Confrontation between Corvallis High School and Crescent Valley was filled with emotion and pent up frustration from last year’s game. A game that Crescent Valley lost to a stacked CHS team who won it going away hitting a 47 yard field goal with only 3 seconds on the clock in a scoreless second half.
Going into this years match up of these cross twon rivals the mood was intense.
CV head coach Scott Sanders had an emotion filled pre game speech, “That feeling kind of sticks in your gut all year—368 days since last years loss here we are,” Sanders told his team in the locker room.
“I know you guys are friends with some of these CHS guys and I know some of you are even relatives, but in the next 17 minutes when the game starts, and for the next 3 hours you are enemies and not friends,” the coach told his team.
The CV Raiders, ranked #11 in the state of Oregon, took the speech to heart and dominated the #8 ranked CHS Spartans winning 52-16. The game started with a sack on the very first play where CV’s Brad Taylor took down CHS
QB Matherin Langley who his is relative. Taylor’s brother is married to Langley’s sister. By the end of the game Taylor sacked is relative several times as the Raiders brought an outstanding defensive effort holding the Spartans to 169 passing
yards and 80 rushing yards.
Cresecent Valley led by a charged up group of Seniors put up 561 yards in total offense.
The Raiders, 3-1 in league, mirrored CHS as they had both just come off a 2 game winning streak. For once this season the offense finally clicked early bringing a huge crowd to their feet.
Super CV recruit QB Tanner Sanders lead is squad with 217 yards passing and 33 yards rushing and 2 TD’s. His passing was also complimented by CV’s Nick Pozzesi who had 169 yards on 24 carries and 1 TD. CV averaged more
than 7 yards a carry and their O-line absolutely dominated the CHS D line.
“Nick Pozzesi is a stud and he’s playing like a wrecking ball,” Sanders said adding, “he will get you yards and we had a great O line that just kept opening up holes for him all night long.”
The O line trench battles were led by Bryon Bodon, Austin Powell, Will Heck, and Declan Orth.
The CHS offense just could not muster up enough yardage to compete with this CV team. Maybe all those years of dropping big games in the last few minutes finally has been erased.
CV standout linebacker Tanner Fiez made his presence known time and time again, as well as senior Tanner Holland who had an interception and fumble recovery.
The game was out of reach early but finished a bit closer thanks to CHS QB Langley hitting WR Jordan Skipper on a 65-yard TD toss against on the final play of the game.
Sanders said, “We had an axe to grind after the last two years and we wanted to go out and prove that we’re one of the top teams in our league and tonight we did just that.”
The CV win against CHS in their Spartan stadium broke a 20 year period where that had not been done and the CV fans showed their support flooding the field.
For now Cresecent Valley can celebrate and own the bragging rights to this cross town classic. No doubt next year will be another big match up in one of the greatest football towns in the State of Oregon.
