Latest / Whatcom Preps Podcast / Whatcom Preps Podcast Episode 433 - 2026 Mount Baker Mountaineers Football Preview

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Whatcom Preps Podcast Episode 433 - 2026 Mount Baker Mountaineers Football Preview · Whatcom Preps Podcast

• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Greetings and welcome into the Whatcom Preps podcast. This is
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: episode 433. It's the 2026 Mount Baker football preview, and
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: I am Tyler Anderson of Whatcom Preps. What a year
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: it was last year for the Mountaineers, getting all the
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: way to the state semifinals. I'll be the first to admit,
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: I thought they overachieved. I thought they would make the playoffs,
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: maybe as the third team out of the conference, and
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: you know, second or third, somewhere in there and, you know,
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: maybe win a playoff game. But those seniors stepped up
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: last year, had amazing years. And it was awesome to
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: see winning the, winning the league championship and going all
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: the way to the state semifinal. So very, very cool.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: And this year they have a lot of, you know,
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: important pieces back. I think that it's the flashy highlight
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: guys that are gone. I mean, obviously the, We'll talk
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: about that in a little bit, but it's the grunt
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: work guys, I think, that are back, and you need
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: that grunt work, right? So a lot of important pieces back,
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: and we'll get into that here in just a second.
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: Of course, Mount Baker is coached by Ron Lepper, who's
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: in his 31st season as the head coach, 33rd season
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: with the program. A win-loss record of 218 wins to
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: just 103 losses. Home field is Bob Tisdale Field. Last season,
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: like I said, went 10-2. The big losses from last year,
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: obviously Bryce Cooper, Jet Ross, Kyden Riedesel, Camden Moa, Toga Tigalau,
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: Jeremiah Sheridan, Peyton Zamzow. Those are kind of the main
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: big losses from last year. But like I said earlier,
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: they returned some pretty key players. Let's talk about last
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: year's games. Started off the year with a win over
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: Port Angeles, 47-12. And then they defeated Hawkinson 35-7. And
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: then they played the Bellevue Wolverines, lost 42-21. And back
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: on the winning side of things, defeating Sultan 59-14 before
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: going into league play, where they defeated Nooksack Valley 46-39,
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: beating Meridian 21-13. And they beat Lennon Christian 34-33 and
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: finished off the Reds conference season with a win of
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: 49 to 20 over Blaine, going 4-0 in conference and
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: then defeating OMAC 30-0 to finish off the regular season.
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: Their state play-in game was against Wapato, which they won
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: 57-0 and went into the state playoffs. They were granted
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: a first-round bye based on their seeding and how well
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: they did during the regular season. which brought them to
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: a game with OMAC once again, just a few weeks
• 3:03
  Speaker 1: later in the quarterfinal round where they beat OMAC 32
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: to 22 before falling to Kashmir in the semifinals 41
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: to 14. Schedule is a little bit different. Although there
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: are some similarities, they will be starting off the season
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: against Port Angeles. Once again, that'll be a 6 p.m.
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: kickoff on week one, Friday night, the fourth at home.
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: Then there'll be on the road three straight weeks against
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: The next three Friday nights at North Kitsap at 7 p.m.,
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: at Kamiak at 7 p.m., and then at OMAC at
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: 6 p.m. So teams with a K in it, they
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: will go to you. And so that won't be an
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: easy task, three straight road games. Then they're at home
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: against Onalaska on a Saturday at 1 p.m. So they're
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: going to be the only team in Whatcom County that
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: will go five weeks before playing a conference game. And
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: then once conference kicks off, it'll be home against Nooksack Valley,
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: home against Blaine. And then they'll finish the season with
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: two road games at Linden Christian and at Meridian. It's
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: pretty interesting when you look at that. You know, teams with,
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: you know, OMAC has been strong the last few years.
