High school football: 2024 South Sound preseason practice tour
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High school football preview ’24
The News Tribune will be visiting schools in the area and previewing local leagues as the first week of games approaches.
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Welcome back to high school football season.
For two weeks before games begin, The News Tribune will visit local programs across the South Sound, providing photos, videos and insight on what to expect during the 2024 season.
Follow high school sports reporters Jon Manley (@manley_tnt) and Tyler Wicke (@WickeTyler) for updates on social media.
Staff photographers Tony Overman (@tonyoverman) and Brian Hayes (@_Brian_ICT) will also be out around the South Sound in the days ahead.
ENUMCLAW HORNETS
A few noteworthy contributors are gone from last year’s Class 2A state tournament semifinal Enumclaw squad, but for the most part, things feel the same at Pete’s Pool, where good times and cowboy hats are never in short supply.
Enumclaw graduated QB Gunnar Trachte, LB Karson Holt and versatile two-way league MVP Wyatt Neu, but the Hornets return eight starters on defense and all 11 starters from last year’s group.
The Hornets move up from Class 2A to Class 3A but already enter their new league — the 3A North Puget Sound League — as the preseason favorite.
“Team’s feeling good,” said last year’s 2A SPSL defensive player of the year, lineman Ryker Popke. “We’re gonna show some new teams what we’re about here in Enumclaw.”
The brand instilled under 13th-year head coach Mark Gunderson: nasty line play, run-first on offense and physical on both sides of the ball.
“We’re always in not that rebuild phase, but just the reload phase,” said three-time all-league defensive lineman Fernando Reyes.
Replacing Gunnar Trachte at QB this year will be his younger brother, junior Gavin Trachte.
“He did a great job at camp, getting the ball where it needs to be,” Gunderson said. “We’re excited about what he’ll be able to do.”
He’s a similar player to his older brother, a prototypical pocket passer with a strong arm.
“Both have big arms, can push the ball down the field,” Gunderson said. “They’re both very popular kids with the team. Kids follow their lead. That’s critical for the spot that he’s in.”
Enumclaw opens at Decatur on Friday, Sept. 6 in what could very well be the game that decides the league championship.
“We’re expecting some good competition, ready to battle with these new teams and show them what we’re about,” Reyes said. “We’re not gonna back down from any fight.”
Added Popke: “We have a lot of depth. I think we’re gonna be pretty good on both sides.”
TUMWATER T-BIRDS
In William Garrow’s perfect world, Tumwater’s head coach trots six unique running backs throughout the 2024 season.
Of course, the T-Birds are famous for their Wing-T offense, and the roster is always plenty deep. But six backs?
“Two guys who can play wing, two who can play halfback, and two that can play fullback,” Garrow told The News Tribune, standing on the sideline at Tumwater Stadium amid the season’s opening practice. “And we’re going to rotate the heck out of them all year.”
That’s the Tumwater way: everyone’s involved. The T-Birds return three starting backs – seniors Jaylin Nixon and Mathias Rodriguez, plus junior Peyton Davis – that each rushed for 400+ yards and scored at least eight touchdowns in 2023.
A dozen total starters return to this year’s squad, each of them hungry to avenge last season’s loss to Anacortes, 60-30, in the 2A state championship game last Dec. 2 at Husky Stadium. It snapped Tumwater’s 14-game win streak.
“It wasn’t what we wanted,” Garrow said. “Coaches have spent a lot of time this offseason with our kids, really talking about how… that was not how we wanted to be remembered at the end of a season.”
Watch out for a loaded linebacking core headlined by seniors Beckett Wall and Cash Short. And there’s plenty to like in the secondary after Tumwater added DB/WR Sunny Nguyen, an all-league Timberline transfer.
QB Jaxon Budd has the inside track on the starting gig, Garrow said. The junior signal-caller flashed a tight spiral and an ability to throw on the run with accuracy at Wednesday’s first official practice.
“We put up banners around the field, just around the place, to remind us what we’re still fighting for,” Wall said.
An exciting matchup with 4A SPSL’s Puyallup awaits the T-Birds in Week 1, a season-opening kickoff on Sep. 6 at Tumwater Stadium.
LAKES LANCERS
When the dust settled on the 2023 regular season, Lakes found itself in unfamiliar territory. The Lancers were out of the playoffs.
That’s not often the case for the Lancers under longtime coach Dave Miller in Lakewood, where the orange and white are synonymous with winning and postseason appearances.
This year’s group is hungry to get things back on track.
“We’re gonna get them back,” said linebacker Ta’u Mareko, who holds a UW offer. “It’s weird but everybody’s got years like that. It’s weird but it’s about how you bounce back. We’re gonna bounce back this year.”
Teammate Michael Pulalasi, part of Lakes’ formidable 1-2 punch at linebacker, shared similar thoughts.
“I feel like last year definitely woke something up in us,” Pulalasi said. “It definitely gave us motivation to push and be better for this year.”
Miller’s optimism starts with those two, who will be flying around all over the field on defense.
“I wouldn’t trade those guys for anybody,” Miller said. “They’re both physical, they can run, they fly to the ball. They know our stuff so they’re getting guys lined up right.”
Senior quarterback Willie Nash has been named the starter this fall, while fill-in quarterback Exavier McChristian will move back to receiver. McChristian stepped in last season for Legend Galeai, who went down with a season-ending injury early last season. He has since transferred to Mater Dei in California, before transferring again to Long Beach Poly High School.
“(Nash) knows our system well,” Miller said. “Does a great job distributing the ball to our weapons and we’ll have a really great line up front that will help him, and a good running game. I think he’s gonna have a really good year.”
Lakes also returns receiver Tristan Baker, center Amidjah Dilworth and running back Sentoa Leapai, who was out injured last season. Keep an eye too on 6-foot-5, 300-pound tackle Manasa Faamausili.
LINCOLN ABES
Rebuilding year, transition year, retooling year — call it whatever you want. The fact is, after losing TNT All-Area player of the year Gabarri Johnson to graduation after the 2022 — one of the most dynamic quarterbacks Tacoma has ever seen — along with a big senior class, Lincoln was bound to take a step back in 2023.
