Foster Energy

I had already typed an entire article and, due to my stupidity and clumsy, fat fingers, I hit the wrong button and lost everything.  Dick, my web-site associate and long-time friend, doesn't make these kinds of errors, or if he does, he finds ways to correct them.  That is why, for the site's heavy-lifting, he takes the recorded interview and spends hours listening carefully to the recorded interview and presenting it in a readable, literate, entertaining manner.  I must admit that I make his job much more difficult than it needs to be.  You see, we have a list of questions that we ask our interviewees, and it makes his job much, much easier if we can just do the basic questions and answers.  Usually, however, something happens during the interview, something one of us said and I cannot resist commenting on it and...away we go into "Obscurityland" and begin talking about things that may not be relevant.  I need write my questions and comments down and then shut up, finish the interview, and then make any comments that I the feel urge to make.

Darren Talley, Chelan High School's head coach and weekly contributor to our web site, contacted us about a class guy we might want to interview.  Since I consider Coach Tally to be the epitome of class in the high school football coaching ranks, his recommendation carries a lot of weight.  He wasn't wrong.  We drove south to Tukwila and Foster High School (Dick driving from Bellingham and I from south Everett), met with Coach Jim Sutrick and started the interview.  We learned first how the two coaches met.  It seems that Coach Sutrick saw that he had an open date on his calendar, so he set about looking for a possible opponent.  He contacted Coach Talley, and as Dick's previous column states, a friendship based on mutual admiration was born.The interview went remarkably well (except for the meandering and randomness), because of the subject.  Jim Sutrick has been the head football coach for four years at Foster High School in Tukwila, Washington, and he has experienced a degree of success, going 7-3 in the 2010 and doing so under conditions that are much less than ideal.  Foster is the smallest school in the Seamount League, and is the most diverse in a league that, in itself, is mostly very diverse.  Foster is actually the most diverse school in the entire nation with a student-body that is 22.2% African/African-American; 26.5% Asian;  22.5% Hispanic; 25% Caucasian (according to Wikepedia).  What does all this mean?  It means that for a coach to sell the game to kids (and most coaches find it necessary to sell the game to kids who grew up with no understanding of the game of American football) you have to forge a connection and approach it with a lot of energy.  Foster High School has embraced students from approximately forty-five countries and speaking sixty-nine languages.  That means that the number of ELL (English Language Learners) is inordinately high.  Teaching the game of football to students who have grown up watching their high school, college, and professional heroes play the game and understand it and its basic terminology is difficult enough.  Teaching it to ELL kids increases the difficulty quotient.  Added to that is the very real fact that many of his players must work part-time to help support their families.  And, add to that the omnipresent private school, in this case Kennedy Catholic, siphoning off some of the better prospects, and you have the potential of some nightmare seasons.  However, Sutrick's teams are always competitive.  And, for that he can point to himself as an important reason.      

Coach Sutrick is one of the most passionate coaches I have ever met.  His energy almost crackles in the air surrounding him.  It is easy to see what prompted Coach Talley to contact us.  When he took over the Foster program, he looked through the equipment and found that the game uniforms were in terrible shape, so he launched fund-raisers to buy the uniforms.  He couldn't buy them all in the same year, so he bought home game uniforms one year, had another series of fund-raisers and bought the uniforms for away games the next year.  His next goal is to work on his weight room.  He told us the room was small and in sad shape.  When he gave us a tour, we had to agree.  It looked dangerous.  I've taught weight-training in a junior high school and had the opportunity to design the weight room.  That weight room was easily two to three times as big as Foster's and had more equipment.  The school needs to step up and solve the problem, and it is a problem.

Another problem is that Foster is located in a place that has pockets of wealth surrounded by some of the most low-income areas in Washington State.  One of the determiners of this is the number of students who are on free or reduced lunches.  At Foster the number is 70%.  That is the highest I have seen in the schools we have dealt with.  It is near Southcenter and has that business center as part of its tax base, but little, if any, of that tax money trickles down to Foster High School.  Why is that?  You'll have to ask the politicians.  Unfortunately, people who are new to this country seldom feel able to do that.  Chelan's free and reduced lunch percentage is quite high as well, so maybe Darren and Jim found that they had a lot more in common than just a football game.  And speaking of the game, neither of the coaches mentioned the score, which might mean that sometimes a football game is simply that, a game to be played and enjoyed for its own sake.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the school's improvement in the state's standardized tests.  In one year the school jumped from from 52.8% in reading to 80%; 19.4% in math to 41.7%; 70.2% in writing to 80%; 15.4 in science to 44.8%.  That is an amazing job by students, teachers, and administration.  Now, if the school could just show a little love to the football program...?  

