SEASON KICK OFF
They’re putting out fires at West Valley High School.
Along with an actual fire that damaged a storage room and press box at Ward Maurer Field, there’s a five-alarm rush to have the remodeled school and a remodeled grandstand ready for the first day of classes, the familiar rush to get ready for a new school year, and the unfamiliar challenge of a new athletic affiliation.
West Valley, the smallest school in the Greater Spokane League the past four seasons, drops to Class 2A this year and joins the Great Northern League.
“Hopefully we can be here for a while,” West Valley football coach Craig Whitney said. “This school was in the old Frontier League, we were an independent and we were in the GSL the last few years. We could use some stability.”
The third-year head coach handed out 102 sets of equipment at the start of turnouts and still has 93 players ready to hit the road to play East Valley of Yakima on Friday night.
“That was a goal of mine since I got here,” Whitney said.
East Valley, Central Valley and Freeman all come off playoff seasons a year ago and University returns the top-rated passer in the GSL.
The season kicks off tonight, when East Valley plays Rogers on the new turf at Joe Albi Stadium and University visits Coeur d’Alene in a nonleague game. Central Valley is home Friday in a GSL opener against Lewis and Clark.
Great Northern League
West Valley Eagles
“I know it’s hard to believe that we could be this excited coming off a three-win season, but we are,” Whitney said. “We’re pleased with the way we finished last year and the kids have been working hard over the off-season getting ready. We took more than 50 kids to the (University of) Montana camp. We had as many as 65 kids showing up for our weightlifting program over the summer.”
The black and orange of West Valley will sport a new look in the GNL.
“We’ve got brand new helmets this year,” Whitney said. “We’re going with white helmets with white facemasks. We’re looking sharp.”
The Eagles have good reason to be excited about the upcoming season. Literally, they will finally get to pick on someone their own size.
Junior quarterback Bryan Peterson completed 110 out of 235 passes, both league highs, for 1,314 yards and eight touchdowns a year ago, but GSL defenses picked him off 13 times. That effort earned him honorable mention All-GSL honors.
Senior tailback Camron Bowman rushed for 613 yards on 76 carries. His 8.1 yards per carry average put him among the GSL leaders and also earned him an honorable mention All-GSL nod.
Bowman was brilliant in the finale against North Central last season, carrying 25 times for 333 yards and three touchdowns.
“I asked Camron what got into him that last game,” Whitney said. “He told me he was just inspired by the seniors and he wanted them to go out with a win. I told him that, if he’d started to run that hard a little sooner, the seniors would be going out with a playoff team.
“He’s a good kid and he’s really fired up for this season.”
The Eagles also return second-team All-GSL linebacker Corey Lewis, who doubles as a guard on offense, for his senior season.
Senior Emanuel Pacheco, a 6-1, 285-pound tackle, has worked hard in the weight room and anchors both sides of the line. Senior D.J. Mackie returns at center, giving the team three returning starters on the offensive line. Juniors Nick McCoy (6-0, 185), Nikko Guzman (6-1, 270) and Brett Schoenberger (6-2, 245) are battling for starting spots on a line that will no longer be undersized compared to its opposition.
Senior Casey Sherrill and juniors Parker Flynn and Tim Pring give the team a trio of speedy wide receivers. Sherrill also patrols the defensive secondary from his free safety position and Pring starts at linebacker with Lewis and junior Andy Vennum.
Tom Peterson, Bryan’s cousin, moved into the district this season and will start at fullback.
West Valley will take to the road for its first two games – at East Valley of Yakima and against Stevenson, Mont. – before returning home to play host to Rathdum’s Lakeland High on a remodeled home field.
“We have the bell from the old West Valley High School,” Whitney said. “We’re going to have that out there and we’re going to restart the old tradition of ringing the victory bell.”
The GNL bears a striking resemblance to the old Frontier League, with West Valley, Clarkston and Cheney joining Pullman, Riverside, Deer Park, Medical Lake and Colville.