Abes’ coach Masaki Matsumoto decided to rip the Band-Aid off, naming freshman quarterback Sione Kaho the starter. He knew he’d go through some growing pains, but believed the payoff would be worth it in the long run.
Fast forward to Wednesday afternoon practice at Lincoln Bowl, and there’s a renewed buzz, excitement and expectation around Lincoln’s program heading into 2024.
“We’re looking good,” said senior linebacker Dre Sio Fetaui, who has been one of the league’s top defensive players since early in his preps career. “Go big or go home.”
Kaho feels miles ahead of where he was last year.
“Just a lot of knowing the playbook, knowing the guys that are coming through, having that trust in the coaching staff,” said Kaho, who has pulled in offers from Washington, Cal, BYU and Oregon since last spring. “Just having excitement throughout the team and being that leader for the Lincoln Abes.”
It’s not to say Lincoln had a bad season last year. The Abes were still highly competitive, finishing 5-1 in league play, beating Auburn in Week 10 and advancing to the Class 3A state tournament. But the standard is higher year in and year out at the east Tacoma school these days.
“We felt good about the season and what we were gonna get back,” Matsumoto said. “I didn’t anticipate some of the newer kids, in terms of transfers and kids in the hallway who decided to come out.”
The loss to Mount Tahoma, which had a breakthrough year in 2023, stung the most. This year’s group hopes to beat their Tacoma public school rival this year in the new 3A Puget Sound League.
“It didn’t feel too great,” Sio Fetaui said. “There’s always going to be a winner and a loser. They just wanted it more. We’ll definitely get a chance to come back this year.”
TIMBERLINE BLAZERS
The clouds have parted, and the Yelm Tornados have moved on from 3A – handing Timberline, and the rest of a newly-constructed 3A PSL, a newfound opportunity for a league trophy.
The Blazers played their best football to end the 2023 regular season via impressive and decisive shutouts of league-rivals Peninsula (35-0) and Capital (7-0). Now they get back four offensive linemen with varsity experience and top receiver Jacob Nadeau, who missed much of the 2022-23 campaigns with a nagging collarbone issue.
“Yelm went and built and developed something,” head coach James Jones said Wednesday of the Tornados, who moved up to the 4A SPSL. “The question is: What are we going to do?”
The plan of attack? Utilize a formidable line to establish a downhill run game and let Nadeau’s speed take over from the slot. And incoming freshman tight end CJ Duenas may already have the best hands on the entire squad, Jones said.
“I think we have the weapons to do damage,” Nadeau said.
First-year starter Logan Biggs is Timberline’s QB1, a senior with extracurricular rugby experience – but the Blazers aren’t asking him to win games on his own.
“We’re asking him to carry the ball and be smart with it,” Jones said.
“If we can hold onto the football and get 4.5 yards per carry, we’re going to be alright.”
Timberline hosts Lincoln of Tacoma for a Week 1 matchup at South Sound Stadium on Sep. 6.
MOUNT TAHOMA T-BIRDS
Mount Tahoma lived up to the offseason hype last year, trouncing through the 3A Pierce County League undefeated and advancing to the 3A state tournament quarterfinals.
It was a breakthrough season for a program that wasn’t taken seriously in years past. Consider the culture changed under now third-year coach Keith Terry. Can the T-Birds keep it rolling?
“We can build on (last season) a lot,” said junior cornerback Elijah Durr, who has offers from UW, Arizona, Michigan State and others. “We’ve got more athletes on the field, for sure, this time. We’re gonna execute stuff more.”
Mount Tahoma loses offensive tackle Marquise Thorpe-Taylor to UCLA and TNT All-Area running back Brison Bailey, but return six starters on offense and eight on defense. Durr leads a talented group of defensive backs.
“Coming into this year, it’s just gonna be another step defensively,” Terry said. “It’s a lot of returning starters, especially in the secondary.”
Senior Devon Addison takes over at quarterback, replacing graduated Tre Walker. Addison is relatively new to the position, but Terry said he thinks he’ll be OK with Mount Tahoma’s size up front, stable of running backs and talented skill position players.
“We’ve gotta put him in winnable situations,” Terry said. “If we can put him in front of the chains, we’re very confident in his ability to do what we want to do. We have a veteran group coming back up front.”
Durr is ready to back up his growing recruitment with his best high school season yet.
“I love being pushed to a different standard, having a target on my back,” he said.
That target will extend to the entire team. While Mount Tahoma was the story last year after so many years of futility, the T-Birds won’t be sneaking up on anybody this season.
“We have expectations and standards within our program,” Terry said. “We’re embracing where we’re at as a program. That’s the fun part — now, you have expectations. You’ve got to live up to those things.”
YELM TORNADOS
After tormenting 3A for the better part of a decade, the Tornados ascend to join a loaded 4A SPSL for the 2024-25 season and beyond.
To suggest there’s excitement in Yelm is a massive understatement.
Just ask senior offensive lineman Jacob Tracy, a Boise State commit and member of a menacing front five: “Moving up to 4A, there’s a lot better teams, a lot better competition up here,” he said Wednesday, surrounded by teammates after their first official practice.
“And we’re ready to play with the big boys now.”
It’s no secret: Yelm steamrolled 3A competition en route to a 27-game win streak between 2022-23 and hoisted the 3A state championship trophy with a miraculous, 20-13 victory over Eastside Catholic in the 2022 title game. That lengthy stretch of unbeaten glory finally ended last December, when Bellevue blanked the Tornados, 14-0, and denied a Yelm repeat in the 2023 championship.
But Tracy is one of three returning offensive linemen that suited up last Dec. 1 at Husky Stadium. Even the “newcomers” ooze experience.
Yelm graduated four-star recruit and RB/LB Brayden Platt, the state’s top prospect, to the University of Oregon -- but these Tornados are as well-equipped as any to bridge the gap.
