Latest / Whatcom Preps Podcast / Whatcom Preps Podcast Episode 355 - 2025 Squalicum Storm Football Preview

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Whatcom Preps Podcast Episode 355 - 2025 Squalicum Storm Football Preview · Whatcom Preps Podcast

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Speaker 1: This is Squalicum senior Colburke and you're listening to the
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Speaker 1: Squalicum football preview on the walcome Preps podcast with Tyler
0:05
Speaker 1: Anderson roll Storm.
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Speaker 2: Readings and Welcome into the Walkam Preps podcast. This is
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Speaker 2: episode three hundred and fifty five, the Squalum Storm Football Preview.
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Speaker 2: I am Tyler Anderson of WOKAM Preps and let's talk
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Speaker 2: some high school football. Very excited to do these previews
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Speaker 2: once again for everybody. Love going out to all the practices.
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Speaker 2: They all have their different feel to them and uh,
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Speaker 2: but they're all so positive and it's a great thing.
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Speaker 2: And the great thing about this year was it was
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Speaker 2: all great weather. Sometimes I go and it's just pouring
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Speaker 2: down rain and I'm standing out there the whole time.
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Speaker 2: I'm holding papers and markers and cameras and yeah, yeah, yeay,
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Speaker 2: so but it was great. I want to give it
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Speaker 2: thank you to Squalicum senior Cole Burke for doing the intro.
1:01
Speaker 2: Really liked watching him play quarterback last year. I'm excited
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Speaker 2: to see what he does this year and we'll talk
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Speaker 2: about that in a little bit. Also want to give
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Speaker 2: a shout out to Kirk Maybury Farm. Kirk Mayberry Farm
1:11
Speaker 2: is a family farm committed to developing innovative agronomic and
1:15
Speaker 2: business practices to grow, process, and market high quality berries.
1:20
Speaker 2: Kirk Mayberry Farm is the Northwest berry supplier of choice.
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Speaker 2: You could visit them online at Kirkmaybury Farm dot com.
1:26
Speaker 2: That's Kirt with a CMA, B E r R Y
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Speaker 2: farm dot com. Really excited to announce a new sponsorship
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Speaker 2: that goes with all the city schools, so obviously with
1:41
Speaker 2: squalk and Football, and they're sponsoring the football preview as well.
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Speaker 2: That is Bellingham Youth Football. Bellingham Youth Football is the
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Speaker 2: home league of the Bellingham Knights that was started in
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Speaker 2: twenty eighteen. There's tackle football teams in four divisions from
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Speaker 2: second grade through eighth grade. And that's such a great
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Speaker 2: thing because you know, learning the game at a young
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Speaker 2: age and you know, if you've never been hit before,
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Speaker 2: sometimes you just need that one time and then there's
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Speaker 2: no fear there after that. They play in the highly
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Speaker 2: competitive North Cascade Youth Football League, which you could see
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Speaker 2: at North Cascade Youth Football League dot com. Most of
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Speaker 2: the players passed and president at Bellingham Seam and squalkam
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Speaker 2: Up all come through this competitive league. Home games are
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Speaker 2: played on Saturdays at Civic Field in Bellingham. Back in
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Speaker 2: twenty eighteen, the Bellingham Knights ten YOU team, which consisted
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Speaker 2: of players like Nolan Wright, col Terrell, Ben Leonard, Joshua Croll,
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Speaker 2: Alex Miller, Theo Quiggle, Hudson nef and Finn sites greg Wire,
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Speaker 2: represented the Northwest at the national tournament in Canton, Ohio,
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Speaker 2: which is a pretty cool deal. And then just recently
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Speaker 2: last season, the Bellingham Knights took two championships and beating
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Speaker 2: Arlington in the twelve U division and Stanwood in the
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Speaker 2: ten U division. So if you're in the area, the
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Speaker 2: Bellingham area, you have a second grader through an eighth
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Speaker 2: grader that wants to play youth football, that's the place
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Speaker 2: to go. Bellingham Youth Football. Check it out. And they've
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Speaker 2: produced some great players, done some great you know, had
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Speaker 2: some great teams. And now we're starting to see that
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Speaker 2: as they move on to the you know, to play
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Speaker 2: high school football at these three city schools. So really
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Speaker 2: really cool deal. And one of them obviously is the
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Speaker 2: Squalkam Storms. Let's let's talk about them right now. It
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Speaker 2: all begins with the head coach, Nick Lucy, who is
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Speaker 2: now I can't believe this. He's now in his twelfth
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Speaker 2: season with Squalkam. It's just it's crazy to think that
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Speaker 2: it's it goes really fast. He's the Squalicum's all time
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Speaker 2: leader and coach games coached games one as a coach,
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Speaker 2: seventy six wins and thirty four losses. So that's quite
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Speaker 2: the winning percentage. That's probably that's over two thirds. So
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Speaker 2: you know, he came in and just started winning and
4:02
Speaker 2: it's been going ever since. Of course, they played their
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Speaker 2: home games at Civic Stadium. Last season, they went five
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Speaker 2: and four in the very very competitive Northwest Conference to
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Speaker 2: a division where you know, I've said it in some
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Speaker 2: of these other podcasts where you know, the four top
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Speaker 2: teams were in the final eight in the entire state,
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Speaker 2: so very very hard to you know, to get in through.