Pullman comes off a 14-0 season and a Class 2A state championship and the Greyhounds return top-rated quarterback J.T. Levenseller, the son of Washington State University offensive coordinator Mike, who threw for a league-leading 1,273 yards and 21 touchdowns.
Clarkston also returns its quarterback from a 3-8 team. Trent Line threw for 1,001 yards and nine touchdowns a year ago and finished the season with the second-highest quarterback rating in the GSL.
Greater Spokane League
East Valley Knights
Coach Adam Fisher has 25 seniors on his squad who have contributed greatly to the program’s success.
“We have 25 seniors who have won 18 games and five playoff games already in their career,” Fisher said.
Senior Ryan Campbell (5-8, 150), a first-team All-GSL selection a year ago, starts his third season in the Knights’ backfield. A year ago he rushed for 1,301 yards during the regular season to lead the GSL and move into the single-season top 10. His 158 points last year was the third-highest total in league history.
Campbell currently ranks 16th on the list of all-time rushers with 2,109 career yards and is sixth all-time in scoring with 194 points.
If Campbell can match his yardage total from last year he will eclipse his brother, Scott, who graduated in 2003 with 3,340 career yards.. Also back after a record season a year ago is kicker Josh Polello, who tied the GSL season record with 40 extra points.
Senior Caleb Gillespie (6-1, 207) was a first-team All-GSL linebacker a year ago and he anchors a solid trio of returning ‘backers with Tanner Hamilton (Sr., 6-0, 201) and Clete Hanson (Jr., 6, 175).
The offense will likely be without wide receiver Cole Abramson (Sr., 6-1, 196) for at least three games. Abramson broke his foot playing club soccer over the summer.
Coming into this season, Fisher said, he is less concerned about players going both ways.
“I’ve changed my mind a little bit on that,” he said. “We played Ferndale in the playoffs and just about their entire team went two-ways. They never came off the field, and they went all the way to state championship.”
Central Valley Bears
The Bears, coming off a playoff season a year ago, figure to get better over the next few weeks.
Coach Rick Giampietri will open with junior Connor Janhunen at quarterback while Luke Clift recovers from surgery to repair a dislocated knee cap. Clift was to be cleared to begin contact drills this week, but is probably a few weeks away from being in game shape.
“He’s throwing the ball real well right now, but it takes more than that to be able to play,” Giampietri said. “He’s coming along real well, but he’s still a ways away.”
Giampietri, starting his 24th year leading the Bears and his 37th season coaching, is excited about what his team brings to the GSL table.
“We’ve got some good skill kids,” the coach said. “We’re pretty excited about it.”
Janhunen (Jr., 5-11, 165) will move to tailback when Clift returns and share time with Shon Davis (Sr., 5-9, 158), who has been explosive running the ball. Both have good speed coming out of the backfield.
Giampietri is looking for a big game out of middle linebacker Tyler Cochran (Jr., 6-2, 222) in Friday’s opener against Lewis and Clark.
“You always know what LC is going to do, they line it up and run right at you, and that’s where you really depend on your linebackers to step up and stuff the run,” the coach said. “We did that pretty well last year.”
Cochran is joined once more by returning starter Nick Severns (Sr., 6-0, 185), Moses Lake transfer Jake Neuman, (Jr., 6-2, 200) and Seth Young, (Jr., 6-2, 211) in the linebacker corps.
Ben Thomas (Sr., 6-3, 280) is the lone returning starter on the offensive line, but Giampietri is pleased with the progress of both sides of the line. Derek Beck (Sr., 6-4, 257) spent the summer in the weight room and will step in at one tackle. Tyler Murphy (Sr., 6-0, 225) made tremendous improvement since last year and steps in at center and Jarvis Gossard (Sr., 6-2, 305) holds down the right tackle spot. Josiah Brown (Jr., 6-0, 225) and Collin Keefe (Jr., 6-1, 236) are battling for the starting left guard spot. Patrick Mealey (Jr., 6-2, 220) saw a good deal of action at tight end a year ago and takes over that position fulltime.