Coach Jim Sutrick and Foster High School will be a force to be reckoned with for years.  He has numbers out, over 50 players last year, according to the roster, and those numbers will continue to grow.  One thing is certain, he will be attacking any challenges that arise with passion.  And, he will solve them.  Jim Olsen

Coach Interview - Jim Sutrick, Foster High School

   One of the joys of writing this blog is the opportunity it gives us to interview coaches, particularly special coaches.  Last Thursday, Jim and I traveled down I-5 to the Tukwila area to speak with Foster High Head Coach Jim Sutrick.  We had learned about Coach Sutrick and the job he was doing at Foster from Chelan coach Darren Talley.  Chelan played at Foster last September and the glowing report that Coach Talley wrote depicting the uniqueness of that experience told us that we had to speak with him.  To read Coach Talley’s account of theirtreatment at Foster, click here.

   It was well worth the trip.  As you will see from the interview below, Coach Sutrick has the same love for the game and the same desire to help his players grow into men by teaching them the value of hard work and dedication that we’ve found in most, if not all, the coaches that we have picked to interview.  They all do it a little differently, but the bottom line is that kids who buy into their systems come away learning the same core values that the game teaches – values that will help them tremendously as they grow into adulthood.  Certainly these things can be taught in other ways.  Parents can and should determine the path their children take; but, unfortunately, for many the football field will be their only opportunity to learn the life lessons that being a part of a team and working together to improve provides.  Such things as work ethic, perseverance, following instructions and working toward a goal are taught on the gridiron.  At a school like Foster that is in an urban area but has an inner-city like student body, men like Coach Sutrick play an important role in the lives of their athletes.

   We started out the interview by discussing the game with Chelan that set this all in motion.  Coach Sutrick spoke glowingly about that contest and his gratefulness to Coach Talley for his willingness to travel all the way from Chelan to plug an opening in the Foster schedule.  He then waxed poetically about the benefits that it gave his players to experience and interact with players who come from an entirely different environment.  We followed with a series of standard questions we’ve developed when we do these interviews to try to accurately portray each coach.  Those efforts went something like this:

Coach Jim Sutrick

High School Cover 2:  Where did you grow up and go to school?

Coach Sutrick:  I was born in Elkhurst, Illinois and went to school in Streamwood, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago.  After High School, I attended Emory-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida.  I graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree after four years and joined the FAA.  I requested an assignment to the Seattle area and was posted here in 1991.  I had always wanted to be a pilot.  I just loved flying – had the sheets, pillow cases, etc. with aircraft themes when I was a kid.  Then when I was in the eighth-grade I decided that I wanted to be an air traffic controller.  I’ve worked at it ever since.

High School Cover 2:  When were you introduced to football and what were your first impressions of the game?

Coach Sutrick:  I was first introduced to football when I was five or six years old.  It was my neighbor, Johnny DiNardo, who got me started.  He got into Streamwood junior football and I remember seeing him outside in his front yard wearing his uniform and I thought, “Wow, that’s cool.  Dad, I want to do that.”  I was very small and my mom was against it, but eventually my dad talked my mom into it.  Not only that, but they fudged my birth date and I was able to play an extra year in the 6 to 11 year old league.  I just loved it.  I loved the camaraderie, the work ethic and everything else about it.  I’m the kind of guy who isn’t bothered when people holler at me.  That just motivates me to do my best and try to prove them wrong.  I was able to play right away against bigger kids and I loved the hitting.  That was my first exposure to the game and I’ve loved it ever since.

High School Cover 2:  Did you ever suffer any serious injuries while playing football?

Coach Sutrick:  No, the only real injury that I had was when I was 13 years old and I was running down on kickoff coverage and one of my teammates blocked someone into me.  His foot and leg came up and hit me in the ribs and I couldn’t breathe.  It was the worst pain I had ever experienced.  I lay down and the coach came out on the field and told me I was okay.  I came off the field for a play and then went back out on the field and played the rest of the first half.  At halftime I keeled over and couldn’t breathe anymore.  They took me to the hospital where the discovered I had two badly bruised ribs.  I was held out of practice for a few days and the first three quarters of the next game.  Finally, in the fourth quarter, the coach let me go in and the first time I carried the ball I ran 93 yards for a touchdown.  Those are the stories that stick with you.

High School Cover 2:  While you were growing up did you have a football role model?