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: They've played them last few years. Uh, it's cool that
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: they're starting up with Port Angeles again. They're kind of
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: built that, uh, into the schedule. They like playing them, uh,
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: on Alaska is going to be, they've played a lot
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: of walking County teams recently and they are playing more
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: this year. Uh, so we'll be seeing them a lot. It's,
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: it's a throwback to 1940s football. When you watch on,
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: on Alaska, uh, they look like, they look like they
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: should be wearing the leather helmets with the style that
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: they run, but it's, it's tough to stop if you're
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: not used to it. Um, North Kitsap has a very
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: strong history. They were kind of down last year, but
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: you never know with them. And Kamiak's a 4A school. So, yeah,
• 4:53
  Speaker 1: it'll be really curious to see kind of how that
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: shakes out before a league schedule. And we all know
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: how tough the league schedule is. So, yeah, let's talk
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: about last year's or this year's like starting kind of lineups,
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: where they're looking at, what kind of stats they may
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: have had last year. So starting at quarterback, there is
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: a battle. Like many of the teams out in Whatcom County,
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: it's the junior Tyson Barksdale and the sophomore Trey Galbraith
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: going back and forth to see who the starting quarterback
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  Speaker 1: will be. You know, both basketball players, both similar build, 6'2, 6'3,
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: about 180 pounds. You know, both kind of, you know,
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: stepping into a bigger role here, whoever gets the job.
• 5:38
  Speaker 1: Tyson Barksdale did start a game last year. He started
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: the Meridian game. They got the win in that one.
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: Last year, he did complete four out of 13 passes
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: for 22 yards. And Trey Galbraith did come in a
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: little bit and ran the ball some. He ran the
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: ball four times for 17 yards with that Toga wedge play.
• 5:57
  Speaker 1: So they both have some experience under the Friday night lights,
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: taking snaps from center, running back and forth to Coach
• 6:05
  Speaker 1: Lepp to get the play, that kind of stuff. So
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: they've tasted it. but one of them will become the
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: main play caller and we'll see kind of how that goes. Again,
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: they have five non-league games before they even play a
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: league game. So you might see different quarterbacks out there
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: in different drives, different circumstances. So be ready for that.
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  Speaker 1: And that's always fun to see because the competition can
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: breed excellence in the program. And so that's a great
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: competition right there. Always competing at Mount Baker are the
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: running backs. And there's a loaded room of running backs,
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: guys that are competing for, the, the, the two spots,
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: no one, Nicole Mills, he ran the ball for 274
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: yards last year, had a touchdown average, nearly six yards
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: of carry. He's probably going to be the main guy
• 6:52
  Speaker 1: in the backfield that you can depend on. You might
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: see him at either one of the two, the fullback
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: or the halfback spot. I, you know, it's hard to
• 7:01
  Speaker 1: say where he'll be. I could see him probably more
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: as the fullback, but you never know. Yeah. Andrew Monteith
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: is back as well. He had 37 yards rushing last year.
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: Gunnar McGrath had 42 yards rushing last year and a touchdown.
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: Anok Smith could get some carries. Isaac DeCreek, Juan Mapes,
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: who's a sophomore. And so those are the kind of
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: the main guys that you could see behind the quarterback.
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: Now off to the side, Gage Smith returns as the wingback.
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: Last year, a very dynamic player, 368 yards rushing, eight
• 7:35
  Speaker 1: yards a carry. and a rushing touchdown. He also caught
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: nine passes for 186 yards and two touchdowns. So he's
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: a guy that, you know, can make plays. And if
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: he's not at the halfback spot, he'll probably be returning
• 7:52
  Speaker 1: to the wingback spot. So you got a lot of
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: different guys that could carry the ball, uh, in the,
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: in those spots split out wide Zion Paglia returns. He
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: had four receptions last year for 39 yards. Um, Another
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: guy that looks really good is senior Jaden Louie, who
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: has a ton of speed, a lot of upside there.
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: So you could see him there, maybe a wingback spot.
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: Eli James is a senior that could be split out wide.
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: He did have a catch last year as well. Pepe
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: McAvoy Salgado saw him do some great things on the
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: hardwood last year. A tall body, 6'2, and Mount Baker,
• 8:28
  Speaker 1: when they have those 6'2 receivers on the outside, Uh, they,
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: they make good things happen. They've had a slew of
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: those recently, of course, most recently with jet Ross, Kane
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: Cooper's another kid, Bryce Cooper's little brother, um, kind of that,
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: you know, one of the next ones in line at
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: wide receiver. So you've got a lot of different guys
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: that can be split out in that exposition. Um, at
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: tight end, this is, this is the interesting call because
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: you had Kel reared in there last year. He moves
• 8:56
  Speaker 1: back to left tackle. So you gotta have a tight
• 8:59
  Speaker 1: end that, um, You know, in that Mount Baker offense,
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: you want a tight end that is strong and can
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: down block, especially on that counter run. Obviously, you've got
• 9:09
  Speaker 1: to be able to catch the ball and stuff, too.