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Speaker 2: And it's week in and week out, so difficult in
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Speaker 2: the Northwest Conference and and and it's been like that
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Speaker 2: for years. You hear a lot of coaches say, especially
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Speaker 2: now with this round of thirty two, I mean, you
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Speaker 2: get through the conference and if you make it to
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Speaker 2: the round of thirty two, that's like a I don't
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Speaker 2: I don't want to say it's a week off, But boy,
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Speaker 2: it's a step back a little bit to play that game,
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Speaker 2: and and sometimes even the first round of the state
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Speaker 2: playoffs is a little bit of a mismatch. It won't
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Speaker 2: be as much anymore because of the round of thirty two,
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Speaker 2: but still that's how competitive the conference is. And that's just,
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Speaker 2: you know, that's a great testament to football up here,
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Speaker 2: and that's the way we like it. You know, it's
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Speaker 2: it's pretty great. Squallykum. There's gonna be a lot of
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Speaker 2: guys that you will not see on the field that
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Speaker 2: you're used to seeing on the field. It starts with
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Speaker 2: Marcus Nixon. He goes graduated onto Eastern Washington now playing
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Speaker 2: defensive back. Also gone. The other key losses Joaquin Ortiz,
5:27
Speaker 2: Locky Fungatua has transferred back to Seahome, Malachi Smith has graduated,
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Speaker 2: Hunter Calloway is not turning out, just focusing on basketball,
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Speaker 2: Slade Kaiser not turning out, focusing on soccer, and Ezra
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Speaker 2: Nichols has graduated. So those are some big time players
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Speaker 2: from last year, the last few years. Absolutely, I mean
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Speaker 2: for sure that will not be out there for Nick
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Speaker 2: Lucy's team, but he does return some really good players
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Speaker 2: and there's a great sophomore class coming in. And that's
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Speaker 2: That's one of the things I've noticed over the years,
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Speaker 2: especially with Squalam. It seems like they'll just have a
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Speaker 2: class come in where all of a sudden, they got
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Speaker 2: like five sophomores starting on varsity and it's not because
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Speaker 2: they have to, it's because they can. You know, they
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Speaker 2: are that good. And I think that it kind of
6:12
Speaker 2: looks like there's that kind of group right now for
6:15
Speaker 2: the Squalicum Storm. And so what's exciting for me is
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Speaker 2: that I don't know these kids, and so I learned
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Speaker 2: about them really quickly. And I'll tell a quick story
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Speaker 2: here that has to do with squalk them. It was
6:26
Speaker 2: just a few years ago I was out of practice,
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Speaker 2: and every team, when I take the head shots, it's
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Speaker 2: a little different. Some guys give me the ones and twos.
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Speaker 2: Some guys give me, you know, the whole team. Some
6:35
Speaker 2: say just seniors and juniors, some say just seniors and
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Speaker 2: juniors and sophomores. And at Squalicum it was always I
6:41
Speaker 2: just took headshots of seniors and juniors. Well, all of
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Speaker 2: a sudden, after Week one, Marcus Nixon, who was a
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Speaker 2: sophomore Joaquin Ortiz, who was a sophomore. They had these
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Speaker 2: huge games. I didn't have headshots of them, and I
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Speaker 2: was like, oh, I'm kinda this is a bad thing.
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Speaker 2: I happened to see Marcus Nixon at a different game
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Speaker 2: on Saturday just outside the stadium, took a headshot of
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Speaker 2: him really quickly. I used that the rest of the year,
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Speaker 2: walking Nortiz. I got a picture of him after a game.
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Speaker 2: It was actually after a loss, so he does not
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Speaker 2: look happy in that picture. But I needed pictures of
7:14
Speaker 2: him because I knew they were gonna be in the
7:16
Speaker 2: top one hundred list right away. They were. They were
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Speaker 2: that good that early. So I have made a conscious
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Speaker 2: decision to I have to take pictures of sophomores around
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Speaker 2: the league. Really but definitely squalkum. And so if you
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Speaker 2: look at the featured four of kind of who I'm
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Speaker 2: looking at as the main four guys on this roster,
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Speaker 2: it starts with Joseph Boyd, the senior offensive lineman. Uh
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Speaker 2: you know it's it's not flashy, right, He's a guard
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Speaker 2: in a defensive interior defensive lineman, but boy he gets
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Speaker 2: the job done very good, very good size and can move.
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Speaker 2: I believe last year, you know, he was slated to
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Speaker 2: play guard and it might have been you know, a
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Speaker 2: day before Week ones game against Burlington Edison where he
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Speaker 2: got moved his center just kind of out of necessity,
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Speaker 2: and he played really well. Because that's the thing. If
8:07
Speaker 2: you play center at Squalkum and this is this goes
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Speaker 2: for every school, but Squalkum maybe more than anybody, because
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Speaker 2: there's a guy in motion on almost every play. The
8:16
Speaker 2: timing of the snap is impeccable, and the height of
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Speaker 2: the snap, you know, you know, if the quarterback has
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Speaker 2: to jump and get it and then land. By the
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Speaker 2: time he lands, everything's out of whack with the timing
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Speaker 2: of a fake here, a fake there, a read here
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Speaker 2: or read there. And so the center at Squalkumb really
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Speaker 2: has to come through and be a great, great player,
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Speaker 2: and he was able to step in and do that.
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Speaker 2: Anson Osby Ornsen is another kid that we've been talking
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Speaker 2: about for a couple of years. I looked at it
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Speaker 2: as like a saw as when he was a sophomore,
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Speaker 2: there were there was little sparkles here and there of
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Speaker 2: a great player that just kind of jumped off the
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Speaker 2: page every once in a while or off the screen.
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Speaker 2: I should say, and make these dynamic plays with his speed.
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Speaker 2: Last year it was just he was just a more
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Speaker 2: consistent player. Now as a senior, I think he's really
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Speaker 2: gonna be set and poised and put it all together.
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Speaker 2: I mean he had four interceptions last year, returned one
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Speaker 2: of them for a touchdown, caught a lot of passes.