Coach Sutrick:  Oh yes.  Tony Dorsett.  Being from Chicago I loved the Bears, the Monsters of the Midway, Walter Peyton and all those guys, but I really loved Tony Dorsett.  I was a running back until I got to high school and I wanted to be just like Tony Dorsett.

High School Cover 2:  Are there any special challenges to coaching at Foster?

Coach Sutrick:  This is an area where most kids aren’t from privileged homes.  This is a low income area.  A couple of examples: I had a kid who had to miss school and practice because he had to translate at an immigration hearing for his uncle.  I have kids who have to bring their brothers and sisters with them to practice in the summer because it’s their responsibility to watch them during the day.  A lot of my players have to work because they are a part of their family’s income.

High School Cover 2:  What kind of support do you get from school administration?

Coach Sutrick:  They are very supportive of me.   In particular, I feel I have a good relationship with the Athletic Director and Superintendent.  Football isn’t the first priority of the other school administrators.  The low test scores in this area are a priority, I understand that.  English is not a first language for a lot of our kids and not understanding the questions on tests is a big problem.  That’s the main reason for the low test scores.  We have kids from 65 different countries attending Foster and they speak 45 different languages.  In a New York Times article last year, we were named the most diverse high school in the country.  So, while I’d like a little more support from time to time, I understand that the focus must be on  raising the test scores.

High School Cover 2:  Do you have play-for-pay here at Foster?

Coach Sutrick:  The only requirement to play sports is that you purchase an ASB card which, I believe, costs $30.00 this year.  Other than that there are no other fees to play here.  We have a very active Gridiron Club that raises money to help out the football program.  I was able to purchase new uniforms for the team when I first arrived without using district money.

High School Cover 2:  What kind of attendance to you get at home games?

Coach Sutrick:  When I first got here we’d have maybe 20 people in the stands.  We’ve worked very hard to change that and I think we probably averaged close to 1,000 this past season.  One thing we are planning to start next year to get more people involved is an alumni/community/student pep band.  There is currently no band at our games.  We feel a band will help bring in more members of the community.

High School Cover 2:  Do you have any interest in coaching at a higher level someday?

Coach Sutrick:  Most definitely.  But I won’t entertain that idea until my three boys graduate.  It would have been one thing if I had gotten into this profession before I was married and had a family.  But, someday…  I have an incredible wife and family and they said they would support me if I wanted to try coaching at the college level, but I have a great job and I love coaching high school players so it would be stupid of me to do anything now.  Maybe after my youngest son graduates from high school, though.

High School Cover 2:  What do you like to do outside coaching?

Coach Sutrick:  There is nothing.  I just love football.  Right now I play one game on X-BOX, it’s called Head Coach 09.  My wife asks, “Don’t you get enough coaching football?”  In the game I get to draft the players and direct what they do.  It’s great.  I don’t do anything else but work, play with my kids and go with them to their sporting events.  My extra time is with my family.

High School Cover 2:  Can you explain your offensive and defensive philosophies?

Coach Sutrick:  Basically, we run the I-formation.  We do have some multiple formations, but I believe in power football and that you have to run the ball.  I believe in the quick passing game and getting the running backs out in the flat, but I’m a power running I-formation guy.  Defensively, I think you’ve got to stop the run first.  When I was the defensive coordinator at Kentwood and we played spread teams that tried to spread us all over hell, I just played man defense and kept six or seven guys in the box.  We were rushing and you’d better get that ball out quick.

High School Cover 2:  What made you go into coaching?

Coach Sutrick:  When I made the decision to be an air traffic controller I didn’t realize how much I also loved coaching.  I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I had gotten into it at a younger age, but I do love both coaching and the job I do as an air traffic controller.

High School Cover 2:  What level did you play the game?

Coach Sutrick:  I played in High School and then a year with the Federal Way Jets semi-pro team here locally.  I loved my time playing for the Jets, but it got too hard to balance my job and playing and I gave it up to coach.

High School Cover 2:  Can you tell us about your coaching experience before becoming the Head Coach at Foster?

Coach Sutrick:  This was my 14^th year of coaching at the high school level.  Before I came to Foster I first coached at the Junior Football level (community football) in the Auburn area.  When I disagreed with some of the methods that were being implemented, I decided to try to coach at the high school level.  A friend told me about a high school clinic that was being held at SEATAC and I attended a couple of sessions.  From that I met Coach Tom Ingles who interviewed me and offered me a coaching position.  I also was an assistant coach at Puyallup and Kent-Meridian before interviewing for the job here at Foster.  Coach Ingles was my coaching mentor.  He is now coaching in California, but I still communicate with him regularly.

