High School Cover 2

Foster Energy

2012-01-23T11:10:00.000-08:00

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

2012-01-13T19:41:00.000-08:00

One of the joys of writingthis blog is the opportunity it gives us to interview coaches, particularlyspecial coaches. Last Thursday, Jim andI traveled down I-5 to the Tukwila area to speak with Foster High Head CoachJim Sutrick. We had learned about CoachSutrick and the job he was doing at Foster from Chelan coach DarrenTalley. Chelan played at Foster lastSeptember and the glowing report that Coach Talley wrote depicting theuniqueness 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 thetrip. As you will see from the interviewbelow, Coach Sutrick has the same love for the game and the same desire to helphis players grow into men by teaching them the value of hard work anddedication that we’ve found in most, if not all, the coaches that we havepicked to interview. They all do it alittle differently, but the bottom line is that kids who buy into their systemscome away learning the same core values that the game teaches – values thatwill help them tremendously as they grow into adulthood. Certainly these things can be taught in otherways. Parents can and should determinethe path their children take; but, unfortunately, for many the football fieldwill be their only opportunity to learn the life lessons that being a part of ateam and working together to improve provides. Such things as work ethic, perseverance, following instructions andworking toward a goal are taught on the gridiron. At a school like Foster that is in an urbanarea but has an inner-city like student body, men like Coach Sutrick play animportant role in the lives of their athletes.

We started out the interviewby discussing the game with Chelan that set this all in motion. Coach Sutrick spoke glowingly about thatcontest and his gratefulness to Coach Talley for his willingness to travel allthe way from Chelan to plug an opening in the Foster schedule. He then waxed poetically about the benefitsthat it gave his players to experience and interact with players who come froman entirely different environment. Wefollowed with a series of standard questions we’ve developed when we do theseinterviews 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 toschool in Streamwood, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. After High School, I attended Emory-Riddle AeronauticalUniversity in Daytona Beach, Florida. Igraduated with a Bachelor of Science degree after four years and joined theFAA. I requested an assignment to theSeattle 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 aircraftthemes when I was a kid. Then when I wasin the eighth-grade I decided that I wanted to be an air trafficcontroller. I’ve worked at it ever since.

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

Coach Sutrick: I was first introduced to football when I wasfive or six years old. It was myneighbor, Johnny DiNardo, who got me started. He got into Streamwood junior football and I remember seeing him outsidein 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 anextra year in the 6 to 11 year old league. I just loved it. I loved thecamaraderie, the work ethic and everything else about it. I’m the kind of guy who isn’t bothered whenpeople holler at me. That just motivatesme to do my best and try to prove them wrong. I was able to play right away against bigger kids and I loved thehitting. That was my first exposure tothe game and I’ve loved it ever since.

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

Coach Sutrick: No, the onlyreal injury that I had was when I was 13 years old and I was running down onkickoff coverage and one of my teammates blocked someone into me. His foot and leg came up and hit me in theribs and I couldn’t breathe. It was theworst pain I had ever experienced. I laydown and the coach came out on the field and told me I was okay. I came off the field for a play and then wentback out on the field and played the rest of the first half. At halftime I keeled over and couldn’tbreathe anymore. They took me to thehospital where the discovered I had two badly bruised ribs. I was held out of practice for a few days andthe first three quarters of the next game. Finally, in the fourth quarter, the coach let me go in and the firsttime 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 afootball role model?

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

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

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

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

Coach Sutrick: They are very supportive of me. Inparticular, I feel I have a good relationship with the Athletic Director and Superintendent. Football isn’t the first priority of theother school administrators. The lowtest scores in this area are a priority, I understand that. English is not a first language for a lot ofour kids and not understanding the questions on tests is a big problem. That’s the main reason for the low testscores. We have kids from 65 differentcountries attending Foster and they speak 45 different languages. In a New York Times article last year, wewere named the most diverse high school in the country. So, while I’d like a little more support fromtime 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 thatyou purchase an ASB card which, I believe, costs $30.00 this year. Other than that there are no other fees toplay here. We have a very activeGridiron Club that raises money to help out the football program. I was able to purchase new uniforms for theteam when I first arrived without using district money.

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

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

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

Coach Sutrick: Most definitely. But I won’t entertain that idea until mythree boys graduate. It would have beenone thing if I had gotten into this profession before I was married and had afamily. But, someday… I have an incredible wife and family and theysaid 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 bestupid of me to do anything now. Maybeafter 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’scalled Head Coach 09. My wife asks, “Don’tyou get enough coaching football?” Inthe 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 totheir sporting events. My extra time iswith my family.

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

Coach Sutrick: Basically, we run the I-formation. We do have some multiple formations, but Ibelieve in power football and that you have to run the ball. I believe in the quick passing game andgetting the running backs out in the flat, but I’m a power running I-formationguy. Defensively, I think you’ve got tostop the run first. When I was thedefensive coordinator at Kentwood and we played spread teams that tried tospread us all over hell, I just played man defense and kept six or seven guysin the box. We were rushing and you’dbetter 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 trafficcontroller I didn’t realize how much I also loved coaching. I sometimes wonder what would have happenedif I had gotten into it at a younger age, but I do love both coaching and thejob 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 withthe Federal Way Jets semi-pro team here locally. I loved my time playing for the Jets, but itgot 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 coachingexperience before becoming the Head Coach at Foster?

Coach Sutrick: This was my 14^th year of coachingat the high school level. Before I cameto Foster I first coached at the Junior Football level (community football) inthe Auburn area. When I disagreed withsome of the methods that were being implemented, I decided to try to coach atthe high school level. A friend told meabout a high school clinic that was being held at SEATAC and I attended acouple of sessions. From that I metCoach Tom Ingles who interviewed me and offered me a coaching position. I also was an assistant coach at Puyallup andKent-Meridian before interviewing for the job here at Foster. Coach Ingles was my coaching mentor. He is now coaching in California, but I stillcommunicate 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 threeyears.

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

Coach Sutrick: Coach Jeff Johnson at Rainier High School andI coached together in the past and we have developed a 7 on 7 camp duringspring football practice. Our kids gothere one year and Rainier travels here to Foster the next. It’s really been great for our kids, many ofwhom had never seen a farm and seemingly didn’t have any idea where food camefrom or what a cow is. To travelsomewhere a little outside their backyards and see something different isreally a neat thing. It’s fantastic tolook into their eyes and watch them see something new for the first time. That’s better than anything they might havegained doing the football drills.

At this point in the interview we noticed the board on Coach Sutrick’swall listing each position and coach and every player and how they rank againsttheir teammates. Coach Sutrick thenspent a little time explaining the board to us.

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

Coach Sutrick: I bought itas a way to demonstrate to our players where they were in their growth as aplayer. It gives them something to worktoward. If there is someone ahead ofthem 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 onlyfour. I felt that was unacceptable andthere is no way you can effectively touch kids with so few. You have kids standing around lost in thetransition so I immediately talked with the athletic director and beganinterviewing assistants. I wanted coacheswho had a similar philosophy about treating kids and spending time withthem. It wasn’t so much about the X’sand O’s as it was about picking the right temperament. Unfortunately, the school can only pay forfour stipends for coaches so we all split our pay to make it work.

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

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

The A in RAWstands for Accountability. Kids have tobe 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’taccountable. They could show up toschool and practice any time they wanted. They were tardy all the time. Ichanged that culture. I check the tardylist daily and kids don’t play if they don’t go to school unless, of course,they have a valid excuse. We have awhole list of what actions bring penalties that they have to be accountablefor.

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

We thoroughly enjoyed our timespent with Coach Sutrick and look forward to watching the Foster Bulldogs nextseason.

An All-American

2012-01-11T11:26:00.000-08:00

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 animmediate 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

2012-01-04T17:50:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-30T09:39:00.000-08:00

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

2011-12-06T15:17:00.001-08:00

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

2011-11-28T09:15:00.001-08:00

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 the2011 football season”. It was a yearthat started all the way back in the summer playing 7 on 7 passing league gamesat Wenatchee High School. This team came together at football camp atthe end of July, with a mission and a dream. The dream and mission took its bumps and bruises before the season evenbegan, with some key injuries, personal issues, and troubles getting everyoneon track and eligible. Once those smallitems smoothed out the dream and the mission were back on track and took the2011 football team deep into the playoffs where we met foe after foe that alsobelieved and dreamed in their team. Shaking hands with Riverside (Spokane) in the crossover post seasongame, 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 andmen knowing the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, and placing twohands together in a handshake moment and memory that will last a lifetime.

Thank you to all the players (freshman to seniors) thatworked in the heat of summer, and the cold in early winter always trying to puttheir best foot forward. Thank you toall the family and friends that braved those same elements to love and supportthe team. Thank you to all the coachesfor their many hours on and off the field to give the team the tools needed tocompete on such a high level. They aresome of the best coaches in the state.

Last thank you to a group of seniors that will not beforgotten for their outstanding four years of football: As 9^th graders they were a part ofthe first team to get back to the playoffs since 1980, only the second time in ourschool’s history. A state top 16finish. As 10^th graders theywere a part of the first group in Chelan history to win a post season playoffgame, pushing all the way to meet Connell the semi finals -- a 3^rdplace finish in State, which included a post season victory over Cashmere thedefending state champions – the first victory over Cashmere since 1999. A state top four finish. They will be remembered for the quarter finalplayoff 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 gamethey had ever seen. As 11^thgraders they were a part of the first group in Chelan history to win 10 gamesin a season. They were the UndefeatedCTL League Champs for the first time in 50 years. They brought the “Bronze Shoe” home in thevictory over Cashmere in the regular season. That had been in Cashmere’s trophy case since 1999. They only lost to one team - Connell thedefending state champions (twice) once in non league play, and again in thequarter final playoff match up. A statetop eight finish. As 12^th graders they gave everyone a smile eachday as they entered the locker room, with their calm, cool, always looking forfun attitude. They gave us dance movesin the locker room to music that will not be forgotten. They will be remembered for the regular seasongame 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, onepoint short in a 35 – 36 loss that some think was the best high school gameagain 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 schoolboys together in close quarters for 3 months. They gave us another year to remember going 9 – 4, and reaching the semifinal 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^stround playoff victory over Cle Elum in a driving snow storm. They will be remembered for their quarterfinal victory over Royal at the Wenatchee Apple Bowl on a frozen snow coveredfield. History makers and great memorymakers, you will be remembered. They will be remembered as the first group inChelan history to go “four years straight to State in a row”. They will be remembered as more than footballplayers – they became our sons.

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

Please email with any questions or comments. Darren Talley

Chelan Connell Game Stats

Chelan Season Stats

Cheering for the Vikings

2011-11-25T13:56:00.001-08:00

It is not often that I choose sides in a high school playoff game unless I feel that I have a personal stake in it, no matter how small and tenuous that thread might be. In the case of the Lake Stevens Vikings the threads are numerous. After hearing the chain crew at the Kentlake/Mariner game make disparaging comments about the brand of football being played in Wesco, it was refreshing to see another Wesco team get back some local pride by soundly drubbing Eastlake, a team which had been placed near or at the top of the 4A polls all year. It was doubly refreshing because of personal ties to Lake Stevens. My son and granddaughter Halle live in Lake Stevens with Halle attending Lake Stevens High School as a freshman. One of my favorite athletes and a good friend is Corey Dire, who is now using many of the training methods I taught him to train another generation of athletes in the Lake Stevens area.

When I coached the freshmen at Mariner High School, we had a linebacker named Konan Giddens, a tough, quick, stocky kid who had dreams of playing football at Arizona. Unfortunately, lack of size for an outside linebacker made that a near-impossibility. But, for a high school player he was as tough as they come. This was back in the 80's when Arnold Schwartzenegger was everywhere on the screen as Conan, the Barbarian. So, of course, I felt it necessary to start calling out our player's name in weight-training or at football practice. I would call out Konan the Librarian! or, sometimes, Konan the Hungarian! It was stupid, of course, but hey, I'm old, if that is an excuse. His son Shae is now one of Lake Stevens premier offensive weapons. Along with Jake Nelson, the scrambling QB with a precision arm; Brady Pahuokoa, the 6'4" receiver with UW bloodlines (father and uncle), and Christian Gasca, one of the best high school receivers I have ever seen, the Vikings present a lot of challenges for any defense. Add to the mix a hard-working, skilled and quick offensive line, then the Vikings ought to be able to score.

It is on defense that Lake Stevens really shines. They flow to the ball as well as any team that I have had the pleasure of watching, especially their linebackers. And, of the linebackers, the standout is Korey Young. He worked his way back from a near-career-ending injury in his junior year (in a game against Mariner one of his own players rolled up on his leg) to be one of the best linebackers in the state. At 6' 1" and 220 pounds, he is destined to play at a higher level. Maybe some schools were scared off recruiting him because of the severity of his injury. If so, they are making a huge mistake. It is not just his quickness or strength that he relies on. It seems that he not only sees what the offense is doing, but he understands what the offense is doing and he steps up to make the correct play on virtually every snap. His dad played for Snohomish in their heyday and also for the University of Idaho Vandals, so football and the love of it obviously runs deep in the Young household.

We will be at the Tacoma Dome for the games this Saturday and for the finals after that. People have asked me, "Don't you get tired of it sometimes? After all, it's only football". That's just it. IT IS FOOTBALL, HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL!!! How does a guy ever get tired of that? Jim Olsen

Even the Best Lose Sometimes

2011-11-19T12:07:00.001-08:00

Why, I wondered, were Jim and I standing on the frostcovered turf at Bellingham’s Civic Field on a bone-chilling cold Friday nightwatching the two best 1B high school football teams in western Washington play whenthe two best high school football teams in Washington, Bellevue and Lakes wereplaying a game that would surely decide who wins the State 3A title? The answer I suppose is that we have beenfollowing the Lummi Blackhawk team for a couple of years now and have watchedHead Coach and Athletic Director Jim Sandusky mold a team and a program fromnothing--a team that was rated the number one 1B team in the state despitefielding a roster of under-classmen. Prior to Friday night, Lummi had played in only one close game allseason; a last-minute 38-36 win against Neah Bay in the season opener. On this night, those same two teams weremeeting for the third time. The secondtime Lummi and Neah Bay met a couple of weeks ago, Lummi won handily 40-12. This was to be their third game thisseason. It is difficult to beat a teamthree times in the same year, especially a good team. That is an axiom that proved prophetic.

Prior to the game, Coach Sandusky said that it was importantthat his team get out to an early lead. That’s what had allowed this team of underclassmen to remain undefeatedall year. And, in the beginning, that’sjust what they did. Before the rumps inthe stands had warmed the ice cold stadium seats, his Blackhawks had swarmed toa 20-0 lead early in the first quarter. It appeared that the rout was on.

Last year, when Lummi won the 1B crown at the Tacoma Dome,they were a senior dominated team -- a group equally able to run or throw. This year’s squad had more freshmen on theroster than any other class and only two senior players. It was also bereft of linemen. It was filled with smaller skill players whowere thriving in Coach Sandusky’s complicated schemes and who always seemed tobe able to come up with the big play when needed. But the passing game wasn’t nearly so strongand they depended upon the run much more often than they had in the past. Their opponents on this night, the Neah BayRed Devils, were a bigger and slightly older team with 11 juniors and seniorsto Lummi’s 7.

Another factor that would affect the eventual outcome wasthe margin of victory that Lummi had won by this season. By the end of the first quarter they wereusually ahead by so much that the starters were on the bench. In addition, the team rarely played an entiregame because by the second half they were so far ahead that the mercy rulekicked in ending the game. Did they havethe stamina to play an entire game, a game where they had to work hard theentire way?

For the first half they did. Despite costly turnovers they were still ahead by 10 at halftime. At the start of the third quarter Lummi tookthe opening kickoff and methodically drove the ball down the field. Then, disaster struck. Their all-everything player, Deion Haskins,who was playing on an ankle that he had injured the week before, fumbled theball in the red zone. More importantly,he had to be assisted off the field never again to return to the game. The ankle that had hampered him all eveningfinally couldn’t go any further. Thatwas the turning point of the game.

From that point on, Neah Bay’s excellent running gamestarted to click. Without Haskins toclog the middle, their outstanding running back, Titus Pascua, behind theblocking of battering ram 266 pound fullback, Tyler McCaulley, gashed thesmaller Blackhawk team for large chunks of yardage and started to take chargeof the game. The Lummi squad fought back valiantly and keptmatching scores with Neah Bay until the last couple minutes of the game. But it was obvious to all except the mostloyal fans that the outcome was inevitable. As the game wore on, the physicality of the Neah Bay players wore downtheir smaller opponents. As the Lummiplayers slowly picked themselves up after each play, the sideline began toresemble a MASH unit. Injured Blackhawkshobbled by cramps and other infirmities left the field of play seemingly onevery play. Momentum is a ficklemaster. Once you lose it, it’s almostimpossible to get it back and once you get it, it’s easy to ride it to victory. Neah Bay had stolen the momentum and theyweren’t going to give it back. Not onthis night.

In the end, winning three games against the same goodopponent proved too big a hurdle. Thefinal score after the frost had settled was Neah Bay 58, Lummi 40. Congratulations to the Neah Bay Red Devils whowill be a difficult team to stop as they march toward the 1B finals. They are limited through the air, but theirrunning game is formidable. It will takea big, stout team to stop them now that they know they can beat the best. For Lummi, they will have to be content towait another year. With their underclasscentric team, they will be a force to be reckoned with for the foreseeablefuture. Dick Kalla

Playoff Football

2011-11-17T10:00:00.001-08:00

When Glenn K. Smith and I went to Kent a week and a half ago, we witnessed a drubbing of gargantuan proportions of Mariner by Kentlake. The chain crew from Kentlake were fairly vocal and extremely unkind in their appraisal of Western Conference (Wesco) football teams. Unfortunately, nothing has happened in the playoffs so far to call their judgement into question. Kentlake pounded Mariner 49-7; Bellaramine Prep thumped Edmonds-Woodway 42-7, and Skyline beat Monroe 59-21. So, it was with some misgivings that Glenn and I found ourselves driving across the trestle to Lake Stevens to watch yet another futile attempt by another another outgunned, out-manned Wesco team.

It didn't happen. Lake Stevens turned out to be the real deal, turning back the Olympia Bears 21-17, scoring on an improbable touchdown pass with 12.5 seconds left on the game clock. The Vikings were back on their own 10-yard line facing a third-down and 42 yards to go situation when QB Jake Nelson took off on a heart-stopping fifty-nine yard run to the Olympia twenty-six yard line. That is when Nelson switched to an air attack and hit Christian Garza, a great receiver, for the winning score. Nelson willed his team to a win, and it was made easier because his teammates were also not the kind of kids who give up easily.

I was impressed with the speed and tenacity of the Lake Stevens defense. They flowed to the ball well, were quick as well as fast, and when they arrived at their target, they carried a whole lot of "Hit'em" with them. They never gave up, even when things seemed hopeless.

Speed kills. That is evident in most sports, but speed (or lack of it) is especially noticeable in football. Schools like Lakes, Bellevue, Skyline, and Eastlake, and 2B schools like Adna, powerhouses all, have players who have bought into the speed/power mantra (they go together, hand-in-hand like peanut butter and jelly...different but working together for a desired outcome). Not all schools and not all kids buy into all the work it takes to perform at a higher level. I have seen a number of teams whose seniors in particular have failed to put the requisite time in the weight room or the track and had their post-seasons hopes derail before they get started. And, that is when they start say "I coulda, woulda, shoulda", but they are seniors...and nobody cares..

I had a player once who told me that he "Loved" the game of football. More than anything, he said. "No, you don't," I told him. "You can't say that'" he sputtered. "Yes, I can," I said. "You were ineligible last year, and you are ineligible again this year. Don't tell me that you love this game when you won't do what it takes in the classroom to play it." That holds true for the kids who won't venture into the weight room or onto the track. Don't tell me how much you love this game when you won't do what it takes to become as good at it as you can possibly be.

The guys I feel sorry for are the ones who ran after school in the winter for an hour or so every day. The weather was bitter cold, wet, and the wind was biting, but they were running, happy to be back inside the weight room where they could warm up by doing squats and power cleans. Happy because they knew that they could be competitive come next fall. Jim Olsen

Football in Holiday Spirit -- Chelan 35 vs. Cle Elum-Roslyn 19

2011-11-14T10:51:00.001-08:00

The Chelan Mountain Goats continue to roll into the playoffs as this report from Head Coach Darren Talley attests.

Friday night playoff football in mid November started offwindy and cold, but quickly turned into a winter wonderland as the ChelanMountain Goats visited the Cle Elum-Rosalyn Warriors. Early in the first quarter the snow startedpiling up and by halftime lines on the field were buried in 2 to 3 inches ofsnow. Nothing was going to stop the gameand the athletes enjoyed learning how to run and tackle in the slipperyconditions. A huge thank you goes out toall the fans that braved the weather and saw a great game in the snow.

ScoringSummary

FirstQuarter

Chelan(7:53) Cole Schwartz 25yd RUN (Misael Arechiga kick)

SecondQuarter

Chelan(10:33) Michael Amsel Jr SAFETY

CleElum-Roslyn (0.56) Griffon Alexander 7yd PASS from Tyler Kretschman (kickfailed)

CleElum-Roslyn (0.00) Jake Gall 40yd FUMBLE RETURN (run failed)

ThirdQuarter

Chelan(5:00) M Amsel Jr 40yd RUN (M Arechiga kick)

FourthQuarter

Chelan(7:04) M Amsel Jr 23yd RUN (M Arechiga kick)

Chelan(5:20) M Amsel Jr 15yd RUN (kick failed)

Chelan(2:15) C Schwartz 48yd RUN (kick failed)

Cle Elum-Roslyn (0.09) Travis Kretschman 33yd PASS fromTyler Kretschman (G Alexander kick)

Offensively the Mountain Goats worked against the Warriorsand the elements, running the ball to perfection despite the inclimateweather. Cole Schwartz ran for 163 yards on 12 (13.58 yd per carry ave.) carries, with 2 rushing TD’s. Michael Amsel Jr. rushed 18 times for 172yards (9.56 yd per carry ave.), and 3 rushing TD’s. Michael went 2 for 6 in the passingdepartment for 58 yards. Matt Petersoncarried the ball 6 times for 32 yards (5.33 yd per carry ave.), and Matt hauledin two unbelievable catches at critical times in the game for 58 yards. Konnar Stevens carried the ball once for 1yard. It was not the best traction, butas the game wore on our Mountain Goats got their snow hoofs under them and amassed368 yards on the ground. The 5 rushing TD’s was enough to outdistance the Warriors.

