Senior EV linemen provide leadership for young Knights

In the game of football, they are the trench warriors who get little recognition, and even then only when they make a mistake and miss a block.

The game likes to give them nicknames. Hogs, Wide Bodies – none of them exactly flattering. But while they can be anonymous, so are they revered for what they do.

“My dad likes to call us the Forgotten Warriors,” East Valley High School guard Zach Harris said. “If you’re a lineman, you don’t get recognized a whole lot. Not like if you’re the guys scoring all the touchdowns.”

Neither Harris nor his fellow lineman Brandon Heide are unknown by their teammates. The pair were integral in last year’s march to the state Class 2A semifinal game in the Tacoma Dome – including a dramatic turnaround from a 1-5 start. And they both are dedicated to getting the team back for another run toward a state football championship.

“Getting to play in the Tacoma Dome was the most incredible feeling,” Heide said. We all want to get back there again.”

The pair, two of just eight seniors on the East Valley roster, are the team’s co-captains.

“As a coaching staff, we’ve been doing this for 11 years,” head coach Adam Fisher said. “These two guys are the best captains we’ve ever had.”

Just watch the two during an East Valley practice session. During plays they break holes in the middle of the second-team defense. Between them they’re working constantly to make their teammates better – keeping them focused, fine-tuning their techniques or occasionally kicking them in the backside.

“I remember the team captains we had when I was a freshman and a sophomore,” Heide said. “They were always working to help me be a better player. They’d take me aside and help me if I did something wrong. Even during practice. You have to go hard at each other because that’s the only way to make each other better. They could have blown me up on every play, but they didn’t do that. They would even let me win every once in a while. And they made me a better player.

“I want to do the same for the young guys on this team. This is my last year playing football, and I want to know that the young guys this year will carry this program forward.”

“I love working with the younger guys and I do it as often as I can,” Harris said. “Brandon and I both got called up to the varsity when we were sophomores. The starting center got hurt and coach Fisher asked us which one wanted to take that job. Brandon did it and I backed up both starting guards. I remember what that was like and I remember the seniors taking us aside and working with us.”

The Knights start a year ago was frustrating for both players. There were injuries – including a knee injury that kept Harris sidelined for three games. But there was more to it than just that.

“There was a lot of finger-pointing in the huddle last year,” Harris said. “We were fighting with one another. The game is like a battle, but we were fitting battles inside the battle. You can’t win that way.”

The two captains have worked hard to make sure it didn’t happen again this year.

“We got off to a good start,” Harris said. “But we ran into some trouble against Lakeland. We lost that game and we shouldn’t have – we let that game get away from us and we started to fight with each other in the huddle.

“Brandon and I sat down and we came up with a few ideas that we thought would help and I think it has. Coach Fisher’s dad, Ed Fisher, likes to tell us that, whatever happens, you’re going to forget about it sooner or later and you might just as well do it sooner. We did that. We put stuff behind us and we move forward. That’s what we’re doing now.”

The Knights rolled to a 55-14 win over Colville last week for their second win in their first four games heading into the Great Northern League season.

Heide and Harris have played side-by-side for a long time.

“I’d like to say since were kids, but really, it’s just been since we were freshmen,” Harris said. “I played right guard and he was the left tackle. After that, we’ve played side by side. Right guard and right tackle, and now left guard and center.”

“When you play with someone that long you really get to know how they play,” Heide said. “When I make a line call, I really don’t have to do much to make sure we’re on the same page. If I see something, all I have to do is look at Zach and I know what he’s going to do. That goes the same on defense.

“We may get stopped on a play and a team will gain a bunch of yards on one play. But we come back and get them the next play. That happened against Colville. We made a mistake and their running back got a big run against us. But we did things different the next play, I made an adjustment and boom, there was Zach in their backfield stopping the guy for a three-yard loss. That’s what you have to keep doing.”