Under construction

New construction and remodel of Rogers High was under way in the background, symbolic perhaps, of the building project Matt Miethe is beginning as first-year Pirates football coach.
“The new building is going up and absolutely gorgeous,” said Miethe. “The students and community are ready for that to happen and to have a place to call their own. We’re on the cusp of success.”
It was 9:30 a.m., the first day of a new high school season, with a turnout of more than 90 players there to experience first-hand the enthusiasm of the 1995 Rogers alumnus, who has taught and been an assistant coach in various sports at his alma mater for all of this decade.
Initially he was teaching them the most rudimentary of tasks, lining up and conducting a warm-up, insisting upon the requisite chants. Later they broke into groups for position drills on the first of three days without pads.
The turnout was larger than in the past and excitement was high even though they had gathered earlier, just after midnight, to ensure they would be the first Greater Spokane League team on the field.
“We had 15 cars light up the field,” said Miethe. “It was kind of a celebration of football and one-half hour of fun.”
Miethe and his Pirates will need every bit of that enthusiasm as they attempt to reverse a record of two straight winless seasons and only five victories since 2001.
“I’m excited to do it,” Miethe said of. “It’s going to be fun.”
The Pirates do have a solid core of skilled position players, including third-year quarterback Andrew Durant, but must rebuild their line.
Meanwhile down the road, Gonzaga Prep is also rebuilding. But for the defending Greater Spokane League champion, the first day’s practice was business as usual as they groom 19 players to replace those graduated from last year’s “refuse-to-lose” state semifinalists. Only regulars Bryan Karwacki, Travis Long and Connor McClary return, along with kicker Mat Barker.
The other names may be new, but expectations for a program annually at the top of the GSL are the same. The 60 or so varsity players, wearing light blue jerseys and helmets, were separated into offensive and defensive units, broken down by position and already working on drills that will be incorporated into the schemes.
Unlike at Rogers, which has been unable to sustain a turnout, the Bullpups reload.
Coach Dave Carson was an assistant at Rogers in 1994 when the Pirates, including Miethe, tied for second in the GSL.
“That was a great group of kids,” said Carson. “But there was no one behind them. Here we have a senior class, junior class, sophomore class. We know we’re going to have consistency.
“I like our team,” he added and said that Prep’s turnout is likely the biggest since he’s coached there. But Carson acknowledged this year’s Bullpups are untested and, therefore, an unknown entity.
Not so at Ferris, which returns most of last year’s players who finished second in the GSL and had an 8-2 overall record under first-year coach Jim Sharkey. The Saxons will likely be the consensus favorite in this, the year of “The Senior.”
“I’d pick Ferris first and after that it’s a crap shoot,” said Carson.
Last year’s league abides his contention. Except for the Bullpups, Mt. Spokane and to a lesser extent East Valley, the GSL was junior oriented when only a couple of games separated five teams.
Lewis and Clark finished a game ahead of Central Valley, University and Mead. Teams that finished behind them should be improved, too. So expect an experienced league to be as tight, if not tighter.
Contact begins for real by Saturday. And the first games of the season are only two weeks away.