Notes from daily doubles

This is daily doubles week for mid-valley high school football teams. It’s the week I usually do videos of our 5A and 4A teams. This time around I added defending 3A state champion Santiam Christian.

I visited West Albany, South Albany, Swee

t Home and Lebanon on Monday and Santiam Christian, Philomath, Crescent Valley and Corvallis on Tuesday. I’ve never seen

that many teams in a two-day stretch. It sure got me ready for football. (I ran out of time to do more videos because a long-planned camping trip. Maybe next year.)

Some notes:

• Santiam Christian is the only team I know that starts its morning practices at 6. For the first half hour, the lights were on. I didn’t get there until 6:45 a.m. The Eagles’ nice turf field sit in a picturesque part of campus that was once part of the vast Camp Adair Army cantonment during World War II. Coach David Lange runs a good practice, and I heard no grumbling about the early hour. • Philomath does daily triples — morning, afternoon and evening — this week. The morning practices start with a two-mile cross country run.

• South Albany’s players and coaches want to turn things around after a winless season a year ago. New head coach Bryce Erickson vows that Rebels will be more aggressive on both sides of the ball. And next week, he’ll have additional volunteer coaching and motivational help from his dad, former Oregon State and Arizona State head coach Dennis Erickson.

The scariest thing I saw this week was at Crescent Valley High School on Tuesday afternoon. Junior quarterback Tanner Sanders, who looks bigger and stronger since last year, threw long and accurately that afternoon. The first pass I was saw (and recorded in a 5-second clip in the video below) was to wide receiver Chase McFadden.

Sanders threw about a 35-yard pass toward the east goal of the practice field. As McFadden made the catch, we all realized that he was about to crash buy cialis back first into the exposed metal side of a blocking sled beyond the end zone. Guys were screaming to warn him, but it was too late. McFadden hit the hard sled and immediately collapsed. I saw at least four cell phones come out of pockets, mine included. We were ready to call 911.

Within a minute, however, McFadden got up and walked. Everyone on that field breathed a sigh of relief and started clapping. The blocking sled was immediately moved out of harm’s way.

McFadden was wearing a protective back plate that a lot of wide receivers wear to protect themselves from hits by defensive backs. The plate took the brunt of his crash into the sled and probably prevented serious injured. “I definitely believe that,” coach Scott Sanders said Wednesday.

Sanders said McFadden was at practice Tuesday evening and was doing fine Wednesday.

The blocking sled was five yards out of the end zone when McFadden crashed into, Sanders said, but obviously still a hazard. “We normally keep them in the northwest corners. We just missed it (on Tuesday). … It was a good lesson for all of us.”

Format

This is daily doubles week for mid-valley high school football teams. It’s the week I usually do videos of our 5A and 4A teams. This time around I added defending 3A state champion Santiam Christian.
I visited West Albany, South Albany, Sweet Home and Lebanon on Monday and Santiam Christian, Philomath, Crescent Valley and Corvallis on Tuesday. I’ve never seen that many teams in a two-day stretch. It sure got me ready for football. (I ran out of time to do more videos because a long-planned camping trip. Maybe next year.)
Some notes:
• Santiam Christian is the only team I know that starts its morning practices at 6. For the first half hour, the lights were on. I didn’t get there until 6:45 a.m. The Eagles’ nice turf field sit in a picturesque part of campus that was once part of the vast Camp Adair Army cantonment during World War II. Coach David Lange runs a good practice, and I heard no grumbling about the early hour. • Philomath does daily triples — morning, afternoon and evening — this week. The morning practices start with a two-mile cross country run.
• South Albany’s players and coaches want to turn things around after a winless season a year ago. New head coach Bryce Erickson vows that Rebels will be more aggressive on both sides of the ball. And next week, he’ll have additional volunteer coaching and motivational help from his dad, former Oregon State and Arizona State head coach Dennis Erickson.
The scariest thing I saw this week was at Crescent Valley High School on Tuesday afternoon. Junior quarterback Tanner Sanders, who looks bigger and stronger since last year, threw long and accurately that afternoon. The first pass I was saw (and recorded in a 5-second clip in the video below) was to wide receiver Chase McFadden.
Sanders threw about a 35-yard pass toward the east goal of the practice field. As McFadden made the catch, we all realized that he was about to crash back first into the exposed metal side of a blocking sled beyond the end zone. Guys were screaming to warn him, but it was too late. McFadden hit the hard sled and immediately collapsed. I saw at least four cell phones come out of pockets, mine included. We were ready to call 911.
Within a minute, however, McFadden got up and walked. Everyone on that field breathed a sigh of relief and started clapping. The blocking sled was immediately moved out of harm’s way.
McFadden was wearing a protective back plate that a lot of wide receivers wear to protect themselves from hits by defensive backs. The plate took the brunt of his crash into the sled and probably prevented serious injured. “I definitely believe that,” coach Scott Sanders said Wednesday.
Sanders said McFadden was at practice Tuesday evening and was doing fine Wednesday.
The blocking sled was five yards out of the end zone when McFadden crashed into, Sanders said, but obviously still a hazard. “We normally keep them in the northwest corners. We just missed it (on Tuesday). … It was a good lesson for all of us.”
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