Defensively the Mountain Goats were absolutely outstanding,holding the Warriors great rushing attack to only 79 yards on the night. To hold the 3 great running backs from CleElum to under 100 yards in the game was the key to the victory. It forced the Warriors to have to throw theball and the defense and the weather held them to only 108 yards passing on thenight. The outstanding play by MikeyLaHaye in the middle of the defensive line with 8 tackles and 1 QB sack on thenight made it a tough go for Cle Elum. Other defensive lineman leading the way were Asa Schwartz, with 4tackles and 1 QB sack, Alex Cortez with 4 tackles and 1 QB sack, Jose Apariciowith 4 tackles, Anything that got past the line of scrimmage the linebackerstook care of finishing, with Cole Schwartz gobbling up and leading the MountainGoats with 17 tackles. Tyler Hood had 8tackles, Bobby Anderson had 5, Michael Amsel Jr. had 6 tackles, and 3 QB sacks,Matt Peterson had 6 tackles, and Billy Poppie had 2 on the night. Matt Robinson from his free safety position had6 tackles on the night, one of his best performances of the year. Konnar Stevens had 5 solo tackles and TannerHendricks had two on the night. ErickOscarson, Marco Cardona, and Kai Clausen each had one tackle in the winterwonderland of football on Friday night.

Special teams were led by Misael Arechiga driving home 3 of4 PATs in a blistering sometimes stormy weather night. Gusts in warmups sometimes made the kick into the wind seem as if it wouldn’t fly anywhere. Mike Amsel Jr. punted into the wind and hadone of his strongest kicks, with a 45 yard punt that pushed Cle Elum way back.

The Mountain Goats now turn their attention to the quarterfinal playoff match up with Royal next weekend (date and time yet to beannounced). Royal is 9-2 coming into thematchup next week and has a storied playoff history having received from theWenatchee Rotary Club the great honor of being the sports team of the 2000 –2010 decade. Chelan will have it’s handsfull, but is ready for the challenge, and is excited about being in theplayoffs again for the fourth year in a row.

All game and season stats are attached. Please call or email with any questions orcomments.

Sincerely,

Darren Talley

Darren Talley - Head Football &Ass't Track Coach Chelan H.S.
PO Box 969
Chelan, WA 98816
509.682.2444 - voice home
509.682.4424 - voice Chelan office
360.397.0407 - fax
Darren@TalleyFinancial.com

Chelan vs Cle Elm Game Stats

The Playoffs...Where They Belong

2011-11-11T10:38:00.001-08:00

We have heard it time and time again: "He doesn't rebuild; he reloads". The phrase is so over-used, so cliched, that it is virtually meaningless now, but in the case of Lummi Nation's Jim Sandusky, it is possibly more true now than it has ever been. He has a 29-man squad representing his school in the 8-man football classification, twice the number of players of his wednesday opponent Crescent High School. Playing in the 1B classification, the smallest of the small schools, he actually has more players than a number of schools in the 2B classification, and even some in the 1A classification (one of Wesco's 4A teams tried to make it through the year with only 25 players, but after a strong start, they fell victim to the numbers game and ended up with a losing record). So, we know Sandusky can recruit. And then, we found that 23 of his 29 kids were really kids, not young men. He only had 2 seniors on the team and 4 juniors. The rest were 8TH, 9TH, and 10TH-graders! What?!!! Run that by again! 23 of his 29 players were in grades 8, 9, and 10! That blows my mind.

In particular it blows my mind because I have spent the past 38 years coaching eighth and ninth-graders, and I deluded myself into thinking that this was an area that I knew a great deal about. I have had a few 9-0 seasons, but those were balanced out by the last two seasons in which we won one game. Lummi's playbook seems complicated, but at the same time these young kids seemed to run their plays to perfection. The final score of 65-20 was reached by halftime, and the "mercy rule" mercifully ended the onslaught. The idea of a final score of 130 to 40 was something that no one wanted to contemplate. From sophomore Deion Hoskins, a 240 pound, bull-strong starter at running back for three years (actually, he could line up anywhere in the backfield, at tight end, or in the slot as a receiver) to his hiccup-quick younger brother, a shorter, stocky version of himself, the Blackhawks look to be a power for years to come.

I still don't quite understand how Lummi's younger kids seem to have such high football IQ's. We have had kids who could physically compete with the ones we saw on Wednesday, but mentally and emotionally...no way. Our kids have a hard time remembering simple blocking rules (and we only give them a couple of them). Maybe the older players become de facto coaches on the field, showing the younger players what to do by setting game-day examples. Sandusky is a big believer in downfield blocks as critical components of his high-octane offense. His two seniors, Jesse Cooper and Robert Scott, put on a downfield-blocking clinic for their younger teammates when their timely blocks paved the way for the Blackhawks' first touchdown by Jared Tom. Explaining to a reporter from the Bellingham Herald, Cooper said that he looked and chose a guy to hit and "just laid him out." What he didn't say was that the guy he chose couldn't have been any bigger. He was their QB and linebacker, stood 6'3" and weighed 225 pounds, and, yes, Cooper did lay him out. It was one of the biggest hits seen on a high school football field. Scott was busy making hits of his own to help spring Tom. It may not have been as brutally pleasing,but it was effective. That, younger players, wraps up the lesson of the day, the importance of downfield blocking as demonstrated by your resident seniors.

As someone once told me, "anyone can make a simple thing complicated, but it takes a touch of genius to make complicated things simple". With his 13 years of playing experience in the CFL, his creation of the receiving glove, his winning record at Lummi, and especially his work with the Blackhawks' "Kiddie Corps", it is safe to say that Jim Sandusky has that touch of genius. Jim Olsen

2011 Crossover Playoff Game Chelan 51 – Riverside 14 11/5/1114 11/5/11

2011-11-08T13:12:00.000-08:00

The Chelan team that had such a disappointing start has shifted into high gear and is, once again, heading for the state playoffs. Here's Head Coach Darren Talley's short description of their latest game. Their next test is against Cle Elum at 7:00 p.m. Friday in Cle Elum.

A perfect sunny afternoon was the setting for the Chelan vs.Riverside (Spokanearea) football crossover playoff game. The seniors for Chelan knew it was their last time to ever play on theirhome field, which brought out emotions, and great leadership leading to greatplay by the whole team. Four years goesby so quickly. Having the crossovergame win and heading to the first round of the state 1A football playoffs, theseniors have again accomplished something that no other Chelan football teamcan say – “Four years of high school football, and four years of making it intothe 1A state playoffs”. Great jobseniors, please continue on for as many games as possible. You are a pleasure to watch in every facet ofthe game starting, with your singing of the National Anthem and finishing withyour best effort in every game.

Please email or call with additional questions orcomments. Stats for this game and thewhole season are attached. Have a greatweek.

Sincerely,

Darren Talley

Darren Talley - Head Football& Ass't Track Coach Chelan H.S.
PO Box 969
Chelan, WA 98816
509.682.2444 - voice home
509.682.4424 - voice Chelan office
360.397.0407 - fax
Darren@TalleyFinancial.com

Chelan vs Riverside Offensive Game Stats

Leather Helmets

2011-11-05T12:21:00.000-07:00

The below article, reprinted from The Los Angeles Times, is an excerpt of a longer report by the Cleveland Clinic Center for Spine Health that concluded that the old leather helmets worn by football players as late as the 1950s provide just as much or sometimes even more protection from head injuries than the new, modern headgear that is now the norm for players of all ages.

Regular readers of High School Cover 2 will recall that at the very beginning of our football playing days in the late 1950s, Jim and I wore leather helmets as freshmen. It seemed to us that there were very few concussions among our fellow competitors when we wore those bright yellow beauties. Partly, that was because back then no one much worried about concussions. They were a rite-of-passage and players were encouraged to return to the field of battle quickly after their bells were rung.

The Cleveland Clinic study was conducted in a lab where a force was delivered directly to the helmet and the results measured. That, to us, is the most interesting part of the study. When we've discussed this issue in the past, we always assumed that leather helmets helped to prevent head trauma by forcing the player to be more careful than he would be if he were wearing modern, hard-shelled headgear. This study did not measure that aspect. Still, it concluded that often-times the leather helmet protected as well, or better.

What does it all mean? We certainly don't mean to contend that football players should return to those days of yesteryear when leather helmets were in vogue. As shown below, hard shelled helmets are better at protecting against direct-force skull and spine injuries. It is obvious, however, that a lot still remains to be done if we want to protect our kids from the real possibility of concussion that modern helmets still allow. Click here if you would like to read the Cleveland Clinic study in its entirety.

Newer isn't necessarily always better, even when it comes to football helmets. A study published online Friday in the Journal of Neurosurgery finds those vintage "leatherhead" helmets may protect as well as or better than modern ones when it comes to some typical helmet-on-helmet collisions that can lead to concussions.

Let's pause for a disclaimer: The study authors don't advocate giving up today's polycarbonate helmets for those old leather-covered ones--the newer ones have resulted in a decrease in severe head and neck injuries. But they add that modern helmets may not protect as well as they could against some forces that can cause concussions.

Researchers compared impact tests on 11 commonly used modern helmets to two helmets from the early 20th century. In an injury bio-mechanics lab they re-created a number of typical impacts at 75 g-forces or less. These represented severity levels similar to 95% of the collisions that happen in high school and college games and practices.

Impact tests were done from the front, oblique front, lateral, oblique rear and rear head. In several of the tests the leather helmets protected as well as or better than the modern helmets in head impact doses and head injury risks.

Modern football helmets, the authors wrote, are designed to meet the standards of the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment . But they note that the NOCSAE's tests focus on high-impact hits that can cause catastrophic injuries, not less severe collisions.

Those milder hits can still cause concussions, which are on the rise in youth sports, according to studies. Research has also shown that cumulative concussions may up the risk of a number of health issues, including depression, sleep problems, dementia, dizziness and memory loss.

"Unlike cars, in which seat belts, airbags and crumple zones make the choice between a 1920's Model T and modern mini-van a no-brainer, these results tell us that modern helmets have ample room to improve safety against many typical game-like hits," said lead author Adam Bartsch in a news release. Bartsch is director of the Spine Research Lab in the Cleveland Clinic Center for Spine Health .
"In youth football, in which children as young as six years of age regularly incur head impacts," the authors wrote, "injury risk standards and limits on head impact doses are desperately needed to minimize short-term acute head injury risk and long-term risk due to dose accumulation."

Chelan 60 -- Cascade 0

2011-11-01T09:14:00.000-07:00

Senior night - a very fitting night for our seniors tocelebrate their accomplishments on the field and off. These seniors were freshman, when Chelan gotto the 1^st round of the playoffs for the first time in 28 years, andonly the 2^nd time in school history. As a sophomore class they took Chelan on a ride for the ages, deep intothe playoffs finishing in the semifinal game and 3^rd place inState. As a junior class they only lostto one team (twice) making it again into the playoff quarter final game and atop 8 finish in State, with a CHS best ever 10 win season. Now as seniors they are again playing at avery high level heading into the post season, with a winning mentality thatbelieves anything can happen with hard work and dedication. Congratulations to all our seniors listedbelow for being history makers. They arethe first Chelan class ever to make it into the football post season four yearsin a row. Thank you Seniors - you willbe missed and remembered forever.

CHS Seniors and years as a varsity letterman:

Jose Aparicio – 4 years

Misael Arechiga – 1 year

Marco Cardona – 3 years

Enrique Diaz – 2 years

Tyler Hood – 3 years

Jerry Isenhart –3 years

Leif Long – 4 years

Matt Peterson – 4 years

Billy Poppie – 3 years

Matt Robinson – 4 years

Cole Schwartz – 4 years

ScoringSummary

FirstQuarter

Chelan(8:58) Matt Peterson 31yd RUN (kick failed)

Chelan(7:12) Konnar Stevens 15yd PASS from Michael Amsel Jr (Cole Schwartz run)

Chelan(3:20) C Schwartz 22yd RUN (kick failed)

SecondQuarter

Chelan(9:55) M Peterson 8yd Pass from M Amsel Jr (pass failed)

Chelan(7:29) M Peterson 4yd RUN (Misael Arechiga kick)

Chelan(7:16) C Schwartz 15yd Fumble Recovery (M Arechiga kick)

Chelan(5:23) C Schwartz 9yd RUN (M Arechiga kick)

ThirdQuarter

Chelan(9:44) Billy Poppie 14yd RUN (M Arechiga kick)

FourthQuarter

Chelan(5:09) Tony Saucedo 48yd RUN (kick failed)

Offensively it was again a quick night for most of Chelan’sstarters. At the end of the firstquarter it was Chelan 20 – Cascade 0. At thehalf Chelan 47 – Cascade 0, and most of the starters for Chelan were done forthe night. A nice thing for the youngerMountain Goats, because they get a ton of varsity action, but not quite so goodfor the starters as they need the reps and time to stay in game shape headinginto the post season. Michael Amsel Jr.had 5 completions on the night for 117 yards, one TD. Senior Matt Peterson had a great nightrushing the ball 7 times for 89 yards (12.71 ave), with 2 rushing TD’s, andMatt caught 3 passes for 56 yards and one TD. Senior Cole Schwartz was again amazing. On 3 runs he scored 2 TD’s and, ifyou add that to his two carries last week each for a touchdown, Cole hascarried the ball 5 times in the last two weeks, and scored on four out of fiveof those carries. Senior Billy Poppiecarried the ball 4 times for 45 yards and his first varsity TD. Konnar Stevens carried the ball once for 12yards and caught 3 passes for 55 yards and one TD. Senior Matt Robinson caught one pass for 46yards setting us up nicely for a score from the two yard line. Senior Enrique Diaz carried the ball 3 timesfor 13 yards. Kai Clausen carried theball 3 times for 10 yards. Tony Salcedocarried the ball once for 48 yards and a touchdown. Eli Jenkins carried the ball 6 times for 6yards, and four of those were kneel downs at the end of the game. Last, but not least Senior lineman Tyler Hoodcarried the ball once for 5 yards. Another lineman who got his moment of glory playing running back in thegame was Jerry Isenhart. A small payback for all the years of openingholes for the fast guys – thank you to all our senior lineman – Jose Aparicio, Jerry Isenhart, Tyler Hood, Marco Cardona, and LeifLong.

Defensively our team played again at such a high level. Somethingwhich has become the norm for these guys. They fly to the ball on every play and their effort has been 100%. This causes all kinds of havoc in theopposing teams backfield, and pressures the opposing QB on every effort tothrow the ball. Senior Cole Schwartzplayed only the first half, but grabbed 10 tackles, and one recovered fumble,which he ran in for his 3^rd TD on the night. Senior Marco Cardona had an outstandingnight, with 7 tackles from his defensive lineman position. Asa Schwartz had 5 tackles, one intereception,and recovered one fumble. Bobby Andersonhad 6 tackles on the night. Tyler Hood,Miguel Diaz, Dillon Morrison, and Jose Aparicio all had 3 tackles on the night. Jorge Perez had 2 tackles, and caused onefumble. Konnar Stevens had one tackle, andcaused two fumbles. Senior Matt Petersonhad 2 tackles and recovered one fumble. Senior Enrique Diaz had 2 tackles, and recovered one fumble. Kai Clausen recovered a fumble. A very active night, which is exactly whatyou want out of your defensive team in every game, especially a rivalry gamelike this one.

Special teams kicker Misael Arechiga had a good nightkicking off, averaging 57 yards on each kickoff and went 4 for 7 on PATtries. It was a little wet and tough toget the ball placed down for the PATs tonight, but everyone was working hard atit. Our punter Michael Amsel Jr. wasperfect on the night, never having to punt is always a good thing.

Congrats to all the players, Seniors on down, that played attheir highest abilities on every play. Statsfor the Cascade game and the season are attached. Please email or call with any questions.

Sincerely,

Darren Talley

Chelan vs Cascade Game Stats

Chelan Season Stats

The Notre Dame Experience

2011-10-29T11:08:00.000-07:00

"Outlined against a blue-gray October sky. the Four Horsemen rode again . In dramatic lore their names are Death, Destruction, Pestilence, and Famine. But those are only aliases. Their real names are Stuhdreher, Crowly, Miller, and Layden. They formed the crest of the South Bend cyclone before which another fighting Army team was swept over the precipice at the Polo Grounds this afternoon as 55,000 spectators peered down upon the bewildering panorama spread out upon the green plain below."

These words, written by the immortal Grantland Rice in 1924, are what many have called the greatest lead-in to a story in sports-writing history. I do know that they found their way into the library of Raymond Jr. and Sr. High School in Raymond, Washington where a budding football fanatic found them. I could picture the Four Horsemen as they sat astride their mounts in full football gear, and I memorized the names: Harry Stuhdreher, Jim Crowley, Don Miller, and Elmer Layden. And, then I read everything Notre Dame related. I knew of Gus Dorais playing catch with Knute Rockne and how they brought the forward pass into football offenses. Notre Dame has always been a mythical place for me, a place of legend. And then, nearing 70, I had the opportunity to go there.

Dick and I traveled, at our own expense, to South Bend, Indiana to witness the biggest recruiting weekend in Notre Dame history. The Irish were recruiting KeiVarae Russell, Mariner High School's celebrated running back as well as three of the nation's other top running backs, and we got to tag along. We sat behind parents like Zach Banner's mother, an extremely nice young lady, and I was in the midst of extolling the many virtues of her son (whom Dick and I had interviewed for a profile on our site) when he stood halfway up and in a mock-glare (at least I pray that it was a mock glare), said, "Don't you go interviewing my Mama". We heard the head coach Brian Kelly tell the recruits that the kind of person they were looking for was the kind that loves the game of football, the kind of guy that, if the stands were empty, would play the game anyway. Since I had played semi-pro football until I was forty in mostly-empty stadiums, his words resonated with me. We had the opportunity to hear one of the assistant coaches speak of the kind of people Notre Dame wanted to attract. They wanted hard-working young men who were also school leaders. Since KeiVarae (like Lakes High School's Zach Banner) maintains a near 3.9 grade point average, and since he has been president of the junior class and the Student Body, he has more than filled that requirement. The main thing about KeiVarae, as well as Zach, is that they are so easy to like. On the ride to Notre Dame (we took the same shuttle) all he talked about was the offensive line (Martin Martinez, Derrick Meyers, Justin Blunk, Hector Ruiz, and Andrew Santos) and the amazing holes they had opened up for him and the other backs, and he spoke of QB Gabe Dye's leadership as key for their victory over Jackson the previous night. It wasn't "Me" he was talking about, it was "Us".

I took KeiVarae's picture as he stood next to the statue of the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame, and I thought back to his freshman year when I was still teaching as well as coaching. I have had the opportunity to work with other kids who had made it to D-1 schools and then into the pros. I had never seen anyone quite like him. His work ethic has been unequaled in the fifty-seven years I have been around this game. He is truly deserving of any and all good fortune that comes his way.

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Glenn Smith and I went to Edmonds Stadium yesterday after our Voyager Middle School practice, because we wanted to see what looked like a barn-burner of a game. Two undefeated teams, Meadowdale and Oak Harbor squared off in what looked like an epic battle. Our appetites were whetted when we saw the fourth quarter of the Lynnwood, Mountlakae Terrace game which was decided with Lynnwood blocking a PAT with 51 seconds remaining on the clock and preserving a 21-20 victory.

The Meadowdale/Oak Harbor contest was a test of wills, to see which one would blink first. At the end of the first half Oak Harbor was ahead, and then, in the third quarter, they punted the ball and it rolled on the Mavericks' two yard line. Unfortunately, the Wildcats were hit by a devastating penalty: this penalty moved the ball back to the point of the infraction and then the penalty mark-off...a total of 32 yards. Meadowdale got tough, really tough, and forced another punt. This time the Wildcats used an exceptional runner to line up to punt the ball. Obviously, they were hoping to catch the Mavericks out of position, and they ran the ball. Mark Stewart's teams do not play out of position. The run attempt on 4th down was snuffed out at the line of scrimmage, and Meadowdale immediately scored. They scored again and made the final score 34-17, but it was a much closer game than that. It was, indeed, the barn-burner we had come for.

At the game I found myself sitting behind a gentleman who looked vaguely familiar. When he stood up and turned around, I saw that it was Kim Wilson, a long-time football coach and administrator in the Edmonds School District. Kim's knowledge of high school football in the state is extensive and profound. That is why it was not surprising to me when he confessed his admiration for John Ondriezek, Mariner High School's head football coach. John, he said (and I am loosely paraphrasing here) does more in a difficult situation (transient student population, lack of financial resources, lack of administrative support, an inner-city school in a suburban setting) than almost any other coach in the state. I have always believed that. His teams are always competitive, and that is due to his incredible organizational skills, attention to detail, coupled with a caring nature. His players and their success are really important to him. I knew that, but it was nice to know that others could see the same thing. Jim Olsen

A Recruiting Trip to Notre Dame

2011-10-26T23:44:00.000-07:00

I’ve often wondered what it would be like to be an elitehigh school athlete and to have major universities desperately want me to comeand play for them. Unfortunately,because of a severe lack of talent, that was never going to happen to me. Last weekend, however, I was able to go alongwith a highly recruited player from this state and see first-hand how at leastone such institution treated those blessed with the requisite skills andathletic ability. That school was NotreDame, probably the most historic football power in the country and certainlythe one with the richest tradition. Imight not have been the one being courted, but it was great fun to observethose who were and live vicariously through them, even if for a short time.

To set the scene, it was Notre Dame’s first night game in 21years and it was being played against, arguably, their biggest rival, USC. This was also the one weekend that theFighting Irish had circled on their calendar as an opportune time to bring in alot of the players that they were looking at for this year and beyond. These were kids who all had double-digitoffers from other elite football schools. There were 16 players who arrived in South Bend last weekend who hadoffers from Notre Dame and another approximately 40 who were underclassmen andprime targets for next year or were high school seniors who might still get anoffer this year, depending how the numbers worked out. Finally, either the gods of Notre Dame’s pastglory or Touchdown Jesus himself decided to bestow a perfect Midwest footballweekend on the campus – one of those beautiful autumn weekends where the sun isshining brightly; the leaves are wearing their multi-colored splendor prior to fallingand there is just a hint of winter coolness in the air. In fact, because of the night game, there wasmore than a hint of winters bite in the air by the time the game’s final playhad been played.