High School Cover 2:  How long have you been coaching at Foster?

Coach Sutrick:  I’ve been the head coach here for three years.

High School Cover 2:  You’ve explained to us about how many of the kids who go to Foster come from low-income homes and never leave there neighborhoods.  Have you done anything to help expand their horizons?

Coach Sutrick:  Coach Jeff Johnson at Rainier High School and I coached together in the past and we have developed a 7 on 7 camp during spring football practice.  Our kids go there one year and Rainier travels here to Foster the next.  It’s really been great for our kids, many of whom had never seen a farm and seemingly didn’t have any idea where food came from or what a cow is.  To travel somewhere a little outside their backyards and see something different is really a neat thing.  It’s fantastic to look into their eyes and watch them see something new for the first time.  That’s better than anything they might have gained doing the football drills.

At this point in the interview we noticed the board on Coach Sutrick’s wall listing each position and coach and every player and how they rank against their teammates.  Coach Sutrick then spent a little time explaining the board to us.

High School Cover 2:   Can you explain to us how you use the board?

Coach Sutrick:  I bought it as a way to demonstrate to our players where they were in their growth as a player.  It gives them something to work toward.  If there is someone ahead of them on the board it instills competition.  Players can move up or down depending upon how they perform.  The position coaches decide on the order.

High School Cover 2:  Speaking of position coaches.  How many assistants do you have here at Foster?

Coach Sutrick:  Last year we had 13 assistant coaches.  When I was first hired there were only four.  I felt that was unacceptable and there is no way you can effectively touch kids with so few.  You have kids standing around lost in the transition so I immediately talked with the athletic director and began interviewing assistants.  I wanted coaches who had a similar philosophy about treating kids and spending time with them.  It wasn’t so much about the X’s and O’s as it was about picking the right temperament.   Unfortunately, the school can only pay for four stipends for coaches so we all split our pay to make it work.

High School Cover 2:  We notice on your board you have the initials RAW.  Can you explain what that’s about?

Coach Sutrick:  I started using that acronym when I first got here.  I told the kids that’s what I stand for.   We even got some stickers and put it on the back of our helmets this past season.  The R stands for Responsibility – the responsibility that you take for being a part of Foster football.  You’re responsible for five things: 1) yourself, 2) your teammates, 3) your coaches, 4) your  school and 5) your community.  If you don’t handle those responsibilities like you should there are Accountabilities.

The A in RAW stands for Accountability.  Kids have to be accountable for themselves and for doing the things they need to be able to play.  That has a lot to do with attendance.  When I first arrived kids weren’t accountable.  They could show up to school and practice any time they wanted.  They were tardy all the time.  I changed that culture.  I check the tardy list daily and kids don’t play if they don’t go to school unless, of course, they have a valid excuse.  We have a whole list of what actions bring penalties that they have to be accountable for.

Finally, there is W for Work Ethic.  When you commit to something it takes work.  It’s not easy.  We write down for the kids what’s expected of them.  They know what is expected on the field, in the weight room, etc.  If they don’t do what is required, there are penalties.  They aren’t, for example, allowed to play varsity football until they have the required number of weight lifting sessions recorded.  They can still play football but not with the varsity until they make the work ethic commitment to the team.

   We thoroughly enjoyed our time spent with Coach Sutrick and look forward to watching the Foster Bulldogs next season.

An All-American

I spoke briefly to KeiVarae Russell on Monday after his return from
the U.S. Army's High School All-American football game in San Antonio,
Texas.  He was one of ninety players from across the country to be
selected for this game.  The two teams, East and West, each had
forty-five athletes.  Three of the West's players came from the state
of Washington, KeiVarae from Mariner with coach John Ondriezek and two
players from Dave Miller's outstanding program at Lakes, Zach Banner
and Cedric Dozier.  Anyone who knows anything about high school
football, in this state or nation-wide, already knows about the
exceptional, 6'9", 310 pound Zach Banner.  He will take his basketball
and football talents, along with his engaging personality and near 4.0
GPA to some lucky Division I school.  His teammate Cedric Dozier will,
next year, step into some D1 school's defensive backfield (he has committed to  play for the Cal Bears) and make an immediate impact.