“You don’t replace Brayden Platt,” Yelm coach Jason Ronquillo said. “But the guys that we do have are committed. They’re committed to excellence, and their attitude is very positive.
“(There’s) a desire to be just as good as we’ve been.”
Added Tracy: “(Brayden) was a big part of that team last year, but we have so many weapons now. A lot of the younger group is stepping up and filling the roles that we did lose.”
Nathan Ford projects to assume the bulk of the Yelm rushing duties, with fellow-tailback Jacob Ford utilized as an all-purpose playmaker. Expect plenty of receptions from slot receiver Jay Sumich (jr.) and split-end receiver Jameson Patin (sr.)
To Tracy, what makes this big-bodied, physical Yelm line one of the South Sound’s elite?
“Our intensity,” he said. “Once we snap that ball, we’re to the whistle. We’re not going to stop for anything.”
With Yelm’s rise to the 4A SPSL brings a loaded schedule, a treat for local football fanatics. The Tornados host 3A’s Mount Tahoma to open the season on Sep. 5 and play a total of three non-league contests before a gauntlet of rivals begins.
Perhaps the area’s regular season game of the year? Graham-Kapowsin vs. Yelm in Week 5, pitting programs who appeared in respective 4A and 3A state championship games in 2023.
“We know it’s going to be challenging,” Ronquillo said. “We’re excited for the level of competition. Coaches are great, very experienced coaches in the league. We’re going to do everything we can to make sure we stay as competitive as possible.”
SUMNER SPARTANS
Longtime Sumner coach Keith Ross caught us off guard when he told The News Tribune at a media day earlier this month that his Spartans might throw the ball 50 times a game this year.
For the old-school, run-the-ball-down-your-throat coach at Sumner, it marks a divergence from the usual Sumner philosophy.
But good coaches match their system to their personnel and at practice on Thursday, Ross is standing by it.
“There’s no number — I said 50 to the offense, but my point was, I’m giving them the green light to throw it as they see fit,” Ross said. “I’ve never done that before. I always say give the ball to (former Sumner running backs Matthew) Spurbeck, Peyton Wing and (current running back) Steele Isaacs. But I think we’re so dynamic at the quarterback position and wide receivers and I know as a d-coordinator, that when they’re throwing the ball, it’s stressful.
“So I want to create that stress for other d-coordinators. You have to cover our five guys, a lot. I will let them do what they see fit. If they want to throw it 50 times, they can.”
Senior tight end Carter Cocke, a Montana State commit, would like that in writing, please.
“I’ll get that tattooed on my forearm,” he said, laughing. “It’s gonna be new things. It’s not what Sumner’s used to. It’s gonna be amazing and everyone is gonna be shocked.”
Cocke is one of the state’s top tight ends, and Ross said he’s as sure-handed as anyone he’s coached in 27 years. Add in sophomore national receiver recruit Braylon Pope and a bevy of other capable receivers, and it’s easy to see why Sumner wants to air the ball out this fall.
“The passing game is gonna be crazy this year,” Pope said. “We have so many good receivers on the team.”
Throwing them the ball this year will be Mount Si transfer Nate Donovan, a junior with a big arm.
“I’m very excited,” he said. “All the tools we have, what we’re gonna be able to do to defenses is really exciting.”
PENINSULA SEAHAWKS
Midway through a team meeting on Thursday morning, Peninsula coach Ross Filkins shined a metaphorical spotlight on his quarterback, senior Mana Smythe.
Peninsula’s QB1 developed his athleticism and top-line speed more than any one Seahawk all summer, Filkins said – and Smythe’s head coach had made him the team’s epitome of offseason preparation.
“He’s just in a completely different headspace right now,” Filkins told The News Tribune at Roy Anderson Field. “It’s really fun to watch.”
That’s not to say the Seahawks won’t run the ball — it’s something Peninsula prides itself on — but with a “whole stable of running backs” behind him, the big-armed, quick-footed Smythe only adds another foil of deception and creativity.
Expect a balanced offensive attack with a rotation of multiple tailbacks behind Smythe, featuring workhorse captain Wyatt Abrigo.
“Our running backs coach calls us ‘The Four-Headed Dragon,’” Abrigo said. “I think that’s pretty cool.”
The Seahawks return roughly half of last year’s starters for the inaugural season of a newly-created 3A Puget Sound League. Composed of a dozen teams between two divisions, Peninsula is to compete in the PSL Nisqually, adjacent to the PSL Narrows.
Its perimeter standouts include Hayden Bundy and Carson Zimmermann, both receivers and defensive backs. Tailback Jake Akiskalian helps make up the rushing attack’s four-headed dragon. And opponents would be wise to avoid the 6-2, 260-pound Royal Charles, who provides a menacing presence on both lines.
Perhaps the team’s strongest defensive unit? Abrigo’s linebacking core. But that’s not how he sees it, a first-team All-SSC pick in 2023.
“Last year... there were a lot of individual groups. Now, there’s not,” Abrigo said. “We’re all together. We’re playing better.”
After all, Peninsula’s famous mantra is “Eleven as One.”
There’s a sense around the South Sound that, year after year, Filkins and Co. successfully squeeze every ounce of potential talent out of their players.
“That’s probably the best compliment you could ever say to a coach,” Filkins smiled. “We take a lot of pride in coaching every single kid in our program. I’m the freshman defensive line coach. Our offensive coordinator is coaching every quarterback, for instance.
“We try to find what each kid does well, and find a way to magnify that.”
On tap for Week 1? The annual Fish Bowl rivalry with Gig Harbor High School on Sep. 7. The Tides snapped Peninsula’s seven-game rivalry win streak in comeback fashion last season, 21-20. And for the first time, the Fish Bowl will be played at Mount Tahoma High School after logistical challenges during a medical emergency stained the 2023 installment.
“It’s a shame that it’s not here at Roy Anderson Field,” Abrigo said. “But it’s still going to be a good game. I’m very excited.”
GIG HARBOR TIDES
Everywhere you look, the Tides are growing stronger.