As most football fans will already know, Notre Dame lost thegame. This, however, is not a storyabout the game. It’s about theactivities leading up to the game and about the kids who were coming to checkout Notre Dame football. If you’ve everfound yourself in South Bend, Indiana, on a home game weekend then you probablyknow how all-encompassing the game is on the city and, in particular, thecampus. The population of South Bend isa little more than 100,000. The numberof people tailgating somewhere on the campus on game day is estimated at around120,000. People come from near and farto participate. Last Saturday as Iwalked through the throng of tailgaters, I was struck by the sheer numbers ofpeople who had decided to spend such a beautiful fall day on a parking lot withfriends and family. The grills wereturning out heaps of cooked meat and other delectable looking fare and theliquid refreshments were ever present, but most noticeable was the camaraderie. Despite the many USC people moving amongthem, I saw no arguments and even several groups who welcomed the SouthernCalifornians among them and were plying them with food.

The Notre Dame stadium holds a little over 80,000. Obviously there are not enough seats for the120,000 who are tailgating and the others who were just coming for thegame. Many of the people in thoseparking lots simply pack up and go home to watch the game on their home TVs. Others stay and watch in their RV on bigscreens they’ve purchased just for such games. Another large group descends on the book storeto buy memorabilia and clothing. We weretold that the book store makes over one million dollars each home gameday. If that figure is correct,wow. Inside the stadium, fans are aspassionate as any I’ve ever observed anywhere. Their one obsession is to help root their team to victory. They’re loud and proud and let everyone know it. Special cheers and chants almost remindedme of a highly-attended soccer match.

The high school recruits weren’t there to enjoy the festivetailgating atmosphere directly, however. They were kept busy meeting various school and team representatives whoanswered questions about the curriculum and playing time and anything else thatwas on their minds. In between, theywere treated to a barbecue and given plenty of time to wander around the GuglielminoAthletics Complex (The Gug) that contained Heisman Trophy information, teamtrophies and Notre Dame legends of yesteryear as well as statues of famous NotreDame players and coaches like the Four Horsemen and Knute Rockne.

A while before game time the players, dressed in suits andties, filed into “The Gug” from buses for a pre-game meeting which was alsoattended by the recruits. Meanwhile, thethrongs of tailgaters and others who were there to watch and/or just supportthe team began lining up along the ¾ mile route that the players would walk tothe stadium, still in their suits and ties. Then, after their meeting, the players, coaches and the recruits andthose who had accompanied them there walked the corridor that by then wasthronged with thousands upon thousands of supporters, all shoutingencouragement. It was an amazingsight. As I walked along with therecruits at the back of the pack, the fans called out to them. Many knew their names and pleaded with themto sign to play with Notre Dame. High-fives and fist bumps prevailed even for the unknowns, like myself,who were walking along with them. Forkids, many who were far from home, it was quite a powerful experience. Here were thousands of strangers who obviouslyknew who they were and were strongly imploring them to come and play at NotreDame. I was ready to sign on the dottedline. Fortunately, no one offered me adotted line to sign on.

At the stadium, the players went directly to the locker roomto dress for the game and the recruits and those who had accompanied them wereled to a separate meeting room. There,Notre Dame coaches explained that they were looking for players who had greatcharacter, were good students and citizens and who were looking for afirst-rate education. Notre Dame, it waspointed out, graduated over 98% of its players. This was a focus for them. ANotre Dame scholarship, they were told, is worth $60,000 a year. At the end, Head Coach Brian Kelly appearedand gave a passionate speech about his intentions to return Notre Dame to itsonce lofty level. The meeting then brokeup and the recruits and others were allowed to go on the field before the gamewhile the players were warming up. By this time, many of the screaming fans whohad lined the marching route were now inside the stadium and the buzz waselectric. Just before the game we wereall ushered up into the stands to an area set aside for the recruits. After the game, the recruits joined theplayers in the dressing room and then accompanied their host player/s to discusswhat it was like to play for Notre Dame. It was the end of a long day that had started with a redeye flight from,in our case, Seattle and wouldn’t end until the wee small hours of the morning.

Nothaving gone on other recruiting trips, I can’t compare this trip to anyothers. Certainly, all schools havedifferent pluses and minuses. Notre Damehad many pluses and a few minuses, depending of course on what a recruit waslooking for in a school. First of all,there was the school spirit that emanated throughout the campus. The whole Rah, Rah, Sis, Boom, Bah attitudethat you might equate with Midwestern college football, at least football froma bygone era. Then there was the specialattention paid to the recruits by the football staff and the students assignedto assist. No opportunity to welcome theplayers and offer assistance was overlooked by these helpers who all seemed tohave been pulled from central casting. And, who hasn’t heard of Touchdown Jesus and the Golden Dome, famoussymbols of Notre Dame Football? Backs were slapped and hands were shaken everyfive minutes and every effort was expended to assure that the recruits enjoyedtheir trip. It was also apparent thatNotre Dame was very conscious of doing things completely above-board. There would be no recruiting violationsduring this visit. From the minute aplane touched down there was someone from Notre Dame there to walk the playerthrough the process. But, the Notre Dameexperience isn’t for everyone. It’stotal immersion in Fighting Irish football and tradition, and it is a privatereligious university that requires some basic commitments not found at allschools. It is, however, something to beexperienced, if only once. It is anexperience that I will remember for a long time. Dick Kalla

Chelan 64 vs Tonasket 0

2011-10-24T14:50:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, we predicted that Chelan would soon get back to its normal winning ways. This latest victory against Tonasket, as described below by Coach Darren Talley, proves that their early season struggles are a thing of the past and they are back as one of the powers in their league.

A great night for a Homecoming celebration on the footballfield and off for all who watched a first quarter fire works show on thegridiron. Chelan’s football team didwhat it was suppose to do in quick fashion ending the first quarter with a leadof 42 – 0 over a young Tonasket team. Homecoming King Marco Cardona, Chelan’s starting defensive tackle, playedvery well on the field and because of his warm personality was voted HomecomingKing off the field earlier in the day by the student body. Congrats to Marco Cardona and his family. He deserves such an honor. Congrats to all our starters who kept theirpositive attitude and cheered on the younger players who relished the moment. Our hat is off to Tonasket Head Coach JayHawkins for his long tenure of positive coaching attitude and style, with ayoung group of Tigers.

Scoring Summary:

First Quarter

Chelan(9:57) Cole Schwartz 24yd RUN (Misael Arechiga kick)

Chelan(8:12) Mike Amsel Jr 48yd FUMBLE RECOVERY (M Arechiga kick)

Chelan(8:03) Matt Robinson End Zone FUMBLE RECOVERY (M Arechiga kick)

Chelan(5:15) C Schwartz 22yd RUN (M Arechiga kick)

Chelan(2:19) Tanner Hendricks 27yd PASS from M Amsel Jr (M Arechiga kick)

Chelan(0:56) M Amsel Jr 75yd RUN (M Arechiga kick)

SecondQuarter

Chelan(0:57) Konnar Stevens 40yd RUN (M Arechiga kick)

ThirdQuarter

Chelan(10:48) M Amsel Jr 58yd RUN (M Arechiga kick)

Chelan (1:53) Konnar Stevens 10yd RUN (C Schwartz PASSfrom M Peterson)

Offensively it was a quick night for most of Chelan’sstarters. By deferring on the coin flip,they allowed Tonasket to choose to receive the kickoff and start the game onoffense. This minimized one offensivepossession for Chelan in the first quarter, but didn’t hold the Mountain Goatsout of the end zone as Chelan was up 21 – 0, with 8:03 left to play in thefirst quarter. At the end of the firstquarter Chelan was up 42 – 0 and Michael Amsel Jr.’s time at QB was done forthe day. Michael didn’t play a down ofoffense in the second quarter and we let him carry the ball once in our openingdrive in the third quarter as a running back and he quickly broke a 65 yardstreak for a TD. In fact Michael AmselJr. carried the ball in the first quarter once on a broken pass attempt for aTD, and the one run in the third quarter for a TD. Cole Schwartz did the same thing carrying theball twice on the night both for TD’s both in the first quarter. This was actually a nice thing, because itallowed Tanner Hendricks to come in and get significant time at QB, as well as,many other younger players from the second quarter on. In all Chelan had 15 different ball carrierson the night, and even had Tyler Hood (left guard) and Alex Cortez (righttackle) get in a couple carries for the night, which was a nice reward for allthe hard work they do in the trenches.

Defensively the line and linebackers were on the attack fromthe first play and wrecked havoc in the Tonasket backfield, causing two costlyfumbles both returned for TD’s by Michael Amsel Jr and Matt Robinson to openthe game. Everyone got in the game anddid their best to make very exciting plays. Again my compliments to our older players like Cole Schwartz, our seasontackle leader, who has been averaging over 20 tackles per game and tonight had3.

Special Teams kicker Misael Arechiga was a perfect 8 for 8on his PAT attempts, and his kickoffs were literally booted into the end zone 6out of 10 times for an automatic touchback. It’s really nice to finally have Misael kicking and running again. Misael is a first year senior player for usthis year, and we saw the power of his kicking abilities last summer and earlyin our doubles practices last fall. Hepulled his hip flexor muscle during double practices and it has been a longrecovery for him, but he is just now at 100% and able to kick and runagain. Congrats to Misael for one of themost dominant kicking displays Chelan has seen in a long time. Thank you to Coach Skip Boyd for working with all our kickers this year, and getting everyonepunting and kicking to their best ability.

Stats for the Tonasket game and for the whole season areattached. Please email or call with anyquestions.

Sincerely,

Darren Talley

Chelan vs Tonasket Game Stats

Chelan Season Stats

The positives of youth football and its association with our high schools

2011-10-20T09:55:00.000-07:00

I had an interesting discussion with a couple of men who are two of the essential movers and shakers of an extended program that is attempting to put a new and long-awaited mark on local youth football. While a few rogue programs have gone far afield in their search for "young athletes" (when you are talking about 7 to 14 year-old kids, the term is almost a contradiction). these two believe in community programs that augment the local middle schools and, of course, the high schools. John Billen of the Mariner Youth Football Program and Tony Indelicato of the Kamiak Fighting Knights Youth Football Program stopped by our house the other night to attempt to solve some of the myriad problems besetting both the community programs and those of the middle schools.

There would never have been a problem if the Mukilteo School District Administration had shown the collective brains that God gave a gunny sack. They cancelled the seventh-grade program in our middle schools, giving our kids no way to be prepared for the eighth-grade program. They felt that the community would step up and provide the teams, the training, the equipment. And, they do...for a price. Many of our our kids come from backgrounds that are challenging, to say the least. Paying for football equipment along with the requisite insurances, shoes and such can be downright daunting for parents. The schools have the equipment, and can easily add seventh-graders to compete on the same team with our eighth-graders. The district won't hear of it, because they say it might be too dangerous. They will, however, allow a slender eighth-grade girl to compete with boys who outweigh her by a hundred pounds. Do we detect an intellectual vacuum?

The defunct seventh-grade program was eliminated to save money. How much money for the district? Approximately 35,000 dollars, not as much as one of the many paper shufflers or pencil technicians sitting in the District office gathering paychecks and dust at the same time. So, we are left with the task of trying to work with our community programs and to reach an accord of some sort. The status-quo is killing both our programs. Neither has enough players. They have the allure of a longer season, playoffs, All-Star selections, and no grade point average restrictions (Both John and Tony feel that this is something they can correct). We have free equipment (and ours is better than many high schools I have seen), an experienced coaching staff, and in-school recognition for their accomplishments. It's a toss-up.

Lake Stevens is a football power in north Puget Sound and their youth football head man is Rich Bardue, who coincidentally is a graduate of Mariner High School and is an ex-player of mine in both football and basketball at Explorer Junior High in the Mukilteo District. The community program is a big reason for the High School's success, or so it seems. Other Mariner grads have contributed to Lake Stevens' winning ways. Konan (I used to call him Konan the Librarian) Giddens had at least one son playing there, and I saw Corey Dire helping out. Corey played in the East-West All-Star game the same year a skinny kid from Cheney named Steve Entman played. Corey, a QB/linebacker won the bench press competition. Anyway, I digress...that is the type of program and the type of people that has helped Lake Stevens become a Wesco powerhouse.

Meadowdale under Mark Stewart's able hand is another powerhouse which seemingly has benefited from a strong community program. Indelicato has had a hand in building that program as well. If Mariner and Kamiak can hope to emulate the successes of those two programs then we are onto something special. What both John and Tony promised is that they will take the kids in the community and coach them up. They will not raid other teams and steal the best players with promises of gifts beyond their wildest imaginations as has happened in this area by some of the sporting world's biggest losers. What these pieces of human refuse do not understand is that nobody cares about eighth-grade football games besides the kids, their parents and their coaches. The people who understand how to deal with kids know that their only job is to get eighth-graders ready to play in the ninth grade...and, hopefully, beyond. Jim Olsen

Chelan 35 – Cashmere 36

2011-10-18T23:10:00.000-07:00

Coach Talley's account of his team describes another close one for Chelan.

Game time expires with the Mountain Goats at the one-yardline in need of a score to upset the #1 ranked Cashmere Bulldogs. What a night for both teams in the “BronzeShoe” football game to help decide who will be the CTL League Champion, withjust two games remaining in league season. If you left early and didn’t see the last minute and 15 seconds offootball in the “Bronze Shoe” game you missed the most explosive part. Chelan needed a crucial first down with 4th down and1 yard to go before giving the ball back to Cashmere,with 1:15 left in the game. Cashmere was trailing 29 – 33 after the Mountain Goatsexploded for 16 points in the fourth quarter to take the lead. Cashmere did what it needed to do drivingalmost the length of the field for a quick score and the go ahead touch downputting Cashmere up 36 – 35 over Chelan. Forty seven seconds remained and now it was Chelan’s turn to move theball. Chelan moved down the field andwith 7 seconds left on the score clock and with the ball on the one yard line, 1^st andgoal with no timeouts, had to spike the ball on first down. Now second and goal from the one yard lineChelan tried to run the ball into the end zone behind a great line that had played one of their best games of the season. QB Michael Amsel Jr took the snap and ran tothe left side of the offensive line of scrimmage only to be tackled by a stiffenedCashmere defense at the one yard line, no timeleft on the clock. 3^rd and 4^thdown would have to be played over and over in all of the Mountain Goats minds,with would haves, could haves, and should haves. This was a great game between worthyopponents who left their body, minds, hearts, and souls on the field ofplay. Both teams came to play and put on ashow that will be remembered well into the future, especially by those young andold at heart that love to see a hard fought game.

ScoringSummary

FirstQuarter

Chelan(9:23) Matt Peterson 45yd PASS from Michael Amsel Jr (Jared Anderson kick)

Cashmere (908) Mahliek Roberts 90yd KICK RETURN (BrendanWagner kick)

Chelan(3:12) Cole Schwartz 2yd RUN (kick failed)

SecondQuarter

Cashmere (9:59) Joey Michael 4yd RUN (B Wagner kick)

Chelan(4:38) M Peterson 17yd PASS from M Amsel Jr (run failed)

Cashmere (2:47) Casey Ruether 25yd RUN (M Roberts run)

ThirdQuarter

Cashmere (3:05) M Roberts 8yd RUN (B Wagner kick)

FourthQuarter

Chelan(11:46) Erick Oscarson 16yd PASS from M Amsel Jr (kick failed)

Chelan(7:10) Matt Robinson 40yd PASS from M Amsel Jr (M Amsel Jr run)

Chelan(2:10) B Wagner SAFETY

Cashmere (0:47) M Roberts1yd RUN (B Wagner kick)

Final

Chelan 35 – Cashmere 36

Offensively for Chelan everyone played their hearts outcoming up with big plays all night long. Making the hard runs and the hard catches, when they were mostneeded. Chelan’s QB Michael Amsel Jr hada day to remember, completing 13 of 21 passing attempts for 217 yards and fourTD’s. Michael ran the ball 21 times for 105 yards rushing, and one twopoint conversion after a touchdown. Matt Robinson had 7 receptions for 106 yardsand one TD. Erick Oscarson had onereception for 15 yards and a TD. MattPeterson carried the ball 4 times for 17 yards, and caught 4 passes for 89yards and two TD’s. Cole Schwartzcarried the ball 17 times for 81 yards and one rushing TD. Billy Poppie carried the ball 3 times for 6yards rushing, and caught one pass for 7 yards on the night.

Defensively for Chelan, our players again had one of theirbest nights of the year. Holding thehigh powered Cashmere Bulldogs in check for most of the night. Chelan’s Cole Schwartz led all tacklers with21 tackles, an amazing night for Cole again. Keeping up with big brother was Asa Schwartz with 11 tackles. Tyler Hood had 11 tackles. Bobby Anderson had 7 tackles. Michael LaHaye had 6 tackles from his defensiveline position. Michael Amsel Jr had 6tackles, and one caused fumble. MattRobinson had one of his best defensive nights of the year, with 5 tackles andone fumble recovery. Alex Cortez had 4tackles. Matt Peterson had 3tackles. Jose Aparicio had 3tackles. Marco Cardona had 3tackles. Konnar Stevens had 2tackles. Billy Poppie had 1 tackle andJerry Isenhart had 1 tackle.

Special teams did not have their best night of the year, andCoach Talley will take the blame for not having them ready. Special team play is complicated and takestime to develop, and we did not give them enough time in practice. That won’t happen again.

Please email or call with further questions.

Sincerely,

Darren Talley

Darren Talley - Head Football& Ass't Track Coach Chelan H.S.
PO Box 969
Chelan, WA 98816
509.682.2444 - voice home
509.682.4424 - voice Chelan office
360.397.0407 - fax
Darren@TalleyFinancial.com

Chelan vs Cashmere Stats

Chelan Season Stats

A Recruiting Enigma - Why Lakes?

2011-10-16T12:48:00.000-07:00

Once in a while in life we run into something that is hard to explain. Here on High School Cover 2, where we like to think that we know a lot about high school football, that still happens from time to time and, when it does, we sometimes like to do a "think-piece" to try to discover what causes a particular abnormality or at least something we see as an oddity.

One thing that we thought we knew was that lately, in this state, Lakes High School has sent more players to FBS schools than any other school. It seems that every year they have at least a couple of big time athletes who are highly recruited and ranked near the top by scouting services. Why was this happening we wondered? Lakes didn't quite fit into our comfortable demographic of teams that continually sends recruits to D1 programs.

Sure, they had great coaching. We have seen that first hand. Head Coach Dave Miller is one of the most respected coaches in this state. He is also one of the smartest and most dedicated men we know and his staff is first-rate. But, there are other great coaches working at similar locations who don't continually produce players who are sought by big time colleges and universities. What makes Lakes special?

Along with the positives of coaching, Lakes has some things that usually work against a school. It's not the only school in town. The feeder schools, i.e. middle schools, don't always run the same system and the city of Lakewood is not a particularly wealthy community. There are a few other schools in Washington that continually send kids on to play at FBS schools. These include Bellevue, Skyline, O'Dea and Ranier Beach, but it's a little easier to pinpoint why this happens at these places. In Bellevue, for instance, Coach Goncharoff has been running that Wing T offense to perfection for many years and all the schools feeding into his program do the same. Consequently, by the time a kid gets to Bellevue, he already knows the offense and it runs flawlessly. This means that Bellevue is always in the hunt for a state title which in turn means his kids get noticed. Skyline, sits in a wealthy neighborhood and it's players benefit from being able to afford skill camps that often give them a leg-up on the competition. O'Dea, on the other hand, is a private school and has the opportunity to recruit athletes to its program.

Certainly there are different forces at work here than just those listed above; all these schools have excellent coaching and great community support, for example. These examples are meant to be just thumbnail snapshots of why we think these programs turn out so many excellent players that continue to go on to play elsewhere.

To try to get to the bottom of our quandary, we questioned Coach Miller to see if he could explain Lake's phenomenal success in turning out great players. He told us he thought it was a very complex issue that couldn't be explained without deep discussion, but he did offer the following: "I think most of the schools that are successful year in and year out do a great job of developing their players. This comes from having a great coaching staff and a great off season strength training program." A great response and one that would work for most successful teams but, at least in our minds, didn't really answer our underlying question: Why Lakes?

I should say here that the whole time in this exercise we had a possible answer that we felt good about. To us, it seemed the primary variable between Lakes and other similar schools. Their student body has an inordinate number of military kids whose parents are stationed at nearby Joint Base Lewis-McCord. We felt, at a minimum, that the offspring of career servicemen would probably be more disciplined, a trait we feel is important if a player is going to reach his ultimate potential. When we queried Coach Miller about this, he told us that it was both a plus and a minus. Many of his players have come from military families, but many times their families get transferred before they graduate or one or both of their parents get deployed causing stress. Still, we continue to believe that the military community is why Lakes turns out more D-1 football players than any other school.

So, what do you think? Why does Lakes lead the state in turning out football players who then commit to FBS schools? Our solution was the military theory, but maybe you have another idea.

When researching for this article, I took a look at the past 10 years and counted all the players who committed to FBS schools from this state. As we had surmised, Lakes did have the most players, but it was a little closer than we thought. Here in order are the schools that lead the list: Lakes-13, O'Dea-12, Bellevue-10, Skyline-8 and Ranier Beach-7. It should be stressed that this survey is by no way official and it doesn't distinguish between schools like USC or Idaho, both FBS schools, but not equal in stature. Nor does it account for players who were accepted and signed with a program, but never played because of grades, injuries and other factors.

Finally, for those stat people out there who might be interested, here is a list of the numbers of Washington State high school players who committed to FBS schools each year for the past ten years: 2002-24, 2003-25, 2004-36 (the most), 2005-32, 2006-28, 2007-26, 2008-30, 2009-19 (the fewest), 2010-33 and 2011-28. Dick Kalla

Chelan 35 – Omak 10

2011-10-09T23:02:00.000-07:00

Here's Chelan Coach Darren Talley's weekly accounting of his team's game.

