High School Sports
Notebook: O'Dea footballers take the first step

By Matt Massey
Special to The Seattle Times

O'Dea's Anthony Felder is a major recruit.

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The sweat pours. The sun beats down. Smiles turn to grimaces.

That was the scene yesterday at O'Dea and other high schools across the state on the first day of football practice.

The Irish, last year's Class 3A state runner-up to three-time champion Bellevue, felt the double-edged significance on the first day as they kicked off two weeks of grueling two-a-days yesterday morning at Maplewood Playfields on Beacon Hill.

"It felt good out there," O'Dea senior Miguel Cheatham said. "It was good to get back that football feeling. There's nothing like going out and feeling the big hits for the first time. There's nothing like putting on the cleats and touching the field."

"Nobody's excited about running in the hot sun, but we have to be out here doing this right now," said O'Dea senior Anthony Felder, a 6-2, 225-pound linebacker/fullback who has scholarship offers on the table from defending national champion LSU, UW, Arizona State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oregon, Oregon State and Penn State.

"It's a step we have to take to be one of the top teams in the state," Felder said.

O'Dea coach Monte Kohler liked what he saw from a fitness standpoint yesterday, especially from his upperclassmen.

"The older kids get here in pretty good shape," said Kohler, who began his 20th season directing the Irish. "I was happy with the conditioning. Our older kids usually handle the first practice pretty well. They know what to expect. Most of our kids are motivated to stay in shape to play."

 
Neuheisel back at Beach

Former Washington football coach Rick Neuheisel returned yesterday for the first day of practice as quarterbacks and special teams coach with the Rainier Beach football team.

Neuheisel, 43, served also was an assistant on head coach Mark Haley's staff last season.

"We're happy he's coming back," Haley said. "The kids enjoy working with him."

Notes

• Don't talk to coach Andrew Sage about "the streak." His Auburn Riverside team did more than end a 33-game losing streak last year, at the time the longest in the state. The Ravens won four games in the tough South Puget Sound League North Division and just missed a district playoff berth.

After yesterday's opening turnout, Sage scoffed at the mention of that streak. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said. "I won't even talk about that anymore. They've learned how to win," Sage said.

With 25 seniors returning, Riverside could be doing a lot more of it this season, too.

• Unlike last year, Renton intends to keep its season-opening date with Rainier Beach next month, "even if we only have 15 players," Renton coach Terry Metcalf said. "I did it before and I'll do it again."

Metcalf said he used only 13 players in a 20-14 victory over Elma to start the 2003 season. He canceled the scheduled opener against Rainier Beach that season because he had only a dozen players eligible. Metcalf said he had close to 30 players at yesterday's first practice.

• Like last year, Highline will play only nine games, once again opting for a jamboree at King's in lieu of an early opener. Keith Wright, in his second year as head coach, said the Pirates benefit more from a jamboree. After last year's jamboree, they wound up forfeiting to powerful Lakes, a team they had lost to 87-0 the season before, and finished 0-9. This year's opener is Sept. 11 against Friday Harbor and Wright anticipates being able to make that date.

"We're light years ahead of where we were last year, as we should be," he said.

• At Bothell, the two-time defending KingCo 4A champs opened camp with 118 players in grades 10-12, the most in Tom Bainter's five seasons as head coach. But that number included 57 sophomores and several more first-timers.

The more telling, and perhaps troublesome, statistic in Cougar Country: Four returning starters — three on offense, only one on defense.

"We've got a lot of new guys," said Bainter following yesterday's morning session. "They're wide-eyed and bushy-tailed. But we're learning. That's the fun challenge about it."

Bothell, coming off back-to-back 11-1 seasons, opens against last year's 4A state runner-up, Ballard, on Sept. 4 at Qwest Field.

• At Bellevue, the three-time defending Class 3A state champions began their quest for a four-peat in the late afternoon, finally calling it a night a few minutes before 10 o'clock.

The Wolverines have taken their preparation to a new level this off-season, getting ready for what some are calling the biggest high-school football game ever staged in this state — a Sept. 4 clash with national power De La Salle of Concord, Calif., at Qwest Field.

Bellevue coach Butch Goncharoff said he was pleased with the first official day of practice, estimating he had about 75 players in grades 10-12 turn out.

"It was good, we had good tempo and good attitude," he said, carrying a few bags of equipment off the field afterward. "But we've got a lot to clean up."

Tickets for the De La Salle showdown, which headlines the second annual Emerald City Kickoff Classic, can be purchased from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Bellevue High activities office. The tickets are good for all five games played that day.

• The first day of practice started on a somber note for one of the nation's best high-school football program. Players from De La Salle spent the afternoon at the funeral of former teammate Terrance Kelly, who was gunned down last Thursday in Richmond, Calif., just one day before he was to report to the University of Oregon on a full athletic scholarship.

"It's kind of a sad day for us," said athletic director Terry Eidson in a phone message left shortly before the Spartans took the field yesterday. "I don't have much to tell you."

• At Skyline, the Spartans held their first official practice as a Class 4A school with about 80 players in grades 10-12.

In the school's first seven seasons — all played at the 3A level — Skyline went a combined 48-25 overall and won the 2000 state title. Many people are predicting a similar sort of success after the step up in competition.

"Ourselves (coaches) and the kids are excited about a change," said Skyline coach Steve Gervais. "There's some great football schools in this conference and I think it will be fun to compete and to play some new faces."

The Spartans open Sept. 3 at Lake Washington.

• At Issaquah, coach Buddy Bland was expecting between 70 and 80 players in grades 10-12 when his team took the field for the first time last night.

The defending KingCo 3A champs are 20-2 over the past two seasons, but they lost just about every major offensive weapon from last year's state-semifinal team. That's not to say that folks should expect the Eagles to flail. Far from it.

"We haven't lowered our expectations at all," Bland said.

One positive development over the off-season: Issaquah's varsity and junior-varsity teams both won 7-on-7 team titles at Western Washington's camp this summer.

• At Lake Washington, coach Tim Tramp enjoyed his smoothest first day of football in his seven seasons at the helm. For that, he could thank eight returning starters on offense and seven more on defense.

"We were right on schedule," Tramp said. "That, to me, was a real plus."

The Kangaroos, coming off a state-quarterfinal finish, their best since the state-football playoffs started in 1973, are considered one of the frontrunners to win this year's conference crown.

"We want to work and play and act like champions," Tramp said. "So far, we're off to a good start."

• Coach Joel Vincent liked what he saw at Jackson's first turnout of 70 players yesterday — including seven returning starters on offense and seven on defense from a team that went 10-2 last season and made the state playoffs.

"I was pretty happy with today," Vincent said. "We had a lot of returning guys. They worked hard in the spring and summer. It's nice to pick up where we left off."

Times staff reporters Matt Peterson and Sandy Ringer contributed to this report.