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: So they don't bring back a ton of varsity experience
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: at the position. So it's kind of getting your best
• 9:17
  Speaker 1: 11 on the field might change positions for some guys.
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: You might see a Gunnar McGrath, who's a really strong kid. linebacker,
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: fullback type. He could get moved to that position and
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: you know you have the physicality and the strength. Eli James,
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: who's been a program guy for six years. He's played
• 9:37
  Speaker 1: a lot of different positions or for four years, I
• 9:39
  Speaker 1: should say. He's played a lot of different positions. He
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: could be there. He's a senior now. We talked about Pepe, McAvoy, Salgado.
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: He could be in that spot. He fits the bill
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: as far as the size, you know, the six foot
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: two classic tight end. So a lot of different guys there.
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  Speaker 1: And like I said, it's about putting your best 11
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: on the field and you don't want to you know,
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: put certain guys out there for certain plays because other
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: coaches around the league are going to pick up on that.
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: So if you could settle on guys that you like
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: here and there and, and you're good to go, you're good.
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: So it'll be really interesting to see. That's kind of
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: the big question mark for me is who's going to
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: be the tight end in this Mount Baker offense. not
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: playing tight end in the offense, going back to left
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: tackle will be Kel Reardon, who is, you know, you
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: could argue that he's the best player in the county returning.
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: There's a lot of great players out there, Elliot Lenson,
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: you know, Caden Feldman, Logan Rogers. There's a lot of
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: dudes coming back, and Kel Reardon is right up there
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: with them all. This will be his fourth year as
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: a starter on the defensive side. in his third year
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: as a starter on the offensive side. So he'll, he'll
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: attack at that left tackle spot, which when they have
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: a good one, Holy cow, do they stand out? We
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: saw great things out of Kyden Reedus sell last year
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: and Kel Reardon will just, we'll, we'll take that spot
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: and run with it. And he knows exactly what to
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: do there. Um, you know, a guard, um, It's really
• 11:09
  Speaker 1: interesting to see who the two guards will be. Silas
• 11:12
  Speaker 1: Maple returns as an all-conference first-team selection last year. Really
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: good wrestler. Kind of fits that bill as a guard.
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: Ramsey Mitchell is a kid I'm really excited about as well.
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: About 6'3, country strong. He's a throwback's throwback. People say, man,
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: he reminds me of a kid like when I was
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: in school. No, no. He reminds me of a kid
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: that played in the 50s. Just... raw bone, country strong.
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: Mount Baker, you know, they churn out these kids every
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: once in a while, so I'm really excited to see
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: what he does. He could be at the other guard.
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: Aaron Torres returns at center. Really, really strong player. And
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: at right tackle, Titan Arnold at 6'3, about 345 pounds. Boy,
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: he gets leaning on you a little bit, especially with
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: the help of a strong tight end. And you're going
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: to see some running backs off to the races. So,
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: When Coach Lepp returns a lot of starting offensive linemen,
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: that usually bodes pretty well for him. And then there's
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: a lot of other guys that are kind of vying
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: for spots or could step in if needed. Pedro Ruelas
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: is a really athletic kid that is a lineman that
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: you might see at a guard. You never know. Maybe
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: if Mitchell gets kicked out to tackle or whatever, that
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: he could come in and play. James Calsby is another
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: one that's getting reps at guard. Then there's a junior,
• 12:38
  Speaker 1: kind of a prospect-type player, Aiden Elahi, who is a former,
• 12:43
  Speaker 1: I think, tight end probably, really tall kid, about 6'5,
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: but he's learning the offensive line spots now. So he's
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: kind of being groomed as well for that next wave
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: of offensive linemen. So they've got eight right there that
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: they trust for five spots, and whenever Coach Lepp has that,
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: he's got a pretty big smile on his face. On
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: the defensive side of the ball, obviously, Kel Reardon returns,
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: and he did some great things last year, 69-and-a-half tackles,
• 13:14
  Speaker 1: 12-and-a-half tackles for loss, nine-and-a-half sacks. He batted down seven
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: passes at the line of scrimmage, forced three fumbles, and
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: recovered one on his way to being named All-State First
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: Team as a junior on the defensive line. So he
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: anchors that line on the inside. Aaron Torres is returns
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: another big year last year, 52 tackles, seven and a
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: half tackles for loss, two sacks, a fumble recovery, and
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: a pass broken up. Silas Maple, who didn't play a
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: ton of defense last year, but was an all-conference offensive player,
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: he could get that call to take over where Trenton
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: George played and be that disrupting nose tackle, defensive tackle spot.