Friday night high school football at it’s best. Two good teams coming together on a beautifulfall night under the lights giving their all in a football contest. Over the years this game has become one toremember. Both teams play greatfootball, and both teams bring everything they have to the table. This game was no different, with Omakbringing one of the biggest and best running backs in the state to Chelan onFriday night. Chelan’s defense knew ithad to step up to compete and try to hold the powerful Omak running gamedown. We knew we wouldn’t be able tostop Omak’s Dylan Green, just limit him as much as possible. Our Mountain Goat defense did everything weasked of them on this night. CoachTalley and Coach Snyder are calling this one of the best defensive efforts theyhave seen by any Chelan team since 2006 the season they started coaching inChelan.

Offensively ball control and accurate timely passing was thekey to this win. Our line of scrimmageblocked their tails off against a very good Omak defensive line. It was a tough battle all night long and ourbig boys brought their lunch and dinner to work today. The Chelan running backs – Cole Schwartz (15carries for 115 yards), Matt Peterson (11 carries for 51 yards), Konnar Stevens(4 carries for 25 yards), Billy Poppie (3 carries for 27 yards) ran hardhitting the holes and not going down on first contact. Our running backs know how hard our offensiveline is blocking for them and take it upon themselves to sell out to geteverything they can out of every play cutting, twisting, jumping, and grindingdown the field for every inch. MichaelAmsel Jr was stellar tonight with his touch and his decision making skills atQB leading our team on some long drives racking up 19 first downs on the night,going 8 for 10 in the passing department. The wide receivers blocked well downfield and when the ball came theirway made outstanding critical catches for our team. Erick Oscarson had a big night (3 catches for15 yards), Matt Robinson (1 for 9 yards), and Matt Peterson (4 catches for 87 yards). Overall it was the type of offensive nightthat we had to have against a good team like Omak.

Our defense played their best tonight. We asked them to step up and play thedefensive line of scrimmage. Marco Cardona (7 tackles), Michael LaHaye (7 tackles),Asa Schwartz (8 tackles and 1 fumble recovery), Jerry Isenhart (5 tackles, 1 QBball knock down), Jose Apariciao (4 tackles), and Alex Cortez (7 tackles) tookthe challenge and played a near perfect night. Behind them were hungry linebackers racing each other to get to thetackle first, with Cole Schwartz (21 tackles and 1 caused fumble), BobbyAnderson (8 tackles), Tyler Hood (6 tackles), Matt Peterson (7 tackles), BillyPoppie (1 tackle), and Michael Amsel Jr (5 tackles, 2 QB sacks, and 1 blockedpunt). Our defensive backs had a greatnight keeping all but one pass for Omak’s lone TD in front of them tonight. Matt Robinson has taken the leadership rolewith sophomore Tanner Hendricks at one corner and sophomore Konnar Stevens atthe other corner. Tonight Konnar Stevens(11 tackles, 1 interception) was pressured by Omak QB – Aguilar who along withwide receiver Cody Thorp went after Konnar with a long throw down the sidelinefor a TD. Konnar kept his composure andanswered right back the next time on the same pass play by intercepting it andreturning the ball for a big gain.

Special team’s kicker Jared Anderson was a perfect 5 for 5on PAT attempts tonight. Jared isbecoming more and more accurate each game. Doing a great job hiking our PAT/FG/Punt long snaps is AsaSchwartz. Asa is a great long snapperthat we count on so much in everything we ask him to do. Matt Peterson is perfect as our PAT/FG holderand gives our kicking game a lot of confidence in his leadership.

Friday night was a great night for football. This next week we step into #1 in stateranked Cashmere Bulldog territory on Friday night at 7:00pm at theirplace. Cashmere has been a tough placefor visiting teams since “Tiny” fired his cannon after every touchdown startingback in the 1960’s, and great Head Coach Jack Collins built a program thatwould last for ages, with his sons Keith Collins (WSU track), Ken Collins (WSUFootball), and Ron Collins (WSU Football) all having college bound careersunder their Dad’s tutelage. The ChelanMountain Goats will show up and give their all in a CTL League defining contestfor supremacy at the mid point of the league season. Hope to see you their supporting our team.

This is the “Bronze Shoe” game and it means so much for ourpast Head Coach Bill Lippincott and his wife Joyce, along with their son Markand family who live here in Chelan. Itmeans a lot to present Coach Darren Talley, because he grew up with his Dad DelTalley as the Head Coach of Okanogan High School with arch rival Cashmere,when Jack Collins was their coach. Darren and middle son Ken Collins were both recruited to WSU by JimWalden the same year. In fact Darren andKen were roommates together at the All State Football game. The game means so much to Chelan DefensiveCoordinator Nick Snyder from Port Townsend. Nick was part of the Port Townsend football team and during hissophomore and junior year was knocked out of the State Playoffs by Coach Collins(youngest son) Ron Collins and Cashmere High School. Nick Snyder started his college playing daysat Wenatchee Valley Community Collegeand one of his teammates and good friends is the current CashmereSuperintendent Glenn Johnson. Glenn Johnsonwas a former principal of Chelan High School who graduated from Cashmere HS and Glenn’sDad was the superintendent of Cashmere School District. Oh yah, Glenn was also on the Cashmere HSteam that knocked Nick Snyder’s Port Townsend team out of the playoffs. This is a small world after all and it justmakes this game more fun for all concerned.

Our stats for the Omak game are attached. Email or call anytime with questions.

Sincerely,

Darren Talley

Chelan vs Omak Stats

Lummi and the Class of Sandusky

2011-10-05T18:53:00.000-07:00

In this post, Jim previews last week's Lummi game that he attended. Lummi is the number one rated team in 1B again this year and they are undefeated and off to a terrific start.

There are a lot of ways to keep a football score respectable if it looks that you are going to be on the winning side in a blowout. Lummi's Jim Sandusky is a master of doing just that. His kids quickly scored three TDs in the first quarter before judicious substitutions were made in the Blackhawks' game against the fledgling Tulalip Heritage team. Since this is Tulalip's first year with a team, they were in no way able to line up against the defending state champions. However, they were able to score four touchdowns (two on kick returns) against Lummi's quick, fast, and tough players, which should give all Tularemia football players hope for the team's future. Lummi led before halftime 47-7 and then turned down the heat. If they had scored again, the "mercy rule" would have been initiated and the game called. In the second half, Lummi's younger kids were able to garner some valuable playing time and game experience while Tulalip was able to give its players needed game experience and a modicum of self-respect.

Sandusky has been called a "mad scientist" of 8-man football, according to one newspaper. He was also said to have something like 26 different formations that his kids run out of. I know that in one game he used 13 running backs. His kids use arm bands the players read when he sends in a play before coming up to the line of scrimmage. Each player knows his assignment. Every backfield member can play every position, including quarterback. He was chosen to coach in the Jim Thorpe Native All-Star Football Game at North Texas University in Dallas, Texas. He was able to take six member of his squad with him.

Could his magic work at a higher level? I really do not see why not. He was a successful receiver in college, leading the nation in receiving his junior year. When a run-oriented coach took over in his senior year, he sat out a year and enrolled at the pass-oriented San Diego State University. Hr was then selected to play in the Hula Bowl in Honolulu. He understands the passing and perhaps the wide-open game better than almost any coach anywhere. Playing in the Canadian Football League, which is renowned for its multiple sets, multiple motion, and is a passer/receivers paradise, for twelve years, he absorbed more information than most coaches are privy to in a lifetime.

The word "genius" is bandied about in athletics whenever a football player is heard using a word of three of more syllables. With Jim Sandusky, it is never out of the discussion. After all, this is the guy who first brought receiving gloves into vogue. In Edmonton he needed to combat the extreme cold, so he tried experimenting with different gloves he would buy at stores, take them home and re-design them with his wife doing the sewing. It was an idea that he eventually sold to Nike and the rest is, as they say, history. Having taught a gifted class for a few years, I think that I understand that type of mind, so if not a genius, he is definitely extremely gifted.

He is also blessed (or cursed) with a work ethic that affords him no more than four hours sleep a night during the season. That work ethic is largely responsible for his teams' success throughout the years. The incredible support he gets from perhaps the top principal in the state Heather Leighton is also responsible. This was supposed to be a building year, but Jim Sandusky just took time to reload and is on his way to State again. All variables considered, I think that he is one of the top coaches in the State of Washington, maybe the very best.

(I wrote this whole thing without once mentioning the name of sophomore running back Deion Hoskins who reminds me of Charley (The Human Bowling Ball) Tolar of the old Houston Oilers and who scored virtually every time he carried the ball and who will set rushing records that will never broken and who could star at virtually any level, so I'll let someone else do it. Jim Olsen

Chelan 48 – Okanogan 7

2011-10-03T21:38:00.000-07:00

As we predicted a couple of weeks ago, Chelan Coach Darren Talley has his team clicking again on all cylinders.

The opening of CTL League play and the intensity was up inthe NCW. The weather in Okanoganwas perfect on Friday night, with nice temperatures for late September and nowind.

Okanogan came into the game4-0, with a fierce throwing attack in their first four games, balanced withruns here and there. Chelan’s plan wasto try to hold that passing game in check and rally to the ball. The Goats did just that in convincing fashiongrabbing three interceptions and forcing and recoverying three fumbles on thenight holding Okanogan scoreless until givingup 7 in the fourth quarter. Offensivelythe Mountain Goats were able to move the ball scoring 14 points in the first,15 points in the second, 12 in the third quarter, and 7 in the fourth quarter.

Offensively for Chelan Michael Amsel Jr had an outstandingnight passing the ball for 265 yards and 3 TD’s, and running the ball 12 timesfor 134 yards and 2 TD’s. Mike had oneof those nights that you remember for a long time. Matt Peterson was on the receiving end of 5of those throws making some acrobatic catches on his way to one TD and 160yards of receiving, and he ran 3 times for another 8 yards. Konnar Stevens a sophomore who’s grown upquickly caught 3 receptions for 52 yards and one TD. Erick Oscarson caught one reception for 20yards and six points. Matt Robinsoncaught an absolutely needed 33 yard reception for a critical first down to roundout the night. Cole Schwartz pounded theball 11 times for 87 yards and one TD on the night. Enrique Diaz came into the game andimmediately ran the ball once for 60 yards and a TD. Bobby Anderson carried the ball 2 times for17 yards, and Mykey Flowers carried it once for 3 yards.

Defensively the Mountain Goats came ready to compete againstone of the CTL’s best QB’s, 6’5 Joe Townsend who comes from a rich footballfamily heritage. Joe’s mother’s maidenname is Derting. The Goats did theirbest to hold Okanogan’s feet to the fire and dida fine job holding them scoreless for 3 quarters. Not an easy thing to do. Compliments go out to defensive coordinatorNick Snyder for putting together a great defensive plan for our athletes toexecute. Defensive line play wasoutstanding by Marco Cardona with 8 tackles, Asa Schwartz one QB sack and Asaand Alex Cortez each with 5 tackles. Jerry Isenhart on the D line had 2 tackles. Linebackers were led by Cole Schwartz with 14tackles, Matt Peterson with 10 tackles a forced fumble, and a fumblerecovery. Bobby Anderson at his insidelinebacker position had 6 tackles, and Michael Amsel Jr from his outsidelinebacker position had 6. Sophomorestarting defensive backs Tanner Hendricks (3 tackles) and Konnar Stevens (4tackles) did a great job learning a new coverage, with Konnar grabbing oneinterception, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery on the night. Matt Robinson (1 tackle) and Erick Oscarson(2 tackles) rounded out the defensive back play, with one interception each. JJ Perez also got in on the defensive actionwith a fumble recovery. A great nightaltogether for the fired up Mountain Goats.

Thank you to all the fans that made the trip to Okanogan and filled the stands. It is greatly appreciated. Next Friday night, Oct. 7^th, theOmak Pioneers come to Chelan. Omak whoplaced 3^rd in State last year started their league season off wellwith a convincing win 48 – 24 over the Cascade Kodiaks. Game time is set for 7:00pm.

Stats are attached. Please email or call anytime for further clarification.

Sincerely,

Darren Talley

Darren Talley - Head Football& Ass't Track Coach Chelan H.S.
PO Box 969
Chelan, WA 98816
509.682.2444 - voice home
509.682.4424 - voice Chelan office
360.397.0407 - fax

Chelan vs Okanogan Stats

Chelan Season Stats

Although Rare, Sportsmanship Is Still With Us

2011-09-30T14:36:00.000-07:00

I am nearing the beginning of my seventh decade on this earth, and I have recently witnessed a trend that is new and disturbing, to say the least. This trend has to do with parents and fans and their over-involvement in what used to be joyous, beautiful, and even, at times, awe-inspiring...high school athletics The first incident boggles the mind. A coach, one that we have profiled on our site, a spiritual man, a man whose character, integrity, and moral fiber are above reproach, fell victim to a vicious attack during track season. A parent, angry over the order of the runners in the girl's 4X100 relay team, head-butted him in the face loosening his teeth and splitting his lip. Over a relay team? What neanderthal would do something like that? The coach, who played football in college and has developed a consistently winning program in his school, handled the situation with the same class that has marked his coaching and his community involvement.

The second incident involves a good friend who is a also good man, a good teacher, a role model, and a hall-of fame caliber coach. During his last game, a mother brayed, donkey-like, long and loud about the coaches and the need for them to quit or be fired. The coach's team was ahead in the game, losing only in the last twenty seconds with the distractions a possible cause. The mother's son is the senior player, and he is a good high school athlete. He is, however, not an elite athlete, as the mother would want him to be. Could he play in college? No. Not a chance. There is a possibility that he could play safety in a small school. He can hit like a ton of bricks, and above all, he is a great kid. However, the constant yelling at the coaches, at other players on the team, and seemingly at the football gods in general, have made him so nervous that he cannot perform at the level he is capable of. Her husband even threatened one of our players, a grown man threatening a 17 year-old kid. Smooth move, buddy. Most of the poison that drips off her tongue, though, is directed at the coaching staff which boasts a combined 100 plus years of coaching experience. Being on the Board of a community football program does not give a person the background to question the coaching of anyone. She doesn't know the game.

There are so many variables that go into winning and losing a football game (fumbled snap, jumping offside, motion penalties, holding, missed blocking assignments, the QB calling the wrong play or not completing comparatively easy passes,) that to place the blame entirely on the coaching staff shows astounding ignorance of the game of football. Screaming loudly about it shows ignorance of basic civility (that which distinguishes humans from animals) and, of course, sportsmanship.

The third incident was closer to home. Last Friday our high school varsity had a game at 5:00 at Edmonds Stadium. This is my second (and last) year of trying to resuscitate a moribund program at Voyager Middle School. Our practice ordinarily ends at 5:00, but we thought that a number of our kids would want to go to the varsity game, so we told them that the practice would be over at 4:30. One of our players came up to me at 3:15 and said that he had to go home and do his homework, so he couldn't practice. I told him that it was the weekend and he had 64 hours to do his homework. Why did he have to do it now? No answer. He just turned around and walked out. When I saw the kid at the Varsity game in Edmonds I thanked him. What for? He had been campaigning for me to switch him from corner to safety on defense and even tried to enlist the aid of one of our assistants in his quest. I said that we needed his tackling skills at the left corner. Most middle schools are right-handed. That is, the majority of the plays are run to the right. He could come up and make his tackles on or near the line of scrimmage. He was that good. However, at barely five feet tall, if the other team wanted to pass, there was little he could do about (our safety now is 6'3" and not exceptionally fast, but neither was the shorter guy. He was unhappy on a daily basis. I finally told him that I wanted to thank him because he and three or four others who quit at the same time made my decision about coaching next year much easier. I would never coach again. The next Monday he came into the locker room and handed me his gear and said that his dad told him he had to quit.

And just when all things sportsmanship-related appeared bleakest, we had our first football game. We lost to Einstein of the Shoreline School District 28-6, but I had a chance to see football in one of ts finest moments. We do not have a seventh-grade program, although surrounding districts do. That means that when a game starts and we are playing another district, we are the one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest. Three-quarters of our kids had never played football before. We kicked off, and a giant started to run it back. Our kids froze, almost in mid-stride. They watched as the biggest, fastest middle-school running back (6'1", 198 pounds and the fastest kid in school) any of us had ever seen took it to the house without having a glove laid on him. He crossed the goal line, and it looked as though our kids had never moved. He scored twice more and the first half score was 21-0. The Einstein coach took out his starting offense after that, and in the third quarter we started moving the ball against mainly their starters on defense. We reached the one-yard line once, and then we drove the length of the field and scored. Our kids were elated. That coach gave them their self-esteem back. We had to work for our touchdown; it wasn't a gimme. His kid scored every time he touched the ball. The only thing that would have stopped him would have been pure exhaustion. At practice the next day our kids were all present and brimming with confidence. They felt that they were on the way to understanding this game. I called the school and tried to get the coach's name, but the office never returned my call. It's too bad because that coach is one heck of a man. Jim Olsen

Breakthrough in Concussion Monitoring

2011-09-27T15:09:00.000-07:00

   Each year, more than 250,000 kids suffer concussions while playing high school football. 250,000! It's not just football players who have concussions, however. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that there are more than 3,800,000 sports brain injuries every year. Those are unbelievable statistics. But, what does it really mean? In football it means that at least 250,000 high school players per year are struck on the head hard enough that their brain hits the side of their skull causing temporary or even permanent damage. The severity of the damage depends upon where and how hard the brain strikes and various other factors. It is well known that concussions are cumulative and, though one mild concussion will probably do little or no permanent damage, future concussive hits to the brain will add up and lead, in many cases, to permanent brain impairment and even death.

   Concussions go by many names. Sports Brain Injuries (SBI) is commonly used as is Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI) -- sounds like a contradiction in terms doesn't it? But what they all have in common is they are injuries to our brain that require immediate attention. Washington State has been a leader in trying to come to grips with this serious problem. In 2006, Zackery Lystedt, a middle school student, suffered a serious head trauma during a game that was not properly diagnosed and he was allowed to return to the game. What resulted was permanent damage and a long hospital stay. What sprung from that tragic event was the Lystedt Law, a ruling in 2009 that decreed that all athletes under the age of 18 who are expected of having suffered a concussion must immediately leave the game and can not return until they have written medical clearance from a licensed health-care provider that specializes in the evaluation and treatment of concussions.

Gone are the days when head trauma wasn't well understood. No longer are players urged to shake it off and return to the game. The Lystedt Law has taken this decision away from the coach and the player. As important as this step is, there is still a problem. For most, football is a macho sport. Big hits are encouraged and when they happen they are to be celebrated. Some of these hits cause small concussions that go unnoticed by coaches and officials. Inadvertent hits to the head often take place when a knee or some other hard object strikes a players helmet in a pileup or when a player is knocked forcefully backward causing his helmet to strike the ground. When these events happen, players might feel a little light headed, but they will often hide their symptoms from their coaches and trainers. Who, after all, wants to be seen as choosing to come out of a game without a little blood showing?

    Back in the day when concussions were thought to be mere nuisances, few people worried about their long term effect. Unfortunately, a preponderance of evidence has now shown that anyone who suffers a severe concussion or a series of lesser concussions has a good chance of diminished faculties in later life. Loss of short term memory, balance issues, visual disturbances, seizures and a feeling of depression are just some of the side effects of severe or repeated concussions. Still, the game continues to flourish. Kids are mesmerized by the big hits that they see on their TV screens from pro or college players. But, as more and more is publicized about the possible dangers of head trauma, parents are starting to wonder if having their kids play the game is the right thing to do. It's too early to say that the game is in danger of running out of players willing or allowed to play, but in this increasingly PC and risk-aversive society, can that day be far behind?

   One solution to this problem, of course, is to design better equipment that will help shield our kids from the dangers of concussion. Improved helmets are one answer, though certainly not the only one. If fact, it is often thought that returning back to the days of leather helmets that necessitated that wearers be much more careful and never think of their helmet as a weapon might be one answer. While we wouldn't go this far -- even though in our first year of football Jim and I actually played wearing leather helmets -- we do applaud those who are working on the problem. Many studies are currently being undertaken that show just what happens to the brain when the head is struck. There is also a local company (once again Washington State takes the lead) that is taking another tact.

   X2IMPACT, based in Seattle, has developed what they call "head impact monitoring systems," a mouthpiece for football and a head band for other sports that, for a low cost, provides real time information about the severity of hits to the head and instantly informs coaches, trainers, etc., that an event has taken place with a player that necessitates removal of the player from the game for further evaluation. In our minds, this is a monumental invention, one that removes all the guess work and dependence upon players to inform others that their "bell-has-been-rung." Though the cost of these devices is relatively low, there is often worry that when new developments emerge, only the teams from large, rich schools will be able to afford to implement them. X2 has taken this into account and has vowed to deliver their equipment at a price-point accessible to high schools, youth groups and NCAA programs. This effort has included speaking with businesses and others willing to offer funding assistance. X2's new equipment is now available in a limited, pre-production basis. Market launch, they say, is due for 2012. We feel this is a wonderful example of the continuing efforts to help limit the dangerous and damaging effects of concussion. From personal experience we know full-well the importance of avoiding brain injuries and our fervent hope is that X2's invention will help lessen the dangers concussions can cause, including those in later life. Dick Kalla

Chelan 35 – Foster 7

2011-09-26T14:07:00.000-07:00

Below is Chelan Coach Darren Talley's report on his team's latest game. As we predicted, the Mountain Goats are back on the winning track. It is very interesting and enlightening to read his glowing praise for Foster Coach Jim Sutrick. For us, it's just another instance of the class and integrity of men who are coaching the youth of this state. All coaches are encouraged to send us your stories or game summaries for inclusion on both of our blogs.

