LEBAM — Around the midway point between Menlo and Pe Ell sits the Lebam Post Office. More notably, behind the post office sits a field that will soon become a local youth softball field.
The softball field outfield has plenty of grass, though, and that grass is where the Pe Ell/Willapa Valley football team had another one of its fall camp practices on Tuesday afternoon.
No one seemed more amped than PWV coach John Peterson.
“I said this last year: I am so excited to be coaching football again,” Peterson said with a smile. “I can barely stand it. I’m excited to see how everybody develops.”
Plenty of shoes to fill
Last year, the Titans made the state postseason, reaching the Round of 16 before losing to Tri-Cities Prep, the eventual state champions.
Many of the players who were a part of that 7-4 team are not back in the fold, though. The Titans lost 11 seniors, including three offensive linemen, two wideouts, and the quarterback from last year’s group.
Among the 22 starters from last fall, only four are back on offense, and just two are back on defense.
That may lead to some growing pains this fall as younger athletes step into the mix, but Peterson says he has confidence in what he’s seen so far.
“We have good kids,” Peterson said. “I like our team. I like our makeup. They’re working very hard.”
Lusk and Clements to headline the backfield
Two returners, Lucas Lusk and Eddie Clements, are expected to headline PWV’s backfield throughout the campaign.
Lusk earned first-team all-league nods at running back last fall and is in store for another big season, while Clements is slated to handle a bigger workload in addition to his defensive duties after a first-team all-league campaign on the defensive side of the ball.
“I feel like the strength of our team is that we have two really good running backs,” Peterson said. “We feel like those two guys can run the ball pretty well.”
Conditioning, conditioning, conditioning
The Titans have a bit more size than they did last season, but that isn’t stopping Peterson and his staff from emphasizing conditioning.
Peterson had his group spend the first hour of Tuesday’s practice running, bear crawling, skipping, and a bunch more in between, pushing them to continue despite the shortness of breath and fatigue.
“We’ve got to be in great condition to play the game the way we want to,” Peterson said. “Because if we’re not in shape, if you play a team like Onalaska, Napavine, Adna, anyone that’s real big and physical, you’re gonna be in trouble.”
