Practice makes perfect for WVHS

GETTING INTO THE GAME: The Pleasant Valley Vikings get ready to set up a play against the West Valley Eagles in a scrimmage game played on Saturday at West Valley High School in Cottonwood. Both teams are getting ready for the 2009 high school season to begin.

As West Valley High School prepares for the 2009 season, they have played scrimmage games against Foothill High School of Palo Cedro and Pleasant Valley High School of Chico, though no score was kept, both teams had much to learn about the game they were playing on and off the field.

The players from West Valley spend time before and after their scrimmage games talking with their coaches and knowing what is expected from them.

"The scrimmage we played against Foothill was ok, they had 17 returnees, and so they had more experience. It went well and we're still young. We're not as experienced as they are and we need to improve on that. We play up and go to prestigious training camps, so we cut our teeth on some tough teams," said coach Greg Grandell.

According to Coach Grandell, there are four starters sidelined for injuries, which doesn't help, but Tyler Lowe has really stood out in pre-season.

"We're dinged and we wont be at full strength when we play Red Bluff, which is discouraging and a little disappointing.

"I am pleased with the scrimmage though, and we have a way to go. I'm hoping our young guys can take the place of our starters. We have about 8 days to prepare and be ready for our first game," stated Grandell in an interview earlier this week.

Saturday morning, West Valley played a scrimmage game against Pleasant Valley.

"The team looked good today, and they looked better than when we scrimmaged with Foothill. They looked good in motion, our quarter back was in charge, and we were physical and ran a good defense. We moved forward today," stated Grandell. "We have to have good practices this week to do well against Red Bluff. As for injuries, Brandon Burnett won't be back until we play Orland."