When no less than 20 Enumclaw High footballers graduated in June, what remained was a large faction of sophomore and junior greenhorns, largely in need of extensive guidance and one heck of a lot more game experience.
The Hornets, who had their momentum mired down by countless injuries in midseason of 2010, didn’t have the luxury of playing younger players in the fourth period last year when most of the games were well out of reach. So any crucial game experience gleaned by this wet-behind-the-ears bunch will come with a baptism by fire in the fast approaching nonleague September sieges.
“If anyone exemplifies the spirit, brotherhood, commitment and dedication these guys are going to have to quickly adopt this fall, it is sophomore lineman Ben Stangland,” said EHS football coach Don Bartel, now in his fourth term as skipper at the helm of the Hornet ship.
“That big kid had 100 percent attendance in the weight room this summer and has showed up to every practice on time, ready to rumble,” Bartel said. “That’s selfless devotion to the team cause and that is the kind of gumption that every one of these 60 varsity guys needs to be displaying right away for us to survive this season.”
The graduation bug stung hardest in the trenches, where the maroon and gold lost Markus Hammond and Kevin Knapp, who were both 48-minute men on the line. Neither will the Hornets have 6-foot, 3-inch Terren Houk in the lineup anymore, as he will be catching passes for Brigham Young University this fall.
It is Bartel’s hope that the assembled, albeit somewhat diminutive crew of linemen, will seamlessly coagulate into a decent and mobile front wall on both sides of the ball.
“It is not as bleak as it may appear to be at first glance, because these kids are sharp and they are picking up the blocking schemes fast enough so that if nothing else we can outmaneuver our foes,” Bartel said.
Linemen who will be counted upon to anchor the offensive line until the youngsters alongside of them get the hang of it are seniors Ryan Chynoweth and Tyler Wicklund.
The strength of Enumclaw’s defense figures to be its linebackers and defensive backs, spearheaded by tenacious sophomore Bryson Grant.
“We have some animals who really like to fly around and stick people on defense, but the guy who is an absolute fearless warrior with the eye of the tiger is Grant,” Bartel said. “He is basically the kind of madman you want to see firing up the troops and leading by example.”
Running the football most often this fall will be senior tailback Kolton Carlson, who Bartel has identified as the strongest, ground-pounding ball carrier Enumclaw has fielded since Jon Roy Bathum churned out the tough yards in 2009.
“Carlson will no doubt be our workhorse, but one or two of a handful of sophomore horses in the stable, perhaps gritty second year tailback Cameron Strecker, is going to have to emerge before the South Puget Sound League 3A season gets underway in earnest,” the coach said.
Another player who will be maturing under the watchful tutelage of Bartel will be sophomore young gun Peter Nordby, who will eventually be handed the keys to the Hornetmobile as the quarterback of the future.
Barring any unforeseen metamorphosis by understudy Nordby though, acting as starting signal caller will be upperclassman Tyler Carlson.
Carlson played tight end and snagged several touchdown tosses last season in addition to running back kickoffs, but is generally viewed as being the most accomplished athlete on the team, capable of playing adequately in any of the skill positions.
As the field general of this inexperienced contingent, Carlson will be tested at 7 p.m. Friday when the Hornets breaking in their new digs at the freshly revamped Enumclaw Stadium, where they host the Yelm High Tornadoes.
