Latest / Whatcom Preps Podcast / Whatcom Preps Podcast Episode 361 - 2025 Mount Baker Mountaineers Football Preview

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Whatcom Preps Podcast Episode 361 - 2025 Mount Baker Mountaineers Football Preview · Whatcom Preps Podcast

0:00
Speaker 1: This is Mountain New Senior Camden Moa and you're listening
0:03
Speaker 1: to the Mount Baker football preview on the walkom Press
0:05
Speaker 1: podcast for Tyler anderstid Go Baker.
0:12
Speaker 2: Readings and welcome into the Walkham Preps podcast. This is
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Speaker 2: episode three hundred and sixty one. It's the twenty twenty
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Speaker 2: five Mount Baker football preview. I am Tyler Anderson of
0:24
Speaker 2: Walcom Preps and I'm ready to talk some Mountaineer football.
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Speaker 1: I want to give a special thank you to.
0:29
Speaker 2: Mount Baker senior Camden Moa for the intro. Yeah, another Moa.
0:35
Speaker 2: They just keep on coming and they all run hard,
0:39
Speaker 2: hit hard, and of course that's what I remember when
0:42
Speaker 2: I played, and that's what the generation before remembers and
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Speaker 2: now the generation now. So looking forward to a big
0:48
Speaker 2: year from him as a running back and linebacker, and
0:51
Speaker 2: we'll talk about him a little bit later on. I
0:55
Speaker 2: want to thank Kurt Maybray Farm for being the sponsor
0:57
Speaker 2: of the Walkham Preps podcast. Kurt Maybury Far as a
1:00
Speaker 2: family farm committed to developing innovative agronomic and business practices
1:05
Speaker 2: to grow, process, and market high quality berries. Kirk Mayberry
1:10
Speaker 2: Farm is the Northwest berry supplier of choice. You could
1:13
Speaker 2: visit them online at Kurtmayburryfarm dot com. That's Kurt with
1:17
Speaker 2: a C M A B E r r y farm
1:21
Speaker 2: dot com. And when you talk about Mount Baker football,
1:25
Speaker 2: of course, it all starts with coach Ron Lepper, now
1:28
Speaker 2: in his thirtieth season as the head coach, thirty second
1:32
Speaker 2: season overall with the program. And boy, it was funny
1:37
Speaker 2: because I was, you know, as I'm recording this, I
1:40
Speaker 2: was at the jamboree last night and I was talking
1:42
Speaker 2: to Zenhill, who's a great kid that just got hired
1:44
Speaker 2: on as the Lennen Tribune editor, and I asked him about,
1:48
Speaker 2: have you talked to coach Lep yet? And he said, yeah,
1:52
Speaker 2: I did. I'm trying to get to know all the
1:54
Speaker 2: coaches and he's doing his job and he said, I
1:57
Speaker 2: asked him how long has he been at Mount Baker
1:59
Speaker 2: and which replied.
2:00
Speaker 1: Oh, a long time. So it is pretty cool.
2:06
Speaker 2: I mean, the stability is is just amazing, and that's
2:12
Speaker 2: how you build a program. And you look around at
2:15
Speaker 2: a lot of the longtime coaches and what Dan Gaming
2:17
Speaker 2: did at Lyndon Christian and what Jamie Plankwitch is doing
2:20
Speaker 2: at Ferndale and what Kirk Creamey did at Lyndon, of
2:23
Speaker 2: course Bob ames at Ridian, and you know, it's just
2:28
Speaker 2: that stability is so strong. And what coach left has
2:31
Speaker 2: done not only as a teacher, but as a mentor,
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Speaker 2: athletic director, a coach in multiple sports, it's amazing.
2:40
Speaker 1: His as a high school.
2:41
Speaker 2: Varsity win loss record two hundred and eight wins, one
2:45
Speaker 2: hundred and one losses. The home field is Bob Tisdale Field.
2:48
Speaker 2: There's another one, Bob Tisdale that was, you know, a
2:51
Speaker 2: staple for a long time as well. Last season they
2:55
Speaker 2: went five and five. That was an you know, they
2:57
Speaker 2: improved from the year before and I think they're looking
3:00
Speaker 2: to improve on that this upcoming year. There were some
3:03
Speaker 2: seniors from last year that will no longer be on
3:07
Speaker 2: the team that we saw a lot of. You're talking
3:09
Speaker 2: Dylan Moa, Brady Brulind, Luke Smith, Sean Dugger, Dean Alred,
3:14
Speaker 2: Darius Gilstrap, Cayden Moser, Logan Reeves and these guys you know,
3:20
Speaker 2: played a lot on both sides of the ball over
3:23
Speaker 2: the years and they will be tough to replace. But
3:28
Speaker 2: there will be some dudes coming back and some new
3:31
Speaker 2: faces that I'm kind of excited about. And we're going
3:33
Speaker 2: to start by looking at what I call the Featured four,
3:37
Speaker 2: which is something I do with every team where I
3:39
Speaker 2: kind of look at who I think the four main
3:41
Speaker 2: guys will be on each team, and then I give
3:43
Speaker 2: a breakout player of the year. So the featured four,
3:46
Speaker 2: we're gonna start off with the junior el Reardan six
3:50
Speaker 2: foot six, two hundred and thirty five pounds moving from
3:53
Speaker 2: tackle to tight end this year. He's already locked in
3:56
Speaker 2: that defensive end spot. That's something that's been in my
3:59
Speaker 2: mind and even as a freshman, I thought.
4:01
Speaker 1: Boy, could he be a tight end or is he alignment?
4:06
Speaker 2: And you know, he played quite a bit as a
4:09
Speaker 2: freshman actually, and and he was a stalwart as a
4:14
Speaker 2: sophomore and he was so great. And him being moved
4:17
Speaker 2: to tight end, it's kind of twofold because it because
4:21
Speaker 2: of the other lineman they have there allows them to
4:24
Speaker 2: be flexible and do that, and also it allows a
4:28
Speaker 2: player like jet Ross to be split out wide and
4:30
Speaker 2: be a mismatch problem.
4:31
Speaker 1: Who jet Ross a natural wide receiver but played.
