Through the spring months March and April, high school football teams in Oregon prepare for an anticipated six-week season as COVID-19 restrictions are gradually lifted. 

Corvallis’ two high public high schools — Crescent Valley High School and Corvallis High School — are thus also preparing for the Oregon season. 

Michael Connor is the head coach of the Crescent Valley football program. According to Connor, they have been preparing even before the reinstatement of football season.

“We were basically holding agility and conditioning workouts and installing as much of our offense and defense as possible while abiding by all the guidelines we had to follow,” Connor said. 

However, the numbers and strength of the CVHS football team have both been affected by the COVID-19 quarantine. 

“Our numbers this year are extremely low, we have 32 athletes in the program as of right now. Going into last spring we were expecting to have 55-60 players,” Connor said. “I wouldn’t say skills have diminished but our strength has definitely decreased as we have only been allowed in the weight room a handful of times since last spring.”

Despite these setbacks, the team remains optimistic about the season. 

“The athletes are excited to get the opportunity to play football this spring,” Connor said. “Up until a few weeks ago it looked to be a long shot that they were going to get that opportunity.”

The first game of the season for the Central Valley Raiders will be away against the South Albany Redhawks on Mar. 5, scheduled at 7:30 pm.