Canby Herald Online

Preview: Canby prepares for defensive challenge

Cougars to face one of best offensive teams in the state

• By: Alex Tam  
• Published: 11/18/2009 2:45:12 AM
• Last Updated: 11/19/2009 12:28:04 PM

Photo By: Alex TamFootball: Canby
Canby High School senior Jordan Knigge returned for his first action since the preseason, and played a big role offensively and defensively in last week’s 62-24 win.

(Can't make it to the game? Listen live to the streaming audio broadcast of the Canby-Sprague matchup on Friday online at www.FullAccessSports.com. Airtime begins at 6:45 p.m.)

Don’t be surprised to see a shootout Friday night.

No. 3 Canby enters the second round of the Class 6A state playoffs with arguably its stiffest test yet defensively when it travels to play Sprague in the second round at 7 p.m.

The Cougars finished in the top-third of the state in points allowed, ranking 12th out of 45 teams at 20.1 points per game.

Sprague presents the most dynamic offense outside of No. 1 Sheldon, as the Olympians are ranked No. 2 in the state in points scored at 44.9 per game.

“They’re a very good football team,” Canby coach Mike Doty said. “They’re a lot like us. They’re a wing-T team, they do a lot of the same things we do. They’re a little more interior run-oriented but this year, they’re throwing the ball. They’ve got a very good quarterback.”

Sprague was ranked as high as No. 3 in the Associated Press polls earlier this season before illnesses and the flu bug hit the team hard in late October.

According to the Salem-Keizer school district at the time, of the 65 varsity players, less than a dozen were well enough to play. It forced the Olympians to cancel a non-league  matchup with Lake Oswego on Oct. 30.

Sprague (7-2 overall, 4-2 Central Valley) plummeted to the No. 3 seed out of the conference, but could be one of the sleeper teams in this year’s playoffs.

“They’re getting healthy again so yeah, it’s going to be a heck of a matchup,” Doty said.

Sprague advanced to the second round after defeating Lincoln, 41-14, last week on the road.

But the Olympians are confident with their offense, having scored at least 40 points in seven of their nine games

“We haven’t really seen one yet,” Sprague senior wide receiver Chad Coburn told the (Salem) Statesman Journal when asked if they have seen a defense on par with its offense. “So we’ll see.”

At the head of the offense is Sprague quarterback Jeff Kidd, who has been one of the best in the state at his position.

Canby (9-1, 5-0 Pacific) enters having won seven games in a row, including last week’s 62-24 victory over North Medford in the first round.

The 62 points tied for the highest scoring output by a Canby team under the Mike Doty era — last happening 12 years ago in a 62-28 win over Tualatin on Oct. 31, 1997.

With the Cougars rolling, the lone concern has been the team’s amount of penalties this season. Canby had nine penalties for 58 yards lat week.

Special teams play, which had been a strength all season, also struggled by allowing a kickoff return for a touchdown, a blocked punt, missed PATs and an errant punt snap.

“Those are all the things we need to clean up,” Doty said. “We gave up too much yardage and we didn’t kick the ball particularly well - either PATs or kickoffs. So we need to perform better on special teams. I think it was just one of those things. Special teams had a rough game.”

As much as the battle could be between Canby’s defense and Sprague’s offense, the Olympians will also be tested against the Cougars’ offense.

Canby ranked eighth in the state in points scored at 36.7 per game.

Sprague ranked 32nd in the state in points allowed at 28.4 per game, including 61 points in a loss to West Salem on Oct. 9.

The Olympians are 0-2 when allowing 35 points or more, and 7-0 when allowing 34 points or less.

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