There was just enough light shining on the Crescent Valley High football team's practice field Tuesday night to run a few more offensive plays.

The light came from the Field of Dreams, where the CV girls soccer team was getting ready to take on West Albany for a shot at sharing the Mid-Willamette Conference title.

Football coach Scott Sanders and his staff took full advantage of the added light to get in a few more reps.

They knew that three days later their team would be the one under the Field of Dreams lights with a chance to win a conference title.

Coincidentally, the opposing team will also be from West Albany.

The girls won that game Tuesday night and earned a share of the title.

Tonight, the football team hopes to do the same, only instead of sharing the title, they would win it outright and do what no other MWC team has been able to do in conference play - beat the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs are 27-0 in MWC games the past four years, and have lost just twice - to Corvallis in the 2006 state title game, and to Sherwood to open this season - since reclassification in 2006.

Seems like tough odds for a CV program that is making its first playoff appearance since 1996 and won just six conference games in three years entering this season.

But none of that matters tonight.

"It's going to happen Friday night and they have to do it on our field and these kids know that we have a chance," Sanders said after practice Tuesday night.

It's almost hard to believe how far the Raiders have come since Sanders took over in April 2007.

The seniors were freshmen then and never in their wildest dreams could have imagined playing for a conference title.

"This is the best I could have asked for," said Colby Eason, a senior who was at CHS his freshman year. "I never could have dreamed of playing for a league title."

The Raiders' transformation began just after Sanders took over. He stressed the team aspect from the start and went the extra mile to get the players prepared mentally and physically.

That effort has paid off as the Raiders enter tonight at 8-1 overall - the one loss by two-points to Glencoe - and ranked sixth in the state.

The change didn't happen overnight.

Changing the culture

The first thing Sanders said needed to take place was to change the attitude of the students and athletes at the school in regards to the football program.

He bought shorts and shirts for the players so they looked like a team, and made a strong effort to open the weightroom so the players who weren't in a spring sport could begin preparing for the upcoming season.

"That was the main thing, changing the whole culture and getting them in the weightroom and getting them bigger and faster and stronger," Sanders said.

"Overall the kids were excited when the whole staff got here and we announced who was going to be coaching here."

It's one thing to talk a good game, but Sanders and his staff had a lot of convincing to do.

"I think from our perspective and some of the guys after the meeting he had was, OK, who is this guy," senior Colton Kelsey said. "We really didn't know who he was.

"You can talk all you want and any of the coaches would have done the same thing, yeah we're going to win, we're going to turn this around but I mean you couldn't really trust him until the cards were played.

"Once they started unfolding it was like, this guy knows what he's talking about."

The first year

The Raiders were coming off a 1-9 season with the only win coming against winless Woodburn.

A season-opening loss to Peninsula (Wash.) gave the Raiders some hope.

They lost a tough 12-9 decision to Cleveland in Week 3, a game that Cleveland later forfeited, then won a 22-21 game against Lebanon. They dropped a 31-21 decision to Dallas before beating Woodburn to be 3-3.

But the rest of the season was tough and the Raiders finished on a four-game losing streak.

Depth was a key that first year and it showed up later in the season, Sanders said.

"Some of the old mystique came back and they weren't sure if we could win a close game," he said. "We took some lumps."

Still, Sanders felt the Raiders made progress.

Kelsey said Sanders kept the players motivated on getting better throughout the season despite the tough setbacks.

"That first year coach just did something that really no other coach really did - he made us want to work, even in practice," Kelsey said. "He found a way to do that and he really connects with all of the kids and he's a really good people person with the family and all of that."

Eason said that while Sanders brought energy and passion that first year, it wasn't enough.

"The fact of the matter is we just still, despite his efforts, did not have all of our athletes in the school coming out," Eason said. "The interest was still not there just because of the record.

"Me coming from CHS where they just won state and everything, it was kind of one of those things you kind of like bite your lip the first year but you knew the future was going to be good."

Year 2

The Raiders continued to lift and get stronger. They moved from the CV weightroom and worked out at Oregon State, going through the same routine the Beavers did.

Sanders said close to 75 players worked out at OSU during the summer.

He made sure the players knew what his expectations were heading into the season.

"We made the statement at camp: We're not in here to play close, we're in it to win games," Sanders said. "If they don't believe it, then don't play.

"The team mentality is we step on the field and we practice hard to win every game."

The results were evident as the Raiders started 3-0 before losing a tough 19-7 decision at Silverton.

They rebounded and were 5-1 heading into a game against Glencoe.

Injuries began to mount and the Raiders lost their final four games, missing the playoffs in part because of the loss to Silverton.

"Unfortunately it didn't happen for us last year because we got dinged up a little bit and lost some really key players so we kind of fell off right there at the end," Sanders said."

This year

The Raiders continued to grow in numbers and had great turnouts in the weightroom at OSU. Close to 90 of the 110 players in the program attended. Most of those who didn't were playing summer baseball.

The Raiders took part in some 7-on-7 passing tournaments and a true feeling of family was beginning to form.

"I think the reason why we've grown so much is because in the offseason we spent so much time together lifting, doing sprints and conditioning," junior Daniel Ha said. "We put the work into it and we're always together. That's how we grow. It's like a family, we always spend time together."

Expectations for a strong season were there, and the players were excited to make a playoff push.

But a chance for a conference title?

"Maybe not at the beginning, but every game we see more potential, more potential and we work on and critique things in practice," Kelsey said. "Yeah, I think everyone expected to be here and I'm glad we're here."

The biggest change came in a belief they could overcome adversity.

That was never more evident than against Silverton, when the Raiders were down 26-14 at the half.

But they limited Silverton to 30 yards in the second half and scored the go-ahead touchdown with 30 seconds remaining for a 29-26 win to move to 4-0.

Sanders knew the Raiders had a chance to be good. He says that Silverton game was the turning point.

"Looking at our schedule being as it was the same as last year, we looked down and said we could be 5-1 again going into the Glencoe game knowing Silverton and Lebanon both were going to be good" Sanders said. "So let's try to win one of those two and roll into Glencoe and have a good showing.

"The Silverton game is what I think put us over the top. Even with the tough game with Lebanon holding on for that one and the tough game with Glencoe of course and then holding on with a very sick Raider team when we played South (Albany).

"We knew we were right where we wanted to be coming into the CHS game."

And the Raiders are right where they want to be heading into tonight's showdown.

They have put in the hard work and preparation, and may just have the one intangible you can't prepare for.

"Honestly, if you play hard and work hard you're going to get lucky at times and I feel we've got that on our side," Eason said.

Regardless of tonight's outcome, the Raiders have made a tremendous turnaround in three short seasons.

"To see where CV has come from is just awesome to be a part of the whole process," Eason said.