The crowd of returning linemen are adding weight, both on the scales and in the weight room. Feature running back and first-team All-SSC linebacker Ryland Geldermann is no exception, considered the strongest player on the team. Even QB Koi Calhoun bulked up this offseason.
Gig Harbor enjoyed an objectively successful 2023 campaign (7-3), placing second in the now-defunct 3A SSC behind only Yelm, the eventual state runner-up. And despite only rostering 12 seniors this go-around, the Tides say there’s another step forward to take.
“The culture’s getting right,” Tides head coach Darrin Reeves said at Thursday’s practice. “They understand what it takes to win, just the hard work and grit it takes.”
It’s because several Gig Harbor starters are experienced beyond their years. Reeves started four sophomore linemen between the trenches in 2023, and now, it’s the deepest unit he’s ever coached. The signal-calling Calhoun is just a junior; so is Geldermann.
“It’s about consistency,” Reeves said. “We’ve got a relatively young team. … These younger guys feel like they have a whirlwind of time, and they really don’t.
“Not getting too big or too small in the moment. There’s always going to be ups and downs. Just have to be even-keeled and play the next play.”
The rising crop of youth continues. Look out for wide receiver DJ Darling, a junior three-sport athlete who earned an offer from the University of Idaho football program with a standout performance in a recent college camp.
Joining Darling on the perimeter are Corey Irish and Liam Green, both two-way receivers and defensive backs.
Since Reeves took over the helm of the Tides in 2022, his physical, “run-the-ball, stop-the-run” mentality has paid pleasant dividends. Gig Harbor is 13-7 under his guidance, and with much of his team intact, the third-year head coach anticipates another strong showing.
“You win playoff games by running the ball and stopping the run,” Reeves said. “We’re hoping, with our strength and gain in experience and age, that we’re able to make a run at it.”
GRAHAM-KAPOWSIN EAGLES
Graham-Kapowsin lost three of its most dynamic players over the offseason. Quarterback Daveon Superales, receiver Malachi Durant and receiver Jabez Woods — all three both TNT All-Area and all-state selections a season ago — have graduated.
Even for a program as consistently at the top as G-K, that’s a lot of production to replace.
“I read (in The News Tribune) last night, (Yelm coach) Jason (Ronquillo) said ‘you don’t replace guys like Brayden Platt or Isaiah Patterson’ and we’re not gonna be able to replace Daveon, Jabez and Malachi and what they did,” said G-K coach Jeff Logan.
But the cupboard is far from bare. Receiver Khris Norris, who has quietly put together good seasons, is now the No. 1 wideout and one of the top options in the passing game alongside UCLA commit Noah Flores, an athletic pass catching tight end.
They’ll be catching passes from 14-year-old freshman QB AJ Tuivaiave, who won the starting job after a competition in the spring.
“I feel blessed,” Tuivaiave said of winning the starting job for G-K, which finished runner-up in the state bracket to champion Lake Stevens last season. “It’s another opportunity for me to show what I’ve got.”
Graham-Kapowsin advanced to the state championship game last year. This year, they won’t be favored to return to the state title game, but should still be in the picture, as they are every year.
Logan likes the returners on the offensive and defensive lines, which ideally will allow Tuivaiave, who turns 15 in October, to ease into the offense as much as possible.
“We feel really, really good about what we return up front on both sides of the football,” Logan said. “That allows us to hopefully run the ball more efficiently than we did last year, which takes a little bit of the burden off of a freshman starting quarterback.”
Graham-Kapowsin opens the season on the road against perennial Class 3A state title contender O’Dea, 5 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 6 at Memorial Stadium in Seattle.
BETHEL BISON
One thing was certain about the Bethel Bison last year: the defense was no joke.
Led by linebacker Zaydrius Rainey-Sale and a no-nonsense defensive line, Bethel had the No. 1 run defense in the loaded 4A SPSL a season ago. When teams played the Bison, they felt it the next day.
Rainey-Sale, now a senior and the state’s No. 1 recruit in the 2025 class, is back, fresh off a renewed verbal commitment to the hometown Washington Huskies. Could this year’s defense run it back, or even improve?
“I think this defense will be better than last year, for sure,” Rainey-Sale said. “We’ve more DB’s and we just have more skills. We have more depth and everything, and our d-line is looking nasty.”
While Bethel was susceptible to some high-flying pass offenses, Bethel’s defense more than held up its end of the bargain, for the most part. The struggle was on the other side of the ball, where the offense struggled to consistently move the chains.
Junior quarterback Evan Barnes — nicknamed ‘Sunshine’ by his teammates (Remember the Titans, anyone?) — takes over as the starter this year after playing JV last year. Can he turn things around on Bethel’s offense?
“Honestly, just trying to get us wins,” he said. “Stats are cool and all but I’m just trying to win, get into the playoffs, get deep into the playoffs and make a run.”
Rainey-Sale has been impressed with what he’s seen from the junior signal caller.
“Precision,” he said of Barnes. “Precision aiming.”
Bethel faces defending 3A state champion Bellevue in Week 1. It’ll be strength on strength: Bellevue’s Wing-T run game against Bethel’s run-stuffing defense.
“Hit them full strength,” Rainey-Sale said of the matchup. “That’s all we can say. There’s nothing much we can talk about. Hit them with all we’ve got.”
BELLARMINE PREP LIONS
Bellarmine is trading the massive-enrollment 4A SPSL schools with hulking offensive and defensive lines for more familiar territory: the newly-formed 3A Puget Sound League, which will see Bellarmine face Tacoma schools Lincoln, Mount Tahoma and Silas this fall.
It feels like a better fit for Bellarmine, which held its own in the 4A SPSL but struggled to match up in the trenches with teams like Graham-Kapowsin and Sumner over the years. Will Bellarmine become an instant contender in the 3A PSL? There’s confidence on the hill.
“(The SPSL is) a great league,” said senior quarterback Birk Johnston. “You can’t really take any weeks off in that league. In this league it’ll be nice that we’re playing closer teams to us. We don’t have to travel as far. We know the competition is still there, just like it was last year and we need to put out our best every week.”
