The rafters at Tumwater high school and the bowels inside Tumwater District Stadium are much too packed with mementos from state championships for last year’s season, which finished in the first round of the tournament, to be regarded with much fondness at all.
“It wasn’t a good feeling,” senior linebacker Dane Iversen said. “I know we have a lot of regret from last season, not working as hard as we should have.”
Despite going 8-1 in the regular season and blowing past Ridgefield in the crossover game, the Thunderbirds fell at the first state hurdle in an upset loss to Sedro-Woolley, failing to get past the first round for the first time in over a decade.
And the T-Birds don’t want to hear anything about how many underclassmen were forced into the starting spotlight ahead of schedule, or how injuries kept them from ever really putting the full starting lineup together.
“We were disappointed with the way that it ended,” coach William Garrow said. “We hold ourselves to a pretty high standard at Tumwater, and that was not the way we wanted it to end.
“But it forced us to get back to basics and refocus, and try to re-emphasize the things that have helped us in the past.”
Garrow, taking over for Bill Beattie after the former T-Bird skipper retired, is well-steeped in the Tumwater program after six years as an assistant, and retained most of the pieces from what has to be one of the most experienced coaching staffs in the state at any level.
With that in mind, the new head coach isn’t planning any drastic changes to the signature Tumwater scheme.
“I would say that if we’re doing it right, 85-90% of it should all look the same to anybody on the outside,” Garrow said. “Then we’re always trying to find a few things to do a little bit differently and get a little bit better. But I’d be not very smart if I decided I needed to make wholesale changes from what Coach Otton and Coach Beattie have done and built here, because they’re the best to ever do it.”
While the forced youth movement of last year may have had some growing pains at the time, the result now is a squad with plenty of returners with experience — and not just seniors.
On the line, Malijah Tucker and Dylan Gilliland are back after entering the starting ranks as sophomores, joining seniors Alex Hach and Orion Haury. Of the 10 other returning starters on the roster, five — Derek Thompson, David Malroy, and Jake Dillon on offense and Beckett Wall and Cash Short on defense — are juniors, while Blake Heryford is a sophomore.
They’ll join tailback Logan Cole and defensive backs Tyler Criss and Payton Laguerre as returning starters. Under center, Ethan Kastner spent the whole season as Alex Overbay’s backup, but worked in just about every game to get significant experience
“Those young kids, not only did they physically mature between their sophomore and junior years, but they’re mentally so much better at understanding what we’re trying to do, and maybe won’t be as overwhelmed by the lights Friday night,” Garrow said. “All those sophomores who saw a ton of playing time, they’re going to be a big part of what we do this year.”
