Prep Notebook | Kennedy back eager to start new season

Nolan Washington can't wait for Kennedy's football season opener Saturday at 5:30 p.m. against Kentwood in the Emerald City Kickoff Classic.

First, he's eager to play at Qwest Field, home of the Seahawks.

"I'm very excited," the Lancers' senior quarterback/cornerback said. "It's an NFL stadium. I'm pumped to play that game. It should be a good one."

Washington, a preseason all-state pick on defense, is also eager to help the Lancers get off to a good start after last year's disappointing 6-4 season, which included a pair of early losses to out-of-state powers and a loss to Nathan Hale in the preliminary round of the Class 3A state playoffs.

The Lancers have a tough opening opponent. Kentwood is a 4A playoff regular, with a veteran quarterback in senior Luke Angevine, a third-year starter. But the Conquerors no longer have record-setting running back Demitrius Bronson, now at Washington.

Saturday's five-game slate begins at 9:30 a.m. when Fife meets Cascade Christian of Puyallup. Eastside Catholic faces Eisenhower of Yakima at noon. Puyallup, favored to win the South Puget Sound League 4A South Division, takes on Bellarmine Prep of Tacoma at 3 p.m. The 8 p.m. nightcap features the Punahou School of Honolulu against Central Kitsap of Silverdale.

Tyee to forfeit opener

With only 16 eligible players for tonight's scheduled Seamount League opener against Mount Rainier, Tyee is forfeiting the game. But the teams still plan to play a controlled scrimmage at 7 p.m. at Highline Stadium with as many game-like conditions as possible.

Marshall Jones, Tyee's second-year coach, said several of his players do not have the required 12 practices before they can play a game. He expects to have 22 players for the scrimmage, which does not require 12 practices. Marshall said he ultimately anticipates getting 27 players eligible.

The Totems, 0-7 in league last year and 1-8 overall after beating Foster in their opener, face third-ranked Kennedy on Sept. 12. Mount Rainier (1-9, 1-6 last year) takes on Evergreen of White Center in Week 2.

Bellevue, Skyline in Portland

No one in the state has lined up a more competitive nonleague football schedule this season than Bellevue, which plays Bothell and two out-of-state teams in the first three weeks. The Wolverines open against Central Catholic of Portland, which has made the quarterfinals five of the last eight seasons in Oregon's highest classification.

"If we lose a game, so what?" Bellevue coach Butch Goncharoff said. "We're not out there to lose games, but we're not running around saying we have to win. We want to play the best. We want to compete."

Bellevue's 6 p.m. season opener on Saturday is the second game of a tripleheader at Portland's PGE Park. Skyline, last year's Class 3A champion, plays Sheldon of Eugene, Ore., in the last game, scheduled for an 8 p.m. kickoff. Sheldon won Oregon's Class 6A championship last season.

Skyline's first-year coach, Mat Taylor, has seen how high Web sites around the country have ranked his team — as high as fourth in the nation — but he insists the Spartans haven't shown anything yet.

"It's a whole new team," said Taylor, who replaced Steve Gervais, now a University of Washington assistant. "The kids know and this staff knows there were some key seniors that we lost."

Sports still on in Bellevue

The teachers' strike in the Bellevue School District has not affected high-school athletics in the districts' school. Coaches who also work at school have separate coaching and teaching contracts.

"Athletically, we're pretty much the same around here," Interlake athletic director Art Kuehn said.

Newport football coach Mike Miller said even though his players aren't in school, his team is practicing as if school is in session so that it can easily make the transition once students make it back to the classroom.

"It's business as usual for us," he said.

Glacier Peak kicks it off

For the first time in Glacier Peak history, it's game week.

The Grizzlies' roster has no seniors and very little game-day experience, but coach Rory Rosenbach has sensed enthusiasm building at the first-year Snohomish school for its first athletic contest.

"It's exciting to watch this community come together and start to build," said Rosenbach, whose team opens at Arlington on Friday. "It's going to be a lot of fun."

Wroten back at Garfield

Tony Wroten, EA Sports' national freshman of the year in basketball last season, is staying at Garfield. He showed up for the first day of school, after his family decided in the past week to move from Renton to the Central District, said his dad, Tony Wroten Sr.

"He grew up in that community. That's where he went to all his various schools, from kindergarten on up, and that's where his support system is," Wroten Sr. said. "... We had to get back in the community, and that's what we did."

Wroten had attended Seattle schools, including Garfield last season, as a nonresident by getting a release from the Renton School District. But nonresidents can attend Seattle schools only "as long as the anticipated needs of resident students are met first," according to district policy. Nonresident students must reapply every year, and the Wrotens were informed this summer that he would not be able to attend Garfield as a nonresident.

Notes

• Chief Sealth canceled its Friday football game against Sammamish. Seahawks second-year coach Asosa Sailiai blamed "paperwork issues" stemming from a campus move while the West Seattle school is being renovated. Sammamish has since scheduled a 7 p.m. game Saturday at Seattle Memorial Stadium against West Seattle, which had an open week.

• The Pacific Northwest Football Officials Association (PNFOA) is seeking new members and offers training. For information, go to www.pnfoa.org or call 1-866-GO-PNFOA.

• The Seattle Seahawks have mailed every high-school football program in the state a dozen prostate cancer awareness pins to be worn on coaches' lapels.

The pins are a tribute to Terry Ennis, the Archbishop Murphy coach who died last September of prostate cancer. Ennis, The Seattle Times' Coach of the 20th Century, was on the Seahawks' high-school coaches council and was instrumental in programs such as the NFL team's mentorship program for prep coaches.As a further tribute, the WIAA and Washington Officials Association have granted officials permission to use light blue penalty flags instead of yellow flags for games from Sept. 11-13.

Staff reporters Craig Smith and Tom Wyrwich and correspondent Joshua Mayers contributed.