New chapter in a Classic

Clarkston coach Dave Curtis is tonight participating in his second Washington Football Coaches Association East-West High School All-Star Football Summer Classic, the first coming 10 years ago.

The game, he said, is about memories, relationships and opportunity.

“It was a great opportunity then for the same reason it is again,” said Curtis. “You get to be around this level of talent and character. A lot of kids went on to play on Saturdays in college and eight or nine on Sundays in the NFL. There will be some kids here who do that same thing.”

Curtis, head coach of the East, not only has the opportunity to coach some of the state’s better ballplayers but also gets to work with his son Jason, one of the East quarterbacks and one of nine Greater Spokane League players.

Jason, who put himself among the GSL statistical leaders during his three-year career and is headed to Central Washington University along with Bantams teammate and receiver Peter Leonard, wasn’t on hand when his dad coached for the first time.

But he did have dreams of one day playing in this game.

“I was hoping I’d get to be in one, but didn’t know for sure,” he said.

He’ll share series with Stanford-bound talent Tavita Pritchard from Clover Park. Pritchard’s last appearance in the Spokane Valley came during a 26-14 loss to East Valley in the State 3A playoffs.

The game also provides opportunity for Shadle Park’s Andy Largent, Cheney’s Brett Igbinoba, Central Valley’s Tommy Kadoya, Gonzaga Prep’s Ryan Murphy and Brandon Kennedy, North Central two-way back Derek Brown and Lewis and Clark’s Josh Shaw.

Largent, in the words of his high school coach in an article last October, was Shadle’s one-man depth chart. He ran with and caught the football on offense, was a defensive free safety, ran back punts and did the kicking for the Highlanders.

He was a soccer scoring machine who also wrestled and played basketball during his high school career.

But when it came time for college, his only offers were to walk-on at places like Western Washington, Eastern Washington or Washington State.

“WSU sounded the best out of all those,” Largent said of a program that has a couple of Rose Bowls on its recent resume. “That’s the reason I decided to go there.”

Playing against the type of talent this East-West game will provide will help prepare him for what to expect, Largent said.

“It will be a good experience to get used to the type of competition I’ll be facing the next four or five years,” he said.

Igbinoba won’t have far to go to continue his football career as a defender at Eastern Washington University.

“I went to elementary school on Eastern’s campus and right now I live just across the street,” he said.

His dad had come to Eastern to play soccer just before the program was dropped and Igbinoba (pronounced Ah-bean-ah-ba), thought soccer was what he would do, until he took up track and became the GSL’s top 3A sprinter.

Football, however, became increasingly important. He had some huge offensive games during his Cheney career and last fall led the GSL in rushing with more than 1,200 yards.

But it will be defense that becomes his college bread and butter after catching Eastern’s attention at football camp last summer.

“I like running back but I’m just not big enough. There are some big studs out there. And I like hitting people,” he said. “Eastern’s going places. It’s going to be fun popping into a program that’s already successful.”

Walk-on Murphy will join Igbinoba and NC’s Brown at Eastern. They are among 11 future Eagles playing in tonight’s game, although Murphy was a late addition to the East squad at fullback and defensive line.

“Coach Curtis called and said, ‘Hey, would you like to play?’ and I almost fainted,” said Murphy. “I jumped out of my seat and said, ‘Yeah, I’ll play!’ I’ll try to do what they ask me to do. I’m just happy to be out here.”

A three-year starter at CV, Kadoya will be playing his last game on his home field. Then it will off to California Lutheran University, a Division III program in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

How’d he find the school?

“They found me,” Kadoya said. “I took a visit down there and liked it and they gave me a pretty good deal.”

Shaw, a Tigers’ defensive star, will play at Idaho and Gonzaga All-State two-way selection Kennedy, a receiver/defensive back, will play at Central along with Curtis and Leonard.

West coach Steve Gervais told the players at a lunch that the neatest thing about the East-West game is the relationships that the players will remember for the rest of their lives.

Said East coach Curtis, “You’re making memories. Some day, when you watch kids playing on TV, you’ll say, ‘I remember that guy.’ ”

Quick kicks

The East-West game is in Spokane for the fourth time, but first time since 2000. The game has been played every year since 1978 following a 20-year hiatus. … The state’s two highest-profile backs, Oregon-bound Jonathan Stewart from Timberline and UW recruit J.R. Hasty from Bellevue, are not participating. …There are special rules governing the game, including no two-way starters. A team that trails by nine points or more has the option to receive after any score except a safety or to start the second half. Defenses must play a basic 5-2 with no stunting or slanting and the offenses are limited to four formations. Motion and shifts create a new formation. … Seventeen players on the combined rosters were AP All-State selections last December.