High school football beckons
The 2005 high school football season kicked off Wednesday in Seattle. If you want to stretch the definition of a kickoff.
The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association trotted out representatives of nine of the 10 teams that will compete in next month’s Emerald City Kickoff Classic at the event’s site, Qwest Field, to meet the media.
The coaches made jokes, the event in its third year was praised by everyone and some of the players were able to walk around the Seahawks’ home field and stare into the 67,000 empty seats.
The event will have two unusual aspects this season: It will be on Labor Day (Monday, Sept. 5), and a pair of Greater Spokane League schools will take part.
The two are defending league champ Gonzaga Prep and one of this season’s favorites, Ferris, though neither head coach attended the kickoff.
But their representatives, athletic directors Paul Manfred (Prep) and Bob Crabb (Ferris), stressed how lucky their schools felt to have the opportunity to play at Qwest in the state’s premier regular season football event.
The Saxons have the opportunity to face Evergreen, whose coach, Cale Poland, described last year’s undefeated run (14-0) to the state 4A title as “a fairly successful season.”
The Plainsmen, who have won the Greater St. Helens League three consecutive years and were the first Vancouver-area school to win the big-school football title, return just two starters (senior linebackers Andy Ross and Justin Schuele).
But Poland noted that their junior varsity and freshman teams were undefeated and “in some conference games the scoreboard got a little out of whack, so were able to play a lot of kids. Their biggest advantage is, every day, they were practicing against those other kids, including those five extra weeks with the playoffs.”
Though Clarence Hough’s Saxons, coming off a 7-3 season, are an unknown quantity to Poland, he took note of one Saxon, senior defensive lineman Cameron Elisara, headed to the University of Washington.
“We know he must be a pretty decent football player,” Poland said, “because I don’t think the Huskies are in to giving formal offers to guys who can’t play. He’s the real deal.
“I know offensively they have a number of kids back and their quarterback (senior Caleb Rath) is a big, talented player.”
On the other hand, Bellarmine Prep and Gonzaga Prep, the two smallest 4A schools in the state, are well acquainted. The Lions, who finished 5-5 last year, have met coach Dave Carson’s Bullpups the past two years and four times since 1999.
“Their kids are always going to hit you and are going to compete with you, no matter what they say about losing so many seniors,” Bellarmine Prep coach Tom Larsen said of the Pups, who return just six starters from last year’s team which opened a 12-2 year with a 9-6 win over Bellarmine and ended it with a 31-30 state semifinal loss to Evergreen, both at Albi Stadium.
The rest of the GSL will begin 2005 with non-league games during the week of Aug. 28 before opening the GSL regular-season the following weekend.
University opens its season with a home game against Lake City on Wednesday, Aug. 31.
On Friday, Sept. 2, four more games feature matchups with Idaho schools: Central Valley at Sandpoint, East Valley at Coeur d’Alene, Clarkston at Lewiston and Mead at Post Falls.
Also that day, Mt. Spokane will travel to West Valley in a non-league matchup of GSL schools; North Central will head west to Ellensburg; Shadle Park will head down the Spokane River to Nine Mile Falls to face 2A Lakeside; and Rogers will host Ingraham (Seattle) at Albi Stadium. All of those openers are scheduled for 7 p.m.
Saturday, Cheney will travel to Cascade of Leavenworth for a 6 p.m. game. Lewis and Clark is the only GSL school not playing a 10th game this year.