High school football season preview: 2A South Puget Sound League
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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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High school football is back in the South Sound. Practices are underway as programs across the state prepare for the beginning of the 2024 season.
The News Tribune 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 PSL, 2A SPSL, 2A EvCo and more.
2A SOUTH PUGET SOUND LEAGUE
THE FAVORITE
Carson McCall is making plays in preseason camps that head coach Cody Baskett hasn’t seen before. The dynamic, pass-catching halfback continues to generate noise out in Orting, and the South Sound should be in store for a heavy dose of the Cardinals bell-cow.
“Man, is he hard to take down,” Baskett said Saturday. “(He’s) really hard to stop.”
The 6-foot-2, 210-pound McCall averaged nearly seven yards per carry as a sophomore in 2023, totaling 576 scrimmage yards and seven touchdowns on just 62 touches. An occasional two-way linebacker, he’s considered one of the 2A SPSL’s standout players for an Orting team we consider the favorite.
“We’re together,” Baskett said. “I think it’s pretty open (this year).
“I like our chances.”
Two-time defending champion Enumclaw has stood as the 2A SPSL’s powerhouse, a regular deep into the postseason, but the Hornets rose to the 3A NPSL this summer. It’s a welcome sight for a handful of competitive challengers – particularly Orting, which fell only to Enumclaw across league play last Sep. 22.
Can the Cardinals run the table again?
Orting starts second-year QB Zach Gemar in the Pistol Wing-T, impressing Baskett with a mobile arm this preseason. The 5-foot-11 senior notched 1,000 passing yards and 15 touchdowns in 2023.
“(Zach) controls the huddle really well,” Baskett said “Just able to make plays… and he never really gets rattled. He’s pretty calm and collected.”
Outside linebackers Brock Armstrong and Chase Brouhard are perhaps the league’s premier duo at the position. The Cardinals graduated first-team OL Lane Thomas and a trio of defensive selections on their front line but return size in 6-foot-3 LT Jashaun Pena.
And Baskett guides it all, the first-year head coach and former coordinator/alum.
“I’m super excited to be able to come in and help our Orting kids be great men and great people of character through football. … I’m up for the challenge.”
CONTENDERS
The Fife Trojans are a perennially-competitive bunch, and there’s no reason to believe that changes in 2024.
One of the deeper, stronger units head coach Kent Nevin has directed in 21 seasons, Fife gets back four of five starters on both lines, plus reigning second-team linebacker La’au Maka.
“They always fly around and don’t mind hitting people,” one rival coach said.
“(Fife’s) been doing it at a high level for a long time,” said another.
Maka doubles as a fullback, a 600-yard rusher in 2023. Second-year QB Mattson Ducharme is protected behind a familiar offensive line headlined by Vincent Esau and Zach Law.
Don’t count Franklin Pierce out, either. Sophomore QB Jeremiah Orcutt’s arm is impressing coaches early on, the first-year starter entering his second season in their Power-T. The Cardinals love to run – coach Trevor Hanson estimated the ball was on the ground some 98 percent of the time last season – but their new signal-caller is forcing second thoughts on such a high run-rate, even if Franklin Pierce’s run-heavy formula remains.
“(Jeremiah’s) a really instinctual football player, is the best way to describe him,” Hanson told The News Tribune. “If a play breaks down, he’ll see it and know how to (process) it.”
And Orcutt, also a roving safety, rarely leaves the field. Joining him on defense are returning second-team all-SPSL linebacker Zeke Issacson and second-team safety Jayshawn Moody.
“Our coaches always say, ‘We Before Me,’” Orcutt said. “All of us coming together, we can all take it all the way.”
Another program packed with offensive firepower? Watch out for Steilacoom. The Sentinels return senior QB Drew MacDonald, the league’s first-team signal-caller who threw for 2,086 yards and 23 touchdowns in 2023. Top target Josiah Morley, an all-SPSL wide receiver pick, secured 44 receptions for 813 yards and eight touchdowns last season.
Returning Steilacoom safety Noah Maxwell enjoyed a first-team breakout as a freshman in 2023, logging 80 tackles and three interceptions.
10 PLAYERS TO WATCH
OL Tevita Aholelei, Franklin Pierce
OLB Chase Brouhard, Orting
OL Giovanni Eddinger, Orting
QB Drew MacDonald, Steilacoom
FB/MLB La’au Maka, Fife
S Noah Maxwell, Steilacoom
RB Carson McCall, Orting
WR Josiah Morley, Steilacoom
QB Jeremiah Orcutt, Franklin Pierce
DL Coreyun Randall, Washington
SAVE THE DATE
Sep. 20 — ORTING at FIFE
Kickoff: 7 p.m. at Fife High School
Sep. 26 — FRANKLIN PIERCE at ORTING
Kickoff: 7 p.m. at Orting Cardinal Stadium
Oct. 4 — ORTING at STEILACOOM
Kickoff: 7 p.m. at Steilacoom High School
Oct. 11 — STEILACOOM at FRANKLIN PIERCE
Kickoff: 7 p.m. at Franklin Pierce High School
Oct. 31 — STEILACOOM at FIFE
Kickoff: 7 p.m. at Fife High School
PROJECTED STANDINGS
Orting
Fife
Franklin Pierce
Steilacoom
Washington
Eatonville
Clover Park
Foss
This story was originally published September 2, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
