Emerald Ridge football had historic season last fall. Can Jaguars build on that run in 2023?
Emerald Ridge High School football made program history last November on a sunny afternoon in Puyallup.
After posting an impressive 7-2 record in Class 4A South Puget Sound League play, the Jaguars looked ahead to the district playoffs, a matchup with longtime 4A power Bothell looming.
But, the Jaguars left no doubt that day at Sparks Stadium that they would make their debut in the state bracket in 2022, scoring seven touchdowns in the first half and rolling to a 41-14 statement win to advance to the tournament for the first time since Emerald Ridge opened more than two decades earlier.
“We knew going into the game that we could make history tonight,” quarterback Jake Schakel told reporters postgame that day. “We wanted to let everybody know that we wanted it more than anybody who steps foot in this tournament.”
That was only the beginning of Emerald Ridge’s memorable postseason run last fall.
The Jaguars posted a 21-9 win over Eastlake the following weekend in the opening round of the state playoffs.
They followed that up by upsetting top-seeded Chiawana in a 40-37 thriller on the road in Pasco in the quarterfinals, and eventually ended the season with a school-best 10-3 record.
Much of the group that led Emerald Ridge to the state semifinals is back in 2023. Can the Jaguars build on that historic run in the months ahead, and play on the final day of the season in December?
“That’s the goal,” Schakel said as Emerald Ridge opened practices for the 2023 season. “The goal is to go to the state championship and win. We’re preparing every day. We’ve worked hard this offseason.”
“We know what it takes now to get there, and I think we’ve just added more talent, so I think our mindset going into this year is just focus,” senior receiver Tony Harste said.
Emerald Ridge is built to be a postseason contender again this season, featuring a veteran group — that includes six returning starters on offense and seven on defense — and key new additions.
Schakel is entering his fourth season as the program’s quarterback after earning 4A SPSL co-offensive player of the year and TNT All-Area honors last season, and a 4A SPSL first-team selection as a sophomore.
The Eastern Washington commit has 71.3 completion percentage in his 29-game career so far, and has thrown for 6,272 yards and 70 touchdowns. He completed 253-of-347 passes for a career-best 3,287 yards and 37 touchdowns as a junior last season.
Both of Schakel’s top receiving targets, Idaho commit Harste and three-star recruit Gio Kafentzis — who both surpassed 1,000 career receiving yards during the 2022 run — also return for their senior seasons.
Harste, a TNT All-Area selection in 2022, paced the program with 80 catches for 1,166 yards and 13 touchdowns last fall, and has piled up more than 1,800 yards and 22 scores through the air the past two seasons.
Kafentzis hauled in 66 catches for 970 yards and 11 touchdowns in 12 games last fall, was a 4A SPSL first-teamer as both a wide receiver and defensive back, and returns from a season-ending ankle injury in the quarterfinals last fall.
As Emerald Ridge opened the two-week preseason, the Jaguars’ offense — which piled up more than 4,500 yards and 53 touchdowns last season — was ready to pick up where they left off in 2022.
“We had a great season last year, and then we went into spring ball, and it felt like there was no stop,” he said. “And then we’re here now, and everything is clicking right now. It didn’t feel like we stopped at all.”
The Jaguars’ defense graduated last season’s 4A SPSL defensive lineman of the year in edge rusher Jacob Lane — who also earned TNT All-Area and all-state honors before heading to UW — but still brings back experienced playmakers, including senior linebacker Sean Tutty, who piled up 47 tackles, 12 tackles for loss and four sacks in 2022. Three-star defensive back Isaiah Jennings also joins the Jaguars’ secondary.
The Jaguars return their top four leaders in all-purpose yards from a season ago, including Harste (1,266), Kafentzis (1,045) and seniors Tayshaun Micks (751) and Kajon Babcock (694).
Emerald Ridge also adds two more seniors with state playoffs experience in seniors Navarre Dixon and Isaac Syph. Dixon rushed for more than 900 yards and 14 touchdowns last season for a Lincoln program that advanced to the 3A state quarterfinals and earned 3A Pierce County League first-team honors. He is also a defending Mat Classic champion. Syph was a 4A North Puget Sound League second-team selection at receiver, and advanced to the 4A state championship game with the Lancers last fall.
“I think we’re even more hungry than last year, because we know what we can do as a team,” Schakel said.
“We’re going to put in on the line every game, and it’s going to be amazing,” Kafentzis said.
Emerald Ridge began its nine-game run through the 4A SPSL — which also returns two more programs that reached the state playoffs last season in defending league champion Sumner (advanced to quarterfinals) and Graham-Kapowsin (semifinals) — against school district rival Puyallup on Sept. 1 at Sparks Stadium. The Jaguars scored the game’s opening touchdown on their second possession, never trailed, and led by as many as 21 in the eventual 36-23 victory — their first against the Vikings since 2016.
Though building on last season’s postseason success is the eventual goal this fall, the Jaguars enter September focused on posting a 1-0 record each week.
“We’re worried about us, and our team, and one week at a time,” Harste said.
This story was originally published August 23, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