Bellarmine returns four starters on offense and four on defense from last year’s team. Tenth-year head coach Brian Jensen will resume play calling duties as the team’s offensive coordinator this year. The Lions may see a renewed emphasis on running the football with Jensen calling plays.
But there should be some explosive plays in the passing game, too. Johnston, after being thrown into the fire halfway through the season last year after Bellarmine’s starting QB was injured, returns with more experience and a better command of things this fall.
“The confidence is the biggest thing,” he said. “I really learned a lot about how football works from the quarterback position. My arm has gotten stronger, I’ve gotten better as a quarterback. I’m able to utilize the mentality I had last year and put it towards this team, which could be even better than last year’s team.”
He’ll have senior receivers Gabe Gomez and Cooper Fournier as targets in the passing game. Defensively, Bellarmine returns linebacker LJ Pulu and defensive linemen Sam Hunter and Elijah Munoz, all juniors.
“It’s been a couple years since we’ve had a playoff berth, so obviously that’s our main goal,” Johnston said. “But we know we can go farther than that if we just learn the game of football, put our best out every week and just take it one game at a time.”
CURTIS VIKINGS
The bad news for the Curtis Vikings: freight-train QB Rocco Koch, a TNT All-Area and all-state selection a season ago, has graduated.
The good news? The team’s top two playmakers, Parker Mady and Xavier Ahrens — both TNT All-Area selections a season ago — are back.
That’ll make it a soft landing for Curtis’ new quarterback, whoever that ends up being. Sophomore Cooper Hordyk and freshman Sam Patterson are locked in a competition that Vikings’ coach Darren McKay expects to carry into the team’s season-opening non-league games.
“They’re both young, but they’re both very intelligent,” McKay said during an unseasonably cold and drizzly practice in University Place on Friday afternoon. “We’re thinking they can both play, especially early in the season.”
McKay said he doesn’t want to roll with two quarterbacks all season.
“Until somebody really takes it,” he said. “That’s usually what happens.”
The recipe should be fairly straightforward for either of the two: take care of the ball, and get the ball to Mady and Ahrens.
“It’s pretty simple,” McKay said. “You can’t go wrong with getting the ball to those two guys. They’re going to get the bulk of the targets, that’s no secret. Those two kids are pretty special.”
Mady racked up 975 yards and 13 touchdowns last season. Ahrens was a difference maker in all three phases, tallying 893 yards and 12 touchdowns on offense. On defense, he had four interceptions.
“Rocco was big on our run game and passing but if we just get the ball to our playmakers, I feel like it’s just gonna be the same as it was last year and the year before,” Mady said.
Curtis returns nine of 11 starters from its defense. While it may take the offense a little time to get up to speed, everyone in blue and white is optimistic the defense will take a step forward this year.
“We’re looking solid defensively,” Mady said.
Added McKay: “Especially early on, we expect the defense to be ahead of our offense. That’s where the experience is. They’re just very athletic. We run as well, if not better, than anyone else in this league, as far as just getting around from sideline to sideline. That includes our big guys, our big guys run well.”
Curtis opens the season on the road against Mount Si, 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 6.
STADIUM TIGERS
Just as Pat Johnson and his staff were getting things settled in and turned around at Stadium, everything changed. With a new four-year classification beginning this fall, the Tigers jumped from the 3A Pierce County League to the 4A North Puget Sound League.
Perennial South Sound powers like Lincoln and Lakes, and the newly-minted league champ Mount Tahoma, will be replaced on the schedule by a team in Kennedy Catholic that hasn’t lost in conference since 2018, last year’s 3A NPSL champ Auburn-Riverside (who also moved up this cycle) and Tahoma.
“I’m excited,” Johnson said. “I think when it was time to go, when they were doing the counts and all that … the 3A PCL last year was a tough league. So moving into 4A, yeah. We wanted to avoid the SPSL. But I will say, the NPSL has shown, those guys are still going to be tough. We were ready either way. I’m really proud of what we’re doing.”
A year ago, the Tigers improved. They won five games, one more than they lost. Maybe more importantly for the program, Stadium was competitive in most of its games. Now, it’s time to build on that growth in a new league and a new classification where the Tigers are picked to finish sixth among eight schools.
“It’s funny, you know,” Johnson said. “You’d think that was bulletin board material (the low ranking). But I told my coaches, if we get ranked sixth or seventh out of eight, that’s higher than Stadium has been ranked in preseason polls for the last 10 years.”
That doesn’t mean Stadium doesn’t have higher expectations for itself.
“Team-wise, the expectation is to go to the playoffs,” junior running back Darius Sum said. “And hopefully not to be first-round exits. You’ve got to keep your hopes high.”
Sum is one of the guys who’ll look to lead the next step in a Stadium football resurgence. He was an all-PCL kick returner a year ago and should be the team’s primary tailback, though he did see time at receiver in 2023.
Additionally, the Tigers should be good in the trenches.
“Our offensive line is a strength right now,” Johnson said. “Our top 11 linemen are all seniors. Our tight end is a recruitable athlete, 6-4, 225, Diego Cabrera.”
Stadium returns a bevy of receivers who had some success in the five-win ’23 year. It just remains to be seen whether what the Tigers were able to do in the PCL translates to this new situation up north.
SILAS RAMS
Even on Day 1 of fall practice, Silas coach Cameron Rogers knew it wasn’t the beginning.
“Seasons are won from January to July,” Rogers said. “The big difference this past year for us, our weight room buy-in has been significantly better. We’re still not where we want to be but we’re definitely moving in the right direction. That’s what’s really given everybody a shot of excitement and vitality.”
A year ago, in Rogers’ second season as head coach, the coaching staff hoped those elements of culture that were being sown would lead to success. Instead, the Rams managed just a single win. As 2024 gets underway, the Rams believe the culture will deliver results.
“Football is a physical game,” Rogers said. “It takes big, physical kids to play it. It takes guys who have been paying the price to put their body through it throughout. A lot of guys have taken that to heart. They are embracing every psychological, physical and emotional trial that is going to come their way.”