KeiVarae's going to Notre Dame.  It seems that they are looking at him
as a slot receiver who may see some playing time in his freshman year.
 He has good hands, runs great routes, and is quick.  Although he only
caught one of two passes thrown to him (a ten-yard out) and had a
go-route knocked out of his hands (he said that nine out of ten times
he would have come down with the ball), he learned in practice that he
could play against that level of competition.  On pass patterns
against the West's DB's he was consistently getting two to three steps
of separation from their coverage, making it comparatively easy for
the QB to get him the ball.  One of the reasons for the limited
opportunities in the game is that there was, unfortunately, only one
football in play, with a whole host of backs and receivers who wanted
to be the one who was catching or carrying it.  Barry Sanders Jr., the
son of one of the greatest running backs in the history of both
college and professional football and a highly-recruited running back
in his own right, carried the ball just three times.  One ball and
everybody wanted it.  One receiver who touched it the most was the
national offensive player of the year, the 6'6", 220 pound Darial
Green-Beckham from Missouri.  With speed, size, and hands like bushel
baskets, he has not committed to a school and has college football
staffs nationwide drooling.  Another player who had scouts and coaches
and now University of Washington fans drooling was Cyler Miles, a
quarterback from Denver who was named the offensive MVP of the game.
This is a kid who has greatness written all over him.  And, he
actually is fine with red-shirting his first year, so that he can
learn from Keith Price, who looks as though he may re-write a lot of
Husky QB records.

What was KeiVarae doing when I spoke with him?  He was in the weight
room, hard at work lifting weights.  Ondriezek was there, of course,
setting up the charts for the football players to check in on a daily
basis.  If a kid is not playing basketball or wrestling, he is
expected to work out regularly, not necessarily daily, although kids
like KeiVarae will do so eagerly.  You know, I heard of a story once
in which a young man, a janitor in a factory, was leaning on his broom
and saying, "One of these days I'm gonna own this place."  Forty years
later the same man, much older, was still leaning on his broom and
muttering, "One of these days I'm gonna own this place."  I have seen
too many kids like this.  They talk their game; they don't work at it.
 If they make it to the weight room at all, it is a social thing.
They sit and talk about all the great things they are going to do.
Pick up an actual weight and begin to work to better yourself?  That's
kind of hard, isn't it?

Every coach and teacher can recall the kids who had all the tools.
Kids who could have gone anywhere, done anything.  They just didn't
know how to work.  So, they lean on their figurative brooms, or
shovels, and talk about how some day they are going to earn that
scholarship to USC or Michigan or Oklahoma.  In the meantime their
grades are on a downward spiral, and they can't see that it is going
to impact them in eligibility and, eventually, in life..  When they
see a kid who is succeeding, they attribute that success to
favoritism, or even just dumb luck.  They cannot see that their work
ethic (or lack of it) has put them on a path that will lead to nothing
but failure.  And, they can't see that Notre Dame doesn't give
scholarships that are worth upwards of $250,000 to football players
who are "Lucky" or are "Likable."

Two things bothered me about the game.  The first was a missed
opportunity by the army to make a connection between an army hero and
a player on the west team.  Saul Kiwanuka is a member of the U.S. Army
Special Forces who was shot in the chest in a battle in Afghanistan.
He is also a Mariner graduate who played the same offensive position
(running back) as KeiVarae Russell.  Since the Army had already set a
precedent by sending Saul and some other soldiers to a Pittsburg
Steelers football game (Troy Polamalu gave Saul an autographed
football jersey and a Steelers' "Terrible Towel" to give to Coach
Ondriezek a Steelers fan since childhood with deep ancestral roots in
Pennsylvania), they could have used a picture of the two Mariner grads
wearing their respective team's colors.  The second thing that hit me
was the wording on one of the game's sponsors' web site.  The sponsor,
FBU or Football University, conducts football skills clinics
throughout the nation and handled the skills instruction for this
game.  On their web site they said that they work with the "elite"
athletes in the country.  They also gave each coach ten tickets for
kids to attend clinics in their areas in the summer.  That's a nice
gesture, right?  Not quite.  A close examination of the ticket
revealed that it would cost each kid $598 to go to the "elite"camp.
You pay six hundred bucks and you are elite.  Let's say that there
were 70 coaches in attendance.  Each coach hands out their ten
tickets.  If the kids go, that would mean almost $420,000 for the FBU
program.

The players and the coaches had everything paid for, but family
members had to pay through the nose.  An afternoon barbecue cost $35.
The award banquet was $80. Family members had to pay their way into
the game.  In a struggling economy, some of those family members paid
dearly by credit card or check for the transportation to San Antonio
and then to the game, and for lodging and food.  Some of those
families are going to feel the bite of that trip for months to come.