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Speaker 2: I think he's poised to have a really, really big
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Speaker 2: senior year. You could see him maybe in a lot
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Speaker 2: of different spots where he's split out wide, he might
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Speaker 2: be coming in motion getting the ball in his hands
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Speaker 2: will be paramount for the Squalicum Storm. The third player
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Speaker 2: in the featured four I have is Cole Burke. The
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Speaker 2: senior quarterback, talked about him, you know, gave us the intro.
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Speaker 2: He finds a way to make to complete the passes.
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Speaker 2: I mean, that's really it. He is super accurate. He's
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Speaker 2: great at throwing on the run, which is paramount in
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Speaker 2: the Squalicum offense. Doesn't get rattled, has kind of that
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Speaker 2: point guard mentality, knows you know where to find the guy,
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Speaker 2: knows how to fit it in the spot, can throw
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Speaker 2: it deep when he has to, and you know, and
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Speaker 2: is tough. I mean he took some hits lash year,
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Speaker 2: and he kept on going, and I'm really excited for
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Speaker 2: his senior year and the weapons that that he has,
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Speaker 2: and I think it can be a pretty good year
10:09
Speaker 2: for him. And then the fourth, the fourth player I
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Speaker 2: have in the featured four is Zach Watt. Of course,
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Speaker 2: we've talked about the Watts over the over the years
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Speaker 2: with his older brothers and and how good of players
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Speaker 2: they were. And Zach Watt, who has got tremendous size
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Speaker 2: at about six two one ninety five playing safety, such
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Speaker 2: a smart player, makes all the right plays. You got
10:29
Speaker 2: to have that quarterback of the defense back there, and
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Speaker 2: then he could turn into a pretty good wide receiver
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Speaker 2: on the offensive side of the ball as well, So
10:37
Speaker 2: look for him to possibly get involved there. You know,
10:41
Speaker 2: has done some really good things in other sports as well. So, uh,
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Speaker 2: those are kind of the main four. And then when
10:46
Speaker 2: I you know, I always pick a breakout player for
10:50
Speaker 2: each team, and this year I was kind of looking
10:53
Speaker 2: around and seeing different things and talking to some different people,
10:57
Speaker 2: and I centered I settled on Asher Osbjornsen, the sophomore
11:01
Speaker 2: running back outside linebacker. Heard a lot of really good
11:05
Speaker 2: things about him, you know, compared to some really great
11:10
Speaker 2: players of Squalakum's past, and if you look at Squalakum
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Speaker 2: over the last I don't know ten years, even, they
11:19
Speaker 2: always had like a dude, you know what I mean,
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Speaker 2: Like the last three years, Marcus Nixon was a dude.
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Speaker 2: You know. Three years before that, it was Javinsky schlem Baker.
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Speaker 2: You know, before that, it was Spencer Lloyd and Tristan
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Speaker 2: Smith and Ben Peterson and you know, Jamik Mitchell and
11:36
Speaker 2: Josiah Westbrook. And it's like they always had that guy.
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Speaker 2: And if you look at this year's roster, it's kind
11:42
Speaker 2: of like, I don't know who that guy is. Don't
11:45
Speaker 2: be surprised if he, you know, becomes that guy quickly
11:48
Speaker 2: this season. That's the kind of talent that I believe
11:51
Speaker 2: he has and so very excited to see what he
11:56
Speaker 2: can do. He could be in that mix there on
12:00
Speaker 2: both sides of the ball doing some really really good things.
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Speaker 2: So those are kind of my that's my futured four
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Speaker 2: and my breakout player. If we look at last year's results,
12:10
Speaker 2: started out pretty well at home that they beat Burlington
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Speaker 2: Edison thirty to ten. I remember Malachi Smith had the
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Speaker 2: big pick six on that on a great read from
12:18
Speaker 2: his linebacker spot. That was kind of the play of
12:21
Speaker 2: that game. Then they beat Marysville Pilchuck forty four to
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Speaker 2: fourteen to jump out to a two to zero record
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Speaker 2: to start the season. Then they went on the road
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Speaker 2: and played Archbishop Murphy and actually, we're playing pretty well
12:35
Speaker 2: in the first half. I believe they had a lead,
12:39
Speaker 2: but the Wildcats, you know, they made a few mistakes early.
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Speaker 2: They didn't make any more after that, and they kind
12:46
Speaker 2: of played their game at Archbishop one forty five to
12:49
Speaker 2: twenty one there to give the Storm their first loss
12:51
Speaker 2: of the season. Squal come turn around and defeated Lake
12:54
Speaker 2: with forty to twelve, but then lost to the eventual
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Speaker 2: state champion, Anacord of Seahawks forty nine to seven. And
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Speaker 2: the week following that, there was a thriller against Lyndon
13:04
Speaker 2: where it ended thirty six to thirty with Lyndon on top.
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Speaker 2: I believe that game went into overtime. It was so
13:14
Speaker 2: it might have been thirty to thirty going into overtime,
13:17
Speaker 2: but I remember that one having a crazy finish as well.
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Speaker 2: And then Skualakin played a non conference game on the
13:22
Speaker 2: road against Port Angeles, won twenty two to zero, turned
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Speaker 2: around and played Their last two games of the season
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Speaker 2: were against the city rivals Seahome lost forty two to ten.
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Speaker 2: They were without Marcus Nixon in that one, and then
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Speaker 2: they finished off the season with a thirty nine to
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Speaker 2: twenty win over Bellingham. They did not play a Week
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Speaker 2: ten game. I think they were slated to play somebody,
13:44
Speaker 2: I can't remember who it was. It might have been
13:46
Speaker 2: Cameac and just to cross over Week ten game just
13:49
Speaker 2: to play a game, but like half their team got sick.
13:53
Speaker 2: It was some crazy thing going on, and they just
13:56
Speaker 2: didn't have enough players and so you know, Week ten
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Speaker 2: game is not needed if there's if there's no postseason ramification.