Those months between seasons also are when culture is instilled.
“I genuinely think it’s a culture issue,” senior offensive lineman Curtis Wright said. “There’s not as many older guys out here, it’s a lot of younger people. Us older guys really have to encourage the younger people. It’s happening a lot better than it was last year.”
One key on the field for Silas this season will be at the position most consider the most important on the field.
“We’ve got to have great quarterback play,” Rogers said. “Last year, Tyler Schoenrock stepped into a position he wasn’t ready for but he took on that role for us because somebody had to do it.”
Schoenrock has graduated and is playing defensive back at Willamette University this fall.
“So, we now have three guys who are competing,” Rogers said. “They’re all working hard and trying to get a leg up on the competition.”
Whoever wins that battle will look to lead a team with at least one very significant goal.
“We set expectations,” Wright said. “We’ve got to win some games this year.”
SPANAWAY LAKE SENTINELS
Beware of the perimeter speed in Spanaway Lake before it’s too late. The Sentinels are admittedly undersized in an unfamiliar and physical 4A SPSL, but make up for it in quickness.
The formula? Get the football to a number of playmakers in the open field, and let things happen.
“When it comes to how they hit and how they fly around… They all run around with their hair on fire,” Sentinels head coach Cameron Robak said.
The quantity of a dozen returning starters is appealing, but Robak, standing at Friday’s practice at Spanaway Lake High School, was more thrilled by the quality. Standout cornerback and feature running back D’Aryhian Clemons projects as one of the state’s top overall players, a University of Washington commit and the unquestioned leader of the Sentinels secondary.
“We’ve got the best secondary,” Clemons told The News Tribune, a game-changer on every down. “We’re ready to pick it (off and) air it out.”
Neighboring a slew of the South Sound’s elite for their inaugural season in the 4A SPSL – Graham-Kapowsin, Yelm, and Sumner, to name a few – the Sentinels feel as if they’re considered an underdog.
And consider that role embraced. There’s no shortage of confidence in Spanaway Lake.
“Most kids these days, they all think they’re the best out there. So they’re excited,” Robak chuckled. “The SPSL’s one of the best leagues in the state. … They’re excited to have that competition and be able to show out on that stage.”
Spanaway Lake graduated 34 seniors in 2022, a mass departure that left obvious varsity holes and created natural hiccups for young starters in 2023. The Sentinels dropped four of their first five games before rattling off a three-game win streak, including a double-overtime, 21-20 win over Lakes last Oct. 13, a sign of greener pastures ahead.
“We had to figure out how to make it their team now,” Robak said. “And they had to step up and be in front and lead. Definitely some hiccups with that, but (we) figured it out towards the end.”
What clicked in 2023 should translate schematically, given the retainment. QB Chase Best returns as the signal-caller in front of Clemons, the workhorse back. All-around playmakers LaRon Paige and De’arius Hawkins each scored three offensive touchdowns and recorded 50-plus tackles on defense last season.
When his final high school season concludes, Clemons won’t have to travel far.
“I wanted to stay close to home. I didn’t want to leave my Moms away,” Clemons said. “It just felt like a second family over there (in Seattle). The brotherhood, the coaches, the connections with teammates. I loved that.”
FRANKLIN PIERCE CARDINALS
The Cardinals ran the ball 98 percent of the time last season, often opting to throw no more than twice per game. It’s the Franklin Pierce identity: a love for tough, smash-mouth football.
Another heavy dose of the ground game remains in the forecast – but a dynamic sophomore quarterback and rising group of playmakers around him have head coach Trevor Hanson reconsidering, if only slightly.
“If you run the ball, it keeps your defense off the field,” Hanson said Friday. “It frustrates the (other) defense. And that same toughness and physicality will permeate to your special teams and defense if you can run the ball on offense.
“But we will open it up a little bit more this year and throw the ball. I’m not sure (what) the percentage will be, but it probably won’t be 98 percent.”
It starts with QB Jeremiah Orcutt, their two-way signal-caller and roving safety that “never wants to get off the field,” Hanson said. Orcutt’s speed and a trio of viable tailbacks behind him should have defenses guessing where the football is going, even if opponents assume it stays on the ground.
After leading team stretches, Orcutt threw a number of accurate deep balls at Friday’s practice and stood out in earlier training camps with a handful of interceptions from Franklin Pierce’s secondary.
“He’s just one of those guys that has a swagger about him, that kids will listen to,” Hanson said. “Even though he’s younger, he just has this innate ability to follow his lead and his example.”
Entering its third year in a new offensive scheme, Franklin Pierce won five games in 2022 and seven in 2023. A postseason run is next on the to-do list, Orcutt said.
“Our coaches always say, ‘We Before Me,’” Franklin Pierce’s QB1 continued. “All of us coming together, we can all take it all the way.”
Junior running backs Bryson Allen and Ja’mire Ford will look for holes in an offensive line led by 6-foot-3 Tevita Aholelei and brothers Anton Aloisio (sr.) and Anthony Aloisio (soph.)
Reigning second-team all-SSC linebacker Zeke Isaacson lurks on defense in between Marvis Christian and Taeshaun Wood, a pair of 6-foot-3 corners.
Franklin Pierce opens the 2024 season with Sammamish on Sept. 6 at 7 p.m.
PUYALLUP VIKINGS
Brayden Paulino was thrown into the fire in Week 3 as a freshman, suddenly the team’s starting quarterback against South Kitsap after an injury to Kaden Rolfsness.
He played well and Puyallup improved as the season went on, winning four of its final six games, including a statement win over Curtis in overtime in Week 9. The season ended with a narrow 25-22 overtime loss to Skyline in the Week 10 playoffs.
Paulino returns as the team’s starting quarterback this fall, expectations sky high for both himself and Puyallup’s team this year.
“We feel good this year,” he told the TNT at a drizzly practice on Saturday. “New players, new transfers. I feel like we’re gonna be explosive this year. I was prepared ever since day one, but going out there and feeling it for the first year, I feel way confident this year.”