Did the national exposure give any of those kids a boost toward
scholarships?  I don't believe so.  Most of the kids there had
narrowed their choices of schools.  The kids knew and the schools
recruiting knew.  The game was not going to change any minds.  So,
what did it prove?  I think it showed kids how they stacked up against
each other, some of the best in the nation.  It showed them what they
needed to work on.  Most of them, when they got back home, went to
WORK.  Jim Olsen

Chelan Places Two on State 1A All-State Team

Regular readers of High School Cover 2 will know that Chelan Head Coach Darren Talley is a regular contributor to the blog, faithfully posting a synopsis of his team's game each week.  Below is his final posting for the 2011 season.  Directly below coach Talley's submission is a short congratulations from Jim on another fine season for the Chelan Mountain Goats.  All coaches and supporters are reminded that they are welcome and encouraged to report on the progress of their team during the season.  To date, coach Talley is the only one to take us up on that offer.  High School Cover 2 will willingly post any article we deem to be appropriate.

FYI: We will post the all-state team in each division in our next post.  Stand by to see if your team was represented this year.


Congratulations to two Chelan football players:  1st Team All State
Linebacker Cole Schwartz and Honorable Mention All State Quarterback
Michael Amsel Jr.  What a great honor to be selected amongst the best
in the entire state 1A division.  Four players from the CTL were
honored.  We are very proud of our two Chelan boys for all their hard
work this past season.  They both deserve the All State recognition.

Cole Schwartz was an Honorable Mention All State Linebacker selection
last season in 2010.  Cole Schwartz broke his own Chelan High School
single season tackle record with 170 tackles (solo and assist).  His
sophomore season he set the school record with 153 tackles (solo and
assist).  Michael Amsel Jr. had a great QB year throwing for 1296
yards, 18 TD's, with only 2 interceptions.  Michael also, rushed for
938 yards (9.38 yard per carry average) and had 11 rushing TD's.

Sincerely, Coach Darren Talley
   
Congratulations on the selection of both of your players.  It
is not only a tribute to them but to you and your coaching staff.  May
the awards keep coming.  Congratulations again.  Jim Olsen

KeiVarae Russell Chooses Notre Dame

In the story below, Jim talks about the decision that KeiVarae Russell, Mariner High School's superb running back, just made to play football for Notre Dame.  What he didn't say is that he was the first one to really understand the depth of KeiVarae's talent when he coached him as a freshman.  Jim was instrumental in convincing head coach John Ondriezek that KeiVarae had too much talent to remain with the freshman team.  Coach Ondriezek's policy was that freshmen didn't play with the varsity.  KeiVarae proved, once again, that one can never say never.  He joined the varsity partway through the season and never looked back, becoming a four-year starter.  Jim helped to mentor KeiVarae throughout those four years, a job made easy by his desire to be great and willingness to do what was asked.


KeiVarae confided in Jim about his decision to go to Notre Dame a week or two before he made his choice known at the ceremony discussed below.  We watched as the recruiting boards lit up with pleas and wild guesses about which school he would pick. It is comforting to know that KeiVarae made the choice that he felt was best for him.  It wasn't a decision based on location, uniform color or even who had the snazziest helmets.  He weighed all the factors and chose the school that, for him personally, made the most sense.


When Jim and I accompanied KeiVarae to Notre Dame during his recruiting trip earlier this year, we were very impressed by the school and what it had to offer.  We could tell that KeiVarae was also impressed.  We wish him every success and feel confident in saying that no matter how his football career and his life after football evolves, no one will work harder.  Good luck KeiVarae.

Jim and KeiVarae

at decision ceremony.

A coach doesn't often get a chance to have an elite athlete come
through his program.  By elite athlete, I mean a kid who has the whole
package which includes excellent grades, respect from his peers and
his teachers, and most of all, a kid who is easy to coach, a kid who
will listen to instructions and do his best to follow through.  Most
importantly, when you think elite, you think of a kid who has that
"Wow" factor, a kid who can do things that other kids just can't do.

I played with such an athlete when Terry Metcalf and I were freshmen
at Everett Junior (now Community) College.  Terry was an 18 year-old
sprinter, high jumper, and long jumper in track at Franklin High
School in Seattle.  At Long Beach State he was not only an
all-conference running back, but he punted, played as a defensive back
in crucial situations, punted, and kicked field goals.  I was a 29
year-old offensive guard who was trying to regain some vestige of my
lost youth.  Terry's talents were totally obvious to even the casual
observer.  Mine were, uh, a little less obvious.  Terry had the "Wow"
factor.

