Corvallis shocks South Albany 43-7 in Valley rout

By Steve Gress
Mid-Valley Sports

CORVALLIS — Ryan Doty wasn't the biggest, fastest or best player on the field Friday night.

He didn't carry the ball or catch a pass for the Spartans, but the senior who is listed at 5-foot-6 and 130 pounds may have been the difference as the Corvallis High Spartans opened their home season against South Albany.

Doty returned the second-half kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown and nearly ran another one back in the fourth quarter as the Spartans excelled in all aspects of the game in a 43-7 rout over South Albany in Valley League action.

Doty's kickoff return put the Spartans (2-0) up 29-0 just 16 seconds into the second half.

"It seemed like it took the breath out of them a little bit," Doty said. "It was real big. I definitely had some nice blocks. Coach always says that special teams is a big part of the game."

Doty nearly took a second return in for a score, but was tripped up at eight late in the fourth quarter after South Albany (1-1) scored it's lone touchdown on a 13-yard pass from Jamin Pool to Justin Wright with 5:07 to play.

"Ryan Doty is a wonderful success story in terms of a little guy who has some skills, but has worked hard and has been a team player," CHS coach Chris McGowan said. "He adds an element to our special teams that a lot of teams don't have. He is so shifty. He's not blazing fast, but he runs so hard and is in a high gear all the time."

It wasn't just Doty's touchdown returns that helped the Spartans to the victory. He also set up the Spartans with good field position on several punt returns.

He had returns of 28 and 24 yards in the first quarter as CHS built a 9-0 lead. The second return led to a 24-yard scoring run by Kurtis Magee.

"I love Doty," Magee said. "He set our offense in a good place. We didn't have it deep in our territory like they did. He did a good job and had a breakout game. That's the best I've seen him run."

Magee also had a breakout game as he scored on runs of 24 and 26 yards and caught a 37-yard touchdown pass from Nick Hubel late in the second quarter that helped the Spartans to a 22-0 lead at the intermission.

The Spartans controlled both lines of scrimmage as they rushed for 364 yards on 42 attempts and held the Rebels in check until the game was out of reach.

Magee finished with 90 yards on eight carries and Nick Emmons added 79 yards on nine attempts. Junior Jarren Simmons, the third tailback the Spartans used, led the way with 114 yards on nine carries, including a 58-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter.

"Last week was a scare for us, it kind of woke us up and increased the intensity in practice," Magee said of a 20-12 win over West Salem. "We came out and we really put some things together with our running game."

The running game will be a key if the Spartans hope to contend for one of the three playoff berths from the Valley League.

"We are settling in to what we can do," McGowan said of the running game. "A lot of teams are obviously worried about (receivers Cory Dickson and Billy Clontz) and they are double covering out there. We have other guys who we can get the ball too.

"Our line really did a great job of giving them some room to run and our fullbacks on kick out blocks were just outstanding. The line play was really good."

South Albany struggled to get going in the first half. The Rebels failed to pick up a first down in the first quarter and gave up a safety after starting at their own 1/2-yard line. South managed just 76 yards in the first half. Chris Burbey finished with 148 yards rushing, with 101 coming in the second half when the Rebels trailed 36-0.

Corvallis 43, South Albany 7

SOUTH ALBANY 0 0 0 7 — 7

CORVALLIS 9 13 14 7 — 43

First quarter

CHS — Pool sacked in end zone for safety, 4:30

CHS — Magee 24 run (Dickson kick), 3:36

Second quarter

CHS — Roy 18 run (PAT failed), 6:40

CHS — Magee 37 pass from Hubel (Dickson kick), :35

Third quarter

CHS — Doty 94 kickoff return (Dickson kick), 11:44

CHS — Magee 26 run (Dickson kick), 6:09

Fourth quarter

CHS — Simmons 58 run (Dickson kick), 10:32

SA — Wright 13 pass from Pool (Pritt kick), 5:07

Rushing: SA — Burbey 30-148, Pelroy 3-13, Price 1-(miuns-1), Peterson 2-6, Pool 2-6. CHS — Emmons 9-79, Roy 4-39, Magee 8-90, Simmons 9-114, Manning 2-15, Dickson 1-2, Magee 1-24, Aman 3-5, Hubel 5-(minus-4)

Passing: SA — Pool 9-23-2 72. CHS — Hubel 5-11-2 116

Receiving: SA — Anderson 3-28, Wright 2-19, Vargas 2-13, Pelroy 1-8, Price 1-4. CHS — Clontz 2-31, Dickson 2-46, Magee 1-37