Puyallup coach Brian Grout and his staff felt Paulino was beyond his years last fall, even as a freshman.
“It starts with poise,” he said. “That’s the one thing we picked up on. The first day he got on campus and came to our workouts, he was mature and had poise. I think that’s the natural ability of his, he’s really comfortable in his skin, he knows himself and his ability.
“And then in the offseason, he’s just done the things we need and want him to do to be a successful quarterback in our program.”
Paulino will have an enviable collection of skill players to distribute the ball to this fall. Junior receiver Jasiah Denmark, sophomore receiver J’isaiah Mitchell, senior RB/WR Kyson Douglas, senior receiver Nick Neil and TE Kaden Rolfsness help make up one of the area’s best skill position groups in 2024.
“We’re gonna be explosive this year,” Paulino said.
Grout said it’s the tightest-knit group he’s had since taking over at Puyallup and believes the hype around the team’s skill position talent is justified.
“Incredibly dynamic,” he said. “I think the buzz is worth it, valued. We still have a lot to prove as a team and as a group. I think we’re dead set on that. We have a lot of kids that touch the ball and want to touch the ball.”
FIFE TROJANS
They haven’t yet donned a pad on the football field, but already things feel very different around the Fife Trojans.
“I see something different in these guys, man,” senior La’au Maka said. “I think we’re going to go farther than anybody realizes. People want to strive for more. Five and five is not what we want here.”
The quest to redeem a mediocre year began before the 2023 campaign even finished. This senior class, coach Kent Nevin said, took over that team as juniors over the last couple of games. Their passion and commitment continued into the off-season, whether the team was bonding over video games or hitting the weight room.
“It didn’t sit well where we were at last year,” Nevin said. “We haven’t been 5-5 in a long, long, long time. The kids are motivated. It’s been fun to watch. It’s kind of rejuvenated me a little bit, as well.”
Nevin enters his 21st season as the Fife coach this fall with a group not just of seniors but others that got plenty of experience playing a year ago. At quarterback, junior Mattons Ducharme comes back off a full year starting as a sophomore.
The 6-foot-2 signal caller leads an offense that will have Maka in the backfield at fullback and plenty of other runners to execute what Nevins called an “extended Wing-T” offense.
While Trojans players had game nights and Madden tournaments during the first half of 2024, the coaches went out and spoke with other coaches, bringing back new ideas on preparation from staffs at places like Tumwater, Lincoln and Sumner.
On Day 3 of practice, as a rare August rain came down, everyone in blue and yellow was on track preparing ahead of the season-opener Friday, September 6, at Hockinson.
“We’re really excited,” Nevin said. “They’re great kids. They’re fun. They’re energetic. But they work really hard. One of our coaches said, ‘we could actually play a game today.’ They’re so bought in they aren’t doing the wandering eyes. They’re just focused in.”
OLYMPIA BEARS
Spirits are high in the state’s capital, where more than 100 student-athletes joined Olympia’s football program this season – the most in head coach Nick Mullen’s five-year tenure.
The Bears won just three games in a stacked 4A SPSL last season, but Olympia’s ready to flip the script.
“We’ve got kids who love football, they love the weight room, and they love the grind,” Mullen said. “We just want to be dawgs up front and get after it.
“It’s the ‘I’m going to beat you this play’ mentality. Everybody says it’s a fight. It’s not a fight. It’s, ‘I’m going to dominate this play. If you get me on this one, I’m going to get you on the next one.’”
There’s a new quarterback in Olympia with a familiar name: Cameron Downing is this year’s signal-caller, the younger brother of Gabe, a 2023 graduate and current quarterback at Portland State University.
Surely, they’re similar? Not so fast, Mullen said. They’re completely different. Gabe wore intensity on every down and could make any throw. Cameron’s even-keeled, more apt to take off from the pocket and throw on the run.
“(Cameron’s) a natural athlete,” Mullen said. “He’s got a lot of swagger that you don’t see. .... Ultra competitive, but you don’t see it until he’s playing.
“He was the 4A state javelin champ (in 2023) as a sophomore. And you’d never know that. He’s a very unassuming competitor, but an absolute dawg.”
Still, having an older brother from the program eases the transition.
“We FaceTime here and there,” Cameron said Monday. “We talk about the offense, what’s going to work.”
He’ll have 6-foot-1 senior receiver Harper Hejtmanek on the perimeter, paired with six-foot senior Drake Hughes. The offense returns junior Carson Godfrey from a torn ACL in 2023 and retains 6-foot-7 tackle Forrest Carter.
The Spaghetti Bowl returns to Olympia in 2024, and soon. The Bears clash with crosstown-rival Capital in Week 1 on Sep. 6 at Ingersoll Stadium.
Olympia handled the Cougars, 55-21, in the last installment on Nov. 4, 2022 – when Gabe was the senior quarterback.
“They don’t like us, we don’t like them,” Downing said. “It’ll be fun.”
CAPITAL COUGARS
The Cougars are playing with chips on their shoulders in a competitive 3A Puget Sound League, pitted against Lakes, Lincoln, and a number of postseason regulars. Nobody’s looking at them, head coach Terry Rose said.
They’re the “chasers.” They like it that way.
And at Capital, there’s plenty of confidence to go around.
“We’re not seen as some big threat,” said Cougars RB Blake Ostrander, “but I genuinely don’t think there’s a team in the state that can beat us. That’s the mindset I want everyone to come in with.”
With QB Lucas Redman at the helm of a balanced offense – and their defense weeks ahead of schedule – Rose believes his Cougars have the talent to contend for a league championship. Even without towering size, Capital’s speed and athleticism are sticking out in early camps, along with boosted chemistry unseen in Redman’s three seasons on the squad.
“This is by far our closest group,” the QB1 said. “We work together very well, and leadership’s something we strive (for).”
Ostrander’s the reigning second-team all-SSC tailback with 989 rushing yards in 2023, arguably Capital’s strongest player after squatting 500 pounds last week. Returning six-foot, 285-pound senior Bennett Pittman bolsters the offensive line.
