Hobbs hits the GNL
Coach hopes to turn Medical Lake around
Remembering how to ride a bike this is not.
It’s more like recalling how to build a bike piece by piece, spoke by spoke.
Wes Hobbs will patrol the sidelines at Medical Lake this fall as the Cardinals’ new football coach, his first stint as a head coach since departing North Central in 2002. He acknowledged it hasn’t been an easy transition, adding that one of his first challenges is familiarizing himself with his new home within the Great Northern League.
“It’s a great league, a great bunch of coaches and really talented teams,” Hobbs said.
Hobbs compiled a 19-42 record at NC, a school that has endured its share of struggles in the Greater Spokane League. Certainly, that runs parallel with Medical Lake, which finished 3-25 the past three years under former coach Rick Olson.
“At North Central we were often times behind the eight ball a little bit,” Hobbs said. “Everybody seemed to have more players or whatever, but it was a great challenge to get them to compete every week. … We’re one of the smaller teams in the league, and I like that challenge, that back-against-the-wall type of deal.”
The Cardinals will employ a Wing-T offense and crowd the line of scrimmage with a 4-4 defense. Hobbs said his players are grasping his system and noted that returning quarterback Nick Pacheco is emerging as an ideal player to run his offense, which is predicated on misdirection running plays and play-action passing.
But Medical Lake is a distant long shot to contend for postseason play, particularly in a league that boasts five programs that have realistic expectations of extending their seasons well into November.
The defending league champion, Pullman, is favored to repeat. Greyhound coach Bill Peterson said his team can’t match up with Cheney, Clarkston and West Valley in terms of the number of players suited up each week, but Peterson is fortunate to enter this season boasting another fine collection of talented athletes.
“Our expectations are obviously to compete for a league title,” Peterson said. “We have more guys coming back defensively than we do offensively. If we can slow people down, we have a chance.”
Cheney and West Valley will be primary contenders, too, and Clarkston could vault into contention with a victory or two against other teams expected to finish in the GNL’s upper echelon.
Colville may be considered a dark horse for another playoff berth if the Indians can mature quickly and avoid the miscues often attributed to a roster littered with underclassmen.
“I just don’t feel we’re as physically mature this year as we have been because we have a small senior group,” Colville coach Randy Cornwell said.