Cardinal Strengths Medical Lake’s Hopes Riding On Backfield Depth, Qb Experience

Medical Lake

John Giannandrea is philosophical about being in the 2A Great Northern League.

“When you have a down year, you’re small; when you have a good year, you’re big,” the Medical Lake football coach said. “That’s the nature of athletics.”

The Great Northern League is composed of five Northeast A League members, including Medical Lake, and three dropped down from the Frontier League. It evolved from the reclassification of Washington high schools into five rather than four divisions.

“I think it’s a great league,” Giannandrea said. “Every game will be tough.

“They made the alignment best for the state. There are always some who don’t like it. They made it. Let’s go.”

With the creation of a 4A classification (the old AAA, which included the Greater Spokane League) and many AA schools moving to 3A, the 2A classification is considered the new one for record purposes.

Senior Chad Headlee returns to run the Cardinals’ offense. Whom he’ll hand off to will vary.

“We’ll probably rotate four guys between fullback and tailback because some of those guys play both ways, and we want to give them as much rest as we can,” Giannandrea said. “It will probably be on offense.”

The backs are beefy senior brothers Brandon and Vince Moore, senior Aaron Carr and junior Mike Chappell.

Depth in the backfield and Headlee calling the signals, said Giannandrea, are the Cardinals’ strength. Depth at the other positions is his concern.

“Back in ‘91 we had a real good football team,” he said.

“We didn’t have a lot of depth but didn’t have any injuries and went a long way. That’s the name of the game.”

The Cardinals were second in the state in 1991.

The starting receivers are juniors Josh Earley and Nic Alexander with converted running back Jim Mace adding depth.

Jaryl Varona, a junior, is the center. Guards are senior Tony Bianche and sophomore Jonny Varona.

Senior Scott Huston is at one tackle position with senior Tony Hood or junior Jeremy Bahr at the other.

Carr, the strong safety, calls the defensive signals. The other defensive backs are Early at free safety and Alexander and Chappell at the corners.

Linebackers are Vince Moore, junior Josh McCain and sophomore Kevin Schmidt with senior Joe Sikkila alternating. Jaryl Varona is the nose guard with Mace, a senior, Brandon Moore and Bianche in the down positions.

“We just don’t have the numbers of kids that are experienced, seasoned, at a lot of positions,” Giannandrea said.

, DataTimes