14:02
Speaker 2: So they just ended up playing nine games last year,
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Speaker 2: going five and four. You know, Squalicum is always going
14:10
Speaker 2: to be competitive. If if they don't have the most talent,
14:14
Speaker 2: they will still be very, very competitive just because of
14:17
Speaker 2: that coaching staff and the program that they have and
14:22
Speaker 2: the you know, the style of play, and there's a
14:25
Speaker 2: lot of athletes that will come out of there as well.
14:27
Speaker 2: Every time I go to a Squalic in practice, I
14:30
Speaker 2: just feel like there's this energy that coach Lucy exudes,
14:36
Speaker 2: and but it's with a purpose. It's not reckless. It's
14:39
Speaker 2: with a purpose and it's go, go go, you know,
14:42
Speaker 2: get these reps, move it here, do this high energy,
14:46
Speaker 2: and it's like it almost like makes me want to
14:49
Speaker 2: go out there, you know, carry the ball because it's
14:52
Speaker 2: just so you know, he just exudes this positivity and
14:59
Speaker 2: I love going out to his practices because it's it's
15:02
Speaker 2: a it's just a full of positivity. And that's what
15:05
Speaker 2: I'm all about with walking preps. I love positivity. Uh,
15:09
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna break a negative story. That's not my job.
15:14
Speaker 2: You know, leave those to the newspapers. I am all
15:18
Speaker 2: about promoting the you know, the youth sports around the
15:22
Speaker 2: county and and giving the kids the pub that they
15:26
Speaker 2: deserve for the hard work. And so yeah, it's uh,
15:30
Speaker 2: it's pretty fun. It's pretty fun going to those practices
15:33
Speaker 2: and and kind of watching him do his thing. You
15:36
Speaker 2: look at this year's schedule, it looks like it's an
15:39
Speaker 2: exact flip flop from last year home home and aways.
15:43
Speaker 2: So they're one of the few teams where every game
15:46
Speaker 2: is a seven pm game. There's no day games here,
15:50
Speaker 2: but they start off with at on the road at
15:53
Speaker 2: Burlington Listen. Then they will host Marysville Pilchuck. That would
15:56
Speaker 2: be on a Saturday. Uh. Then they will host Archbishop,
16:00
Speaker 2: be at Lakewood, host an a Chordist at Lindon, host
16:04
Speaker 2: Port Angeleist, host Seehome, and then be at Bellingham. Of course,
16:07
Speaker 2: those last two games we're gonna at Civic Stadium no
16:09
Speaker 2: matter what. So it's kind of cool that they finished
16:11
Speaker 2: the year with the two city rivals, right, that's just
16:15
Speaker 2: a that's a fun fun thing there and and uh yeah,
16:20
Speaker 2: very very exciting. Squalk them again. Like I said, is
16:24
Speaker 2: just is one of those teams that, man, there's always
16:28
Speaker 2: that new wave of talent and when they see those guys,
16:34
Speaker 2: they ride that way for a while. They're not opposed
16:37
Speaker 2: to starting sophomores and saying let's let's let's roll with
16:41
Speaker 2: it for the next three years. You know, I remember
16:44
Speaker 2: very well with Jaevensky, slim Baker and Bryce and lamb
16:48
Speaker 2: as the two outside linebackers when they're freshman or sophomores.
16:52
Speaker 2: I mean Geevensky started I believe as a freshman as
16:54
Speaker 2: an outside linebacker, and it was it was a boy
16:59
Speaker 2: just knowing that they were gonna have those guys for
17:01
Speaker 2: the next three years, was going to be a really
17:03
Speaker 2: really cool deal and and so yeah, it is very
17:07
Speaker 2: very exciting. We look at the position groups quarterbacks where
17:12
Speaker 2: I always start Cole Girk last year, very very accurate,
17:16
Speaker 2: completed one hundred and eight out of one hundred and
17:18
Speaker 2: fifty nine passes for one hundred and sixty two yards.
17:21
Speaker 2: Here's what I really love. Sixteen touchdowns, just five interceptions,
17:26
Speaker 2: smart with the football, accurate and just you know, does
17:31
Speaker 2: does the right thing now. Squalicum draws up plays to
17:35
Speaker 2: make it quarterback friendly. If you don't want to, you know,
17:39
Speaker 2: play hero ball and go for the bomb and stuff
17:41
Speaker 2: like that. There will be plays where he will roll
17:43
Speaker 2: out and there will be a tight end open by
17:45
Speaker 2: five yards. You just got to hit them. You know.
17:47
Speaker 2: There will be great you know, if you got receivers
17:50
Speaker 2: that can run great routes, they will be open just
17:53
Speaker 2: because of the scheme and the way Squalalkum does things
17:56
Speaker 2: with all the motion and the fakes and stuff like that.
17:59
Speaker 2: If you are a heady football player and you're accurate,
18:02
Speaker 2: you will succeed as a quarterback in the Squalicum offense.
18:04
Speaker 2: And that's what Colburke does. And he's got another year
18:07
Speaker 2: to put up some big big numbers. Phoenix Price is
18:12
Speaker 2: a great, great backup quarterback. I think next year he
18:15
Speaker 2: will be ready to be a very very good starting quarterback.
18:18
Speaker 2: It seems like Squalkum always has really good backup quarterbacks.
18:23
Speaker 2: So Phoenix Price, he's one of those kids that he
18:26
Speaker 2: throws a great ball, it looks effortless, and he's just
18:30
Speaker 2: that next in line. Now, there might be times where
18:33
Speaker 2: you could see him in the tight end spot or
18:35
Speaker 2: maybe playing some outside linebacker on defense, but for now, Cool,
18:39
Speaker 2: it's Coleburke's job. The Phoenix Price is right there ready
18:43
Speaker 2: to go, so you know, and that's Squalicum for you.
