Canby Herald Online

Preview: No. 3 Canby set for Centennial in state quarterfinals

Canby will make its eighth quarterfinal appearance under coach Mike Doty

• By: Alex Tam  
• Published: 11/24/2009 11:55:53 AM
• Last Updated: 11/26/2009 7:24:26 PM

Photo By: Alex TamFootball: Canby 28, Sprague 21
Canby High School senior linebacker Mike Raub (54) helped the Cougars’ defense hold Sprague to just 21 points in Friday’s victory in the second round of the Class 6A state playoffs. Canby will play Centennial in the state quarterfinals on Friday at Oregon City.

SALEM – It’d been more than a month since No. 3 Canby was tested as much as it was last Friday night.

The Cougars enter the Class 6A state quarterfinals after beating Sprague, 28-21, in a grind-it-out victory in the second round at Sprague High School.

Canby will play host to unranked Centennial on Friday night at 7 p.m. at Pioneer Stadium — the home for Oregon City’s football team. The game was moved from Canby High School due to field conditions.

Last week's victory was the smallest margin of victory for Canby in six weeks since beating Newberg, 33-27, on Oct. 8, which shows just how dominant the Cougars have been.

“Defensively, we played well enough and we did a good enough job of stopping (Sprague) in the red zone a number of times,” coach Mike Doty said. “Probably three, maybe four times we stopped them in the red zone so our defense was good and that shows competitiveness, and so I really loved that out of our defense.”

The biggest thing to come out of Friday’s game was how Canby held a dynamic Sprague offense to a season-low 21 points. This season, Sprague had scored at least 32 points in every game this year, including 40 points or more seven times.

“Knowing that we held a great team to 21 points was a great accomplishment,” senior quarterback Josh Yoder said, praising his teammates on defense.

Offensively, the Cougars were up to task despite Sprague taking away its pass game that carried them all season. Yoder, who was named the Pacific Conference’s offensive player of the year, was held to 5 of 7 passing for 30 yards and a touchdown.

And for the first time this season, Yoder had more rushing yards than passing yards as he had nine carries for 48 yards.

“We didn’t get a whole lot of throwing going on (Friday),” Doty said. “They had great coverage. They dropped their two safeties deep in the corners and were playing soft, their outside linebackers were playing back and they were very aware of our pass game.

“It was their defensive objective to shut down the pass game but in doing so, it opened up the run game and the running alleys. … In fact, Josh actually ran more than what he threw but we were able to take advantage of what they gave us and we stuck with it.”

With the victory, Canby (10-1 overall) won its eighth consecutive game as it heads into its eighth state-quarterfinal appearance in the Doty era.

The Cougars are 4-3 in state-quarterfinal games under Doty, previously appearing last season when they fell to Jesuit, 42-14, at Jesuit High School.

Previous to that, Canby had won four straight quarterfinal matchups but had yet to reach the state championship game.

“When it comes down to it and you get to the playoffs and you get to be in the quarters, it is defense that is going to dictate the result of the game,” Doty said. “Defense and turnovers become a bigger part because teams that are playing now are teams that are capable of doing a lot of things. You’ve got to play clean and your defense has got to show up so I’m very proud (so far).”

The Cougars will face Mt. Hood Conference campion Centennial, which is coming off a 42-21 victory over Clackamas in the second round last week.

One of Centennial’s three losses came against Tigard in the season opener, 20-19, at Centennial High School.

The Cougars easily defeated Tigard, 42-28, during conference play on Oct. 30 at Canby High School.

Friday’s game is scheduled to be at 7 p.m. However, one question entering this week was where the game would be held.

With the grass field at Canby High School normally torn apart at this time of the year, the Cougars’ speed and quickness would be compromised and be an advantage to Centennial’s running attack.

“We’re a fast football team so I don’t want to be mired in the mud especially against a veer team,” Doty said. “Even though our field’s in decent shape for a grass field at this time of year, I got to take a look at the weather forecast because this Centennial team may not be one we want to see in the mud.”

Notes: Canby and Centennial have met four times in the two programs’ history with the Cougars having the 3-1 edge in the series. … Canby has won the last three matchups, including a 22-6 win in the first round of the Class 6A state playoffs on Nov. 10, 2006 at home. … The Cougars won the two previous non-league matchups in 2005 (60-27 win) and in 1995 (35-0). ... Centennial won the first ever meeting with a 21-13 win during the 1992 season.

  (log in to rate)