Secret Weapons
Everyone in the valley knows the big names in high school football – players like Central’s Marlon Tuipulotu, South Salem’s Tyler Coates and Blanchet’s Nick Orlandini – but the Statesman Journal is highlighting the lesser known players who will make their presence felt on football fields this fall.
Here’s the schedule:
Aug. 24: McNary, Dallas and the Mid-Willamette Conference.
Aug. 25: North Salem, Salem Academy and the PacWest Conference.
Aug. 26: West Salem, Amity and the West Valley League,
Aug. 27: Sprague, Cascade and the Oregon West Conference..
Aug. 28: McKay, Kennedy, the Tri-River Conference and Class 1A.
Aug. 29: South Salem and Central.
Aug. 30: Volleyball.
Aug. 31: Soccer.
Sept. 1: Cross country.
Alex Sanchez has always been big for his age.
As a sixth grader he was a 6-foot-1, 170 pound kid with a goatee who had never played football.
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South Salem’s Alex Sanchez is photographed following practice on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016.
He was a raw sophomore starting for South Salem at outside linebacker for the first time last year.
And now he has added 30 pounds of muscle to his 6-foot-2 frame and walks around at 255 pounds.
“He worked really hard in the weight room,” said receiver Kyle Martz. “He’s put in the work and he’s going to have a great year. He’s one of the mentally tough people I know.”
The athleticism of Sanchez has been on display already.
He was the surprise Greater Valley Conference district champion in the shot put last spring.
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Linebacker Alex Sanchez, right, runs drills during football practice on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016.
An honorable mention all-league player as a sophomore, now he’s going to be able to display his mettle in football.
“Last year that was my first year of starting varsity and of course I was very raw and I was very new,” Sanchez said. “It was very new to me. I feel like my development this is year is tremendous from last year because I’m used to my spot now.
“I know what I need to do. I feel like I’m going to be able to show what I can do.”
On offense, Sanchez will spend time at tight end, and adds another big body on an offensive line that returns four starters – Tyler Coates, Seth Beaton, Beau Smith-Mellecker and Gage Olivera.
But on defense he will play a bigger role: Sanchez is the only returning full-time starter on defense for the Saxons.
He’s a good piece to build a defense around.
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South Salem players runs drills during football practice on Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2016.
“People are going to have trouble with him, I think, on the defensive side of the ball,” South Salem coach Scott DuFault said.
“Offensively I think he’s going to give us some stuff that is going to make us a little more physical. Him coupled with our offensive line is probably the strength of our team. We’re going to build off of that.”
bpoehler@StatesmanJournal.com, 503-399-6701 or Twitter.com/bpoehler
South Salem
Coach: Scott DuFault, 17th year.
Last year’s record: 10-1 overall, 8-0 GVC, lost in second round of state playoffs.
Key athletes:
Tyler Coates, sr., OL/DL: A first-team all-league center as a junior and a dominant player up front.
Beau Smith-Mellecker, jr., OL/DL: A returning starter and first-team all-league guard last season as a sophomore.
Francisco Ramirez-Perez, sr., RB: Rushed for 865 yards and six touchdowns on 121 carries when he emerged as a junior and was a second-team all-league player.
Seth Beaton, jr., OL/DL: A returning starter on offense and honorable mention all-league player at guard.
Gage Olivera, sr., OL/DL: A part-time starter on the offensive line as a junior.
Outlook: The Saxons’ most proven asset is its running game and offensive line, but the team has pieces elsewhere.
Senior quarterback Harris Broadus, a transfer from Dallas, has experience in a spread offense, but South Salem’s offense is a new challenge.
“The stuff that we are wraps around what he can do so we’re not putting him in a situation where it’s something he can’t do,” Coates said. “It’s wrapped around his abilities.”
Also in the GVC
Forest Grove: The Vikings have a new head coach this fall in Perry Herbst, the team’s defensive coordinator since 2010. Forest Grove (5-5 overall, 4-4 GVC in 2015) graduated most of the components from their high-flying offense of a year ago so this will be a transitional season.
McMinnville: The Grizzlies showed promising signs during a 3-6 campaign in 2015, and have pieces to be in the top half of the league. Senior quarterback Wyatt Smith is a three-year starter and a smart player and has a complimentary running back in Cedric Agcaoili-Ostrom.
West Albany: Last year was a rough one for the Bulldogs as they went 1-8 overall, but there are reasons the team should improve this season. The Bulldogs have an experienced senior class including Alex Lynch and Cordell Moore.