West Earl Barden All-Star Coach and Players 2012

The coaches and players for the 2012 East-West All-Star game (the Earl Barden Classic) for high school football players in division 2A and lower have been selected.  The game will be played this year on June 23 in Yakima at Zaepfel Stadium.  Nooksack Valley Head Coach Robb Myhre was picked to lead the west squad so we thought we'd head up to the small rural town of Everson, located in Whatcom County, where Robb is a Physical Education teacher at Nooksack Valley Middle School and talk to him about the game.

Robb graciously agreed to sit down with us and talk about Nooksack football and the all-star game.  We started off the conversation by asking him a little about himself.  "I was born in Germany, my dad was in the military," he told us.  "After we returned to the states, I started out in the Lynden school district and then we moved to Bellingham for a little while.  In the sixth grade I was in this very building in Nooksack and then I matriculated to Nooksack High.  I played little league football in Bellingham, but my first school football experience was at Nooksack.  After I graduated from high school, I went to Western Washington University and played football for two years."

We then asked Coach Myhre how he became involved with coaching football.  "At Western I was in the Plastics Engineering program.  I was planning to make tons and tons of money after I graduated.  My junior year at Western I was offered a job at Nooksack as an assistant track and field coach and then in my senior year they added a job as assistant football coach.  I really enjoyed both jobs and it made me stop and think about why I was pursuing a degree in something I really didn't enjoy all that much.  Why was I doing something just for the money when I could do something for the rest of my life that I really enjoyed?  I was an assistant coach at Nooksack for seven or eight years.  After a couple of years I was offered the job here at the Middle School and have been here ever since.  I have been the Head Coach for 12 years."

Coach Myhre told us he has two sons currently at Nooksack High School.  Both play on the football team.  His oldest, Trevon, is a senior and is one of the two players from Nooksack chosen to play in the all-star game.  He was the team's quarterback and leading rusher last year.  His youngest son, Tanner, will be a sophomore next year and is set to handle the quarterbacking duties when his brother graduates and heads off to Central Washington to play football for the Wildcats.  Coach told us he also has a daughter who is currently a student at Nooksack Middle School.

We spent nearly an hour with Coach Myhre discussing football.  It was clear that he's doing something he loves.  We don't know what kind of a plastics engineer he would have been, but he's a heck of a coach and teacher.  He told us that he plans to speak with coaches who have been involved with the all-star game in the past to learn more about their strategies and how they handled the responsibility of coaching such great athletes.  It was evident that the committee made a wise choice in selecting Robb Myhre.  He played in the all-star game after he graduated from high school (before it was divided by classification.  He played linebacker the same year that Steve Emtman announced his presence to the world) and that experience and his obvious love of coaching will assure that under his direction, those chosen to play will get the most out of the experience.

Below is a list of west team players that Coach Myhre provided us.  This is the initial list.  As always, there will be a few modifications to this original list due to player unavailability.  We will try to provide an updated list just prior to the game.  Like last year, we hope to be able to attend the game.  Yakima has proven to be a great venue, and the contest well worth the drive over the Cascades.

The coach of the east squad this year is Jeff Bartlow of Waitsburg-Prescott.  We will try to get over the to Eastside to interview Coach Bartlow in the not too distant future if we can coordinate our schedules.  We will post the east all-star players at that time.

2012 EARL BARDEN CLASSIC WEST TEAM

First

Last

Height

Weight

Positons

School

Jersey

Bubba

Lara

5’10”

190

RB/LB

Adna

Sam

Shober

6’3”

215

RB/LB

Archbishop Murphy

Oliver

Dougherty

6’0″

180

QB/DB

Bellingham

Andy

Agen

6’3”

265

OL/DL

Burlington-Edison

Jake

Archer

6’1”

195

WR/DB

Cascade Christian

Joshua

Shreffler

6’2″

195

TE/LB

Cascade Christian

Tyler

Clark

5’11”

185

RB/LB

Concrete

Gabe

Gutierrez

6’1″

190

WR/DB

Foster

Alex

Afuavi

6’3″

272

OL/DL

Franklin Pierce

Iopu

Ignacio

5’9″

188

RB/LB

Franklin Pierce

Jordan

Todd

5’7”

180

RB/LB

Interlake

Jake

Clizbe

5’9”

170

RB/DB

Kalama

Sam

Byers

6’5″

249

OL/DL

Kingston

Christian

Melton

5’9”

215

RB/LB

Lakewood

Jequan

Hayes

6’2”

245

OL/LB

Lindbergh

Taylor

Whitman

6’2″

260

OL/DL

Lynden

Denver

VanderYacht

6’2”

230

OL/DL

Meridian

John

Murphy

5’10”

160

RB/LB

Meridian

Bo

Russell

5’10”

210

OL/DL

Montesano

Evan

Truax

5’10”

160

RB/DB

Montesano

Austin

Baker

5’9”

153

RB/DB

Montesano

Alec

Postlewait

6’3”

265

OL/DL

Mt. Baker

Levi

Wigg

5’10”

175

RB/DB

Mt. Baker

Tucker

Stanley

6’0”

185

RB/DB

Napavine

Seth

Scrabeck

6’0”

255

OL/DL

Naselle

Robert

Eaton

5’11”

195

OL/LB

Naselle

BJ

Salmonson

6’4”

270

OL/DL

Nooksack Valley

Trevon

Myhre

6’1”

205

QB/DB

Nooksack Valley

Ben

Broeker

6’5”

205

QB/DB

North Thurston

Matt

Reid

5’9″

165

WR/DB

North Thurston

Robby

Padbury

6’2″

197

QB/DB

Orcas Island

Keenan

Walker

5’11”

205

WR/DB

Port Angeles

Anthony

Gold

5’7″

170

RB/DB

Renton

Tyler

Forshaw

5’10″

165

WR/DB

Sequim

Levi

Bale

5’11”

195

QB/LB

South Bend

Jerek

Jensen

6’3”

290

OL/DL

Squalicum

Jesse

Wallace

6’4″

210

QB/DE

Toledo

Josh

Hanson

6’7”

250

OL/DL

Tumwater

Zach

Wimberly

6’3”

225

TE/LB

Tumwater

Mitch

Gueller

6’3″

205

QB/DB

WF West