4:34
Speaker 2: Some tight end last year because of an injury. So
4:37
Speaker 2: it's kind of what's best for the team. And you know,
4:41
Speaker 2: when they had TJ. Bass, You're talking about a kid
4:44
Speaker 2: who was sixty five, two hundred and sixty five pounds
4:47
Speaker 2: and you know, the biggest kid on the team, and
4:49
Speaker 2: they used him as a tight end and with some
4:53
Speaker 2: of their run blocking schemes, the tight end is a
4:55
Speaker 2: huge weapon in run blocking. And of course he went
4:59
Speaker 2: on to you know, junior college and then transferred to
5:03
Speaker 2: Oregon and now he's, you know, an offensive guard for
5:05
Speaker 2: the Dallas Cowboys. This is and he played tight end
5:09
Speaker 2: in high school. So you've seen multiple guys. Tom mckerman
5:12
Speaker 2: was the same way. He was a tight end in
5:14
Speaker 2: high school, goes to college, plays offensive line, plays in
5:17
Speaker 2: the NFL for ten years. So I'm not saying kel
5:21
Speaker 2: Rearden's going to the NFL, but I'm just saying that
5:24
Speaker 2: when you have an athlete that's like that, it's a
5:27
Speaker 2: it's a it's such a luxury to have to be
5:30
Speaker 2: able to put him at tight end and not lose
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Speaker 2: anything in the run blocking game and still get what
5:37
Speaker 2: you can out of him as a pass receiver. So
5:40
Speaker 2: kel Riaran's one of my featured four. The next one
5:42
Speaker 2: is Noah Ilichev as senior offensive defensive lineman. He's been
5:47
Speaker 2: a stalwart at guard over the last couple of years.
5:50
Speaker 2: He's a guy that was an All Conference first team
5:53
Speaker 2: guard last year. I thought possibly he would be moved
5:56
Speaker 2: to center this year, but he didn't happen. He's still
6:01
Speaker 2: at guard, which works really well for the style of
6:05
Speaker 2: offense with the wing tee. The guards are so important
6:08
Speaker 2: in that offense. Soul Noah il Jefford returns there. You
6:12
Speaker 2: could I could see him getting maybe a few more
6:15
Speaker 2: reps on the defensive line than he has in the past.
6:17
Speaker 2: He's just so strong and stout and hard to move
6:21
Speaker 2: and he's just a block down there. Camden Moa is
6:25
Speaker 2: another one of my featured four. Of course, I talked
6:27
Speaker 2: about him a little bit earlier. He gave us the intro.
6:30
Speaker 2: It's his turn now at the full back spot. He's
6:33
Speaker 2: been the backup the last couple of years to his
6:36
Speaker 2: cousin Dylan. Now he takes over. It's so funny because
6:40
Speaker 2: with Camden, and I think I've said this before, is
6:44
Speaker 2: you know he's listed it I don't know, one hundred
6:47
Speaker 2: and sixty five hundred and seventy pounds or something like that,
6:49
Speaker 2: but he plays so much bigger, and he looks bigger,
6:53
Speaker 2: and then you know, and then you see him kind
6:56
Speaker 2: of up close and you go, yeah, I guess he
6:57
Speaker 2: could be like one seventy five or something like that.
6:59
Speaker 2: But then when you watch him on film, he always
7:02
Speaker 2: looks bigger. He plays bigger, and.
7:05
Speaker 1: I love that. And that's kind of a Mount Baker staple.
7:08
Speaker 2: But came to Moa Returns as a starting linebacker, really
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Speaker 2: really good linebacker, you know, just a guy that makes
7:15
Speaker 2: a ton of tackles. So I look for big things there.
7:20
Speaker 2: And my fourth of the featured four is the senior
7:22
Speaker 2: running back and cornerback Bryce Cooper. And he's a guy
7:26
Speaker 2: that when he got the ball, he made a lot
7:29
Speaker 2: of plays last year. I mean there was the game
7:31
Speaker 2: the Week one game, he had two carries, he scored
7:36
Speaker 2: two touchdowns. He also caught a pass, he intercepted it pass,
7:39
Speaker 2: He returned kicks, He returned punts that was right off
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Speaker 2: the bat Week one, and it just kind of kept
7:43
Speaker 2: going from there. He had that punt return for a
7:45
Speaker 2: touchdown against Meridian. Even though he was the backup halfback.
7:50
Speaker 1: He was a.
7:51
Speaker 2: Guy that could make other guys look silly with his moves.
7:54
Speaker 2: He's gotten bigger, stronger, faster. He's a track guy. I'm
7:59
Speaker 2: really to see the kind of numbers he's gonna put up.
8:02
Speaker 2: I think they're gonna be pretty darn.
8:04
Speaker 1: Great in this offense.
8:06
Speaker 2: And then so those are my featured four and when
8:09
Speaker 2: I you know, I always have a breakout player. Last
8:12
Speaker 2: year it was Bryce Cooper for Mount Baker and he
8:14
Speaker 2: you know, he did pretty good for me in Week one,
8:16
Speaker 2: so it made me feel great. This year, I have
8:19
Speaker 2: NOA Nicole Mills.
8:21
Speaker 1: NOAE.
8:21
Speaker 2: Nicole Mills was a sophomore last year that because of injuries,
8:26
Speaker 2: he was had to kind of forced in there to
8:28
Speaker 2: play defensive end. And he is an inside linebacker through
8:32
Speaker 2: and through, but they needed to get him in there.
8:35
Speaker 2: He played defensive end and did a really great job.
8:38
Speaker 2: Didn't play very much offense, just you know, was there
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Speaker 2: as a defensive end. This year, he's gonna be in
8:43
Speaker 2: that middle linebacker spot. He's going to be in the
8:46
Speaker 2: rotation as a running back. He could you know, he
8:49
Speaker 2: could fill in for Camden or Bryce at either position.
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Speaker 2: And he's just a great football player. So I'm really
8:57
Speaker 2: excited to see what he does. I really think he's
9:00
Speaker 2: going to have a breakout year.
9:02
Speaker 1: On both sides of the ball.
9:03
Speaker 2: So those those are my featured four and my breakout player.