A nice thing happened today as we prepared to drive to Foster High School in Tukwila (right by SeaTac Airport). The Foster Head Football Coach Jim Sutrick sent an email with exacting bus directions on finding Foster High School down to which school entrance to turn into and where to park the bus. Once the bus actually arrived we were met by an assistant coach who then showed our boys the locker room and from the locker room how to march out to the playing field. Some of this is done at many schools when a new team shows up for the first time, but this isn’t the end of the story. The assistant coach explained that Foster High School is the most diverse high school in the United States with over 40 nationalities and speaking 64 languages. Tukwila is an inner city area and the town and region around Foster High School has made it their business to be a refugee sanctuary for the whole world. They have made it their business to help the hurting and it pervades everything they do. Coach Sutrick made a point of introducing himself before the game and explaining they do things a little different and emphasize sportsmanship before and after a football game. At 10 minutes prior to the game each team lined up across the football field on the 40 yard line and sang the Star Spangled Banner. At the conclusion of our National Anthem each team came together and shook hands, including coaches. Announcements were made of the starters on each team and then the game began. A very clean game, with few penalties played out for four quarters and the usual lineup to wish players and coaches ensued across the field, with the most different feeling – true words were spoken between teams and coaches, with Foster's head coach reminding our team to stay out for just a minute on the 50 yard line as the Foster team win or lose went to sing their school fight song to their family and fans. At the conclusion of their school song all of the coaches and players came back to the 50 yard line and took a knee facing our team. Chelan followed their lead and took a knee facing back eye to eye as Coach Sutrick from Foster praised our teams play and sportsmanship, thanked us for driving so far to play this game, and wished us well. Coach Sutrick then opened a giant box and explained that their team and booster club had made each of our players a goodie bag filled with snacks for the road. Coach Sutrick then pulled out an envelope and said that their team and booster club wanted to give us a small token of their appreciation for coming over to play them, and presented our team with $200.00. I have been around football my whole life as the son of a head football coach, as a high school athlete, and as a college football player. I have never witnessed anything like what happened at this football game before and it touched our hearts in a way that is so uncommon in the hurried world we all work and live in, but it was real and it showed what can happen, when you have a mission and a calling to make our world a better place. Thank you Foster High School and Coach Sutrick for stepping out and taking the lead in real and true sportsmanship.

The 2A Foster Bulldogs were one of the most athletic teams Chelan has ever played. Foster coming off a 2A top 8 finish last year had an important win over Clover Park earlier this season. Chelan took the opening kickoff and worked it down the field against a fast Foster defense. Matt Peterson received a 19 yard pass from Michael Amsel Jr for the first points of the game. Jared Anderson added the PAT kick making it 7 – 0, with 7:25 left in the first quarter. Cole Schwartz was next on the board with a 3-yard plunge, with 5:50 left in the first quarter. Jared Anderson’s PAT was good making the score 14-0. Another quick strike from Michael Amsel Jr to Matt Robinson a 45 yard reception, with 3:05 left in the first quarter. Jared Anderson's kick was good. Score 21-0. Late in the second quarter with 1:56 left to play in the half saw the second reception of the night to Matt Peterson from Michael Amsel Jr; a 62 yard throw and catch to pay dirt. Jared Anderson was a perfect 4 for 4 on extra point kicks and the halftime score was 28-0. The third quarter saw lots of back and forth jockeying for field position between the two teams. Michael Amsel Jr finally broke the second half deadlock with a 16 yard scamper for a TD, with Jared Anderson tacking on the extra point try. Score 35 – 0. In the middle of the fourth quarter Foster wide receiver Gabe Gutierrez scored on a 20 yard pass from QB Ian Buckmaster, with 6:33 left to play in the game. Gabe Gutierrez's PAT kick was good, making the final score of the night 35-7.

The defensive effort of middle linebackers Cole Schwartz with 21 tackles, followed by Bobby Anderson with 12, really held a potent Foster running game in check as much as possible. Foster’s talent could not be stopped only slowed down. Asa Schwartz, from his defensive end position, added 10 tackles on the night and Matt Peterson playing strong safety added 10 tackles and one ball knock down. Michael Amsel Jr added 8 tackles, 1 ball knock down, 1 forced fumble, 2 QB hurries, and one key blocked punt in the first quarter setting up the second Chelan TD of the game. Marco Cardona from his defensive interior line position had his best game of the year, with 6 tackles and 1 QB sack. Alex Cortez had his best game of the year from his defensive end position with 6 tackles and 1 QB hurry. Jose Aparicio had 5 tackles and 1 QB sack and caused a lot of problems from his defensive line position. Matt Robinson had a great night with 2 tackles, 2 ball knock downs, and 2 interceptions on the night. Dillon Morrison had one tackle and freshman Eli Jenkins had one tackle. Erick Oscarson had 3 ball knock downs, and Tanner Hendricks had one ball knock down. Over all a great defensive effort from start to finish.

This is one of those games that our players will remember forever, because of the way we were treated from the beginning of the game to the very end. Foster High School and Head Coach Sutrick's classiness was a model for all other programs. The genuiness of Foster Coaches and Players and the sportsmanship shown was something we had never seen on that level before. It will certainly impact our hearts and minds and hopefully change us all forever.

If you have any further questions or comments please contact Coach Darren Talley.

Sincerely,

Darren Talley

Darren Talley - Head Football & Ass't Track Coach Chelan H.S.
PO Box 969
Chelan, WA 98816
509.682.2444 - voice home
509.682.4424 - voice Chelan office
360.397.0407 - faxDarren@TalleyFinancial.com

Chelan vs Foster Game Stats

Hope Springs Eternal

2011-09-21T15:56:00.001-07:00

One of the real pleasures of writing thisblog the last few years has been the opportunity to speak with head coacheswhen we do one of our coach interviews. Almost to a man they are passionate about their teams and theirplayers. They exude confidence; and weoften come away from one of these sessions energized, thinking how lucky thekids in their program are to be playing for these fine men who have given somuch. High School Cover 2 is a two-man operation. We receive no pay for the work we do on ourblog. For us it is a labor of love. With our limited resources it is impossiblefor us to watch or cover each of the teams coached by those we haveinterviewed. In most cases, we followthem from afar

We do, however, periodically take a brief peekto see how those teams are faring. Sincewe are about at the quarter pole of the regular season, here’s a brief synopsisof how each team is doing to date. Forthose teams who have started fast, there’s still a lot of work to do. For those who have had a bad beginning,there’s still time to turn things around. We have listed the teams alphabetically.

Adna - 2-0 - Coach K.C. Johnson has his Pirates humming like a well-oiled machineafter two impressive wins to start the season. As always the Pirates will be a force when the playoffs begin. Since appointing Coach Johnson as head coach,Adna has consistently been one of the strongest squads in the 2BSouthwest. They are currently rankednumber 4 in Washington State.

Bellingham - 1-3 - DougTrainer’s Red Raider squad started the season with hope and a victory. They were a pre-season sleeper pick in thetough Northwest League. After twoconsecutive losses, one to mighty Lynden, some of the luster has rubbed off andtheir next contest will be key in their quest to get to the post-season.

Bothell - 1-2 - For us, this has been one of the surprises of the early going. Bothell started out with an impressive winagainst always powerful Union, but then lost the next two contests by fairlynarrow margins. Under Coach Tom Bainter,the Bothell Cougars have been a perennial playoff team and were nationallyranked last year. It wouldn’t surpriseanyone if Bothell turns around and makes the playoffs again this year. In fact, we predict that is precisely whatwill happen. Stay tuned.

Chelan - 1-2 - Another surprise. As we said in an earlier posting, CoachDarren Talley’s Mountain Goats are young and inexperienced. Given his track record, however, we wouldn’tbet against Coach Talley turning this season around. We fully expect to have his Goats hitting onall cylinders by the end of the season.

Garfield - 1-2 - Garfield is no longer a team we follow closely since the curious departureof former Coach Anthony Allen. But,their story this year is just too intriguing not to at least acknowledge. Starting with the season opener that ended ina forfeit when new coach Kelvin Goliday pulled his team off the field,following the Bulldogs has been a little bizarre to say the least.

Lakes - 3-0 - Is there a team in Washington that turns out more D-1 talent than theLakes Lancers? This year is no exceptionwith a senior offensive tackle, Zach Banner, who is simply one of the best inthe nation and a couple of other players who are being highly recruited by alot of D-1 programs. Coach Dave Millerhas his uber-talented team performing at a top level and it has shown withthree blowout wins to start the season. Maybe this is the year they will go all the way.

Lake Washington –2-1 - Another team which we no longerwatch very closely after Coach Ray Roberts resigned. Looks like the Kangaroos are starting wellthis year.

Lummi - 3-0 - This was supposed to be a rebuilding year forthe State 1B champs. Their excellentsenior class graduated leaving a roster filled with inexperience. We have learned, however, never to betagainst Coach Jim Sandusky. HisBlackhawks are one of the teams to beat in 1B again this year and they arebrimming with confidence after knocking off Oregon’s St. Paul team last week ina contest pitting State 8-man championship squads.

Mariner - 2-1 - The Mariner Marauders, under the guidance of John Ondriezek,are a perennial playoff contender in Wesco. Many people look atAll-Everything running back KeiVarae Russell and assume that when he graduates,the Mariner backfield will be empty. That assumption would be wrong. In the past, Mariner running backs like Michael Young, Darius Washington,Martavius Burkhalter, Amon Gordon, and a host of others have led the Maraudersto the playoffs. Current backs like Dominique Law, and underclassmenKeelen Degamo, Kiante Amad-Woods, and super-soph Josh Williamson can step inand help do it again. These and an experienced line can continue theMarauders efforts in steadying the ship after a poor first game againstArlington, a game that was played without Russell. As Ondriezek said, ateam of KeiVarae Russells would not have changed the outcome of that game. What would have? The Marauders believing in themselves. Ifthat happens, the Marauders can experience playoff success again.

Meadowdale - 3-0 - It was obvious when we interviewed Coach MarkStewart that Meadowdale football was on the way up. The Mavericks undefeated start proves thathis system is taking hold. This will bean interesting team to follow the rest of the year.

Meridian - 3-0 - Is there anyone who is surprised that the Meridian Trojans areundefeated and have won their three contests by a respectable margin? They did graduate a senior class that was oneof the best in their history. Thereweren’t a lot of returning players with experience to start the year. Coach Bob Ames’ roster , as always, listed (laughingly)noone over 200 lbs nor anyone taller than 6 feet and he has been quick to quipabout his small team that needed to put rocks in their pocket to keep fromblowing away. But the “squattingHawaiian” is working his magic again and his team of inexperienced players isperforming at its usual high level.

Mountlake Terrace- 1-2 - This one is a bit of a surprise. We expected the Hawks to have a little better record at this point giventhe passion of Coach Tony Uyayam and their powerful young running back, DeVonteDowns. Mountlake Terrace fans should beencouraged that their team appears to be getting better after a blowout loss toOak Harbor in their first game. Theirsecond contest was close and they finally broke through for their first winlast week. We sense that Coach Umayam will have themcoached up and playing much better as the season progresses.

South Bend - 2-1 - We’re not sure what to think about South Bend. When we interviewed Coach Tom Sanchez earlierthis year, he told us he felt his team would struggle for a year or two aftergraduating one of the best teams in South Bend Indian history. It looks like the rebuilding in South Bend iscoming along well and ahead of schedule.

Willapa Valley- 2-1 - Another perennial playoff team. TheVikings stumbled in their second game and, in a surprise, lost badly toRaymond, a team they have dominated for a long time. As two old and proud Raymond graduates, wewere uncertain what to make of this abnormality. After that loss, the heavens appeared torealign and Coach Rob Freise led the Vikings to a big win. Meanwhile, Raymond was pummeled by Naselle,currently the number 1 ranked 2B team in Washington. It looks like a wild year down in the Harbor.

Chelan 14 - Cle Elum 49

2011-09-19T11:09:00.000-07:00

One of the many reasons that we enjoy Chelan High Head Coach Darren Talley is that he doesn't back down when times get a little tough. There's no question that, at least so far, this is a down year for his squad, particularly after the success of the last few years. Nevertheless, Coach Talley continues to provide a weekly update on his teams game. At smaller schools there is inevitably an ebb and flow as talented classes graduate and new players get coached up to speed. Larger schools are often more able to absorb the losses that come with graduation and often have a ready arsenal of new players ready to pump into the system. Given his history as a coach in Chelan, it is only a matter of time before his team is, once again, winning big games. You can hear it in his words below, if you read them carefully. Here's Coach Talley's game report for last week's contest against Cle Elum.

Chelan started the opening drive of the game ready to play football, running and passing the ball to pay dirt. Cle Elum answered right back and the game was on. Chelan made too many turnovers to put themselves in a positive situation and Cle Elum capitalized on those mistakes taking a lead that they never relinquished, defeating Chelan 49 - 14. We did not play well as a team, and we did not respond to an excited Cle Elum team. We will work to correct what needs to be corrected this week as we head to Seattle this next weekend to take on 2010 2A playoff quarterfinal foe, Foster High School in Tukwila. One real nice positive was seeing young Tanner Hendricks come in at QB, allowing Matt Robinson to take his starting role at Wide Receiver, which allowed Matt to immediately take charge on a 40 yard reception from Tanner for six. On the defensive side, a real bright spot was the play of sophomore Konnar Stevens. The kicking game became very solid this week with open tryouts and a surprise as Jared Anderson shined as a deep kicker and was perfect two for two on PAT's in the game. In this awesome game called football, as in life, there are ups, and there are downs. We will continue to work as hard as possible in either, because if we don't we are almost guaranteed to have more of the later.

Stats are attached. Please call or email me with any questions.

Sincerely,

Darren Talley

Darren Talley - Head Football & Ass't Track Coach Chelan H.S.PO Box 969Chelan, WA 98816
509.682.2444 - voice home
509.682.4424 - voice Chelan office
360.397.0407 - faxDarren@TalleyFinancial.com

Chelan vs Cle Elum Game Stats

Chelan Season Team Stats

Playing Poker

2011-09-13T13:05:00.000-07:00

This is the time of year, with all the preseason, non-league games, that the hidden poker player in many high school football coaches reveals itself. The coach wants to win the game (he wants to win every game), but he doesn't want to show his entire hand of cards to others at the table, not at this stage of the game. Sometimes just a cursory look at the cards the coach is showing is enough to affect the way opposing coaches will play their hands. The idea is that the entire hand of cards will probably be revealed by the playoffs.

So, if you have a running back like KeiVarae Russell, everyone knows that you have a fairly strong hand to start with. After all, he has been selected to play in the U.S. Army All-American game this winter, and has been named the top running back in the state. What could possibly change his card, his status, his season? Well, an ill-advised spin on a moped that resulted in a crash-caused concussion and led to his nickname of "Scooter" was a start. He was unable to play in that week's game, a 42-14 mauling by Arlington, a score that was in no way indicative of the beating Mariner took. Would he have made a difference in the outcome? Maybe, maybe not. We will never know.

We do know that he was ready to play last week against a solid, pass-happy Mount Vernon football team that boasted an excellent, tall, calm quarterback, Bennett Gibson, who had a handful of outstanding receivers to choose from. Mount Vernon went ahead and had a convincing lead going into the third quarter and then...KeiVarae went to work. The end result was a win for the Marauders and a four-touchdown 284 yard (9.4 yards per carry) effort for Russell.

Mariner's defense rose to the occasion as well. In particular linebackers Gabe Dye (who doubles as the Wing-T QB) and Ricky Bingsisser delivered devastating hits. Dye timed a hit on a receiver so perfectly that he arrived a split second after a pass had touched the receiver's fingertips. The resulting impact electrified the crowd and kept them buzzing until KeiVarae finished the game with a touchdown run with only a minute and change left on the clock.

So, are there any more surprises left in the hands that have yet to be revealed? Oh, you can be sure of that. Coaches are minutely examining their hands now, trying to determine whether to stand pat or try to draw what might be the right card for the perfect hand. Time (and the playoffs) will tell. Jim Olsen

Connell beats Chelan 35-0

2011-09-11T17:17:00.000-07:00

As he has for the past two years, Chelan Head Coach Darren Talley will again provide game summaries for each contest his team plays. High School Cover 2 is pleased to be able to offer the same service for any other team that would like to take advantage of it. Coaches, please send us a note if you would like to report on your team as it plays through its schedule. Below, in his own words, is Coach Talley's game report for Chelan vs Connell.

It was a beautiful night for football fans to be outdoors watching high school football. Both head coaches were actually worried about the temperature during warm-ups, but once the sun went down it was absolutely perfect for players and fans alike. Chelan came out hitting hard and holding the best rushing running back in 1A football the past three years in the first half to just 41 yards rushing, but two long passes had Chelan down by 14 points at halftime. The problem with this football game came in the second half. The Connells Eagle's size and strength on the line of scrimmage proved to be too much for the Chelan Mountain Goats in the second half eventually winning 35 - 0. The scoring breakdown: Connell's Kade Eppich caught a Chandler Salisbury pass for 40 yards with 5:40 left in the first quarter. Garrett Salisbury tacked on the extra point try 7-0 Connell. Connell's MVP of 1A the past two years Matt Hadley caught a 27 yard pass from Chandler Salisbury with less than one second on the clock in the second quarter. Garrett Salisbury kicked the extra point to make it 14 - 0 at the half. In the third quarter, Matt Hadley rushed for 11 yards and a TD, with 7:45 left on the clock. Garrett Salisbury added a point on the kick making the score 21-0. Again in the third quarter with 4:06 to go Connell QB Chandler Salisbury ran the ball into pay dirt for the second rushing TD in the quarter. Garrett Salisbury buried the kick through the uprights: Connell 28 - 0. In the final quarter of the night it was Matt Hadley on a 4 yard rush to the end zone. Garrett Salisbury's kick was good for the final score making it Connell 35 - 0 over Chelan.

Offensively for the Mountain Goats Matt Peterson led the charge, rushing for 72 yards on the night. Konnar Stevens racked up 58 yards, followed by Cole Schwartz with 24, Kai Clausen for 13, Bobby Anderson 10, and Matt Robinson 7. Matt Robinson completed 2 passes for 17 yards and no interceptions. Matt Robinson is doing a great job leading our team, without having had one rep all summer. The Chelan team looked good moving the ball at times, but couldn't sustain a drive all the way to the end zone.

Chelan was led by senior middle linebacker Tyler Hood with 12 tackles and one QB hurry on the night. Cole Schwartz added 10 tackles, Matt Peterson 8 tackles and one interception, which Matt returned for 18 yards. Jose Aparicio had 7 tackles and one caused fumble. Asa Schwartz a sophomore (Cole's younger brother) had 7 tackles on the night, one QB hurry, and one caused fumble. Erick Oscarson had 6 tackles. We're sure happy to have Erick back on the field for us. Konnar Stevens had 4 tackles and one QB hurry. Zach Burchett had 4 tackles and one pass deflection from his defensive back position. Bobby Anderson had 3 tackles, one QB hurry, and one fumble recovery. JJ Perez had 3 tackles. Marco Cardona had one tackle, and one QB hurry. Jerry Isenhart, Kevin Morris, and Eli Jenkins all added one tackle trying to stop the team that was the runner up, 2nd place in State, Connell Eagles last year, and State Champions the year before.

Chelan will host Cle Elum at home next Friday night at 7:00pm kickoff. We will add another valuable two way starter in Alex Cortez who will have enough practices to play in the game. We take each game one at a time, and we will get better as the season progresses. We thank all the wonderful fans for your support, and look forward to playing for you next Friday night.

Maxpreps stats are attached. Please call or email with any questions.

Sincerely,

Darren Talley

Darren Talley - Head Football & Ass't Track Coach Chelan H.S.PO Box 969Chelan, WA 98816
509.682.2444 - voice home
509.682.4424 - voice Chelan office
360.397.0407 - faxDarren@TalleyFinancial.com

Chelan vs Connell Game Stats

Chelan Season Team Stats

Everett Red Raiders Keep Rolling

2011-09-08T12:44:00.000-07:00

   The first-year Everett Red Raiders independent JC football team played its second ever contest last Saturday in Kennewick against the 2010 NWJCFL champion Columbia Basin Gladiators. In their first game two weeks ago against the Olympic Peninsula All-Stars, Everett outgunned and outclassed the team from Port Angeles 57-10 causing some to wonder if this team was already a dynasty. It was a different story in Kennewick, however. The game was close all the way to the end with the Red Raiders pulling out an exciting 44-42 overtime win.

Columbia Basin is a big, physical team that knows how to win. Head Coach Tim Dennis praised his team after the game for showing a "ton of heart." "They just kept fighting," he went on to say, "and really showed what this team is made of. One of the coolest things about this group of kids is that most of them came from programs in high school that didn't win a lot. We can see them growing up more and more every day as players and young men."

   According to Coach Dennis, his team didn't show a lot of their playbook on Saturday. "We kept it pretty vanilla," he said, "knowing that we will have to play them again and also knowing that Green River was scouting us." If they scored 44 points playing it vanilla, what will the score look like next time they play Columbia Basin?

   Both teams on Saturday were very prolific offensively. Everett, for example, garnered 89 yards on the ground and 273 through the air. Columbia Basin's offense, on the other hand, was more balanced. They ran for 219 yards an threw for 233. Despite the impressive offensive outputs by both teams, it was Everett's free safety and (back-up QB) Jelani Jones who had the biggest impact on the game. Jelani had 16 tackles, 2 interceptions and ran the ball for the game-winning two-point conversion in overtime.

Everett's next game is Sunday, September 18 against the NWJCFL Tacoma Knights team. The game will be played at 5:00 p.m. at the Peninsula High School field.

   We here at High School Cover 2 have been closely following the efforts and the fits and starts of the attempts to establish a Junior College type football program for graduated high school football players who have, for whatever reason, have not been invited to play for an accredited college team. The process has been fraught with problems, most of which we have discussed previously in this blog. Acceptability by Community Colleges, differences in ideology, adequate funding and interest from the football watching public being just some of those issues. Nevertheless, a lot of good people are putting in a lot of sweat and tears into trying to make this thing work and a lot of good players have taken the opportunity they have been given to extend their higher education through the game of football. We as fans, it would seem, owe these coaches and players the courtesy of watching them play. Sure we have our home town high school games to watch and/or the loyalty that we feel we owe to our Alma Mater or local University, but save a little time to for this exciting new product that the independent JC teams are putting out. You won't be sorry.

   If you are in the Everett area you can check out the Red Raider team by clicking here to proceed to their website with it's stats and schedules, etc. If Everett is not in your viewing area, there are four other teams (one more is promised to be added next year) scattered about the state. You can access the NWJCFL website by clicking here. Go out and show your support while having a good time for very little cost. You owe it to yourself and the kids and coaches who are working their tails off. Dick Kalla

A Mission Statement

2011-09-05T12:05:00.000-07:00

Below is a copy of a mission plan created by Mike Morgan, Head Football Coach at Colfax High School. Coach Morgan caught our eye in Yakima earlier this summer where he was head coach of the East squad in the annual East-West All-Star Game. He graciously gave HIGH SCHOOL COVER 2 permission to print his mission statement here after we obtained a copy. We believe it is an excellent guide, especially for head coaches who are taking over a program for the first time or for those who would like to upgrade their current plans. It could be easily adapted to use at any level i.e., youth leagues as well as middle school, JV, high school and even beyond.