At Mariner High School we had Teyo Johnson as our quarterback when he
was a freshman.  At 6'5" and 210 pounds he definitely had the size
'Wow" factor and he had the speed and intelligence as well.  After
leading Mariner into the state 3A championship game in football and
into the semifinals in the state basketball tournament, he then took
his 6'7", 235 pound talented frame out onto the track where he
excelled in the high hurdles.  After high school he took his act to
Stanford where he played both football and basketball.  We can
consider him an elite athlete.

Today, however, I was able to witness something that I never dreamed I
would see, not personally anyway.  I saw KeiVarae Russell, a young man
with whom I have worked, sit in front of a festive holiday crowd in
the Mariner High School gymnasium and make the most important decision
of his young life.  On the table in front of him sat a row of
baseball-style hats representing the University of Southern
California, the University of California at Berkeley, the University
of Washington, and the University of Notre Dame.  Each had offered him
a full athletic scholarship as had sixteen other schools. He started
by saying a few words about each of the schools represented in his cut
down to the final four:  Cal was noted for producing running backs
(there are two on the Seahawks' roster); USC was the school of his
idol and reason that he wears number 5, Reggie Bush.  The UW offered
the fact that friends and family could watch him play.  As he was
about to announce his decision, the lights in the gym went out
plunging the entire gym into total darkness.  Simultaneously, the
sound system began playing the Notre Dame fight song as a large screen
lit up with the Notre Dame logo.  When the lights came back on. he was
wearing the Notre Dame hat.

Why Notre Dame?  KeiVarae is an extremely intelligent young man, and
he told us that he was impressed with their 98% graduation rate for
football players.  Many of their players graduate in three years.  The
school offers a lot of help for freshmen to manage their time and
their studies while fulfilling their training duties for the football
program.  He also noted that Notre Dame graduates are world-wide as he
found out when he received a business card from one of the camera crew
who said it belonged to his father who was both a Notre Dame grad and
a Microsoft executive.  KeiVarae was told to call the guy when he
graduates from Notre Dame.  He wants to play in the NFL one day, but
he also realizes that he is always one hit away from a lost NFL
career.  If he does get hurt they will guarantee his scholarship and
knowing that a Notre Dame graduate will make an extra million and a
half dollars in their lifetime compared to the average person is a
comforting thought indeed.  They also said they plan on playing him
his freshman year.

This is a smart kid who has been preparing for this moment,
athletically and scholastically, for years.  Most kids just drift
through their high school years going any way the current will take
them.  Not KeiVarae.  He has always had a plan.  He will never be
outworked. I don't believe Notre Dame has ever recruited a player
with a better work ethic.  I feel honored to have played a tiny part
in the story of his football life so far.  Jim Olsen

State High School Football Playoffs - 2011

Unless you were abducted by aliens last weekend you already know that the Washington's version of the Super Bowl, the Gridiron Classic State Football Championships which crown a champion in each high school division, were contested at the Tacoma Dome on December 2 and 3.  For the past several years High School Cover 2 has covered this exciting event, bringing our unique perspective direct to you from the Dome.

That didn't happen this year because of a serious illness that cancelled our plans just as we were planning our annual pilgrimage to the Dome.  Thankfully, that illness is now in the back mirror and we will soon be returning to bring you the stories you have grown to expect.  We are now planning our lineup for next year and hope to be able to bring you some exciting posts done in the style that you have grown to expect.  Stay tuned, 2012 promises to be our best year yet!  In the meantime, we wish all our readers a very Merry Christmas and a joyous New Year.

Just in case you missed them, here are the results of the championship games in each division:

4A - Skyline 38, Skyview 7.  In the battle of the "Sky's," Skyline prevailed.  This was supposed to be a building year for this perennial playoff school.  The year started slowly, but the Spartans peaked at the right time to win another state title.


3A - Bellevue 35, O'Dea 16.  What else can you say about the Bellevue Wolverines?  They had the Wing-T clicking as the finished off a good O'Dea squad.  This was Bellevue's fourth straight 3A title.  Is it too soon to talk dynasty?

2A - Lynden 17, Archbishop Murphy 16.  Hands down this was the most exciting game of the playoffs this year.  Just when it seemed that their luck had run out, the Lions voluntarily took a safety, recovered the resulting on-side kick and drove it down for the final score and a victory to give Lynden 4 state titles in the last 6 years.