9:07
Speaker 2: Let's look at last year's results really quickly, and Mount
9:09
Speaker 2: Baker really got off to a fast start. Those first
9:13
Speaker 2: four games non league games, they won them all and
9:16
Speaker 2: in pretty convincing fashion as well. That first game at
9:19
Speaker 2: home was against Port Angeles where they won forty nine
9:21
Speaker 2: to twenty two. If I remember correctly, I think it
9:25
Speaker 2: was forty nine to nothing, and with the running clock
9:28
Speaker 2: and the backups in Port Angeles scored those final three touchdowns.
9:31
Speaker 2: I mean it was it was quick because Port Angeles
9:34
Speaker 2: was fumbling the ball. Mount Baker was capitalizing really quickly,
9:38
Speaker 2: and you know, the sun had even gone down yet,
9:40
Speaker 2: and I think it was like twenty one to nothing
9:42
Speaker 2: or something like that, and that was a great way
9:45
Speaker 2: to start the season. Then they played Hockinson at home
9:47
Speaker 2: won that won twenty seven to seven. Then they faced
9:51
Speaker 2: Centennial with British Columbia in week three at another home game,
9:55
Speaker 2: which way they won forty one to fourteen. And then
9:58
Speaker 2: they went on the roll to run on the excuse me,
10:00
Speaker 2: to beat Sultan forty five to zero. So very very
10:04
Speaker 2: convincing in those four non conference games. But then right
10:08
Speaker 2: away you got to face you know, the big Nuksack Valley,
10:11
Speaker 2: which is really really tough. They had a strong team
10:14
Speaker 2: last year and Mount Baker played him really, really well.
10:17
Speaker 2: The Mountaineers will always rise to the occasion, and that's
10:20
Speaker 2: what's really fun. They will play anybody, and we'll talk
10:22
Speaker 2: about that a little bit, but they will always compete
10:25
Speaker 2: with anybody. It does not matter. And Nuxac Valley got
10:29
Speaker 2: him by a couple scores. They won thirty four to twenty,
10:32
Speaker 2: but it took a pretty strong effort by Colton Lenz
10:37
Speaker 2: and those guys for the Pioneers to get that win.
10:40
Speaker 2: Then Mount Baker went on the road and they lost
10:43
Speaker 2: twenty seven to fourteen against Meridian, and it was just
10:46
Speaker 2: it was one of those games where you know, it
10:51
Speaker 2: really could have gone the other way. There was a
10:53
Speaker 2: few weird things that happened and Meridian, I mean Meridian
10:57
Speaker 2: had some guys, for sure, I mean they had they
11:00
Speaker 2: made plays when they needed to. But I think Mount
11:02
Speaker 2: Baker looks at that one going that's one that you know,
11:07
Speaker 2: m we should have got that one. And then it
11:09
Speaker 2: kind of went into the next week because playing against
11:11
Speaker 2: Lyndon Christian on the road in a downpour. They only
11:15
Speaker 2: lost that one thirteen to seven, and that was that
11:18
Speaker 2: was one where with the elements it kind of played
11:22
Speaker 2: into the favor of Mount Baker wanting to run the ball,
11:26
Speaker 2: but there were some turnovers in that one, and it
11:28
Speaker 2: was just you know, there were chances to be had
11:31
Speaker 2: as well.
11:32
Speaker 1: So at that point, you know, Mount.
11:36
Speaker 2: Baker lost a couple of games they probably felt like
11:38
Speaker 2: they could have won. They put it all together the
11:40
Speaker 2: next week at home against Blaine, winning forty nine to twelve.
11:44
Speaker 2: And it was weird because at that point it was
11:46
Speaker 2: kind of like people wrote them off and said, well,
11:48
Speaker 2: go get them next year. But because of things that
11:51
Speaker 2: happened in week nine, they kind of snuck into that
11:55
Speaker 2: three way tiebreaker for third place. They did go on
11:59
Speaker 2: the road and play Omack, a really good o MAAC team.
12:03
Speaker 2: Omack won twenty seven to twenty, but when Blaine beat Meridian,
12:08
Speaker 2: it caused a three way type for third place, which
12:10
Speaker 2: allowed you know, yeah, they all kind of had to
12:14
Speaker 2: play in the Kansas typebreaker out at Blaine High School
12:17
Speaker 2: in a very very strong wind. It was Mount Baker
12:20
Speaker 2: and Blaine to start off, and I want to say
12:25
Speaker 2: Blaine scored first, kicked the extra point, and then Mount
12:28
Speaker 2: Baker got the ball and they scored and went for
12:31
Speaker 2: two and got it, and by doing that, it eliminated
12:34
Speaker 2: Blaine from the postseason, or at least from the round
12:37
Speaker 2: of twenty four.
12:38
Speaker 1: They'll I guess, we'll call it.
12:41
Speaker 2: And then what happened after that was Meridian was going
12:46
Speaker 2: to face the winner. They faced Mount Baker. Baker goes
12:49
Speaker 2: down and scores, and then they stopped Meridian and that
12:52
Speaker 2: was that. So the Mountaineers moved on to to that
12:59
Speaker 2: that nextund that state playing game, and they had to
13:02
Speaker 2: go on the road to play against Zilla, and and
13:07
Speaker 2: that was the my goodness, that was the Sean Dugger game.
13:11
Speaker 2: He had an unbelievable game. And what they really keyed
13:15
Speaker 2: on those the runs in between the tackles, but they
13:18
Speaker 2: had trouble stopping the double handoffs and the reverses and
13:21
Speaker 2: stuff like that. And Sean Dugger was able to make
13:24
Speaker 2: some plays, but Zilla was able to make more, and
13:28
Speaker 2: the Leopards won forty one to twenty eight, and that
13:31
Speaker 2: ended Mount Baker season at five and five. But again,
13:34
Speaker 2: when you look at it, there were some close games
13:36
Speaker 2: that you know they had, and so I expect some
13:42
Speaker 2: pretty big things this year. Actually, when you look at
13:45
Speaker 2: their schedule for this year, it's it's flipped except for
13:49
Speaker 2: a small change which we'll get into. They will start
13:52
Speaker 2: on the road with two road games that they'll play
13:54
Speaker 2: at six o'clock instead of seven in week one and
13:57
Speaker 2: week two kind of kind of you know, far our
14:00
Speaker 2: games to travel to. One will be at Port Angeles
14:03
Speaker 2: in Week one. Then they'll travel to Hawkinson.
