Colville linebacker’s preparation is certainly no act

Getting high school football players to watch game films is about as easy as convincing them to sign up for ballet.

But Scotty Rice, Colville’s middle linebacker, spent his Tuesday and Wednesday nights curled up with his remote control and a tape of the Riverside Rams.

It’s knowledge gleaned from tapes that has helped the 6-foot, 195-pound Rice become the school’s single-season tackle leader, a two-time All-Great Northern League linebacker and a 2003 All-State 2A selection.

“It’s uncommon to see a kid his age put so much into film study,” Colville head coach Randy Cornwell said of Rice. “He just dissects them. He gets really prepared, and he’s really competitively mature. He’s one of the best linebackers I’ve ever coached.”

An example of the film study paying off was Colville’s 35-7 neutral site win over then-No. 5 Meridian of Bellingham, one of the top 2A teams on the West Side.

“We came out and felt great, really ready to go,” said Rice, who had 11 tackles, an interception and a forced fumble in the game. “I felt that I had something to prove, that these East Side teams can play.”

The Indians proved their point, but then lost any progress in a 21-7 homecoming loss to Chewelah the following week.

“We got to a point where we were looking around at rankings, and got heads as big as the room,” Rice said. “We needed to come back to earth.”

Colville still sits in decent shape, controlling its destiny at second place in the GNL at 3-1. Two GNL teams get berths into the state tournament.

“We need to win these last two,” Rice said. “As a school, we’ve never had a (GNL) champion. We need to win this week, take it week-to-week, and not have to depend on anyone else.”

Rice isn’t the only athlete in the family. His older brother, Eric, a 2002 Colville graduate, is the third-string quarterback at Eastern Washington. Scotty’s twin sister, Melissa, will pitch for the University of Oregon next year on a softball scholarship.

As for Scotty, he hasn’t determined his path yet, but he hopes it involves football.

“You’ve got to believe he’s going to end up somewhere,” Cornwell said. “And whoever gets him will get a football player.”