three forwards on its roster - Ivan Munoz, Hunter Benedict and Christian Zavala. They will work with an experienced midfield that includes seniors Jake Norquist and Jacob Vasquez, juniors Devin Deller and Mark Madeira and freshman Luke Sommer.

Likewise, Canby has proven players in the back, with seniors Brent Bedortha, Steve Young, Kurt Sommer, Marco Zamora and Kit Myers. Kyle Bizon, a sophomore, is also listed as a defender.

To succeed, the Cougars need to maintain an upbeat pace.

"We can't afford to get bogged down in a slow, physical game," Enyart said. "That's not our style. With the speed we have, we need to play at a quick pace."

The biggest question may be at goalkeeper, where the Cougars have a senior, Tim Gloy, and a sophomore, Michael Lockwood, vying for time. The coach was uncertain who would be the regular last week.

"Both are capable, but it's still a question we haven't answered," he said.

In looking at the rest of the Pacific-9 Conference, the coach said Tigard, Tualatin and Canby figure to be the teams to beat. Also in the mix this season will be Woodburn, which made the move to 4A after playing at the 3A level last season.

"That should be interesting," said Enyart of Woodburn, for whom he played before graduating in 1978. "All I can say is, we'll be in the mix. Last year, we were only one point out of second place. I see us right near the top again."

Of the eight lettermen, Norquist and Young return as all-league players, with both earning honorable mention honors last season. Canby opens play Thursday with a home match with South Salem at 7 p.m.