Cory McCaffrey finds home with the Vikings

After a storied career at Sisters High School, football standout Cory McCaffrey now plays for the Portland State University Vikings.

He is a wide receiver for the Vikings, a team that features a high-tempo offense that is perfect for McCaffrey's speed and quickness.

PSU's "run and shoot" offense relies on passing. First instituted by then-head-coach Mouse Davis in the 1970s, the offense is known for posting high scores. Davis has come back at the age of 75 to be Offensive Coordinator at the school.

Portland State averaged over 30 points per game last year with 360 yards per game passing.

Cory speaks highly of Davis and wide receiver coach Kevin Strasser and all of his coaches. The coaches are a big reason why he chose PSU, he says, with a family atmosphere he first noticed on recruiting trips.

The Vikings are coming off a bad year, 3-7, but won their first game last Saturday against Western Oregon University, 31-14.

Corey said he saw his first collegiate action in the fourth quarter of the game. He played about seven to eight minutes and made one catch, good for eight yards.

"I was nervous on the sidelines, but once I got out there I was OK," he said.

The run-and-shoot offense uses four receivers on almost every play. Each must run a complete passing route and fatigue becomes a factor. A rotation of players must be ready to play to maintain fresh receivers. The rotation includes McCaffrey.

He said the offense is complicated because the receiver makes a decision on where to run based on how the defense sets up.

He didn't catch too many passes in high school, since he was usually scoring touchdowns on a running play (46 his senior year). He is now getting better as a receiver although the speed of the ball "was a bit of a shock" at first, he added.

Cory said he is as fast or faster than anyone on the team, but that others have more experience. He said the speed and size of the players, as well as ability, are the big differences between college and high school.

"It's challenging, but fun," he said.

Regarding the change from Sisters to a large metropolitan city, Cory said he misses the small-town aspects of Sisters. That includes his friends and family, knowing people on the street, and small things such as working out at the track.

But, he is so busy with football that he doesn't have time to look back. His day begins with practice from 7 to 9:30 a.m., then training with weights, ice baths, lunch and some rest. There is a meeting at 1:30 p.m., and then films and instruction until dinner.

Practices are intense and are filmed, he said.

The 5-foot-9-inch, 175-pound youth, who will be 19 on October 30, actually began preparing in June, lifting weights and running drills with teammates.

Two-a-day practices began August 6 with workouts Cory described as hard - although his prior conditioning work helped. One example: two-hour weight training sessions are compressed into 45 minutes.

Of course, a further complication for Cory will be classes that start September 30. He was an outstanding student in high school, with a 3.6 GPA, and took one college writing class already this past summer.

He's not sure about a major yet, but will take the normal freshman classes and is considering physiology. Cory has a full-ride football scholarship for room, board, tuition and books.

He lives in a dormitory on campus and has another football player for a roommate, Zach Todd of Sheldon High School in Eugene.

Cory gained 8,460 yards in his three years at Sisters High School, 3,000 more than anyone else, EVER, in Oregon. This placed him 16th on the all-time national high school career list for yards gained.

He was also an outstanding track athlete in sprints (10.81 100 meter time), the long jump and relays. Cory is thinking about college track, but it is difficult with spring football drills.

"We'll see," he said.

His mother, Sally Bones, just got a job in the office at Sisters Elementary School. She said she misses Cory and all his friends.