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: which could be good for him. And then Ramsey Mitchell
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: on the other end, they're kind of taking over the
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: Kyden Rita cell spot. He had 11 tackles, including a
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: half of a tackle for loss last year. So those
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: are the main four to be looking for Titan Arnold,
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: the big guy, you could see him in the middle,
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: you know, taking up a couple of blockers, maybe circumstantial,
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: you know, or not, not circumstantial, but moments in the
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: game where, where it calls for it. I can't think
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: of the word at the moment, but like, you know,
• 14:30
  Speaker 1: third inches type thing or goal line type plays. Situational,
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: that's what I'm trying to say. You can see Titan
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: Arnold in there at defensive line for that. You can
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: see Trey Galbraith getting some rotation at the defensive end.
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: So a lot of different guys there that could play
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: at that spot. Linebacker, again, you return three out of
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: your four starters. That's huge. Noah Nicole Mills, He comes back.
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: He had 76 and a half tackles, 13 and a
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: half tackles for loss, two passes broken up, an interception,
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: a forced fumble, half a sack. So knowing Nicole Mills is,
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: you know, man, he is a playmaker at linebacker. He
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: is a sure tackler. And so he returns. Andrew Monteith
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: also returns, who he had a breakout year last year
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: with 75 tackles, four tackles for loss, two interceptions, two
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: forced fumbles. two fumble recoveries. So he'll come back and, and,
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: you know, if you've watched Mount Baker football this, this
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: past year, uh, he stands out in a way, um,
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: about five, three, five, four playing linebacker and boy, he
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: hits and he low man wins and he does a
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: great job, obviously with that wrestling background. Um, and he's
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: fearless out there. I love watching him run down on
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: kickoffs as well. Um, Don't know how much of that
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: he'll be doing as a senior, but he's so good
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: at it that I wouldn't be surprised if he's back
• 15:53
  Speaker 1: out there for that as well. Gunnar McGrath returns. Played
• 15:57
  Speaker 1: a lot last year at linebacker. 36 tackles, two and
• 16:00
  Speaker 1: a half tackles for loss, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery,
• 16:03
  Speaker 1: and a pass broken up. So yeah, you got a
• 16:07
  Speaker 1: lot of experience there. And then Isaac DeCreek, who is
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: a senior, he was injured a lot of last year,
• 16:14
  Speaker 1: so he didn't get to play. But now as a senior,
• 16:16
  Speaker 1: he's grown quite a bit. You know, I played with
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: his dad. His dad is one of the most feared
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: defensive players I've ever seen. In fact, he hit me
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: so hard in practice once that I got the snot bubbles.
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: And if you know what that means, if you know
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: what that means and you know exactly what I'm talking about,
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: but if you don't know what that means, it's when
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: you get hit so hard that you get these little
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: bubbles around your nostrils. He just knocked the snot out
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: of you. So Isaac, yes, your dad did that to
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: me in practice once. He probably has no recollection of that,
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: but that's what you get for being a scout team
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: running back every once in a while. As a matter
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: of fact, I think on that play, I was like
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: the personal protector on punt. for scout team. And he
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: was rushing the punter and just ran through me and
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: I landed on my back with the snot bubbles. So
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: that's always a fun story to tell. Other linebackers that
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: could be in the mix, Pedro Ruelas. He's a guy
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: that could be a tweener kind of outside linebacker, defensive
• 17:12
  Speaker 1: end kind of guy, maybe a third and long pass
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: rushing specialist. You know, I could see a lot of
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: like kind of what Vance Lawrence did. And then Juan Mapes,
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: the sophomore who was you know, turning heads at camp.
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: So his, that's another linebacker to have. So again, a
• 17:26
  Speaker 1: lot of depth here for the, for the Mountaineers. That's,
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: you know, I don't know. It's hard to say. I mean,
• 17:32
  Speaker 1: I think they've, they've had guys, but I don't know
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: if they've had depth like this for a while. So
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: that's really fun for them to have. Same thing with
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: the secondary. You know, you return the two guys that
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: have a lot of experience back there. Zion Paglia as
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: a corner. Last year, 62 and a half tackles, five
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: passes broken up, four interceptions, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery,
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: two and a half tackles for loss. He returns at corner.