As noted above, this Mission Statement has been written specifically for Colfax High School. Obviously those who decide to adopt it or even part of it, will need to substitute their teams name where Colfax appears. Thank you Coach Morgan.

HOW DO YOU GET THERE, IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHERE YOU’RE GOING?

Creating a Mission Statement for yourFootball Team

By Mike Morgan, Head Football Coach/AD Colfax High School

You can’t rely onpure talent every year. What will makeyou consistently good year in and year out?

What things do youneed to do consistently, to be in the top third in your league every year withthe opportunity to make the playoffs?

What is a MissionStatement and Why is it Important?

A mission statement is a brief written statementof the purpose of a company or organization.Ideally, a mission statement guides the actions of the organization, spells outits overall goal, provides a sense of direction, and guides decision making forall levels of management.

Let’s think about a“one sentence” motto that has a ring to it

Whose motto is this??

Billions andBillions Served

Let’sbuild something together

Establishing your Core Covenants-Bruce Brown

CHARACTER

HEART

HONOR

RESPECT

RELENTLESS

What are your three elements offootball in order of importance?

Offense Defense _______

Defense SpecialTeams _______

Special Teams Offense _______

Explain why they are in that particularorder.

DEFENSIVE PHILOSOPHY

We run the _______ defense because…

What 5-6 things makethe a greatdefensive team?

What situations would you identify as being acritical part of your defense?

__Victory Situation

__Possession Down

__Red Zone

__Desperation Series-Last 3 Plays

__Goal Line

__Sudden Change

__2 Minute Defense

In what order of importance would you putthese?

Out of these, what1 or 2 do you do the most/least in a typical game?

How would you describe each one of these toyour team?

Does your practice plan reflect yourvalues?

SPECIAL TEAMS

Where are specialteams in your order?

Statistics show that25%-30% of the game is special teams play.

What is your orderof importance with special teams?

___Onside

___Punt

___Kickoff

___ExtraPoint/Field Goal

___Punt Return

___Punt Block

___Kickoff Return

In what order of importance would you putthese?

Out of these, what1 or 2 do you do the most/least in a typical game?

How would you describe each one of these toyour team?

Does your practice plan reflect yourvalues?

Where are they inyour practice plan?

OFFENSIVE PHILOSOPHY

We run the _______ offense because…

What 5-6 things makethe a greatoffensive team?

What situations would you identify as being acritical part of your offense?

___Sudden Change

___2 Minute Offense

___Possession Down

___Red Zone

___Goal Line

___Victory Situation

___Last 3 Plays

In what order of importance would you putthese?

Out of these, what1 or 2 do you do the most/least in a typical game?

How would you describe each one of these toyour team?

Does your practice plan reflect yourvalues?

Now that you have your mission statement inplace, how do you go about constructing your practices?

You told us what you value. Now…does it reflect in your practiceplan?

WeeklyOrganization

What does every day of the week look like foryou, your coaches, and your team during the season?

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Practice Plan

Are you a fundamental guy or a team guy?

Do you have a progression in practice?

Part, Part, Whole or Scrimmage, Scrimmage,Scrimmage?

How do you get everything in…in 4 days?

Do you use a script in practice?

Do you use the script as a dress rehearsal forthe game?

Do you have a down and distance sheet so youare not making up plays in the middle ofa tense game?

Open Field

7 ON 7 “O” 1^stand 10 BACKED-UP “O” TRICK“O”

1. 1. 1.

2. 2. 2.

3. 3. 3.

4. 4. 4.

7 ON 7 +20 REDZONE +3rd and 3 “O” +20RED ZONE“O”

1. 1. 1.

2. 2. 2.

3. 3. 3.

4. 4. 4.

5. 5. 5.

6. 6. 6.

Down and Distance Sheet 2009

1^st 15 Plays ShortYardage GoalLine

Runs Runs

BASE RUNS Passes Passes

BASE PASSES 3^rdand 3 +5 Yard

Runs Runs

Passes Passes

PLAY ACTION 3^rd and 8 +10 Yard

Run Run

Passes Passes

Backed-Up LongYardage +20 Yard

Run

Screen Passes Attacking Blitz Passes

Two Minute “O” Trick Last3 Plays

A Recipe forColfax Football Success

30-40 committedplayers who will put the team first

2-3 sport athletes

Year roundconditioning-BFS

1 week of Bulldogfootball camp

1 week of fullcontact football camp (Boise State)

75% attendance inthe weight room during the summer

Abstain from drugsand alcohol

Take care of yourmind and your body by exercising and

eating right

Conclusion

Created step by step building blocks for yourmission statement

Examined what you believe in

Integrated your philosophy into your practiceplan and your game plan

Provided a foundation for you to build successin your program

Mike Morgan-HeadFootball Coach/AD-Colfax High School

718 E. Southview

Colfax, WA 99111

509-553-9183(cell)

Mikem@colfax.k12.wa.us

“Often times, thetask ahead of you is not beyond your abilities…

but simply beyondyour work ethic”

These Guys Like to Work

2011-08-29T23:58:00.000-07:00

It is interesting to note that in this highly mobile society that we live in, very little movement is made by families during a football season. It is also noteworthy that when a young man starts playing for a particular school, he generally finishes his high school career playing for that same school. There are, of course, exceptions, like Justin.

Justin Blunk is a Navy kid, and his mom's employer, the U.S. Navy, sent her into our Snohomish County area last year four games into our football season (it was six games before Justin was eligible). He had been attending classes and playing with the varsity in football-mad Ohio before the call came for Mom to move. Now, we have had move-ins before in our South Everett school, but never anyone quite like him. First of all, if you have ever seen the old Andy Griffith reruns, then you know what he looks like. His grandfather calls him Opie. Justin is a Midwest (Ohio), corn-fed, football-loving, fun-loving, polite, hard-nosed, welcome addition to Mariner's (or anyone's) student body and football program. When we started the running program in late Spring, he was apologizing for not being faster. The fact that he was limping while running? Just an ACL surgery a couple of months back, a minor inconvenience. His friends on the team, guys like KeiVarae Russell, the All-World running back; Gabe Dye, the tough-as-nails senior QB/linebacker; and Martin Martinez at 6'3" and 330 pounds and quick as a hiccup, are cut from the same cloth. They thrive on hard work, and they let that work define them. During their first full-scale scrimmage of the year last Friday evening, KeiVarae had a chance to hone his blocking skills, an area that KeiVarae felt he could improve upon. A stroke of luck and good fortune placed Justin in close proximity, so KeiVarae seized the moment (Carpe Diem) and rendered Justin momentarily incapacitated.

I have always known that those students who operated on the edge of the law, the Druggies, the Stoners, could find each other. I had a shirt-tail relative who moved into the Terrace when my kids were going to school there, and this kid, immediately upon arriving on campus, went back off campus in search of the Ultimate High. My kids were embarrassed by the familial connection with this oh-so-proud Druggie, and I tried to ignore it. I always knew that those kids found each other. The evidence was there in the air every day after school. I just never realized that the kids at the other end of the spectrum, the ones who were maligned for being "Jocks" needed to find each other as well.

Justin, KeiVarae, Martin, and Gabe are only four guys on a high school football team, but they have a direction, a goal, and the support of each other. How many other will join them is anyone's guess. If the numbers are up there, then all will be right in Marauderville. Jim Olsen

A Team is Born

2011-08-15T16:47:00.000-07:00

Regular High School Cover 2 readers will remember that we have been following closely the attempts to create a Community College (Junior College) football league in Washington. The hope was that if teams were able to run independently of the school that they were nominally attached with, it might eventually be possible to officially re-institute Community College football.

To say that there have been growing pains associated with keeping the dream alive would be a gross understatement. When the NWCCFL (Nortwest Community College Football League) failed due to monetary problems and a difference in philosophies, the new NWJCFL (Northwest Junior College Football League) was created out of the ashes. There continues to be problems and differences. Teams have disbanded and new ones created. There are currently, at least at this writing, five teams playing football with players who are enrolled and in good standing at a Community College in this state. A sixth team, the Kitsap Peninsula Warhawks is scheduled to begin play in 2012. Two of the league teams have chosen to operate outside of the NWJCFL umbrella. How this will play out in the long run is anybodies guess. We just hope that the teams remain and areas athletes continue to have a place to play and another incentive to continue their education.

One of the teams that we have been following closely is the newly formed Everett Red Raiders which primarily recruits players attending school in the north sound. The Red Raiders played their first contest last Saturday night in Port Angeles against a team billed as the Olympic Peninsula All-Stars; a squad comprised of players from the Olympic Peninsula Eagles and Kitsap County Bears; two semi-pro teams.

To say that Everett dominated the game would be kind. After the dust had cleared, the scoreboard read: Everett 57, All-Stars 10. Everett led 30-6 with approximately six minutes left in the first quarter. Not bad for a team playing it's first ever game.

Everett coach Tim Dennis told us that his offensive and defensive lines played well, but that the game got a little sloppy in the second half because of his teams big lead. Overall, he thought his team had played well, but that they relaxed in the second half and he has some teaching moments to expound upon in practice.

On offense, the Red Raiders rushed for 195 yards on 15 attempts. Quarterback Nathan Worthen, a Freshman from Burlington, threw for 364 yards in 29 attempts. Running backs Julian Willis and Jake Salas had almost identical days with Willis rushing for 77 yards and Salas for 79.

If you would like to view the statistics from Saturday's game, click here and then on the box score for the game.

Two Singular but Divergent Thoughts

2011-08-10T13:38:00.000-07:00

When Dick and I were young and living approximately two and a half blocks apart in the Riverdale section of Raymond, Washington, we often found ourselves, along with others, riding our bikes out to Baleville to fish or hunt. Baleville was the name given to the stretch of road and land that ran to the airport and beyond, five or six miles to the west of town and on the way to the ocean beaches. The area is directly across the Willapa River from South Bend, maybe less than a mile as the crow flies or the oyster stampedes. Dick and I had both written about the South Bend Indian football team winning the state 2B football championship, and my column, it seems, contained an error that was both grievous and serendipitous. I had written about the game and pointed out the exceptional play of the Indian quarterback whom I identified as Larry Bale. Well, Larry Bale contacted me and said that as much as he would have liked to take credit for that outstanding game, it was his son Levi who QB'd the team to the state title. Larry did, however, play a big role as a fullback in Raymond's 1973 state championship, the first of three straight State titles for the Seagulls.

Then Larry told me about a book he had written about that championship season. The book is titled "The 100TH Year, A Father's Narrative", and Larry sent me a copy. This book proved to be immensely enjoyable and is packed with football, history and football history. It goes through the title season game by game celebrating the wins while at the same time not minimizing the losses, and there were a couple of those. The book points out that although South Bend won the state championship, they did not win the league crown. That honor belonged to the always powerful Willapa Valley Vikings. The Indians had to face the Vikings twice in their state quest and the first time were victorious in a non-league game, beating Valley 24-0. Since the subtitle is "a father's narrative", it stands to reason that the championship season is seen through the prism of a proud father's love and respect for his son, but the story is also and mainly about the team. It is a great read and is backed with great photography. The book is selling for fifteen dollars. I believe it is a souvenir must for South Bend High School football followers.

Larry Bales can be contacted at: phone: 360-942-3661
address: 114 Airport Road

************************************************************

The following comes from the "What Are They Thinking" file. The National Football League has recently cut back on its two-a-day practices limiting the teams to just one single practice. The League is mirroring the stance taken by the NCAA which limited two-a-days in 2003. Only in high schools are two-a-days not limited. Let's assume that a man's physical peak (as I have read) is a five-year span from age 27 to 32, the age when a man is his fastest, strongest, and has the most endurance, then these people are setting limits, for his own good, on what such a man can do or attempt to do. College athletes, who are generally between the ages of 18 to 22 are similarly limited. Why then are high school kids aged 14 to 18 not treated the same?

The feedback comments from readers across the country are enough to gag a maggot. "You're turning the kids into pansies". "If it was good enough for me, it is good enough for these spoiled, lazy kids today". Since July 22, five young men have died due to heat-related problems in football practices in our country. Is five an acceptable number of deaths for these Neanderthals? If it is, then what is the number that might register as being excessive? Ten? 25? 100? The idea is that we modify our practices and not have as much hitting as we might have had in some programs in the past. The kids still run (On Tuesday I had our players in the summer conditioning program running 2,400 yards of "stride-sprint-stride") sprints, they still hit, they still work on technique and their offensive and defensive schemes. They are just not pounding each other until they all collapse. Besides, just by withholding the most intense hitting and allowing them to do it as a reward increases the intensity and velocity of the contact. Brain specialists will tell you, as mine did, that it is the accumulative hits that lead to permanent brain damage in later years, not necessarily the concussions.

As I sit here typing this, I do so with a shunt in my brain that drains excess fluids from my brain to my abdominal cavity. I have hydrocephalus which is often misdiagnosed as Alzheimer's. It came from repeated hits. I am also awaiting shoulder replacement surgery as a result of football and weight-lifting. My back surgery in which I blew a disc that fragmented in my lower back also was a result of those two activities. Hey, I love the game of football with a passion, This is my 57th year of being associated with football as a player and a coach. I won't even go into the broken arms, legs, hands, feet, and cracked ribs because they are all part of the game. It is violent, which is precisely why I liked it, but to call people names because they want some coaches to scale back the hitting in practice? Come on. Grow up. Jim Olsen

Football Ramblings

2011-08-02T08:49:00.000-07:00

There are three things that I wanted to talk about this week, but all three are completely different ideas. This means that what I am about to write will be, of necessity, somewhat choppy and disjointed:

1. I am about to begin my second football season in a middle school a block from the Mariner High School campus. Having coached freshmen for 37 years compiling a winning percentage of 72% while playing each kid in every game for the last 30 of those years, we were somewhat successful. However, we lost every game we played last year. Initially, I had considered that year a a failure, but now I am not so sure. I have stopped by a football camp in July and saw that the number of freshmen was up from previous and many of the players were kids who played for us last year. So, maybe the losing year was not such a loss. If we would have had a successful year with huge numbers of kids and had barely a handful playing in high school, that would have been a huge lack of success. Now, however, we must regroup and prepare to face a group of youngsters who have never watched a football game let alone played in one. This is not going to be easy.

2. The one thing I feel is critical for us to teach is the art of hitting. In the past I've told kids that hitting in football if like eating asparagus. A small number of people like asparagus the first time they try it, a larger number will eventually acquire a taste for it and love it more than virtually any other vegetable, and another small number will never like it at all. Now, I'm going to be doing this with a shunt in my brain that drains excess fluids into my abdominal cavity where the body simply absorbs it. I got that from repeated hits on the football field. So, why am I coaching kids in a game that has had such a negative impact on my health? That's simple, I want to coach them away from using the head as a weapon. They're growing, and their young brains are vulnerable.

I have been reading the blogs of ex-University of Washington/ex-Oakland Raider-Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive lineman Dave Pear (DavePear.com), and those blogs are frightening indeed. So many of our heroes from the early days of the NFL are shells of what they once were, suffering from the effects of multiple brain surgeries, multiple knee and shoulder surgeries along with the other aches and pains that come from torturing their bodies on the field year after year. This is done with little or no no help from their ex-owners when it comes to paying for their enormous medical bills. Read the blog and it just may change the way you perceive the NFL. I, for one, am done...finished as far as the NFL is concerned. I'll never watch another professional football game.

3. The last item that I wanted to talk about is KeiVarae Russell. Dick just did an excellent interview with him, and I wanted to add a couple of things. The first thing to understand is that although KeiVarae is a talented kid, we have had other talented kids come through the school here, just as talented as KeiVarae. Although it is true that the kid has wowed them at the Nike Camp in Oregon where he set the shuttle (lateral movement) record, or the UW camp where he was named the Outstanding Back and has been named to the 80-man US Army All-America team, there have been others who had more physical size and talent. A guy named Danny comes to mind. Big, tall, strong, and fast (made all-conference at four positions)...and no work ethic. D1 talent and did nothing with it. KeiVarae, on the other hand, cannot be outworked. If we are running 24 sets of 100 yard sprints, which we do (sprint-stride-and sprint-Stretch-stride-sprint-stride), he runs the last set at the same speed and intensity as the first. Everything he does is done with the most effort he can squeeze out of his 6', 180 lb body. He stays after a workout to continue working out. He and Justin Blunk, a transfer from Ohio who brings a "Cradle of Football" work ethic to our program, along with Gabe Dye, a muscular QB whose work ethic mirrors the other two, simply cannot be outworked. That ethic has a profound effect on the rest of the team and is guaranteed to make them successful in life. Jim Olsen

KeiVarae Russell - Can Compete With the Best

2011-07-22T14:11:00.000-07:00

The 2012 High School football recruiting class in Washington State, as most fans know, is probably the best one to come down the pike in many years. In particular, there are at least four linemen who have multiple offers to play at D-1 football hotbeds. But it's not only the linemen who are turning heads; there are other position players who are being sought just as eagerly. One of these is Mariner High School running back, KeiVarae Russell. High School Cover 2 has kept in touch with KeiVarae since his freshman year and we have watched him grow from a talented young colt with a world of promise to become the skilled player he is today.

It is difficult, however, to completely judge a player until he is able to face competitors from other areas of the country. We up here in the northwest like to think that our brand of football is just as good as it is anywhere else, but.... Sure KeiVarae is, we believe as do the scouting services, the best runner in the state this year, but what would he be able to do when coming up against players from football powerhouses like California, Texas and Florida. As it turns out, the answer is: "Pretty damn good."

Earlier in the month KeiVarae and 100 others deemed the "best of the best" from around the country trekked to Beaverton, Oregon, the home of Nike, to compete in a week-long skills competition. In Beaverton, he was able to compare himself to other premier athletes from around the country. We wanted to find out, from him, how he thought he did. Was he intimidated or did he feel that he measured up to the others? To find out, I gave him a call.

After telling me how much he enjoyed the experience, the chance to learn from current and past NFL greats, he went on to say that it had been a wonderful opportunity and he had not been intimidated by anyone there, it only made him want to "up my game," and he now knows that he can play with anyone.

KeiVarae said he felt that the chance to work one-on-one with the instructors was priceless. He was particularly impressed with his time with NFL hall-of-famer Jerry Rice. He was able to ask Jerry how he motivated himself to become great. Jerry told him that he wasn't ever the fastest or strongest player, but no one ever worked harder than he did and he explained that he never let himself become too sore. When he felt sore, he would go for a run or lift weights to get rid of the soreness. This advice clicked with KeiVarae and he has vowed to work even harder than he ever has in the past, not an easy task given his previous work schedule. Emulating Jerry Rice is not a bad way to go about it.

KeiVarae stressed that he works best in space and is hopeful that he can start out his college career in the slot where his ability to run after the catch might allow him early playing time. Then, when he gets bigger and stronger in a college workout program, he could work into a more standard running back position. He will, of course, play anywhere the coaches want him.

In Beaverton, KeiVarae set the shuttle record by running it in 3.77. A time that made others stand up and take notice. He said he felt that he had done well in the drills and had caught all the passes thrown to him. None of the linebackers were able to cover him, he told me; and he got better each day. While KeiVarae said he knows that game speed will be faster at the next level, the game still stays the same and has the same rules. He's been playing football for a while now and feels he is ready to move forward with the next challenge.

When you speak with young athletes, it is often a chore to get any substantive information out of them. They are usually too full of themselves or too shy to deal with questions from the press. Neither of those traits define KeiVarae Russell. When he speaks, it's with the innocence of the young, but with very little bluster or self-aggrandizing. Instead of short monosyllabic responses, he speaks with self-confidence and the same determination that he demonstrates on the gridiron. I came away from the call with an even stronger belief that this is a special player and human being; one who will go far on the field and in life. He always had the will and now he has the way. Dick Kalla

Lummi All-Stars Win National Tournament

2011-07-13T13:32:00.000-07:00

High School Cover 2 likes to acknowledge players and coaches from teams that we have written about in the past. One of those teams is the Lummi High School Blackhawks, last year's class 1B state champions. On Saturday, July 9, six players from that championship squad played on the winning team in the 10th annual Jim Thorpe Native All-Star Game at the University of North Texas in Dallas.

All six Lummi players: Eddy Williams, Tony Rivera, Murphy Julius, Kyle Sturgeon, Devon Roberts and Jeremy Roberts, were on the winning side which was coached by Lummi Head Coach Jim Sandusky. Eddy Williams had seven carries in the game for 44 yards and a touchdown and was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.

The all-star game is open to graduating seniors with tribal enrollment cards from any federally recognized tribe in the United States or Canada. This year, 60 Native-American players were invited to participate in the games.

This is just another indication that Coach Sandusky is building a 1B football dynasty on the shores of Portage Bay.

Preparing For A Football Season As Seen Through the Senses

2011-07-09T09:38:00.000-07:00

In this, his latest post, Jim waxes nostalgically about the senses and the football memories they provoke.

Since this Spring has been the worst on record here in the Puget Sound area, it is difficult to wrap our minds around the fact that football season is just around the corner. In the western Washington of years past, a guy could always count on a certain amount of hot weather in the middle to late July and again through much of August. We would get a number of days in the 80's and even a couple of days that might reach into the 90's. I can't get a feel for the weather now, It just doesn't feel like the warm-up for a season at all. It doesn't look like it...or smell like it...or even taste like it. The prelude to a football season in the Northwest has always been a story of our senses including:

The odor of the first drops of rain hitting the dust-covered earth after a long dry spell, swirling dust up and into the nostrils.

Seeing the beads of perspiration on faces as the beads gather and become rivulets that trace patterns down grimy faces.

The taste of those streams of perspiration as they run down the face and seep into the corners of the mouth carrying caked dust with them.

The iron taste of blood after a particularly solid hit.

The shrill sound of a whistle piercing the baked afternoon air.

The booming voice of a defensive coach correcting his linebackers.