14:05
Speaker 1: So a lot of bus rides, ferry rides, all sorts
14:09
Speaker 1: of stuff.
14:10
Speaker 2: And then they will open up their home schedule on
14:14
Speaker 2: Saturday the twentieth at two pm against the Bellevue Wolverines.
14:18
Speaker 2: And that's just a fun story, you know, as it is,
14:23
Speaker 2: I can't remember the last time Bellevue played on Natural Grass.
14:27
Speaker 2: I think it's gonna be kind of a culture shock
14:29
Speaker 2: for them when they show up to downtown Deming and
14:33
Speaker 2: see that they're one hundred and fifteen kids or whatever
14:37
Speaker 2: they're gonna suit up is not going to be able
14:39
Speaker 2: to fill the locker room, let alone maybe the entire
14:42
Speaker 2: you know, field house.
14:45
Speaker 1: It's gonna be interesting. And what I love about it
14:47
Speaker 1: is that Mount Baker.
14:48
Speaker 2: Will they'll they will compete, they will put up everything
14:51
Speaker 2: they can against Bellevue. Obviously the Wolverines are heavily favored
14:54
Speaker 2: in this one.
14:55
Speaker 1: But I love it. I love the matchup, and I
15:00
Speaker 1: think as soon.
15:00
Speaker 2: As it got scheduled, coach Lepp called me he was excited,
15:04
Speaker 2: uh you know, and told me about it and he
15:07
Speaker 2: was just it's just a it's a it's a great
15:10
Speaker 2: thing for the community as well, because it's on a
15:12
Speaker 2: Saturday at two pm.
15:13
Speaker 1: There's nothing else going on.
15:15
Speaker 2: I think it is the day of the Apple Cup,
15:17
Speaker 2: but that game will be later on.
15:20
Speaker 1: So man, pack the pack the Bob.
15:23
Speaker 2: Tisdale Field, Come on out see Mount Baker take on Bellevue.
15:28
Speaker 2: It's gonna be a fast game on the couple of
15:30
Speaker 2: wing tea teams, so it's probably gonna go pretty quickly,
15:34
Speaker 2: so don't get there late, and you're gonna want to
15:35
Speaker 2: get a good seat. And they might put up some
15:38
Speaker 2: bleachers around the other side of the field too.
15:40
Speaker 1: You never know.
15:41
Speaker 2: It's gonna be it's gonna be exciting. And then they
15:44
Speaker 2: will uh play in week four. They were host Sultan
15:47
Speaker 2: in that one and h on a Friday night at seven.
15:50
Speaker 2: That'll be the first Friday night home game.
15:53
Speaker 1: And then league play starts after that.
15:55
Speaker 2: They will go to Nuiksack Valley, host Meridian, Hostland, and
15:58
Speaker 2: Christian and finish up Blaine. Those are all Friday night
16:02
Speaker 2: games at seven o'clock. And then they will host Omak
16:04
Speaker 2: in a non league game on the Thursday night before Halloween,
16:08
Speaker 2: the night before Halloween at six pm, while the other
16:11
Speaker 2: four conference teams are playing each other, and then we'll
16:14
Speaker 2: find out at that point who is one, two, three,
16:16
Speaker 2: four and five and they're playing on Thursdays. They're all
16:19
Speaker 2: playing on that Thursday, just in case they do have
16:22
Speaker 2: to play at Kansas tiebreaker once again, because the conference
16:25
Speaker 2: is that balanced. So that is the schedule, and let's
16:31
Speaker 2: go ahead and look at the position groups. You go
16:34
Speaker 2: to quarterback and it's a new face, but an old face.
16:39
Speaker 2: Toga Tigelau, now a senior, started as a sophomore. I
16:43
Speaker 2: think he played in about six and a half or
16:45
Speaker 2: seven games somewhere in there before he got injured. And
16:50
Speaker 2: then Luke Smith finished the season and it was flip
16:52
Speaker 2: flopped last year where Toga was injured. Luke Smith was
16:56
Speaker 2: the quarterback the entire year and Toga was able to
16:59
Speaker 2: come back and he took some snaps in a few
17:02
Speaker 2: games at the end of the game, but he was
17:05
Speaker 2: the backup quarterback and now it's his time again. There
17:09
Speaker 2: has been moments here and there in Walkin County where
17:12
Speaker 2: a quarterback was a starter as a sophomore, wasn't as
17:15
Speaker 2: a junior, and then was again as a senior. And
17:17
Speaker 2: the one that really sticks out of my mind was
17:19
Speaker 2: Colby Jones of London as a sophomore the eighty nine season.
17:25
Speaker 2: You know, he took his lumps as the team did too.
17:27
Speaker 2: I think they won two games and i was a
17:30
Speaker 2: very young team. And then his junior year he was
17:34
Speaker 2: not the starting quarterback I want to say it was
17:38
Speaker 2: Joel vander Yacht and then as a senior he was
17:41
Speaker 2: the starting lineup or starting quarterback once again and they
17:43
Speaker 2: win the state championship. So it was kind of a
17:46
Speaker 2: unique story there, and that was a really good Linden group.
17:48
Speaker 2: That was Kirk Kramy's first year. It was when Colby
17:51
Speaker 2: Jones was a senior, and that was a.
17:54
Speaker 1: Great, great group.
17:55
Speaker 2: But it just doesn't happen very often where you have
17:59
Speaker 2: a sophomore starter don't don't and does not play as
18:01
Speaker 2: a junior and then senior starter again.
18:03
Speaker 1: Tim Garring at.
