High school football season preview: 2A Evergreen Conference
High school football is back in the South Sound. Practices are underway as programs across the state prepare for the beginning of the 2022 season in September.
The News Tribune and The Olympian will be visiting schools in the area and previewing local leagues as the first week of games approaches.
Follow along with us throughout the two-week preseason for previews on the 4A NPSL, 4A SPSL, 3A NPSL, 3A PCL, 3A SSC, 2A SPSL, 2A EvCo and more.
2A EVERGREEN CONFERENCE
Who’s the favorite?
For nearly four years, rivals in the 2A Evergreen Conference have lined up opposite Tumwater, hoping to topple the perennial contender – and failed.
The T-Birds’ last loss to a league opponent? A 22-17 road loss to Black Hills on Oct. 19, 2018. Tumwater appeared in quarterfinals that season anyway, and later repeated 2A titles in 2019 and 2020.
Even with only three returning starters, the T-Birds are again the favorite in the 2A EvCo. They graduated nine seniors from The Olympian’s reigning All-Area team, but coach Bill Beattie has deemed the practice reps “invaluable” for a younger-than-usual Tumwater team.
“We’ve been very fortunate the last three, four years, just having huge senior groups,” Beattie said Saturday. “A lot of returning veterans and players.”
“This year is kind of the complete opposite.”
The Wing-T remains the foundation for Tumwater’s football programs, down to its youth league. Carlos Matheney, a returning senior running back, joins quarterback Alex Overbay behind the line of scrimmage. Senior Lolomana’ia Hafoka bolsters the line on both sides of the ball and rounds out Tumwater’s trio of returning offensive starters.
Beattie says all three “should have great years.”
Having few returning starters brought added competition in preseason practice, an exciting element unseen at Tumwater in recent years. But Beattie insisted new starters won’t equal new standards for a program that has reached the state quarterfinals or beyond in each season since 2011.
Matheney “wasn’t worried” about his newer-look Tumwater team earlier this month, either. The tradition of ‘Tumwater Winning Football’ must be kept, he said.
“We’ve all come together as a group and we’re closer than we’ve ever been,” Matheney said during The News Tribune’s preseason practice tour.
The first three weeks will “hopefully answer a lot of questions” for the T-Birds, as marquee matchups pepper the league schedule early on. Tumwater opens the season at Burlington-Edison on Friday, only to meet 2A-contending North Kitsap and 3A-contending Kelso in the next pair of weeks.
“We feel that the non-league schedule is probably going to be the most important part for us this year,” Beattie said. “It sets the foundation of where we go from there.”
Any other contenders?
There’s a three-headed monster lurking on offense at W.F. West, featuring reigning offensive league MVP Gavin Fugate and a pair of first-team receivers.
The Bearcats (10-3, 5-1 2A EvCo in 2021) are confident, returning 17 total starters from a state-tournament team that dropped a first-round matchup to Prosser last season in the Round of 16. And Fugate, now a three-year starting quarterback, returns after tossing 1,313 passing yards and 16 touchdowns in 2021. He rushed for another 535 yards, adding nine scores on the ground.
“It’s a lot of fun when everybody’s clicking, that’s for sure,” said coach Dan Hill. “They’re chomping at the bit to get going … I’m really excited about their opportunities. It’s a great group of boys.”
Fugate’s weapons include receiver Gage Brumfield, who put the EvCo on notice with seven total touchdowns in his freshman season, now returning as a sophomore. Cameron Amoroso, a first-team receiver in 2021, grabbed another six scores.
And W.F. West returns another league MVP in defensive lineman Daniel Matagi, now a senior on both sides of the ball.
Said Hill: “Both (Gavin and Daniel) have the potential to be special playmakers for us this year.”
W.F. West may have the team, though they’ll need to navigate a gauntlet of a schedule, particularly in the earlier weeks.
The Bearcats open their season with 2021 state-semifinalist Ridgefield, and follow that up with a home meeting versus state-champion Lyden on Sep. 9 after drafting a two-year scheduling agreement with the programs.
A Sep. 30 matchup with Tumwater could very well determine the 2A EvCo, and W.F. West meets reigning 1A runner-up Eatonville on Oct. 14.
“I think come the end of the season, we’ll be right there to earn our right to the final 16,” Hill said. “And from there, every team’s good. You’ve just got to come out and play.”
Save the date
Friday, Sep. 9 – North Kitsap vs. Tumwater
Friday, Sep. 9 – Lynden vs. W.F. West
Friday, Sep. 16 – Tumwater vs. Kelso
Friday, Sep. 30 – W.F. West vs. Tumwater
Friday, Oct. 7 – Aberdeen vs. Tumwater
Did you know?
Centralia’s program returns 14 starters and welcomes first-year head coach Dustin McGee. There’s an entirely new coaching staff – McGee will also serve as defensive coordinator – and new offensive coordinator Michael Schuster runs the Wing-T.
10 players to watch
WR Cameron Amoroso, W.F. West, sr.
WR Gage Brumfield, W.F. West, soph.
QB/DB Gavin Fugate, W.F. West, sr.
QB Mason Goos, Shelton, sr.
OL Lolomana’ia Hafoka, Tumwater, sr.
OL/DL Daniel Matagi, W.F. West, sr.
RB Carlos Matheney, Tumwater, sr.
TE Max Mboob, Rochester, sr.
QB Alex Overbay, Tumwater, sr.
WR Dante Trikoff, Shelton, sr.
Predicted order of finish
Tumwater, W.F. West, Rochester, Shelton, Aberdeen, Black Hills, Centralia
This story was originally published August 30, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
