West Albany
Brian Mehl is not a name-dropper.
Mehl, the West Albany football coach,
will not identify his starting players or
even mention which ones are vying for
which starting positions until the sea-
son opener.
“It’s against my coaching
philosophy,” he said.
He was willing to answer
other questions, and that in-
cluded identifying the players of
last year who have graduated. The
Bulldog seniors of 2014 included both
quarterbacks, Joey Roos and Keaton Co-
Quick Hits
SEPTEMBER 2015, MCNARY FALL SPORTS PREVIEW, PAGE 13
rado; and safety JT Valenzuela.
“We have a very solid run-
ning back group, several
good receivers and good
offensive line return-
ers,” Mehl said. “The
quarterback
posi-
tion is an evolving
process, with six boys
competing.”
He said the defensive line
would be strong as well as the inside
linebacker positions.
The Bulldogs fi nished third in the
Greater Valley Conference last year, losing
only to Sprague, McKay and South Salem.
They went 1-1 in the playoffs.
Without making any conference pre-
dictions for the coming season, Mehl com-
mented: “I think it’s a competitive league.
We get a mix of just about everything.” He
did say that South Salem and West Salem
should be tough.
This is the sixth year in the West Albany
program for Mehl and his second year in
the head coaching job.
Unlike most GVC coaches this year,
Mehl will not be one of his own coordi-
nators. Those jobs will be fi lled by Jared
Hinkle on offense and Cole Touliot on
defense.
Darrell Mehl, the head coach’s father,
will coach middle linebackers, and Austin
Jones will coach outside linebackers. Other
assistants are James Myrick, running backs;
Derek Duman, wide receivers; Don Lien,
defensive backs; Peter Zoumbokous, of-
fensive line; and Cory Perkins, tight ends.
“I’m very, very excited for the 2015
season,” Brian Mehl said. “We have a good
core group of guys.”
- Herb Swett, for the Keizertimes
the linebacker positions. Other rotating
defenders are Andresen and newcomer
Griffi n Torrence. Ben Pearson, Tanner and
Ronnie Thompson are in the secondary.
Jensen did not know at this writing
who all of his special teams players would
be, but Andresen is a punter and Zeke
Aleman a long snapper.
Looking at the rest of
the conference, the coach
sees Sprague, West Salem
and South Salem as the
toughest foes. He notes
that they not only have been
strong but also are returning
many fi rst-string players.
Jensen, who has been the
Vikings’ head coach since
1990, is his own offensive co-
ordinator and quarterback coach
and is adding the duties of secondary
coach. The defensive coordinator is Perry
Herbst, who also coaches the defensive
tackles.
Other assistants are Bobby Larkins, de-
fensive ends; Jeff Turner, inside lineback-
ers; Andrew Garrett, outside linebackers;
Tim Hoppe, defensive backs; Greg Evers,
wide receivers; Anthony Mancuso, slots;
Alex Etta, running backs; Ron Morris, of-
fensive linemen; and Eddie Galvan, tight
ends.
“We’re really excited here,” Jensen said,
“with the amount of experience return-
ing from last season.”
- Herb Swett, for the Keizertimes
Forest Grove
Forest Grove, one of the newer mem-
bers of the Greater Valley Conference, is
rebuilding.
Coach Dwight Jensen noted that his
Vikings were 3-6 last year, 3-5 in confer-
ence.
He has to replace a few key players
who graduated this spring,
including wide receivers
Cam Kemper and Cody
Fletcher and middle line-
backer Keagen Tsenti.
Returning starters on
offense are wide receiver Ben
Pearson, quarterback Taylor
Jensen, fullback Hunter Lep-
ari, halfbacks Tanner Heikus
and Marcus Estrada, tackles
Ben Godfrey and Noah Coro-
na, guards Bobby Taylor and Austin
Brown and tight end Wyatt Andresen.
Taylor and Brown also play on the
defensive line, as does Corona Godfrey.
Estrada, AJ Turner and Lepari rotate at
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