18:04
Speaker 2: Lindon's played a little bit as a sophomore and and
18:08
Speaker 2: then not as much as a junior, and then he
18:10
Speaker 2: started as a senior and they went pretty far too
18:12
Speaker 2: and he was an All state quarterback. So so yeah,
18:15
Speaker 2: so Toga Tigulau. He can throw a beautiful ball and
18:19
Speaker 2: uh and you know, it's funny because at the Jambouree
18:23
Speaker 2: he took off and ran a few times, which I
18:24
Speaker 2: didn't you didn't see that too often his sophomore year,
18:27
Speaker 2: so that you know, that could be a thing. And
18:31
Speaker 2: then he's got you know, you know, Tyson Barksdale is
18:34
Speaker 2: a really smart kid backup baseball player. Uh turn out
18:37
Speaker 2: for football for the first time last year and was
18:40
Speaker 2: really impressive. So so he'll be he'll be a decent
18:43
Speaker 2: backup as well.
18:44
Speaker 1: And uh so though that's kind of how the quarterback
18:47
Speaker 1: room looks right now.
18:48
Speaker 2: As a sophomore, Tigulau threw for eight hundred and fifty
18:50
Speaker 2: six yards and five touchdowns and he could you know,
18:54
Speaker 2: there were moments where when he could throw a deep.
18:56
Speaker 1: Ball it was like holy cow. So and that's you know,
19:00
Speaker 1: Baker likes that.
19:01
Speaker 2: Yeah, they're not going to throw a ton and all
19:04
Speaker 2: of a sudden, they do that double fake handoff and
19:06
Speaker 2: then keep dropping back and then throw the ball forty
19:09
Speaker 2: fifty yards down the field to you know, your ex
19:12
Speaker 2: receiver who's sprinting down there.
19:14
Speaker 1: So so you have to be aware of that. And
19:17
Speaker 1: they have a guy that can unload that ball. So
19:20
Speaker 1: so that'll be a lot of fun.
19:22
Speaker 2: You look at the running backs, and of course Mount
19:24
Speaker 2: Baker running backs, that is a staple.
19:27
Speaker 1: There's a ton of you know, a.
19:28
Speaker 2: Thousand yard rushers in their history and a lot of
19:33
Speaker 2: them recently. And the two but it is two new starters,
19:36
Speaker 2: but they are guys that got pretty good experience. Bryce
19:39
Speaker 2: Cooper at the halfback, you ran for three hundred yards
19:42
Speaker 2: last year, averaging eight point eight yards of carry, and
19:45
Speaker 2: he had four touchdowns. Like I said, he's a he's
19:48
Speaker 2: a playmaker. There's a lot of highlights out there already.
19:52
Speaker 2: And he only had thirty four carries last year. So
19:54
Speaker 2: you get him, you know, one hundred and fifty carries
19:56
Speaker 2: in the season and it could really you know, it
20:00
Speaker 2: could be really magical for him. And camp to Moa
20:03
Speaker 2: is now the full back. He ran for almost two
20:05
Speaker 2: hundred yards last year, averaging seven yards of carry hard
20:08
Speaker 2: to bring down, doesn't go down easy, so it's a
20:11
Speaker 2: good one two punch. You know, not a lot of
20:15
Speaker 2: running backs return around the county as far as starters go,
20:21
Speaker 2: but when you talk about backups coming in, these are
20:25
Speaker 2: the best backups from last year that are being inserted
20:28
Speaker 2: as main guys. So that's a benefit for Mount Baker
20:31
Speaker 2: and they always do that. You know, you'll always have
20:34
Speaker 2: those next guys. They get a lot of carries the
20:36
Speaker 2: year before and you're running the ball a lot, you
20:39
Speaker 2: play a lot of guys two ways, you take some breaks.
20:42
Speaker 2: You get these guys in there, and it's very very beneficial.
20:47
Speaker 1: You know. I brought up.
20:48
Speaker 2: Noah Nicole Mills. He's kind of that next guy in line.
20:51
Speaker 2: He only carried the ball three times last year, but
20:53
Speaker 2: he had twenty six yards from him. Gunner McGrath is
20:57
Speaker 2: an impressive looking athlete. He ran for twenty nine yards
21:00
Speaker 2: last year. He could be also a factor back there
21:03
Speaker 2: as well as Isaac da Creek. So you got some
21:05
Speaker 2: guys that'll be behind the quarterback. When you talk about
21:09
Speaker 2: the wing back position, I think Gage Smith has the
21:13
Speaker 2: has the inside track on that. And you got another
21:15
Speaker 2: Smith here. So boy I'm doing this for memory. So
21:18
Speaker 2: you have you had Garrett as a wide receiver, and
21:21
Speaker 2: he had Landon as a quarterback, and he had Luke
21:23
Speaker 2: as a quarterback.
21:24
Speaker 1: And now Gauge as a wing back.
21:27
Speaker 2: And so yeah, I mean all those kids, you know,
21:31
Speaker 2: country tough and hard to bring down quick Gage Smith
21:37
Speaker 2: did get a few carries last year, eight carries for
21:40
Speaker 2: eighteen yards, but now is the featured as the featured
21:44
Speaker 2: wing back, and they use their wing back in different ways.
21:46
Speaker 1: He could be a slot receiver at times.
21:48
Speaker 2: He will go out for passes and then but then
21:51
Speaker 2: he has the chances to break some plays wide open
21:54
Speaker 2: as well, so he'll be there. He's a tough kid too,
21:56
Speaker 2: he could do some blocking and stuff like that. And
21:59
Speaker 2: then other guys in that mix a Knock Smith who
22:02
Speaker 2: we saw as a kicker last year. He's a little
22:04
Speaker 2: banged up right now. I'm not quite sure if he'll
22:06
Speaker 2: be ready for Week one, but he will be playing.
22:08
Speaker 2: He could be in there. And Andrew Monteeth as well,
22:11
Speaker 2: who's just a bundle of dynamite. He did some really
22:13
Speaker 2: good things at the Jamboree. I could see him, you know,
22:17
Speaker 2: especially with the double handoff. You're you're just not going
22:19
Speaker 2: to be able to see him get the ball. You know,
22:22
Speaker 2: he's already at a low pad level walking around sou
22:25
Speaker 2: So there's lots of options there. I mean, that's what
22:28
Speaker 2: is that eight guys I just mentioned. So that's the
22:31
Speaker 2: thing about this year's Mount Baker team is is the depth.
