After going 13-1 and winning last year’s 4A OSAA State Title against Cottage Grove (50-31), expectations are high for the Ridgeview Ravens in 2014.
This year, they join the 5A I-M-C (InterMountain Conference), along with Redmond, Bend, Mountain View and Summit.
Head Coach Andy Codding says that he is expecting some of the returning starters to step up, especially his quarterback.
“We return a pretty important position, we return Jacob Johnson (Sr. 6-4/205) at quarterback and this will be his third year starting quarterback, having already won a state championship, he is a good one to kind of center things around.”
In the backfield, Tanner Stevens (Sr. 5-8/138) will be shifting from the “Fly” position to being the starting Running Back.
Stevens gained over 1,400 yards last year and should see significantly more touches in his new role, replacing 1st Team All-State FB Boomer Fleming (who is on a wrestling scholarship at Stanford).
“At running back we lose one great one and we have another great one ready to step in… We are going to put him in the feature roll and we expect really big things from him… Tanner can run between the tackles for sure, but he is quicker.”
http://youtu.be/rik_bC-lA28?list=UUx1YgUMQ0P0WDaWAVmnbAzA
WR/DB Tanner O’Neil (Sr. 6-2/175) is another returning star who should see increased playing time from last year.
Codding says an area which the team will see a major change from last year is on the offensive line.
“That is going to be our greenest area; we have a lot of kids new to our program or new to varisty football stepping into starting roles upfront.”
The team will be relying on newcomers Greg Greiner a sophomore Center who transferred from Elmira and OL Bryce Barker (Jr. 5-11/162) who was promoted from Junior Varsity team.
Seth Whitley (Fly, DB) will be taking over Steven’s spot as the Fly Back. He holds the school record in the 100 meters (11.45), and aside from being the fastest player on the field, Codding says he is strong as well.
“He is a rock, he is hard to bring down and really fast.”
http://youtu.be/PESGhKdHG8g?list=UUx1YgUMQ0P0WDaWAVmnbAzA
The Ravens kick off the 2014 season at Baker on Friday (8/5).
Their first home game will be against Hood River Valley (9/19) and their first IMC game will be at home versus Bend on Oct 10th.
The final game of the regular season will be at home, facing their cross town rivals, The Redmond Panthers on Halloween night (10/31).
2014 Regular Season Schedule
9/5 @Baker
9/12 @South Albany
9/19 Hood River Valley
9/26 @Ashland
10/3 @The Dalles-Wahtonka
10/10 Bend
10/17 @Summit
10/24 @Mountain View
10/31 Redmond
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