18:46
Speaker 2: Like I said, always have really good backups. The running
18:49
Speaker 2: back position is wide open. You know. No longer is
18:53
Speaker 2: the Marcus Nixon's and Malachi Smith's of the world going
18:57
Speaker 2: to be back there to take carries. And so it's
19:00
Speaker 2: kind of a wide open job right now. Avery Wiener
19:03
Speaker 2: as a senior, he you know, he had three carries
19:06
Speaker 2: last year as a varsity player, so he but he
19:09
Speaker 2: did it a lot more on defense, but he could
19:12
Speaker 2: be relied upon as more of a North South power guy,
19:16
Speaker 2: short yardage kind of guy. Ash or Osby Ornson, sophomore
19:20
Speaker 2: who I talked about earlier, who who could be that
19:23
Speaker 2: main yardage getter, you know, kind of the not necessarily
19:27
Speaker 2: the bell cow where you're giving him to him twenty
19:29
Speaker 2: five times a game, but you know he could have
19:31
Speaker 2: twelve fifteen carries a game, which which could lead the
19:34
Speaker 2: team in carries per game. And then they also have
19:37
Speaker 2: a kid named Dj Hill who's a sophomore as well.
19:41
Speaker 2: You know, played very well at the sub varsity level.
19:43
Speaker 2: I saw him a few times, and so those are
19:46
Speaker 2: kind of the three. You know, they rarely, if ever,
19:50
Speaker 2: go with two backs at one time, So when you're
19:52
Speaker 2: just starting with with just one running back, and if
19:54
Speaker 2: you have three of them that you could rotate in
19:57
Speaker 2: and out and you can do some different things, that's
20:01
Speaker 2: a that's a great luxury to have. And they're all
20:04
Speaker 2: a little bit different. I think Wiener is the you know,
20:06
Speaker 2: the strongest, you know, pounded up the middle, uh really
20:10
Speaker 2: hard to tackle. Uh Asher Osbyjornsen is going to be
20:14
Speaker 2: more shifty, you know, a slasher get outside the edge.
20:17
Speaker 2: And Dj Hill is I mean you talk about trying
20:21
Speaker 2: to tackle somebody that has a low, low pad level.
20:25
Speaker 2: He he can get he's already quite you know, he's
20:27
Speaker 2: about five to seven five eight. He runs low. It's
20:31
Speaker 2: gonna be hard to get below him. Coach was comparing
20:34
Speaker 2: him to Natron. Means uh so if any of you
20:36
Speaker 2: old Charger fans out there remember that name, uh, he
20:40
Speaker 2: was a load to tackle and it's very very similar there.
20:42
Speaker 2: So you have guys, right, you have those, those those
20:45
Speaker 2: kinds of guys.
20:46
Speaker 1: Uh.
20:46
Speaker 2: The wide receiver spot, obviously, Anson osbyj Ornsen returns with
20:51
Speaker 2: the most experience. You know, depending on kind of where
20:54
Speaker 2: he's gonna be lined up, he will be a go
20:56
Speaker 2: to guy. Other guys Zach Watt, who I talk about earlier,
21:01
Speaker 2: Khalil Benta, he got quite a bit of playing time
21:04
Speaker 2: here and there. He had seven catches for seventy eight yards.
21:06
Speaker 2: Last year, Osby Ornson had thirty one catches for four
21:10
Speaker 2: hundred and seventy two yards and six touchdowns. So, like
21:12
Speaker 2: I was saying, he's obviously that go to guy that returns.
21:17
Speaker 2: But I believe the improvement of Watt and Bent on
21:20
Speaker 2: the outside could really spread the wealth there and then
21:23
Speaker 2: you could see a rhese Knowlton being a guy that
21:26
Speaker 2: comes in motion. He did that a few times, caught
21:28
Speaker 2: nine passes. Doing that at the tight end spot, you
21:33
Speaker 2: know you lose Lockie. But there's guys that have played there.
21:37
Speaker 2: Jacob Clark played there. He had six catches last year.
21:40
Speaker 2: You could see him probably with the with the kind
21:43
Speaker 2: of the opening nod at that spot. Brock Scammeal. You
21:47
Speaker 2: got another Scammeal now coming into the play, just a sophomore.
21:51
Speaker 2: You know, I will talk a lot about this sophomore class.
21:54
Speaker 2: And then Phoenix Price, who I said earlier, who could
21:57
Speaker 2: get some reps as a tight end. And the way
21:59
Speaker 2: they use they're they're tight end is very interesting where
22:03
Speaker 2: it's almost like an offset full back at times you
22:07
Speaker 2: could see him leak out and and be wide open
22:10
Speaker 2: for a pass and it's about catching the ball and
22:11
Speaker 2: getting up field and making plays that way. So these
22:15
Speaker 2: are all guys that could do that and they'll be
22:17
Speaker 2: very beneficial in that Squalicum offense.
22:20
Speaker 1: Uh.
22:20
Speaker 2: You look at the offensive line and they you know,
22:22
Speaker 2: they returned some guys, and it seems like over the
22:25
Speaker 2: years it's like sometimes they don't return any or they
22:27
Speaker 2: return one and they kind of start over with a
22:30
Speaker 2: with a new cores. But this year there's some there's
22:33
Speaker 2: some guys that that that return that they're gonna rely
22:36
Speaker 2: heavily on kind of starting with Joseph Boyd and Bryce
22:39
Speaker 2: and Vereen. Those two guys have a lot of experience
22:41
Speaker 2: at the varsity level, both very strong, you know, very
22:46
Speaker 2: very similar players, and uh that kind of offense where
22:51
Speaker 2: there's some misconception and fake handoffs and all sorts of things.