22:34
Speaker 2: It's extremely deep. And when you're that deep at for
22:37
Speaker 2: a one a school boy, that's when it comes down
22:41
Speaker 2: to Layton games and late in the season. That really
22:44
Speaker 2: bodes well. And that's one thing I'll never question with
22:47
Speaker 2: Mount Baker is their effort Laighton games or their effort period,
22:51
Speaker 2: but their ability to have that conditioning to to still
22:54
Speaker 2: compete late in games. And that's what I love. They
22:56
Speaker 2: will not give up at all. The wide receiver spot.
23:01
Speaker 2: Jet Ross, great athlete, six two two hundred pounds, gives
23:06
Speaker 2: them that you know that that toll look on the outside,
23:10
Speaker 2: that when you think back of the Thomas Barbos and
23:12
Speaker 2: the Michael Kentners and the Garrett Smith's, when they had
23:16
Speaker 2: that guy on the outside, it could really pose a problem.
23:19
Speaker 2: And he could he can make some plays. Uh, you know,
23:22
Speaker 2: basketball player, good athlete. He's also a kid.
23:25
Speaker 1: That played some tight end last year.
23:27
Speaker 2: But now will be able to be split out and uh,
23:30
Speaker 2: you know, getting the ball in his hands will be
23:33
Speaker 2: you know, a very good thing for Mount Baker. You
23:36
Speaker 2: also have Zion Peglia, who is a good athlete, great
23:39
Speaker 2: route runner, awesome kid, baseball player, and he's kind of
23:43
Speaker 2: that next in line as a receiver.
23:45
Speaker 1: And you never know.
23:46
Speaker 2: When sometimes they go too wide, too wide, right for
23:50
Speaker 2: Mount Baker, it's like holy cow too And but when
23:54
Speaker 2: that happens, you know, you could see Peg they come out,
23:56
Speaker 2: or you could see Gage Smith out there, who just
23:58
Speaker 2: comes from the wing back spot over to wide receivers.
24:01
Speaker 2: So so we'll just have to see there. And then
24:04
Speaker 2: again at the tight end spot. We talked about it
24:07
Speaker 2: with kel Riardon. That's boy there there was a run
24:12
Speaker 2: there where Baker had a ton of these All Conference
24:15
Speaker 2: first team tight ends over and over again, of.
24:17
Speaker 1: Guys that would catch eight passes a year. So it's funny.
24:21
Speaker 2: How but the voter, you know, the coaches voting, understood
24:25
Speaker 2: the importance of the run blocking and that scheme from
24:28
Speaker 2: the tight end position. And Kelririden is h you know,
24:33
Speaker 2: he's a one of one right now. He is, and
24:35
Speaker 2: like I said, at six foot six two and thirty
24:37
Speaker 2: five pounds. As he learns the position, with the route
24:41
Speaker 2: running and stuff like that, it's just going to get
24:44
Speaker 2: more and more dangerous. So very very impressive kid there. Obviously,
24:49
Speaker 2: the offensive line again another strength.
24:52
Speaker 1: You know.
24:52
Speaker 2: I was talking to some coaches around the league and
24:54
Speaker 2: they always say, when when you know, when coach Lepperd
24:57
Speaker 2: brings back, like you know, his four best line, that's
25:02
Speaker 2: you know, pretty scary for the rest of us. And yes,
25:06
Speaker 2: kel Reardon will now get moved to tight end, but
25:08
Speaker 2: they have guys Kiden Ree to sell it was a
25:12
Speaker 2: right tackle last year, he'll be moved to left tackle.
25:14
Speaker 2: Now looks the part. Six foot three, two hundred and
25:17
Speaker 2: thirty five pounds can move. And when you're talking left
25:21
Speaker 2: tackles at Mount Baker, you're asked to do some polling,
25:25
Speaker 2: you're asked to do some really good, you know, really.
25:27
Speaker 1: Big time things.
25:28
Speaker 2: And they like to put a big, strong athlete there
25:31
Speaker 2: that could, you know, just open up a lot of holes.
25:35
Speaker 2: And Kiden Ree to sell fils that. Bill Silas Maples
25:39
Speaker 2: just a sophomore. He's a wrestler, you know, great build
25:42
Speaker 2: for a left guard. He can put that, he can
25:45
Speaker 2: fill that spot.
25:46
Speaker 1: Perfectly.
25:46
Speaker 2: Aaron Torres, who we saw do some really good things
25:49
Speaker 2: last year as a sophomore on the defensive line. He'll
25:52
Speaker 2: take over that center spot and he's you know, he's
25:56
Speaker 2: a great football player as well. Noah ilichev Is you
25:59
Speaker 2: know I said earlier, All Conference first team lineman last year.
26:03
Speaker 2: He's back at right guard. And there's competition now for
26:06
Speaker 2: right tackle. You got a few different kids. I mean,
26:09
Speaker 2: Jeremiah Sheridan has been a starter of the last few years.
26:13
Speaker 2: You might see a Peyton Zams out there who's got
26:15
Speaker 2: really good size. They have a kid, Titan Arnold. What
26:18
Speaker 2: a named Titan and it fits for being six three
26:21
Speaker 2: two d and eighty pounds. It's a transfer from Sedraw Woolly.
26:25
Speaker 2: He could get that spot at right tackle. So you're
26:27
Speaker 2: talking about a lot of guys here for just those
26:30
Speaker 2: five spots that are very, very impressive. And when and
26:34
Speaker 2: when coach Lefp has those kinds of guys to play with,
26:38
Speaker 2: you might see a lot of holes being opened up
26:40
Speaker 2: for Cooper and Moa and Nicole, Mills and McGrath and
26:44
Speaker 2: those guys and Smith.
26:45
Speaker 1: So it's it's gonna be awesome.
