West Valley’s ‘short’ lineman packs a punch

The numbers are on the wall in the West Valley weight room, and it takes some explaining to fully grasp the accomplishment they represent.

The categories – 1,000; 1,150; 1,300; 1,450; and 1,600 – represent the heaviest weight an athlete lifts in four weightlifting disciplines: the squat, bench press, clean and deadlift.

At 1,000 pounds, West Valley quarterback Blake Transue checks in with 25 other lifters at a respectable 1,105 pounds.

At 1,300, wide receiver Collin Sather is listed, with six other lifters, with a total weight of 1,320 pounds.

At 1,450, receiver-defensive back Connor Whitney, on the recruiting list of a number of area college programs, is one of six, lifting an impressive 1,450 pounds.

In the top weight category, however, there is just one name listed: Scott Bray with 1,645 pounds.

Not that you’d guess at the strength the senior lineman possesses on his 5-foot-9 inch, 185-pound frame.

“He’s our strongest player,” coach Craig Whitney said. “He’s a great kid and we made him one of our captains this year. He’s the kind of kid who, if the custodian asks him to help move something, just says, ‘Yes, sir,’ and pitches right in.”

In fact, Bray is a newly minted Eagle Scout.

“My dad and my uncles, they were all scouts,” Bray said. “It’s just something I’ve always enjoyed doing. My grandmother is the one that took me wherever I needed to go, just like she did for her sons.

“My project was to build a swing for the summer camp we’ve all gone to every summer.”

On the football field, he’s proven to be hard to block. Through eight games, he’s amassed 14½ sacks, far more than the Eagles’ leader a year ago. In his last two games alone, wins over Cheney and East Valley, he collected eight quarterback sacks – four in each game. And that doesn’t begin to account for the number of times he’s forced quarterbacks to hurry throws, nor does it reflect his tackles for loss.

The Eagles have one remaining game left in their regular season – Friday night at home against Clarkston. They already clinched the No. 1 seed out of the Great Northern League into the Class 2A crossover playoffs, where they will play the No. 4 seed from the Central Washington Athletic Conference.

Bray and the West Valley defense will welcome the Bantams with a heavy dose of pressure.

“He’s a kid who proves something I’ve said all along – when it comes to high school football, size doesn’t matter,” Whitney said. “College coaches will come on and look for kids with more size, but for getting the job done at this level, size doesn’t matter.”

In fact, Bray laughs, his size works in his favor.

“My mom likes to joke about our defensive line,” he says. “She says they’re ‘Tall, tall, short (me), tall.’ ”

Coaches preach pad level to their offensive and defensive linemen. They want their players to get underneath their opponent’s shoulder pads to find leverage at the line of scrimmage.

Bray naturally wins the pad-level battle. His quickness, born of his hard work on the wrestling mat, and his hard work in the weight room makes him a powerful handful for any opponent.

“(Opponents) look at me and just see a little guy. But at my size and with my strength, I’m hard to block,” he said. “Plus, I’m a wrestler so I’m used to finding leverage. And my favorite move is the double-leg takedown, which is perfect for making tackles.”

More often than not, opposing linemen will grab a handful of jersey as Bray powers underneath their block and into the offensive backfield.

“They were holding Scott all night long,” Whitney said after the Eagles 28-12 win at East Valley. “But we didn’t get a single holding call all night.”

Bray attacked the school’s weight room following his freshman season and remains a dedicated lifter.

“When I first started out, I think what I was most interested in was surpassing what my dad lifted when he was here,” Bray said.

Those marks didn’t last long.

Nope, Bray grinned.

Bray is in the weight room year-round. Once football season ends, he will drop from his football weight to 170 pounds, where he wrestles for the Eagles.

“It’s not that hard for me to lose the weight,” he said. “I like to eat a healthy diet. My dad and I have our own garden, and we eat a lot of what we grow. Lots of vegetables and protein. And lots of fruit.

“I just cut down a little and keep working hard. The weight comes right off.”