22:55
Speaker 2: You're gonna see a lot of counters in that offense,
22:57
Speaker 2: so you really rely heavily on the guards to be
23:01
Speaker 2: you know, poling and lead blocking and doing all sorts
23:06
Speaker 2: of good things. So with those two guys, that works
23:09
Speaker 2: perfectly for that offense. River Thompson is a kid that
23:13
Speaker 2: I'm impressed with. He's a young guy. I believe he's
23:15
Speaker 2: just a sophomore. He'll probably get the nod at left tackle.
23:18
Speaker 2: Pretty good size, about six and fifty pounds Tallon McNutt
23:23
Speaker 2: has been playing center all like during camp and stuff
23:26
Speaker 2: like that. And again I've talked about that center position
23:29
Speaker 2: about how important it is with the squalkm Storm just
23:32
Speaker 2: based on their offense and the timing that it takes.
23:35
Speaker 2: And so he's got the nod there. Jacob Newton is
23:38
Speaker 2: a big kid transfer from Lake Washington. The last couple
23:42
Speaker 2: of years they've had a guy that would come in
23:44
Speaker 2: and be a transfer from a school and you can
23:46
Speaker 2: plug him in at right tackle or something like that,
23:48
Speaker 2: so he kind of fits that Bill liam Sue or
23:52
Speaker 2: so as he returns from last year, he got a
23:54
Speaker 2: lot of playing time, so he's in the mix as well.
23:57
Speaker 2: And then there's a kid Sukraj Frandawa who's kind of
24:00
Speaker 2: that third tackle, but when they go to using a
24:03
Speaker 2: true tight end just to help with the running games,
24:06
Speaker 2: he could be that kind of guy too. Really impressive
24:09
Speaker 2: looking athlete, about six two, two hundred and thirty five
24:12
Speaker 2: two hundred and forty pounds and can move. So they've
24:16
Speaker 2: got a handful of guys for this the five spots
24:18
Speaker 2: on the offensive line, where in sometimes in years past
24:22
Speaker 2: they've had one or two that they know about and
24:24
Speaker 2: they were still trying to find some more guys. But
24:26
Speaker 2: this year it looks like it's a little bit more
24:29
Speaker 2: under control and looking pretty good. On the defensive line,
24:32
Speaker 2: they only play three down linemen, and if you watch Squalakum,
24:36
Speaker 2: those three defensive linemen, they're usually like almost a they're
24:40
Speaker 2: more than a full yard off the ball and that
24:43
Speaker 2: could sometimes throw a wrinkle. It does a couple things.
24:46
Speaker 2: They can throw a wrinkle into the blocking scheme of
24:48
Speaker 2: the offense because they're further away than they think and
24:51
Speaker 2: you don't know which way they're gonna go. It can
24:52
Speaker 2: kind of screw with the offense a little bit. And
24:54
Speaker 2: at the same time, if they happen to jump a
24:56
Speaker 2: little bit, you're not jumping off sides. So it's been
25:00
Speaker 2: prey beneficial for the Squalicum defense over the years. It's
25:03
Speaker 2: gonna be a lot of the same names. Bryson Vereen,
25:06
Speaker 2: Ripert Thompson, su Garage, Rondawah, Joseph Boyd, Jacob Newton, those
25:10
Speaker 2: are kind of the main guys they're gonna rotate in
25:12
Speaker 2: and out, definitely not shy about rotating on the defensive line.
25:16
Speaker 2: And then a kid like aj Bersola who's got some
25:19
Speaker 2: good quickness, but as a smaller kid, he could turn
25:22
Speaker 2: into a player there as well that just gets off
25:24
Speaker 2: the ball, makes plays. Squalalkum has been known to do
25:27
Speaker 2: that where they find a kid who's not necessarily a
25:30
Speaker 2: defensive lineman, but they but he's got quick twitch and
25:34
Speaker 2: get off and they say let's try this, let's let's
25:37
Speaker 2: let's let's put you in there and then he just
25:39
Speaker 2: causes happen. And I feel like I've been talking about
25:41
Speaker 2: that with almost every team because their teams are really
25:44
Speaker 2: starting to do that. You know, Blaine Is has adopted that,
25:47
Speaker 2: Lindon's been doing that forever. It's it's it's a really
25:51
Speaker 2: good thing to have, especially if a kid is you know,
25:55
Speaker 2: fresh and is maybe a backup running back or something
25:58
Speaker 2: like that. So, uh, you could see aj Brisola maybe
26:01
Speaker 2: taking that kind of spot. You know, the linebacker positions
26:04
Speaker 2: are very very important at Squalkam. They've had some amazing
26:07
Speaker 2: ones at all, four of them too inside to outside.
26:10
Speaker 2: Of course, the veteran that returns, Avery Wiener, returns at
26:14
Speaker 2: inside linebacker. You know, he had thirty nine and a
26:18
Speaker 2: half tackles last year, two tackles for loss, two fumble recoveries,
26:21
Speaker 2: he forced a fumble. He returns the most tackles at
26:24
Speaker 2: the first level. So he will be kind of that
26:26
Speaker 2: leader on defense, someone that they're really going to lean upon.