1A -  Connell 28, Cascade Christian 7.  The Eagles were the class of the eastside 1A teams this year and easily defeated the west's representative.

2B - Waitsburg/Prescott 33, Morton/White Pass.  As seems to happen every year, some hyphenated school from the eastside comes to the Dome and dominates one or both of the lower division B teams.  This year was no exception.  In 2B, the Cardinals easily won against a gutty Morton team.

1B - Neah Bay 36, Almira Coulee Hartline 28.  After the Red Devils had unexpectedly defeated a Lummi team that was rated number one in 1B all year, it seemed a foregone conclusion by many that they would easily win the 1B title.  The hyphenated team from the eastside took umbrage and put up a good fight before finally succumbing in a hard fought contest.

Chelan 14 – Connell 42 Semi Final Playoff game 11/26/11

Chelan Head Coach Darren Talley waxes poetic below about his team's fine run into the 1A semifinals.  In the end, they fell to an excellent Connell team, but it was a season to remember.

All of the Chelan players and coaches would like to say, “thank you to all the family, friends, and fans that supported us through the 2011 football season”.  It was a year that started all the way back in the summer playing 7 on 7 passing league games at Wenatchee High School.   This team came together at football camp at the end of July, with a mission and a dream.  The dream and mission took its bumps and bruises before the season even began, with some key injuries, personal issues, and troubles getting everyone on track and eligible.  Once those small items smoothed out the dream and the mission were back on track and took the 2011 football team deep into the playoffs where we met foe after foe that also believed and dreamed in their team.  Shaking hands with Riverside (Spokane) in the crossover post season game, Cle Elum in the 1^st round, Royal City in the quarter finals, and then Connell again in the semi finals is a personal testament to boys and men knowing the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, and placing two hands together in a handshake moment and memory that will last a lifetime.

Thank you to all the players (freshman to seniors) that worked in the heat of summer, and the cold in early winter always trying to put their best foot forward.  Thank you to all the family and friends that braved those same elements to love and support the team.  Thank you to all the coaches for their many hours on and off the field to give the team the tools needed to compete on such a high level.  They are some of the best coaches in the state. 

  

Last thank you to a group of seniors that will not be forgotten for their outstanding four years of football:  As 9^th graders they were a part of the first team to get back to the playoffs since 1980, only the second time in our school’s history.  A state top 16 finish.  As 10^th graders they were a part of the first group in Chelan history to win a post season playoff game, pushing all the way to meet Connell the semi finals -- a 3^rd place finish in State, which included a post season victory over Cashmere the defending state champions – the first victory over Cashmere since 1999.  A state top four finish.  They will be remembered for the quarter final playoff game verses Omak at the Wenatchee Apple Bowl that went back and forth, with Chelan finally kneeling in victory formation in a 27 – 22 win.  Some called this the best high school game they had ever seen.  As 11^th graders they were a part of the first group in Chelan history to win 10 games in a season.  They were the Undefeated CTL League Champs for the first time in 50 years.  They brought the “Bronze Shoe” home in the victory over Cashmere in the regular season.  That had been in Cashmere’s trophy case since 1999.  They only lost to one team - Connell the defending state champions (twice) once in non league play, and again in the quarter final playoff match up.   A state top eight finish. As 12^th graders they gave everyone a smile each day as they entered the locker room, with their calm, cool, always looking for fun attitude.  They gave us dance moves in the locker room to music that will not be forgotten.  They will be remembered for the regular season game against Cashmere at Cashmere where the game ended on the one yard line, going into the end zone, with no timeouts left and the clock expiring, one point short in a 35 – 36 loss that some think was the best high school game again that they had ever seen.   They gave us friendships for a lifetime, without the normal small squabbles that happen in a year with 50 high school boys together in close quarters for 3 months.  They gave us another year to remember going 9 – 4, and reaching the semi final game verses Connell in the playoffs, again for the third time in 3 years, taking home another 3^rd place in state trophy.  A state top 4 finish.  They will be remembered for the 1^st round playoff victory over Cle Elum in a driving snow storm.  They will be remembered for their quarter final victory over Royal at the Wenatchee Apple Bowl on a frozen snow covered field.  History makers and great memory makers, you will be remembered. They will be remembered as the first group in Chelan history to go “four years straight to State in a row”.  They will be remembered as more than football players – they became our sons.

Thank you Seniors, it has been an unbelievable four years together and you will not be forgotten!

Please email with any questions or comments.  Darren Talley

Chelan Connell Game Stats

Chelan Season Stats