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: Gage Smith returns at safety. He had 26 tackles, six
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: passes broken up. and a forced fumble. Those are the
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: two that you know are coming back and you can
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: rely on. So that opens up a corner spot and
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: another safety spot. Corner, you look for maybe a Jaden Louie,
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: who's a senior this year and has looked really good
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: in camp and has speed to burn. And then safety-wise,
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: there's a lot of other guys that could take that.
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: Also a corner could be Jaden Nicole Mills. So you
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: got another Nicole Mills there that's got really good speed
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: as well. So the two Jadens battling that out. And
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: then the other safety spot, you got kind of three
• 18:38
  Speaker 1: guys that could all do it. Pepe, McAvoy, Salgado. He
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: had 13 tackles last year and a pass broken up.
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: A knock Smith could be back there. He had 10
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: and a half tackles. He had an interception last year
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: and a pass broken up. And Eli James is another
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: guy who had a pass broken up last year. So
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: you got a lot of guys here. that if someone,
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: you know, something happens or they need to take a
• 19:02
  Speaker 1: kid out for some reason to talk to them, they
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: probably feel no problem. We got a next guy that
• 19:07
  Speaker 1: can come right in and fill that spot. And at
• 19:10
  Speaker 1: the 1A level, when you have that, that really goes
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: a long way. So very exciting for the Mountaineers to
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: be able to kind of see those things and be
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: able to do what needs to be done to win games.
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: Last year, Enoch Smith kicked and punted, and he was
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: one of the best 52 extra points last year and
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: three field goals last year. So very effective kicker was
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: a knock Smith last year. He returns for his junior year.
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: He's already scored over a hundred points as a kicker
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: and he's just going into his junior year. So he's,
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: he's looking to, you know, break some Whatcom County records.
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: I want to say the Whatcom County record for kicking
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: points in a career. Holy cow. It's like a hundred
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: and boy, maybe, no, no. I think it's like 218,
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: something like that. Santiago Lopez of Linden. So he kicked
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: a lot of field goals. I think he kicked like
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: 18 field goals. So it's something like that. But he's
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: on the path to maybe, you know, kicking for close
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: to 200 points in his career. So that would be incredible.
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: And like I said, only go into his junior year.
• 20:22
  Speaker 1: And then as a punter last year, averaging over 35
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: yards a punt, he could be a weapon there as well.
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: Good kickoff guy and athletic. I mean, he'll kick it
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: off and he'll go down and make the tackle. which
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: is really cool to see. So he returns there. And
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: in the kick return game, Gage Smith returns. He had
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: 267 yards in kickoff returns, averaging almost 18 yards a return.
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: You could see Jaden Nicole Mills back there. Lots of
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: different guys that, you know, you might see Jaden Louie
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: and kind of expect the same kinds of guys in
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: the punt return game. And they'd be set up. I mean,
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: it's looking really good. You know, you've returned so many
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: starters on defense. I want to say they return like
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: seven out of their 11 starters on defense for a
• 21:11
  Speaker 1: team that got to the semifinals. A lot of teams
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: can't say that. So I look for them to make
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: a huge impact this year, get back to the playoffs.
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: And then after that. You see what kind of run
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: you can make. Um, and like a lot of these
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: teams that big things are expected of them, it's going
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: to be a brand new quarterback. So obviously it's all
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: about who's going to be the quarterback. How quickly does
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: he adjust to being the starter and just going from there?
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: So obviously with coach Ron Lepper, uh, he's seen it all.
• 21:41
  Speaker 1: He's done it all. So he knows what to expect
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: and he knows what it takes. So all those things combined, um,
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: Look for a big season for the Mount Baker Mountaineers,
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: and it's going to be a lot of fun to
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: watch them play on Friday nights. Well, that's been the
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: Mount Baker football preview, episode 433. I am Tyler Anderson
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: of Whatcom Preps, and I'll talk to you tomorrow when
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: we talk squalicum football. So be ready for that one.
• 22:13
  Speaker 1: That'll be coming out tomorrow. I'll talk to you then.