The sight of those who refused to participate in summer conditioning programs bent over, hands on knees, either throwing up or trying desperately to suck air into lungs that have remained inactive for way too long.

The initial crash of pads in the late summer, a sound that to a football coach is music, like going to a great concert.

The calls of defensive backs and linebackers as they move into pass coverage.

The taste of cold, cold water as it washes away the coating of dust at the back of the throat. Nothing else works as well.

The grunting that accompanies supreme effort as offensive linemen work on their 7-man sleds.

The distinctive (and unfortunate) odor that hovers over a huddle when too many uniforms have gone too long without being introduced to a washing machine.

* As an aside, I have to tell you that back in the late 50's we had a drying room in which we were to hang our soaking wet, muddy uniforms. Practice pants and practice jerseys were never washed, not once during the entire season. They were just hung on racks. I do believe that if our local magistrate had sentenced someone to death, the method most likely to produce the desired result could have been to lock the offender in our drying room overnight. That, however, might have been too cruel, too inhuman.

* Our school (Raymond High School) did take care of and washed/dried our socks, jocks and t-shirts. Unfortunately, halfway through our senior season someone washed the entire load of white clothing with a number of red practice jerseys. The result was, of course, jocks that were pink. The socks and t-shirts were pink as well, but for some reason the pink jocks were more embarrassing...if anyone had ever seen them. It's not like we wore them on the outside of our uniforms. Still, it's the idea...pink jocks.

* At Raymond there was another sound that showed us all that football season had indeed arrived. That particular sound was the scream of pain when someone put on a jock that one of the team clowns had slathered with analgesic balm, you know...Red Hot. Jim Olsen

Fun in the Yakima Sun

2011-06-30T18:25:00.000-07:00

The post below, is our third and final segment on the Earl Barden Classic football game held last weekend in Yakima. In the piece, Jim acknowledges several of the players, coaches and officials that participated in this year's contest. High School Cover 2 would also like to give special recognition to the six coaches from our coaches panel (coaches that we have done extensive interviews with over the last two years). As a group, they sent seven players to the game this year and had others selected who were unable to attend due to injury and other commitments. Finally, a big shout out to all the coaches who give so much of their time and energy to guide and mentor the young men that they coach to enable them to participate in events like this. We salute you!

If you have never taken in the festivities of the annual 2A, 1A, 2B all-star football game in Yakima, you have been missing one of the greatest shows in the state. There is a great deal of difference, in the eyes of most high school football fans, between the big 3A and 4A schools of Seattle, Tacoma, Vancouver, and Spokane and the smaller town-schools like Brewster, Chelan, Colville, Colfax, and Concrete. That difference is evident when you begin counting. In the bigger schools you have more athletes...not necessarily better athletes but more of them. As a youngster I played in the small town of Raymond and as an adult I taught and coached in the 4A school of Mariner, and I have seen both sides of that coin. What follows is simply one man's collection of thoughts as he sat and watched an almost perfect game being played in a near-perfect venue in near-perfect weather by athletes whose behavior and playing ability was near-perfect and coached by men who coached an almost flawless, near-perfect game:

* The final score of 23-14 in favor of the West was in no way indicative of the closeness of the game which was in question until a minute and change remained on the clock,

* The game announcer told us before the game that the West would be running the Wing-T on offense. I was immediately skeptical because I know how hard it is to get Wing-T basics across to kids when you have the entire season to work with, so to have kids executing well enough to gain 194 yards on the ground was shocking to me. The East also was able to gain a very respectable 137 yards rushing, so I was very pleasantly surprised.

* The man responsible for the whole show is Bill (Alex) Alexander, and he is indeed a driving force. Everyone we talked gave him credit for the whole thing. So, 'Alex' Alexander, Hall of Fame coach in your own right, you know how to put on a heckuva show. Congratulations!

* We did not remember the name of the game announcer, and although I tried for the past four or five days to get it, I failed to do so. If anyone could let us know his identity, we would like to thank him publicly for his knowledge and his contribution to the game. Maybe the best high school announcer I have heard.

* If you like great sports writing, treat yourself to the columns of Scott Sandsberry of the Yakima Herald Republic. I have seldom met any sports writer with his breadth and depth of knowledge of high school football. It seems to be a particular passion of his. Reading his column you find that there is virtually nothing dealing with sport on which Scott does not have an opinion (usually correct opinion, that is).

* One kid Scott raved about before the game was Carlos Ramirez from Toppenish. Named the East's Most Valuable Defensive Player at 5', 8" tall and weighing 177 pounds, there was little reason to believe that Ramirez was all that Sandsberry said he was, but Ramirez showed us Doubting Thomas's how wrong we could be. One of the best, most active linebackers I have seen at the high school level. And, in the game he averaged more than four yards a carry as a running back.

* Two of the coaches on the West squad, Sid Otton and Bob Ames have a combined 9 state titles and (if my math is correct) a combined 44 state playoff appearances. They also have a total combined 574 wins (309 for Otton and 265 for Ames). If they averaged 10 wins a year they would have been winning at that rate for over 57 years. I can only say "WOW!!"

* Running backs for the East included the fore-mentioned Ramirez, Hayden Wing from Kiona-Benton, and the diminutive Chance Watt from Riverview who stands 5'7" and weighs 175 pounds. Watt is a quick and strong runner. I'm tempted to say "for his size", but heck, he's a strong runner for any size. East running backs also included Dan Feeney of Mark Morris, Kris Cady of Waitsburg, Joey Strehlou of East Valley Spokane, Colby Hanson from Clarkston, and Dylan Delay of Royal.

* West running backs included Cody Haavick from Sumner, Kyler Howell from Concrete, the MVP Tevin Williams of North Mason, the ultra-quick Ryan Vongmixay from South Bend, hard-running Zach Baldwin of Centralia, along with Brycen Holmes of Toledo, Brennan Casteel of Chehalis, and Roman Reyna of Lynden.

* West linemen who opened holes to allow almost 200 yards on the ground or helped provide pressure and close holes on defense included Jackson Wargo of Montesano (a kid we watched with interest last year in the playoffs), Zach Phelps of Centralia, the gritty Myron Smith from South Bend, Ryan Newby of Bob Ames' Meridian Trojans, Tyler Dotson of K.C. Johnson's Adna eleven, Dakota Sanchez of Doug Trainor's Bellingham team, Wade Huett, a 280 pounder from Stevenson, Steve Elsner of Mount Baker, and the huge and quick Julius Tevaga of Archbishop Murphy.

* East linemen provided time for East quarterbacks to "air it out" and creases for the backs to bounce through as well as working to limit the West's ground game.. They included the towering (6'6") Clay DeBord of Asotin, huge Julio Barrera from RA Long, Traven Smith of Lind/Ritzville, Sergio Fuentes of Kittitas, Will Peters of Chewelah, Darren Talley's product- Quin Courtney of Chelan, Nathaniel Deardorff of Zillah, Adrian Garcia of Othello, and Shawn Burton of Deer Park

* Quarterbacks for the East were Collville's Sawyer Bardwell who completed 7 of 15 passes for 129 yards and ran 3 yards for a TD, Brady Arnone of Clarkston, and Alex Teade of Colfax who hit Brendan Barrington of Pullman for a TD).

* Their West counterparts were Montesano's Sean McNealley (who also kicked a decisive field goal), Onalaska's Dalton Richey, who completed 7 of 13 passes for 104 yards including two long strikes to Kyle Warner of Tumwater (Warner had been selected as the 2A Player of the Year earlier) that set up McNealley's field goal. The third quarterback from the West was Matt Friese who did a little of everything, and did it well. He threw a TD pass, caught a TD pass, kept drives alive by willing himself to reach the first down marker, and was everywhere on defense, being named Defensive MVP along with Tevin Williams.

* Two of the better receivers I have seen in all-star games were Kyle Warner, a kid who seemingly makes a habit of the improbable catch, and Brendan Barrington who has glue for hands and took shots that would cause most young men to cough up the ball. They are both extremely tough and talented young kids.

* I found that the East head coach Mike Morgan is a band teacher. That, to me , is fascinating. I would imagine that the half-time Homecoming celebration is an Event.

* I also found that Ed Ashworth, the Brewster head coach is a fellow English teacher. I would like to sit and share notes with him some time.

* The referees for the game donated their time and called an excellent game. I could not find their names anywhere, but they deserve an "Attaboy" for the job they did. Jim Olsen

The Earl Barden Classic - 2011

2011-06-27T18:53:00.000-07:00

This is the second of three postings on the Earl Barden Classic, the All-Star football game for outstanding players at the 2A and below level from the State of Washington.

It should be said that the State’s all-star football games (there are sometimes three of them, but more about that later) are not a huge draw. The games are held at the beginning of summer, when the casual fan has other things on their mind than football. And, if some do pay attention, it’s usually to the 3A/4A game which features a few names they might have heard. The game itself has been, at least in some minds, watered down a bit in recent years by the absence of most of the really big names, players who will go on to play at FBS schools. Usually the absence of the best players is not their choice. The institutions to which they have pledged, don’t want their recruits to play and risk injury. Though that is understandable, in the past it has been a source of annoyance to this reporter. If you call it an All-Star game, then it should be played by the best (the All-Stars). After watching several of these contests and having spoken with a lot of the players and coaches, I’ve come around a little. The players that are selected are almost always excellent athletes in their own right. They are eager to compete and, for many, it will be their last chance to strap on the uniform. “It is refreshing,” one coach told me, “to have to only explain something once, and then see it done perfectly.” These aren’t your average players.

As noted above, there are other All-Star games each summer besides the one played by athletes who went to one of the big 3A and 4A schools. There is also the Earl Barden All-Star Classic held this past weekend for All-Star players at 2A, 1A, and 2B schools. Most reports of this game also imply that 1B schools are included in the Earl Barden Classic, but that is not normally the case. This year there were no 1B players on either the East or West rosters. I’ve been told that there was a 1B All-Star game slated to be played this year, but there weren’t enough players available so it was scratched. If this is going to be the norm, then the 1B schools should be included in the rosters of the Earl Barden Classic in future years. Surely a few of these players deserve to be recognized for their achievements.

The High School Cover 2 staff (Jim and I) had been talking about attending the Earl Barden Classic for a few years but, because it was always held on the same date as the 3A/4A game, we never did. This year we were determined to change it up so we scheduled a trip to Yakima, loaded up our wives and headed over the pass to the dryness of Eastern Washington. The dryness was much appreciated after we hydroplaned through a torrential downpour up the west side of I-90. The minute we reached the summit and started down, the skies cleared and the sun shone. That shining yellow orb that has been so elusive so far in 2011 for those of us who live over here on the green side of the state, was to remain during our two day stay, warming the temperatures into the 70s, perfect for both players and spectators.

The warm pleasant weather might have been an omen of what was to come, because the game itself was a real revelation. It was competitive; it was exciting and the caliber of play was high. The final score, West-23, East-14 was not indicative of the closeness of the game. The West team jumped out to an early 13-0 lead only to have the East take the lead 14-13 in the second half. Just when it seemed the East team was going to come out on top, the West found another gear right at the end of the game to win in the final couple of minutes.

There were outstanding plays by outstanding athletes throughout the game, enough to please the most discerning fan Jonesing for a football fix. The game MVPs were noted in our previous post, but a second mention of the West’s Kyle Warner, a 6’3” WR from Tumwater and the East’s Brendan Barrington from Pullman, another 6’3” WR, is mandatory. These two were outstanding, laying out for passes that seemed uncatchable. They truly earned their awards, but they were not the only stars on this lovely Saturday afternoon. There were lots of dazzling runs and catches; there were plenty of bone crunching tackles and blocks and enough outstanding catches to keep fans mesmerized. In short, it was an outstanding contest. Left out of the list of players garnering awards previously reported in this blog were the two voted Most Inspirational at half time for their demeanor and performance during the five days of practice prior to the game. Those individuals were: Centralia’s Zach Phelps (West) and Kiona Benton’s Hayden Wing (East).

Coach and Athletic Director Bill (Alex) Alexander from Quincy and his entire crew are to be congratulated for their efforts and preparation. The game went off seamlessly. The venue, the Eisenhower HS field, was ideal and the fans got their money’s worth. For us, it was worth the long trip to Yakima and when it’s time to decide which All-Star game to watch next year, the Earl Barden Classic is now a strong favorite. High School Cover 2 encourages all football fans to come and watch next year. No matter where you are traveling from, it will be well worth the trip.

Finally, I would be remiss not to mention that the players raised $30,000 from supporters in their areas to support the game. Truly outstanding! Dick Kalla

2011 All-Star Game

2011-06-26T16:51:00.000-07:00

As promised, Jim and I traveled to Yakima this weekend to watch the 2A and lower All-Star Game in Yakima, departing from our usual practice of covering the 3A/4A Game. Both Jim and I will be writing about what we found but, in the interim, here's a report on the game seen through the eyes of Chelan Coach Darren Talley who accompanied his player, Quin Courtney to Yakima. Coach Talley is a regular contributor to this blog and we are grateful for his account of the game.

All State Football Game at Eisenhower High School's Zaepfel Stadium - Saturday June 25th 2011

West 23 – East 14

A beautiful sunny day, a great All State Football game, and great local players Chelan Quin Courtney, Cashmere Tyler McNair, and Brewster Manny Rubio in their last high school function capping great high school careers against some of the best 2A, 1A, 2B, & 1B players in the State of Washington. Quin Courtney of Chelan will be playing at Simon Frasier in Vancouver Canada NCAA Div II next season. The game went back and forth until the final minutes, when the West scored with 1:07 left in the fourth quarter icing the game West 23 - East 14. Quin Courtney from Chelan started and played every offensive down for the East team at the position of Center, and he played in a three man rotation at the position of defensive tackle. Tyler McNair started and played defensive end in his usual impressive physical style. Manny Rubio from Brewster not only played in the game, but was coached in the game by his own high school head coach Ed Ashworth assistant coach for the East squad. Quin Courtney Chelan was voted by his teammates as one of the four 2011 East Captains. This follows Chelan's Doug Ramsey 2010 East team captain, 2009 Chelan Derrick Talley East team captain, 2009 Cashmere Derek Todd East team captain, and 2009 Cascade (Leavenworth) Dominic Coffin East team captain representing three of the four East team captains from the CTL.

Every year this game pits the best 2A, 1A, 2B, & 1B players from the West and more populous side of the State against the East side of the State and it is a battle for bragging rights amongst players and coaches alike. This year was no different in a close game from the start to the finish. Coach Talley, Coach Zukowski, and Eastside assistant Coach Ed Ashworth were proud to see Quin Courtney Chelan, Tyler McNair Cashmere, and Manny Rubio Brewster represent their schools, their leagues, their families, their communities, and finish their high school playing days as some of the best football players in the State.

Nice mid week comment in the Yakima Herald 6/23/11 – East head coach Mike Morgan Colfax could talk all day about every one of his players, but upon being arm-twisted to name a few who have really caught his eye, he started with Quin Courtney, a 260-pound lineman from Chelan. “Right now, when he’s on defense, we can’t block him. He’s strong as a bull.”

1st qtr: 2:00 min West touchdown - RB Matthew Friese Willapa Valley 22 yard pass to WR Kyle Warner Tumwater - pat good by Sean McNealley Montesano - West 7 - East 0

2nd qtr: 2:46 min West touchdown - QB Dalton Ritchey Onalaska 10 yard pass to WR Kyle Warner Tumwater - pat failed - West 13 - East 0

3rd qtr: 2:59 min East touchdown - QB Alex Teade Colfax 37 yard pass to WR Brendan Barrington Pullman - pat good by Sawyer Bardwell Colville - West 13 - East 7

4th qtr: 7:34 min East touchdown - QB Sawyer Bardwell Colville 3 yard run - pat good by Sawyer Bardwell Colville - West 13 - East 14

4th qtr: 3:30 min West field goal - Sean McNealley Montesano 26 yard FG - West 16 - East 14

4th qtr: 1:07 min West touchdown - QB Dalton Ritchey Onalaska 19 yard run - pat good by Sean McNealley Montesano - West 23 - East 14

Final Score: West 23 - East 14

East Captains

1) Quin Courtney - Chelan HS

2) Alex Teade - Colfax HS

3) Kellen Morgan - Colfax HS

4) Rex Lyle - Connell HS

West Captains:

1) Dalton Ritchey - Onalaska HS

2) Zach Baldwin - Centralia HS

3) Kyle Warner - Tumwater HS

4) Julius Tevaga - Archbishop Murphy HS

East Offensive MVP - Brendan Barrington - Pullman HS

East Defensive MVP - Carlos Ramirez - Toppenish HS

East Inspirational - Hayden Wing - Kiona Benton HS

West Offensive MVP - Kyle Warner - Tumwater HS

West Defensive Co MVP - Matthew Friese - Willapa Valley HS

West Defensive Co MVP - Tevin Williams North Mason HS

West Inspirational - Zach Phelps - Centralia HS

Reported by Darren Talley

Individual Statistics below as reported by Yakima Herald

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING — West, Zach Baldwin (Centralia) 12-54, Ryan Vongmixay(South Bend) 3-49, Ritchey (Onalaska) 8-41, Lawyer Tillman (North Thurston) 8-31, McNealley (Montesano) 5-15, Friese (Willapa Valley) 2-7, Brycen Holmes (Chehalis) 1-5, Kyler Howell (Concrete) 2-4. East, Chance Watt (River View) 7-51, Carlos Ramirez (Toppenish) 6-26, Teade (Colfax) 4-18, Kris Cady (Waitsburg-Prescott) 3-14, Bardwell (Colville) 3-13.

PASSING — West, Ritchey 7-13-0 104, Friese 1-1-0 22, McNealley 1-2-0 10. East, Bardwell 7-15-0 129, Teade 4-8-0 53, Brady Arnone (Clarkston) 1-11-0 12.

RECEIVING — West, Warner (Tumwater) 7-113, Holmes 1-13, Friese 1-10. East, Barrington (Pullman) 4-108, Joey Strehlo (East Valley-Spok.) 2-13, Hayden Wing (Kiona-Benton) 1-48, Ramirez 1-9, Tyler McNair (Cashmere) 1-5, Jake Reynolds (East Valley-Spok.) 1-5, Zach Tackwell (Mark Morris) 1-4, Kraymer Eppich (Connell) 1-2.

Let's Think Safety Out There

2011-06-21T23:15:00.000-07:00

At the urging of a friend, I watched a program on Frontline that dealt with injuries in high school football. The revelations were few; most everything they covered had been dealt with before. However, since most schools nationwide are involved in some kind of spring football, Dick and I felt that it is important to re-visit the safety issues of heat stroke and head trauma once again.

The video showed a fairly, uh, "full-figured" coach patrolling the sidelines loudly pointing out, from the safety of the sideline, his high school squad's deficiencies in effort or character. "Forty yards", he kept yelling, "that's all we are asking...forty yards." This was in Arkansas in August. The temperature was one hundred and eight degrees. I had two thoughts while watching this segment. One was that being substantially overweight on the sideline sends kids the wrong message. If we tell them that they need to be in condition in order to play football, then we are also saying that when the carrot of a season of football is no longer available, then there is no more need to be in shape. We should, instead, be promoting year-round conditioning with the message being "If you are already in good shape, then you can play football, basketball, soccer, any athletic endeavor. The emphasis is on "being in shape" rather than "getting in shape."

The second thing that I thought of was the "Death-March" practices that Bear Bryant subjected his Texas A & M football players to in the mid-1950's. In the middle of a record-setting drought and a heat wave that sent the temperature on the make-shift, rock and gravel-strewn football field into the high 90's and breaking 100 a couple of times, 100 players started out and at the end of ten days only 34 were left. Now, these were lean, hard-muscled young men just in off the farm or from small towns, men who were used to hard work, bucking hay, mending fences, working in the summers day after day all day long. In the spring they worked after school and on weekends planting the crops and in the fall they worked to harvest the crops. These were tough young men. Bryant's regimen caused young men like this to pack up and head for home, what would happen with today's youth in similar circumstances? As the Frontline video showed, what can (and did) happen was that many young men become not stars but statistics. Withholding water in the conditions the kids faced in Arkansas would have resulted in player deaths of astronomic proportions.

After high school I played football in the Air Force in the South, in Florida's Panhandle in the early Sixties. Since our coaches were primarily Air Force pilots as well as college graduates from schools like Georgia Tech and Ol' Miss, they understood the need for hydration. We had a team doctor (a captain) and we had athletic trainers on duty at all times. It seemed that the trainers' primary job was to keep the canvas ice bags full. They were duffel bag size, maybe four feet tall and constructed so that ice water could not leak or sweat out. We were encouraged to drink water as we needed it. Interestingly enough, no one, and I do mean no one, ever suffered a medical condition because of the heat even though the temperature in late August regularly climbed into the 90's and occasionally hovered near the 100 degree mark.

The Frontline video also touched on a subject near and dear to my heart...head trauma. As I sit here typing away, I am cognizant of the fact that my football-caused brain surgery saved me (and my wife) from a probable devastating future. The laws passed in our state (Washington) make it more difficult for a kid to become a head trauma statistic. The law (called the Zachery Lystedt Law) was named after a young eighth grader who suffered a head injury in a game and was sent back in to play later in the same game. He was re-injured and suddenly collapsed. The emotional toll on his family and friends as well as on Zack himself has been a youth league football horror story.

Zack is still undergoing therapy and seems to be improving, but the old Zack Lystedt will probably never return. Therapy does help though. My short-term memory, cognition, and balance are improving every day as I near 70. If I were young, the outlook would probably be even better. And, the medical community is seemingly making new discoveries on a near-daily basis.

What can I, as a coach who has been working with eighth graders, do to keep any kid on my team from becoming a statistic? I believe that I have to take each kid through the decades in story form and outline how the football helmet transitioned from being a necessary safety tool to becoming a formidable and overused weapon. I know how it happened, because I lived it. I will then attempt to teach them to use the helmet only for protection once again...with eye-opening penalties should they fail to do so. Will it work? We gotta try. Jim Olsen

America's Real Heroes

2011-06-13T08:48:00.000-07:00

The first football player that I can remember adopting as my personal hero was a receiver for the Los Angeles (no, not St. Louis) Rams named Elroy Hirsch. I knew that Elroy (Crazylegs) Hirsch was from the university of Wisconsin and was an all-pro end for the L.A. team (they did not have tight ends and split ends, certainly no wideouts, flankers, or slot receivers). There were simply two ends, left and right. I went to a movie back then in the late 50's and the same Elroy Hirsch was the star of that movie. The movie was titled "Unchained" and the only thing remarkable about it was its title song "Unchained Melody" by Al Hibler and later became a gigantic hit by the Righteous Brothers. Lynda and I played it at our wedding.