Four wide receivers will share duty: Brad Whitley (So., 5-10, 146) a 400-meter standout in track, Sean Thompson (Jr., 6-0, 165), Kenny Adams (Sr., 5-11, 152) and Austin Askins (Sr., 6-0, 165).
Janhunen will take over the kicking duties for the graduated Zach Evans. Janhunen kicked long field goals for the Bears last year, including a 50-yarder, while Evans specialized in shorter kicks and extra points.
University Titans
Junior Danny Jordan had the third-best quarterback rating in the GSL a year ago, completing 97 of 174 attempts for 1,251 yards and 11 touchdowns and just five interceptions.
This year he enters the season as the league’s top-ranked returning signal caller.
“He’s a smart kid and he really picked things up very easily,” University coach Mike Ganey said. “He’s a good all-around athlete, too – the kind of kid who just really enjoys playing the game. He’s picking up where he left off with a year of experience under his belt.
“Right now, he’s the only player we have going both ways for us. He’s going to start at cornerback, too.”
Sophomore Billy Moon (5-10, 175) will see some action at quarterback as Jordan’s back-up.
“We had him start and play the entire season with the junior varsity instead of the freshmen last year,” Ganey said. “We wanted to expose him to a little better caliber of competition and he did well.”
A pair of younger brothers look to step in and be targets for Jordan’s passes. Corey Moquist (Jr., 6-1, 200), whose brother, Clint, was an All-GSL tight end last year, takes over at tight end. Ashton Yerges, younger brother of wide receiver Alex Yerges, fills his brother’s shoes as a wideout.
Ken Wood (Sr., 5-10, 165) , the All-GSL punter a year ago, will handle the punting and kicking duties as well as start at wide receiver. Dalton Puyear (Jr., 6-1, 180) also will see action at wide receiver and Trevor Wakem (Jr., 6-3, 215) will start at tight end.
The offensive line looks solid. Center Drew Baddeley (Jr., 6-1, 250) and guard Jared Bogyo (Sr., 6-0, 240) are team captains and will anchor the offensive line.
Josh Hopkins (Jr., 6-5, 270) and Brock Crawford (Jr., 6-4, 260) start at tackles. David Almeida (Jr., 5-11, 180) will start the season at guard, replacing Levi Wilson (Sr., 6-3, 285), who is out three to four weeks with an injury.
Matt Bogyo (Jr., 5-8, 160) will share running back duties with Tyler Carlson (Jr., 5-11, 160). Tyler Clifton (Jr., 6-0, 200) and Craig Keeton (So., 5-7, 180) will split duty at fullback.
Northeast A League
Freeman Scotties
Freeman has won the past four Northeast A League championships but have always run up against the Royal Knights in the playoffs.
This year, they’ll meet a stiff challenge as Lakeside and Chewelah drop down from the Great Northern League.
Freeman returns three-year starter Andrew Dresback, an All-NEA pick a year ago, at quarterback. Senior Chris Davis returns with break-away speed at running back and safety and Scott Ferguson returns at wide receiver/defensive back.
Senior Chris Swanson is the returning starter at fullback, but is battling a back injury.
“Chris had his back fused when he was in the sixth grade, so that’s always going to be a problem for him,” second-year coach Jim Woods said.
Junior Max Riggs returns along with senior Christian Casto at linebacker. Seniors Travis Hollen (tackle), Ryan Horlen (guard) and Casey Cross (center) return to anchor the line.
“It’s a pretty much just like it is every year,” second-year coach Jim Woods said. “We’re pretty deep at some spots, pretty thin at some others. That’s Class 1A football. Right now, we’re just hoping to avoid the injury bug.
“Right now we have a lot more back offensively than defensively. We have to rebuild the whole defensive line, but our linebackers are all back.”
Lakeside has almost twice as many athletes out for football than Freeman and more than twice as many students to draw from.
“When we line our 11 guys up on the field with their 11 guys, we look pretty good,” Woods said. “It’s when you start adding all the numbers in that it gets out of balance. That’s where the injuries come into play for you.”