26:48
Speaker 2: It's gonna be uh Mount Baker football the way God intended, right,
26:53
Speaker 2: So we're gonna look at defense now and again, you know,
26:58
Speaker 2: coach Morseman on the defense, he brings back a lot
27:01
Speaker 2: of guys that played on the defense last year and
27:04
Speaker 2: uh which is a huge thing because some teams don't
27:07
Speaker 2: bring us back as much guys, you know, much experience
27:11
Speaker 2: on the defensive side of the ball. And on the
27:14
Speaker 2: defensive line. You know, those two guys right in the
27:17
Speaker 2: middle of Trenton George and Aaron Torres, you know, got
27:20
Speaker 2: a lot of time. Aaron Torres twenty four and a
27:22
Speaker 2: half tackles, two and a half tackles for loss, and
27:24
Speaker 2: a forced fumble. Trent and George had twelve tackles, a
27:27
Speaker 2: tackle for loss and a sack. What I like, what
27:30
Speaker 2: I love about Trenton George there on the defensive line
27:33
Speaker 2: is he doesn't play offensive line, so he's always got
27:35
Speaker 2: a you know, big time full you know, head of steam,
27:39
Speaker 2: high motor right in the middle there and just you know,
27:42
Speaker 2: low center of gravity you're talking like five to eight,
27:45
Speaker 2: like two forty and could just can get in there
27:48
Speaker 2: and cause havoc. And and that's always great to have
27:53
Speaker 2: on the on the outside, the defensive ends.
27:57
Speaker 1: You know, Kiden retas.
27:58
Speaker 2: Cell looks the part, like I said, six three two thirty,
28:02
Speaker 2: but it didn't play defense last year, and a lot
28:04
Speaker 2: of it was just because of he was a little
28:06
Speaker 2: banged up. They really wanted him to, you know, make
28:09
Speaker 2: sure he can play offense. And this year he'll be
28:12
Speaker 2: you know, playing both ways. He'll be playing some defensive end.
28:15
Speaker 1: Of course.
28:15
Speaker 2: Kel Reardan on the other side, had a big, big
28:18
Speaker 2: year as a defensive end as a sophomore, forty three
28:21
Speaker 2: and a half tackles, five and a half tackles for loss,
28:24
Speaker 2: four quarterback sacks, a four fumble, fumber recovery, He knocked
28:27
Speaker 2: down two passes at the line of scrimmage, and he
28:30
Speaker 2: intercepted a pass. So I mean he is scary to
28:34
Speaker 2: go up against. So when and when when teams have,
28:38
Speaker 2: especially for three defenses, when they have a really good
28:40
Speaker 2: defensive ends, that sets the tone for everything. And Baker's
28:44
Speaker 2: had some great ones over the years. You could also see,
28:47
Speaker 2: you know, Jeremiah Sheridan and Peyton zams out fill some
28:50
Speaker 2: of those spots, you know, as they can rotate their
28:54
Speaker 2: defensive lineman when needed.
28:56
Speaker 1: So so yeah.
28:58
Speaker 2: It's gonna be very very you know, high quality players
29:02
Speaker 2: on the defensive line. Same thing with the linebackers. You
29:05
Speaker 2: returned Camden Moa who had seventy three tackles last year,
29:08
Speaker 2: two and a half tackles for loss, three fumble recoveries,
29:11
Speaker 2: He knocked down two passes, he intercepted a pass. A
29:14
Speaker 2: lot of experience at that linebacker spot. He'll be, you know,
29:18
Speaker 2: teaming up with Noah Nicole Mills, who will be right
29:20
Speaker 2: there in the middle. Last year he played defensive end
29:23
Speaker 2: and he and he brings back the third most tackles
29:25
Speaker 2: on the team forty two of them, five tackles for lost,
29:28
Speaker 2: two and a half sacks, he forced two fumbles. I
29:31
Speaker 2: am so excited for him to play his natural position
29:33
Speaker 2: at linebacker. I think he can put up huge numbers.
29:38
Speaker 2: And then you kind of look at the other linebackers.
29:40
Speaker 2: You look at Gunner McGrath who got some time on defense.
29:44
Speaker 2: He had eight tackles last year, Isaac Ducreek, Mitchell Ramsey,
29:48
Speaker 2: Andrew Monteenth, Pedro, Relius George.
29:51
Speaker 1: So you just got handful of guys.
29:53
Speaker 2: It's nice that you can that you that they can
29:58
Speaker 2: sub guys and it won't draw off. And that was
30:01
Speaker 2: another thing that I was talking to coach lep about
30:03
Speaker 2: when I was out at practice, was you know, the
30:06
Speaker 2: the scout team defense was playing really well. You know,
30:11
Speaker 2: these backups are pretty darn good, and that's when you
30:14
Speaker 2: can give the offense a good look. That's fantastic, but
30:16
Speaker 2: it bodes well for the depth of your defense.
30:18
Speaker 1: So especially at the one A level.
30:20
Speaker 2: And the secondary, Bryce Cooper returns. He's kind of the
30:23
Speaker 2: main guy that returns. They had a lot of other
30:26
Speaker 2: seniors back there. Bryce Cooper had twenty nine and a
30:28
Speaker 2: half tackles last year, one and a half tackles for loss.
30:31
Speaker 2: He broke up nine passes, also had an interception of
30:34
Speaker 2: forced fumble fumble recovery. He's back at the corner spot,
30:38
Speaker 2: so that's a great thing to have. I think Zion
30:41
Speaker 2: Peglio can be at the other corner. He had seven
30:44
Speaker 2: tackles last year. You could see you know, Tyson Barksdale,
30:48
Speaker 2: Jaden Nicole Mills, Gage Smith back there and then at safety,
30:54
Speaker 2: Jet Ross returns. He had twenty tackles last year. He
30:56
Speaker 2: intercepted three passes, broke up another four. They put him
31:00
Speaker 2: at defensive end for a little bit. He was making plays.
31:03
Speaker 2: He had a sack a tackle for a loss. But
31:05
Speaker 2: that you know, coach loves having that big, tall guy
31:08
Speaker 2: back there at free safety that can make plays. And
31:11
Speaker 2: Jet Ross really fits that bill, so he'll be probably
31:14
Speaker 2: you know, nailed in at that safety spot. A knock
31:17
Speaker 2: Smith could also do that. Eli James could play that.
31:21
Speaker 2: You know, they got a lot of guys. Gage Smith
31:24
Speaker 2: is a strong safety, so you have you know, you
31:27
Speaker 2: just have a lot of guys. Again at the one
31:29
Speaker 2: A level, that's such a value to have and it's
31:32
Speaker 2: a very very deep team. Really excited about that. You
31:36
Speaker 2: look at the kicking game and you know, a knock
31:40
Speaker 2: Smith to played great last year as a freshman thirty
31:44
Speaker 2: eight extra points and a field goal. You know, it's
31:48
Speaker 2: got to be the most in school history as a freshman.