26:29
Speaker 2: Next to him at inside linebacker, probably going to be
26:32
Speaker 2: Brock Scammel. Of course, you remember Billy Scammell as an
26:35
Speaker 2: inside linebacker who just made a ton of plays. Boy,
26:39
Speaker 2: every single week, he seems like he was making double
26:42
Speaker 2: digit tackles. I would expect Brock to do kind of
26:45
Speaker 2: that same thing. Not to put too much pressure on him,
26:48
Speaker 2: but he's that kind of player, and so don't be
26:50
Speaker 2: surprised if those numbers start jumping fast for him. On
26:54
Speaker 2: the outsides, you could see Jacob Clark, who has played
26:57
Speaker 2: some outside linebacker. He's played some defensive line for them,
27:00
Speaker 2: and I think he's kind of solidified that spot as
27:03
Speaker 2: an outside linebacker. Last year fourteen and a half tackles,
27:06
Speaker 2: three tackles for loss, he had a sack, two forced fumbles,
27:09
Speaker 2: he broke up a pass. So he did a lot
27:11
Speaker 2: of stuff on defense last year and now he's kind
27:15
Speaker 2: of locked into that to one side there and and
27:18
Speaker 2: then on the other side, you could probably see ash
27:21
Speaker 2: Or Osby Ornson, the sophomore with who has not played
27:25
Speaker 2: played varsity but has got it was loaded with talent,
27:28
Speaker 2: and so you could probably see him on kind of
27:31
Speaker 2: the wide side of the field outside linebacker, kind of
27:34
Speaker 2: a strong safety type, just making plays. And then don't
27:38
Speaker 2: forget about Phoenix Price as well, another guy that I
27:40
Speaker 2: talked about earlier on the offensive side of the ball.
27:42
Speaker 2: He's can he can do some things as an outside
27:44
Speaker 2: linebacker in that rotation as well. So, uh so it's
27:48
Speaker 2: a good group there. If you're looking at corners, you
27:52
Speaker 2: know last year they they had they had a really
27:59
Speaker 2: good second and and you know one of them that
28:03
Speaker 2: returns was was ants and Osby Ornson. He had four
28:06
Speaker 2: interceptions last year, took one of them to the house.
28:08
Speaker 2: He broke up eight passes, forced to fumble. Uh so
28:12
Speaker 2: a playmaker on the outside. So he returns as one
28:15
Speaker 2: of the corners. Hunter Calloway was a two year starter.
28:20
Speaker 2: You had a ton of passes broken up. He is
28:23
Speaker 2: not playing anymore. So Khalil Benta will step into that role.
28:26
Speaker 2: And that's a kid that's got all the talent in
28:28
Speaker 2: the world. So I think it's gonna fit perfectly. It's
28:31
Speaker 2: gonna work out really well. It's not that they have
28:33
Speaker 2: to look for a corner. He can come right in
28:36
Speaker 2: and fill that gap that Calloway left. So, uh that
28:39
Speaker 2: will go pretty well. You got some other guys too
28:41
Speaker 2: that could play corner. Ray Hoffman Mason sone. Uh they
28:45
Speaker 2: are there are guys kind of that are that next
28:48
Speaker 2: wave that they could rely on. And those are underclassmens.
28:52
Speaker 2: So those are guys that will probably take over the
28:55
Speaker 2: next year. And squalkmb's very good at getting those kids
28:57
Speaker 2: playing time here and there, so they could, you know,
29:00
Speaker 2: make some stuff happen. And so yeah, don't be surprised
29:04
Speaker 2: there at safety. Boy, it seems like a lot of
29:08
Speaker 2: the teams around the county bring back great safeties and
29:11
Speaker 2: Squalkum is no exception. Zach Watt and Reese Nolton. Wat
29:16
Speaker 2: is super smart, had four interceptions, four passes broken up,
29:20
Speaker 2: thirty and a half tackles, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery,
29:24
Speaker 2: did a little bit of everything. He can sit back
29:27
Speaker 2: there and diagnose plays so quickly. And then Reese Nolton
29:30
Speaker 2: is almost like a boy. It kind of reminds me
29:33
Speaker 2: of I can't don't remember if I don't think there
29:35
Speaker 2: were hot wheels, but there was like that car, like
29:38
Speaker 2: that toy car that you could like roll back or
29:41
Speaker 2: put into the thing and then shoot it out really fast.
29:43
Speaker 2: That's kind of like what he reminds me of. He
29:45
Speaker 2: can just he can just come out of nowhere and
29:47
Speaker 2: just light you up. You know, an undersized player, but
29:50
Speaker 2: his very athletic loves to hit as a strong safety,
29:53
Speaker 2: and they've had guys like that. Think back at Caleb
29:56
Speaker 2: Howkinson and different guys that were smaller, boy, they could
30:00
Speaker 2: really play that safety spot. Reyes Nolton fills that perfectly.
30:04
Speaker 2: He broke up three passes last year at twenty two
30:07
Speaker 2: and a half tackles. So they bring back a lot
30:09
Speaker 2: of experience at that safety spot and really kind of
30:11
Speaker 2: all over so you know, you look, it's weird because
30:15
Speaker 2: in the off season I was thinking about the squalk
30:17
Speaker 2: And football team and someone was asking me about it
30:20
Speaker 2: when they found out Lockey transferred back to see Home
30:23
Speaker 2: along with a couple other kids, Braden Ortiz, Elias Laura,
30:27
Speaker 2: and it was kind of like, oh, well, and you know,
30:31
Speaker 2: Marcus Nixon's graduated under Calloway's not playing. It was like, well,
30:35
Speaker 2: that's you know, that's gonna be rough. And I but
30:37
Speaker 2: I look at the roster and I go out to
30:39
Speaker 2: practice and I talked to coach Lucy and it's like, no,
30:42
Speaker 2: theyre could be just fine. They will be just they
30:44
Speaker 2: will be just fine. They are you know, he just
30:48
Speaker 2: that's just the way they are. You just cannot count
30:50
Speaker 2: them out in the kicking game, Like I said, Slade
30:53
Speaker 2: Slade Kaiser is not coming out but they got a kid,
30:56
Speaker 2: Elias Larnega, who was their freshman team kicker and last year.
31:02
Speaker 2: So he comes in and I saw him at practice.
