Prep football: Cardinals’ veteran bunch bumping up in competition

WINLOCK — Two more down lineman and one more player to put on the field.

For the senior group on the Winlock High School football team, those three additional players on the field were like a foreign language. All it has known since 2021 has been playing 8-man football.

“See how we adjust to it,” quarterback Landen Cline said. “It is different, but we got to work on adjusting to it”

Those days, at least for the foreseeable future, are a thing of the past.

The Cardinals are preparing for their first season of 11-on-11 when they travel to Pe Ell/Willapa Valley for the season opener on Friday, Sept. 6.

Prior to that, Winlock has been attacking practices since the pads came on. Here are three takeaways from one of those two-plus hour sessions.

Offensive line might be biggest strength

All three that started on the interior last year are back, but head coach Ernie Samples is still sifting through the roster to find who else will block for Cline.

So far, it has been as open of a competition as it can be

“The protection is going to be there,” Samples said.

General excitement

Samples, Cline and tailback James Cusson all shared there is some positive energy around Winlock in playing 11-on-11. They’ll be in the 2B league that features league foes Toutle Lake, Rainier, Onalaska, Toledo and Morton-White Pass.

Plus, the Cardinals will get a Week 4 rematch versus Mossyrock. The Vikings flattened them 56-0 in Week 8 a season ago.

“Maybe one or two that played it in middle school,” Samples said. “They’re excited for an opportunity to make the field.”

Fun with new tackling dummy

One of the rotating drills Winlock did was using a tackling dummy called “The QUAD.” It is a four-legged machine that always has one leg up and three on the grass.

The Cardinals rotated on who tackled it and the focus was on form with no gator roll. It drove rave reviews by the players.

“I like it,” Cusson stated.