Speed exists on the outside to open the field for a nifty Redman, who converted to wide receiver with an injured arm during the 2023 season. That process only helped, he said.
“It’s definitely helped my growth as quarterback, knowing my receivers, knowing how to read defenses better,” he said.
Up next? The Spaghetti Bowl. Capital meets Olympia at Ingersoll Stadium for the crosstown rivalry game on Sep. 6, when the Cougars look to avenge a 55-21 in the most-recent rendition (2022).
“Excited is an understatement,” Redman said. “We’re amped to play them.”
AUBURN TROJANS
There’s a connection brewing between Trojans QB Baylen Erdmann and top-target Lucas Whitehall-Gilkes.
The junior signal-caller found his 6-foot-2 receiver early and often throughout offseason camps -- the headliners among talented skill-position groups in Auburn.
“I expect some big plays,” Whitehall-Gilkes told The News Tribune. “The chemistry’s there.”
For much of the 2023 season, Whitehall-Gilkes, naturally, lingered in the shadow of standout senior receiver Luvens Valcin, now a tight end at Montana State – but the sophomore burst onto the scene late, recording at least 100 total yards in each of his final five games (playoffs included).
“Division-I players don’t grow on trees,” Auburn coach Aaron Chantler said Thursday. “And to have (Luvens) was pretty fortunate.
“The other day, (Lucas and I) were using superhero analogies. I said: Last year, you (became) the Robin to Luvens’ Batman. And now, it’s time for you to be Batman. It’s time to go.”
This year’s turnout competes with the best Chantler has seen in his seven-year tenure. In a shortened 2021 season due to the pandemic, just 24 kids suited up for their final varsity game. That number is back in the low 80s.
Among them – along with 13 returning starters – is Erdmann, who injured his knee midway through the 2023 season. It was horrible timing, considering the sophomore signal-caller was a week removed from a career-best six-touchdown performance over Mount Rainier last Sep. 21.
“He was just coming into his own,” Chantler said.
Still, the quarterback was plenty productive from the sideline. Chantler described him as a quickly-turned assistant quarterback’s coach, at his head coach and play-caller’s side to help feed signals into the huddle.
“We’re starting to see football the same way,” Chantler said. “Which is what our offense needs from the quarterback and play-caller.
“With that time on the sidelines, he knows what I’m seeing. … A lot of times, we go back and look at the practice film, we share notes with each other, and they’re very similar. He and I are pretty in-sync right now.”
And yes, Erdmann is now 100 percent. He wants to throw for 2,000 yards and 25 touchdowns in his comeback season.
“Surgery was great,” the junior said. “Just working day-by-day, taking it one day at a time. Focusing on getting my knee stronger, getting back and better than before.”
Senior lineman Lijah Petelo is an “anchor” on both sides of the football. Returning junior OL Sinafea Laumea earned first-team all-NPSL honors in 2023. Senior running back RJ Conlan profiles as a physical, downhill runner that adds another dimension to the Auburn offense.
Their depth lurks on the perimeter – receivers and defensive backs – where Whitehall-Gilkes is joined by all-NPSL receiver Christian Titialii and junior defensive back Izear Ferguson. Auburn returns four of its five starting receivers (minus Valcin, of course).
Along with crosstown rival Auburn Riverside, the Trojans ascend to the 4A NPSL in 2024, a move Erdmann and Whitehall-Gilkes consider an exciting challenge. Neither program is scheduled to meet Auburn Mountainview this season, preventing a true winner of the city’s Fugate Trophy.
“It’s weird… especially for the seniors,” Chantler said. “We want to win the Fugate trophy. Well, that doesn’t really exist anymore.”
There are certainly other trophies in mind.
“I think our goal is the playoffs,” Whitehall-Gilkes said.
Chantler: “4A playoffs are a whole different animal. That’ll be something new to experience with the kids, if we get there.”
AUBURN RIVERSIDE RAVENS
Auburn Riverside seemingly always features a high-flying, in-your-face defense – and Jonathan Epperson is the engine.
The four-star recruit and UW commit ranks among the best all-around prospects in Washington, a dynamic linebacker and highlight-reel running back who netted offers coast-to-coast from California to Arizona to Arkansas.
Expect a heavy dose of the two-way talent in 2024.
“Every day, we’re taking a step forward and getting better,” Epperson said at Thursday’s practice in Auburn. “It’s not that roller coaster of ups and downs like it’s been in the past. That’s something we’re working on this offseason, just staying consistent.”
“Togetherness” stands out to Ravens head coach Greg Herd, who returns 11 total starters hungry for action in a new-look 4A NPSL. A menacing core of linebackers is an Auburn Riverside fixture; that’s no different in 2024, with Epperson and budding junior Mika Petaia.
“Big Dawg Mika is what we call him. And it’s funny because his name doesn’t really match his stature,” Epperson said, describing the 5-foot-10, 190-pound Petaia. “But he’s a big dawg at heart. He’s gonna fly around, make plays, and hit you really hard.”
Senior QB Andrew Wold is the third-year starter, poised for his best year to date after adding considerable weight over the offseason, Herd said. He’ll hand-deliver the rock to a trusty Epperson or look for top-receivers Cole Svendsen and Aiden Schmitz.
Herd’s impressed with his defensive line in early camps, a group led by Chris Vaomu and incoming sophomore Tasi Suaava. The latter started on the varsity squad as a freshman in 2023.
Up first: Auburn Riverside hosts an always-competitive Lakes team in a non-league clash Thursday, Sep. 5.
“They’ve got a goal in mind. They’ve got some plans in mind, you know what I mean? You just see it in their effort,” Herd said.
It all starts – and stops – with Epperson. The sky’s the limit, said Auburn Riverside’s undisputed leader.
“If I had a son, I would love for him to be like the person (Jonathan is),” Herd said. “He’s just an incredible human being. I think you could ask anyone in our school that, and they’d tell you the exact same thing.”
Looking for more? Check back in the coming days. We will continue to update the story as we visit more schools around the South Sound.
This story was originally published August 21, 2024 at 5:05 PM.