31:50
Speaker 2: I know that, and so his future looks bright. But
31:55
Speaker 2: like I said, he's a little banged up right now,
31:57
Speaker 2: so not quite sure if he'll be able to.
31:59
Speaker 1: Go weak one or not. And and he's not just
32:02
Speaker 1: a kicker. He's gonna be a running back and.
32:04
Speaker 2: A safety as well, so there you know, he will
32:07
Speaker 2: get time doing some other things. I noticed that last year,
32:10
Speaker 2: even on kickoffs, he was going down and making tackles.
32:13
Speaker 2: So a good athlete I'm excited for when he's one
32:16
Speaker 2: hundred percent, it's only gonna help Mount Baker's chances. And
32:19
Speaker 2: then they have a kid, Braiden Richardson who's been filling
32:22
Speaker 2: in with a knock being out, and Braiden Richardson is
32:26
Speaker 2: he can kick, he can punt, and so you got,
32:29
Speaker 2: you know, some good things going on there. And and
32:32
Speaker 2: then you there you have it. I mean Mount Baker's
32:34
Speaker 2: team looks very balanced up and down. I really really
32:39
Speaker 2: like their chances this year. When you look at kind
32:42
Speaker 2: of the overall picture with three allocations, I think that
32:47
Speaker 2: they have the ability to be in those in the
32:50
Speaker 2: top three of the Northwest Conference. And if you can
32:55
Speaker 2: be high enough, you know, ranked or seeded to host
33:00
Speaker 2: that Week ten game, that would be pretty good.
33:03
Speaker 1: I would imagine that the top two.
33:05
Speaker 2: Of the three would be ranked, you know, high enough
33:09
Speaker 2: to host a Week ten games. So obviously their goal
33:13
Speaker 2: every year, year in and year out, is.
33:14
Speaker 1: To get to the state playoffs. That's just been the
33:16
Speaker 1: way it was. And they had to run there.
33:18
Speaker 2: They had to run with for my goodness, I don't know,
33:22
Speaker 2: I mean eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve years in a row.
33:25
Speaker 2: It was something like that. It was a lot of
33:27
Speaker 2: years in a row going to the state tournament. It
33:30
Speaker 2: got snapped a couple of years ago. Last year they
33:33
Speaker 2: were close. They got to the you know, the Week
33:35
Speaker 2: ten playing game and lost that one. But now they're
33:38
Speaker 2: eye in that to come back again. Mount Baker. You
33:42
Speaker 2: talk to any coach or on the league, the first
33:44
Speaker 2: thing they say is they do it the right way.
33:46
Speaker 2: They hit you hard, they help you up. The respect
33:50
Speaker 2: is off the charts and and it makes me proud,
33:54
Speaker 2: you know, being a former Mount Baker football player, if
33:56
Speaker 2: you want to call it that, And it just makes
34:00
Speaker 2: me feel like I'm just so proud to be a small,
34:04
Speaker 2: small smidgeon of the history of Mount Baker High school
34:07
Speaker 2: football and to be, you know, at least there when
34:12
Speaker 2: coach lefp was there too, because that's you know, it
34:15
Speaker 2: ties me in in a unique way where I love
34:18
Speaker 2: that I can depend on him and to help me
34:21
Speaker 2: out with things. And it's just such a luxury to have.
34:24
Speaker 2: Like I always say, I'm just the luckiest guy in
34:25
Speaker 2: the county because I've been able to develop friendships relationships
34:30
Speaker 2: with coaches and athletic directors and I think they see
34:34
Speaker 2: the passion for what I do and are wanting to
34:38
Speaker 2: help and make things, make it better. And I'm lucky
34:41
Speaker 2: that I jumped on when I did, and I went
34:44
Speaker 2: towards the route of social media and doing these podcasts
34:47
Speaker 2: because that's kind of the way the world's going. And again,
34:51
Speaker 2: I can't thank Ryland Spencer enough for pushing me in
34:54
Speaker 2: that direction because it really changed my outlook on things,
34:58
Speaker 2: and it helped grow Walking Preps to what it is
35:01
Speaker 2: today and it's still gonna grow. I'm not gonna stop this.
35:04
Speaker 2: I don't want to stop, can't stop. So again, that's
35:08
Speaker 2: the final preview. There will not be a LUMI Nation preview.
35:11
Speaker 2: I did go out to practice, I did get head shots,
35:14
Speaker 2: I talked to the coaches. I just don't know enough
35:16
Speaker 2: about the team and the league to give it, you know,
35:20
Speaker 2: the kind of preview that I want to give it.
35:22
Speaker 2: So I will be watching their games, doing their stats.
35:26
Speaker 2: So I think next year I'll have a much more
35:28
Speaker 2: higher understanding of what to expect with their team. So
35:33
Speaker 2: so for now, that was the final football preview coming up.
35:37
Speaker 2: There will be you know, the next podcast will probably
35:41
Speaker 2: be the volleyball preview for the whole county.
35:44
Speaker 1: So when you look around at the volleyball.
35:46
Speaker 2: I mean, it was a lot of underclassmen coming back
35:49
Speaker 2: this year and so that's really really exciting. I think
35:53
Speaker 2: it's going to be extremely competitive and we'll so we'll
35:56
Speaker 2: be talking about that next Also, look for the ally
36:00
Speaker 2: preseason first, second, third team selections, which I've done for
36:04
Speaker 2: the last I don't know, eight or nine years, and
36:07
Speaker 2: I love it because this is the chance for players
36:10
Speaker 2: to prove me wrong, which I love. And yeah, and
36:14
Speaker 2: then before you know it, the season is going to
36:15
Speaker 2: be right around the corner. So thank you everybody for listening. Again,
36:19
Speaker 2: thank you to kurmaberryfarm dot com. And this has been
36:23
Speaker 2: episode three hundred and sixty one, the twenty twenty.
36:26
Speaker 1: Five Mount Baker Mountaineer Football Preview. I'm Tyler Anderson and
36:30
Speaker 1: i'll talk to you in a few days