31:04
Speaker 2: I saw him kick you know, three or four extra points.
31:07
Speaker 2: They had plenty of juice on him. He looks good.
31:10
Speaker 2: Avery Wiener has done some kicking in the past, you know,
31:14
Speaker 2: so he could do some of that. He might punt.
31:17
Speaker 2: Asher Osby Ornsen might punt, and you know, it's always
31:22
Speaker 2: nice when you have a guy back there that could
31:25
Speaker 2: be a little bit of a threat uh Squalicum in
31:27
Speaker 2: years past. You know, you think of their punters in
31:29
Speaker 2: years past. You know Lockey Fungatua, Spencer, Lloyd, Ben Peterson,
31:36
Speaker 2: you know Djaevensky, slim Baker punted. I mean, these are
31:38
Speaker 2: the these are dudes that you had to account for.
31:42
Speaker 2: And so you put a guy back there that can
31:44
Speaker 2: make some plays that can rattle an opposing punt return
31:48
Speaker 2: team that might be thinking return and not be one
31:51
Speaker 2: hundred percent thinking I'm playing defense right now. So that could,
31:56
Speaker 2: you know, go well into the favor of the Squalicum Storm.
31:59
Speaker 2: Uh in the return game. I could see both Osby
32:01
Speaker 2: Ornson's you know, doing that. So so yeah, it's uh
32:08
Speaker 2: it's gonna be it's gonna be fun. I mean it.
32:11
Speaker 2: I think that there's a lot of new names on
32:14
Speaker 2: this Squalicum team. Only one of them returns that that
32:20
Speaker 2: scored points last year. That was Anson Osby Ornson. He's
32:23
Speaker 2: the only player and he scored seven touchdowns, one on defense,
32:26
Speaker 2: and he scored a two point conversion. But nobody else
32:28
Speaker 2: that scored a point for squalk Hum last year returns.
32:32
Speaker 2: And usually that kind of scares me a little bit,
32:35
Speaker 2: but it doesn't in this case because I kinda over
32:39
Speaker 2: the years, like I said, was with the Squalicum Storm,
32:42
Speaker 2: they just have that new group that always comes in
32:45
Speaker 2: and fills those spots. And I mean, you know, coach
32:49
Speaker 2: Lucy's got such a great staff, and I think that
32:53
Speaker 2: it's all gonna fit really, really well. I'm really intrigued
32:56
Speaker 2: with that Week one game against Burlington Edison because in
33:00
Speaker 2: my opinion, you kind of have the big four that
33:04
Speaker 2: are in the conference, but those two are the two
33:07
Speaker 2: kind of knocking on the door for that fifth spot.
33:09
Speaker 2: So you could always say that one of those two
33:12
Speaker 2: teams could always knock off one of those top four,
33:15
Speaker 2: and that could be a huge deal when you're talking
33:17
Speaker 2: about allocations and playoffs and stuff like that. So yeah,
33:22
Speaker 2: Squalicum is right there. I think it's going to be
33:25
Speaker 2: a really great season. Again that the whole season, every
33:30
Speaker 2: rite up, including this preview, we brought to you by
33:34
Speaker 2: Bellingham Youth Football again, which is so cool because you've
33:37
Speaker 2: got these guys you know, that played with the Knights
33:40
Speaker 2: that are coming through the program and now are playing
33:42
Speaker 2: for a coach Lucy's team like the Squalicum Storm, and
33:46
Speaker 2: that's such an exciting thing. And when they play against
33:48
Speaker 2: each other in IGOL, they play against Bellingham play against them.
33:51
Speaker 2: These are kids that they played with, that they grew
33:52
Speaker 2: up with, and it's it makes for great rivalries, but
33:57
Speaker 2: a lot of respect as well around with the with
34:01
Speaker 2: the two A conference and the teams that know each
34:03
Speaker 2: other so well. So very very excited for the Storm
34:07
Speaker 2: for this season. And yeah, I just you know, like
34:12
Speaker 2: I always say, it's you know, that kickoff on week
34:15
Speaker 2: one is basically Christmas Morning for me, and then doing
34:19
Speaker 2: these previews and going out and taking headshots and stuff,
34:22
Speaker 2: that's basically shopping for the Christmas presents. Uh, that's just uh,
34:27
Speaker 2: you know, it's it's it's it's it's the best and
34:29
Speaker 2: I'm really loving it going to see all the sports
34:32
Speaker 2: as well, but football has always been kind of special
34:34
Speaker 2: to me and and especially at the high school level.
34:37
Speaker 2: My favorite sport just as a pure sport is baseball,
34:41
Speaker 2: but when it comes to going to games and covering stuff,
34:45
Speaker 2: high school football is as nothing beats it, so really
34:50
Speaker 2: really exciting. So glad you stuck around and listened. If
34:54
Speaker 2: you missed the Bellingham football preview that has already posted,
34:57
Speaker 2: that was earlier today. Yesterday on Saturday, there was Blaine
35:03
Speaker 2: football preview and Meridian football preview. Those have both already
35:07
Speaker 2: been posted. The next one coming up will be the
35:09
Speaker 2: Linden Christian Links. We will talk about them and the
35:13
Speaker 2: one a schedule and how things look for them. They
35:15
Speaker 2: play a really tough non conference schedule and boy the
35:19
Speaker 2: links are loaded and so we will talk about them
35:23
Speaker 2: tomorrow morning. But until then, I want to give it
35:26
Speaker 2: thank you again to Kurk Maybury Farm and of course
35:28
Speaker 2: Bellingham Youth Football, who will be all over everything Bellingham
35:33
Speaker 2: squalk them and see hom related as it comes to
35:35
Speaker 2: high school football. So until then, I will talk to
35:38
Speaker 2: you tomorrow morning.