Back then all of us guys had our heroes. In football season for me it was Hirsch and Norm Van Brocklin of the Rams. Later it would be Johnny Unitas and the Baltimore Colts. In baseball I idolized Willie Mays over The Mick, Mickey Mantle. In basketball I was captivated by a guard-center combination out of the University of San Francisco, K.C. Jones and Bill Russell. Later, I switched my allegiance to a team and players a lot closer to home. The Seattle University Chieftains with Elgin Baylor and Montesano's Jerry Frizzell became almost an obsession for me. In track I followed a high jumper named Charles Dumas. who was, I believe, the first man who high-jumped seven feet. One of Dumas' main competitors and a guy who jumped around the 6'11 mark was a young man who later attracted a modest following as a singer: Johnny Mathis.

Since this was a time when we did not have twenty-four hour coverage of our heroes, we were allowed to indulge in our hero-worship with little chance of ever finding out that our heroes may have a number of non-heroic traits, may have had feet of clay. Our heroes were able to assume their places on our personal pedestals whether they were worthy of those positions or not. I have had a chance to sit back and reflect on the concept of hero worship in the past few months and, with the aid of an excellent book titled "War" by Sebastian Junger, and with the memories of some of the young fourteen and fifteen year-olds who have played Freshman football for me over the years, I believe I finally understand heroism.

Brandon Hall is a Marine. It seems that he has always been a Marine. As a freshman he was 6'1", maybe edging up on 6'2", lean, and all muscle. I played him at tight end and an outside linebacker in football and called him my 500-pound gorilla. Where does a 500 pound gorilla play? Pretty much wherever he wants. We were running a play in which the tight end came down hard on the defensive tackle, and I was trying to work with the D-tackle on ways he could combat such an eventuality. The QB started the count and I was watching the D-tackle intently when, suddenly, he disappeared. There was a flash and a scream that I had to assume came from Brandon and the guy was gone. I located him about seven yards away...underneath Brandon After Brandon graduated from high school, he went into the Marine Corps where he served in Desert Storm and then became a Marine Corps Drill Instructor. I was fortunate to be asked to read at his wedding to the beautiful April, and he and April have now added 3 children to their family. He was my student and player and now he helps me in my new definition of the word hero. Heroes are people who do their jobs.

In Junger's book he explains that Special Forces personnel never characterize themselves as heroes. They are just "doing their jobs." In fact, there are only two kinds of people in a firefight: those who are doing their jobs and cowards. War, the way it is fought these days is a team game, maybe the ultimate team game. It is a game in which you are dependent on each member of your team for your very survival as every member is dependent upon you. To not be there for a team member is unthinkable. Maybe that is why it seems that football player excel in this new game. They see the goal as a team effort.

Jeff Epstein was an undersized offensive lineman, a guard, who played for us a few years after Brandon graduated. Although he was small and less than quick, he had the heart of a lion. He started most of the games his senior year and gave every ounce of strength to defeat guys who outweighed him by over a hundred pounds. He is a Seabee now, building airstrips and buildings and whole towns in middle-eastern war zones. Most of what he teaches his group of close to 200 men, he says, he learned on the football field.

Then there's Saul. Saul was a high school football and wrestling standout. Standing 5'6" or 5'7", Saul at that time weighed about 210 pounds. Looking at him you would swear that there was not an ounce of fat on him. He did a max bench press of 410 pounds, and he was unbelievably quick. Smart too. Leonardo da Vinci was Saul's hero (I still have a drawing of da Vinci that Saul drew.). Saul was an artist who joined the army as a means to an end. Like many other Mariner kids, his family paying for Saul's education was out of the question, so he felt that he could join the army, learn a trade and continue his education when he got out. Not one to resist a challenge, Saul decided right away that if he was going to be in the army, he was going to train with the best. So, Saul became a member of the Special Forces, the Green Berets. In a training class the hand-to-hand combat instructor was using Saul to show the class a move when he asked Saul to counter the move. Saul broke the instructor's hand.

Saul had lost his mother in Uganda and his father, a Boeing engineer and AIDS worker to a boat fire on Lake Victoria shortly after Saul began ninth-grade football practice. My assistant coach at the time was Glenn K. Smith who noticed Saul sitting after practice alone. He found that Saul was living with an aunt in a relationship that was not going well. Glenn, a life-long bachelor, took Saul in as his foster son and that began a relationship that continues today, some fifteen years later. Even though Glenn is now married with a son of his own, he still has a special bond with Saul. That is why Glenn's life was rocked to the core when Saul called him last week to tell him, in a weakened voice, that his unit had been attacked and they were all shot up pretty badly. Glenn, a short while later, found out that Saul was injured worst of all. He had called to reassure Glenn before he went into the room for surgery for a gunshot wound to the chest. It was "no big deal". He was just "doing his job".

If Peyton Manning and Dirk Nowitzki, Donovan McNab and Dwayne Wade, not to mention Lebron James are to be handed the mantle of American Hero, then surely there is a special place for Brandon, Jeff, and Saul along with the thousands of other young men and women just like them. They are my heroes. Jim Olsen

WA East-West All-Star H.S. Football Rosters

2011-05-30T23:21:00.000-07:00

Since the inception of this blog, High School Cover 2 has covered the 3A/4A, East-West All-Star game held each summer. We've given you practice reports, coach and player interviews and game summaries as well as a feeling for the atmosphere. The game was easy for us to cover because, for the last several years, the game was played on the west side of the state at Memorial Stadium in Everett, an easy commute for both of us. There is, as football fans know, a second All-Star game for players from smaller schools, 2A and lower, but it was always played on the east side at the same time as the 3A-4A game making it impossible for us to report on. This year things are different. The 3A/4A game is being played in Cheney, at Eastern Washington University, on the evening of July 1. The 2A and lower game will be, as it has been for a while, in Yakima on June 25. This has presented us with both an opportunity and a small dilemma; should we continue to cover only the 3A/4A game or maybe this is the year that we tell you a little more about the other All-Star game. Finally, is there any way that we could report on both games? These are questions that we will answer soon.

We apologize for the differing roster formats below, but the information is not easily obtained and we had to pull it from various sources. High School Cover 2 will soon announce our plan for All-Star coverage.

3A-4A All-Star Game Roster

WEST
Dillon Baker 6'5" 194 WR/DB Shorecrest
Aaron Boesch 6'4" 215 DE/TE Oak Harbor
James Boker 6'5" 228 TE/DE Redmond
Ryan Brown 6'2" 260 OL/DL Edmonds-Woodway
Jordan Bumgarner 6'3" 220 OL/DL Hazen
Dexter Charles 6'5" 295 OL/DL Stanwood
Alex Coffman 6'2" 180 DB/QB Mariner
Wes Concepcion 6'1" 163 P/K Kentridge
Jay Deines 6'5" 250 DL/OL Issaquah
Duke Dolphin 6'1" 205 RB/DB Lake Stevens
Walker Evans 6’2” 215 C/LB Jackson
Mikell Everett 5'10" 175 DB/RB Kentwood
Luke Frauenholtz 6'3" 230 DE/TE Everett
Owen Fritz 6'2" 255 OL/DL Mountlake Terrace
Michael Ford 5’8” 155 WR/DB Skyline
Dallas Gosselin 6'1" 250 DL/OL Bothell
Mitch Haldane 6'1" 200 LB/TE Mountlake Terrace
Michael Hardy 6'1" 235 OL/DL Seattle Prep
Aaron Heck 6'1" 205 OL/LB Everett
L.J. Jennings 5'11" 195 LB/RB Kennedy Catholic
Tyler Jewett 6’5” 264 OL/DL Kentlake
Kyle Kennedy 5'11" 210 RB/LB Bremerton
Connor Lane 5'11" 190 LB/RB O'Dea
Lamar Madkin 6'3" 260 TE/DE Mount Vernon
Kevin Martin 6'0" 175 WR/DB/k Newport
Evan Peterson 6'1" 185 WR/DB Issaquah
Blake Peterson 6'1" 215 LB/OL Arlington
Jake Pratt 5'11" 185 WR/DB Monroe
Todd Raynes 6'1" 190 WR/DB Inglemoor
Tovar Sanchez 6'3" 215 OLB/OL Ingraham
Zach Schumann 6'3" 260 OL/DL Marysville Pitchuck
Danny Shelton 6'3" 300 OL/DL Auburn
Cody Treddenbarger 6'0" 270 C/DL Juanita
Alphonse Wade 5'11" 185 RB/DB Auburn
Trey Wheeler 6'0" 185 QB Liberty

Coaching staff
Head Coach: Marty Osborn (Kentridge HS)
Assistants: David Fowler (Kentridge HS), Jeff Sumake (Kentridge HS), Rory Rosenbach (Glacier Peek HS), Nick Bartoli (Kentridge HS)

EAST
Tyler Babakus 5'8" 160 RB/DB Bonney Lake
T.J. Boatright 6'5" 225 TE/LB Union
Griffin Boudia 6'1" 220 DL/TE/RB Olympia
Zack Browning 5'11" 210 RB/LB Union
Kellen Clute 6'5" 230 TE/LB Mt. Spokane
Joe Dahl 6'5" 245 OL/DE University
Luc Graff 6'1" 190 QB/DB Chiawana
Karl Graves 6'2" 190 WR/DB Skyview
Logan Grindy 6'2" 190 QB Camas
Nolan Haehl 6'3" 225 DL/OL Eastmont
Terren Houk 6'5" 205 WR/DB Enumclaw
Sebastian Hunt 6'2" 230 OL/DL A.C. Davis
Ben King 6'1" 191 LB/TE Bellarmine Prep
Kevin Knapp 6'0" 225 DL/OL Enumclaw
C.J. Langlow 6'3" 200 WR/DB Curtis
Grant Livingston 6'2" 210 LB/TE Ferris
Drew Loftus 6'3" 195 DB/QB Kennewick
Austin Marshall 6'1" 195 WR/DB Bonney Lake
Paul Miller 5'8" 170 DB/RB Mead
Amosa Oloi 5'10" 270 C/DL Timberline
Jared O'Neil 5'11" 185 LB/RB Kelso
Nick Phillips 5'10" 170 P/K Skyview
Ryan Pierce 6'1" 190 DB/RB Eastmont
Eddie Releford 6'2" 235 DE/OL Lakes
Kevin Russell 6'0" 190 QB/P Timberline
Branson Schmidt 6'2" 235 OL/DL Central Valley
Kyle Schueler 6'4" 255 OL/DE Lakes
Abraham Slifer 5'10" 175 WR/DB Prairie
Kevin Stanley 6'3" 200 DE/OL Central Valley
Jordan Tonani 6'1" 190 WR/DB Ferris
Nick Vincent 6'1" 210 LB/OL Chiawana
Kellen Westerling 6'1" 185 WR/DB Rogers (Puyallup)
Brett Wittenberg 6'3" 280 OL/DL Olympia

Coaching staff
Head coach: Jim Sharkey (Ferris HS)
Assistants: Clarence Hough (Ferris HS), Jon Eagle (Camas HS), Chad Barrett (Bonney Lake HS), Nick Mullen (Timberline HS)

2A-1A-1B-1C 2011 Earl Barden All-Star East Team Roster

East Head Coach: Mike Morgan - Colfax

		#	Ht.	Wt.	Position	School	Coach	EBC Pos.
Sawyer	Birdwell	8	6’5″	190	QB/DB	Colville	Randy Cornwell	DB
Kramer	Ferrell	7	5’10″	175	WR/DB	Ellensburg	Randy Affholter	DB
Dominic	Garza	2	5’9″	161	WR/DB	Prosser	Benji Sonnichsen	DB
Colby	Hanson	41	6′	190	RB/LB	Clarkston	Dave Curtis	DB
Kellen	Morgan	45	6’1″	175	TE/DB	Colfax	Mike Morgan	DB
Bryant	Anderson	24	6’1″	190	TE/WR/DE	Connell	Wayne Riner	DE
Tyler	McNair	9	6′	190	QB/DL	Cashmere	Phil Zukowski	DE
Jake	Reynolds	88	6’1″	210	TE/DE	East Valley Spo	Adam Fisher	DE
Joey	Strehlo	39	6’3″	215	FB/DE	East Valley Spo	Adam Fisher	DE
Zach	Tackwell	44	6’3″	185	TE/DE	Mark Morris	Shawn Perkins	DE
Julio	Barerra	56	6’1″	290	OL/DL	R A Long	Erik Bertram	DT
Quin	Courtney	75	6’1″	260	OL/DL	Chelan	Darren Talley	DT
Clay	DeBord	52	6’6″	250	OL/DL	Asotin	Sal Lopez	DT
Will	Peters	74	6’2″	240	Dl/OL	Chewelah	Jim Fisk	DT
Dylan	Delay	44	5’10″	185	RB/LB/LS	Royal	Wiley Allred	LB
Dan	Feeney	32	5’11″	235	FB/LB	Mark Morris	Shawn Perkins	LB
Carlos	Ramirez	3	5’8″	177	RB/LB	Toppenish	Jason Smith	LB
Manny	Rubio	50	5’7″	175	OL/LB	Brewster	Ed Ashworth	LB
Traven	Smith	56	5’11″	206	G/C/LB	Lind/Ritzville	Greg Whitmore	LB
Shawn	Burton	77	6’4″	300	OL/DL	Deer Park	Keith Stamps	OL
Nathaniel	Deardorff	75	6’1″	225	OL	Zillah	Rock Winters	OL
Sergio	Fuentes	70	5’10″	220	OL/LB	Kittitas	Merle Watkins	OL
Adrian	Garcia	76	5’11″	220	OT	Othello	Roger Hoell	OL
Tuffy	Hickmann	72	6’7″	295	T/DT	Colfax	Mike Morgan	OL
Blake	Lesko	54	5’11″	190	OL/DL	Goldendale	Don Strother	OL
Rex	Lyle	53	6′	215	OL/DL	Connell	Wayne Riner	OL
Riley	Schell	72	6’5″	295	OL/DL	TOR	Ken Lindgren	OL
Kyle	Bailey	74	6’4″	240	C/DL	Prosser	Benji Sonnichsen	OL-CENTER
Brendan	Aguilar	11	6’1″	160	QB/DB	Omak	Nick Sackmann	QB
Brady	Arnone	11	6’3″	195	QB/S	Clarkston	Dave Curtis	QB
Alex	Teade	11	6’1″	185	QB/DB	Colfax	Mike Morgan	QB
Kris	Cady	33	6′	185	RB/SS	Waitsburg/Pres	Jeff Bartlow	RB
Keegan	McCormick	6	5’10″	180	RB/LB	Tonasket	Jay Hawkins	RB
Tyler	McNannay	7	6′	180	RB/LB	Colfax	Mike Morgan	RB
Chance	Watt	6	5’7″	155	RB/LB/LS	Riverview	Brett Jay	RB
Paul	Thomas	45	6’1″	185	TE/DE	Lakeside	Brian Dunn	TE
Brendon	Barrington	1	6’3″	185	Wr/S	Pullman	Craig McCormick	WR
Kraymer	Eppich	8	6’4″	225	WR/DE	Connell	Wayne Riner	WR
Joe	Sullivan	15	5’10″	165	WR	LaSalle	Jack McMillan	WR
Hayden	Wing	4	5’9″	160	WR/DB/KR	Kiona Benton	Charlie Hobbick	WR

2A-1A-1B-1C 2011 Earl Barden All-Star West Team Roster

West Head Coach: Sid Otton - Tumwater

First Name	Last Name	Height	Weight	Offense/ Defense	Positons	School	Coach	League
Kyle	Warner	6’3″	185	Offense	FS	Tumwater	Sid Otton	2A Evergreen
Zach	Baldwin	5’10″	205	Offense	RB/DB	Centralia	John Schultz	2A Evergreen
Brennan	Casteel	5’9″	175	Defense	RB, LB/DB	Chehalis	Bob Wollan	2A Evergreen
Brady	Grondel	5’10″	175	Defense	LB	Tumwater	Sid Otton	2A Evergreen
Easton	Hargrave	6’3″	195	Defense	DE/DT	Tumwater	Sid Otton	2A Evergreen
Jackson	Kirkpatrick	6’1″	165	Offense	WR, DB,Corner Back	Anacortes	Bill Evans	2A Northwest
Roman	Reyna	5’10″	205	Defense	RB/LB	Lynden	Curt Kramme	2A Northwest
Steven	Elsner	6’5″	235	Offense	OT, DE	Mount Baker	Ron Lepper	2A Northwest
Joshua	Tippins	6’4″	240	Defense	OL/DL	Lynden	Curt Kramme	2A Northwest
Mitchell	Tripp	6’0″	185	Offense	Long Snapper, Kick Returner	Meridian	Bob Ames	1A Northwest
Ryan	Newby	6’0″	190	Defense	OL, ILB/OLB	Meridian	Bob Ames	1A Northwest
Zack	Slesk	5’10″	175	Defense	QB, Corner	Meridian	Bob Ames	1A Northwest
Matthew	Friese	5’11″	170	Offense	QB, DB	Willapa Valley	Rob Friese	2B Pacific
Ryan	Vongmixay	5’9″	150	Defense	RB, DB	South Bend	Tom Sanchez	2B Pacific
Myron	Smith	5’10″	180	Defense	C, LB	South Bend	Tom Sanchez	2B Pacific
Brycen	Holmes	5’10″	165	Offense	R,B/Rec, Safety	Toledo	Terry Holmes	1A Trico
Wade	Huett	6;2″	280	Defense	T, Long Returner	Stevenson	Craig McKee	1A Trico
Jackson	Wargo	6’3″	285	Offense	G, NG	Montesano	Terry Jensen	1A Evergreen
Dalton	Ritchey	6’0″	185	Offense	QB,S	Onalaska	John Hallead	1A Evergreen
Sean	McNealley	6’1″	165	Defense	QB/REC, DB, Punter, Kicker	Montesano	Terry Jensen	1A Evergreen
Reece	Stanley	6’2″	215	Defense	TE, LB	Napavine	Josh Fay	2B Central
Tyler	Dotson	6’3″	230	Defense	LT, DE	Adna	K.C Johnson	2B Central
Isaac	Yamamoto	5’7″	185	Defense	RB, ILB	Sequim	Erik Wiker	2A Olympic
Ben	Hanson	6’3″	255	Offense	T	Kingston	Don Novick	2A Olympic
Bakari	Davis	5’9″	185	?	RB/LB	Lindbergh	Pat O’Grady	2A Seamount
Hamzah	Griffen	6’4″	230	Defense	TE, DE	Vashon	Clay Eastly	1A Nisqually
Derek	Simpson	6’2″	215	Defense	LB	Cascade Christian	Randy Davis	1A Nisqually
Tana	Pritchard	6’4″	205	Offense	LB/DB	Clover Park	Jon Randall	2A SPSL
Cody	Haavik	5’10″	190	Defense	RB, LB	Sumner	Keith Ross	2A SPSL
Kyler	Howell	5’11″	195	Both	RB, OLB, KOR	Concrete	Ron Rood	2B Northwest
Jacob	Hansen	5’11″	203	Defense	Guard, DG	Orcas Island	Dennis Dahl	2B Northwest
Sam	Spiro	6’1″	200	Defense	TE. LB	Tacoma Baptist	Mark Smith	2B Northwest
Luke	Peterson	6’2″	200	Defense	G, LB	Tacoma Baptist	Mark Smith	2B Northwest
Tani	Tupou	6’2″ 1/2	270	Defense	OL, TE	Archbishop Murphy	Dave Ward	2A Cascade
Julius	Tevago	6’1″	295	Offense	OL,DL	Archbishop Murphy	Dave Ward	2A Cascade
Thomas	Vincent	6’0″	195	Offense	QB, DB	Kings	Jim Shapiro	1A Cascade
Austin	VanderWel	6’2″	195	Defense	QB, WR, DB	Archbishop Murphy	Dave Ward	2A Cascade
Justin	Lane	6’2″	210	Offense	QB	Lakewood	Dan Teeter	2A Cascade

Only the Fool Knows

2011-05-23T11:11:00.000-07:00

Steve Kelly of the Seattle Times recently wrote of the ruling on pink whistles by the Washington Officials Association czar Todd Stordahl. A number of football referees, it seems, decided to officiate games in October while wearing pink whistles in support of the Susan G. Komen Foundation in that group's ongoing battle against breast cancer. Since the ref's hadn't cleared the move with him, this martinet Stordahl got his panties in a wad and brought the whole force of his office down on these individuals who acted as a group (Just who do they think they are?). He suspended them from playoff participation and placed them on probation for three years. I can imagine him yelling PROBATION in their faces and (Animal House-style) the spit just flying.

Stordahl's ruling makes no sense. Anything that can be done to bring attention to the fight against this terrible disease should have been welcomed with open arms, not a closed heart. I feel especially strongly about this because my wife died of cancer (albeit uterine cancer, not breast) at the age of 41. She fought valiantly to live long enough to be in the auditorium and witness our son's graduation from high school. I live in fear of the same disease striking my daughter or my two granddaughters.

Commissioner Stordahl, you were wrong on so many levels and for so many reasons that it must have occurred to you that maybe you acted out of haste. The firestorm you ignited (I've been reading the feedback to Steve Kelly's article. People don't appear to like you very much.) must have left you with at least a tiny, nagging question concerning your actions. Faced with your situation, what would a real man (or woman) do? I think that I would arrange a meeting of the affected parties and see if there is some way that the situation could be rectified. I know, I know, you might have to back off a little bit...well, maybe quite a bit, but that could not make you look weaker than you do at this moment. You also need to consider the fact that football referees are hard to find. I may have questioned a referee's calls, maybe even his heritage, but I have never lost the belief that all referees are in this for kids and for the game of football.

Stordahl, the main reason that you need to resolve this is also personal. You need to do this for all the women in your family. As I found out, cancer doesn't always happen to other people, in the house of someone else. Jim Olsen