It was an extremely upbeat year for football in The Chronicle’s Lewis and South Thurston county coverage area.
Four league MVPs, a Washington State career record-holder, a bevy of high-producing backs and receivers — the coveted All-Area Most Valuable Player award could’ve went to a handful of star athletes.
But only one team captured the state’s top prize, which is why the Adna Pirates, appropriately, took home 7 of 27 total selections from 13 programs, and had two players take a co-share of our top annual accolade.
Most Valuable Player honors went to quarterback Kyle Grosshans and kick returner/receiver/running back/defensive back Anthony Tatum, two seniors that played an integral part in the Pirates’ 32-24 State 2B Championship win over Colfax at the Tacoma Dome on Dec. 6.
Tatum finished his career with 10 punt-return touchdowns, setting the state record for all classifications. On top of that, he picked up 1,000 yards receiving, on the dot, in 45 catches, rushed for about 700 yards and scored 26 touchdowns in 13 games.
Grosshans, the Central 2B League’s Offensive MVP, passed for 2,122 yards with 25 touchdowns and just five interceptions, rushed for 500 yards and scored eight TDs on the ground.
“We worked really hard in the offseason to prepare for this year,” said Grosshans. “(Getting the title) was our goal from the beginning. There’s no better feeling than that.”
“It was probably the best moment of my life,” said Tatum, whose jaw-dropping 80-yard touchdown run made Fox Sports Northwest’s No. 1 play after the championship weekend — beating out every other significant play from all six Washington state title games. “We did what we came to do.”
Others from Adna were all on the defensive side, including senior linemen Carlos Sanchez and Cooper Brunoff, and sophomore linebackers Angus Brunoff and Bubba Lara.
Lara also stood out on offense, too, with 680 rushing yards, 250 receiving yards and 15 touchdowns.
And Pirate coach KC Johnson received top honors, too, as the brains behind what was an Adna onslaught from start to an undefeated finish in 2009. It was the Pirates’ first title since 1989, when Adna beat Columbia 42-13 at the Kingdome.
“This is one of the most hard-working groups we’ve ever had here — probably the most,” said Johnson. “Now we have the challenge of competing for another (Central 2B) league title with a new core of athletes.”
The All-Area MVPs had quite the competition this season, as three other touted athletes won top honors in their respective leagues: W.F. West seniors Ben Ternan and Jake Steelhammer, the Evergreen 2A Conference’s offensive and defensive MVP’s, and Onalaska junior Dalton Ritchey, who was voted the top player in the SWW 1A League Evergreen Division after guiding the Loggers to the state tournament.
Ternan, a quarterback, had regular season passing numbers of 1,787 yards (118 completions in 181 attempts) and 21 touchdowns, with just four interceptions, to lead the Bearcats to a perfect (10-0) regular season, before losing 14-7 to Archbishop Murphy in the quarterfinals.
Steelhammer, the team’s rambunctious defensive lineman, took home his EvCo honor even though he missed two league games on the season.
Both — along with teammate and fellow All-Area selectee Justin Beesley — will be tough guys to replace, according to Bearcat coach Bob Wollan.
“I think those guys and all our seniors in general just kind of showed the way for the younger guys,” said the coach. “Not only by leading by example, but from a motivating standpoint. They realized that you gotta earn what you get and they put a lot of time in to complete a lot of goals this year.”
So where does Chehalis turn with two MVP-caliber losses?
“I think that we’ll still have pretty high expectations,” Wollan said. “We got a lot of leadership guys that we need to replace. Physically, we return a lot of talent, but it all starts with the leadership those guys will exhibit.”
Among returning All-Area selections for the Bearcats were receivers Erik Forgione and Mitch Gueller, and junior defensive end Nolan Lininger and linebacker Brennan Casteel.
Ritchey, at quarterback, loses his main receiving target, Josh Urich, who was also selected to the All-Area team. Urich was a major asset to Onalaska’s near-perfect regular season run (9-1), and was temporarily lost after concussion symptoms in a key matchup with Forks (14-12).
“When you talk about replacing a guy like that — a 150-pounder who’s always dripping wet in his own sweat — you can’t,” Logger coach John Hallead said. “Pound for pound (Josh) is one of the toughest kids I’ve ever coached. He was such a good receiver, but was just an excellent linebacker as well.
“When you plan for next year, he’s just a kid you can’t plug someone else in for,” added the coach, who noted he will lose 11 seniors — nine of which are defensive starters.
But even without the No. 1 receiver, Ritchey has been known to single-handedly put up gaudy numbers. And the expectations for 2010 are no different — maybe even higher, according to Hallead.
“He’s been running our offense for the last two years,” he said. “It’s going to be a culmination of those years of experience, and he’s going to be explosive as always … The big thing with him was to get him to learn the offensive and defensive schemes so I could have a coach on the field.”
Among 1A Evergreen League All-Area selections were Toledo seniors Preston Tomes (offensive lineman) and DJ Herbert (running back), and senior defensive back Chris Bishop, of Rochester.
Tomes and Herbert led Toledo (8-2) to its first State appearance since 2002, but the Indians fell in their first game versus state runner-up Cascade Christian, 49-14.
Bishop, who also started as the team’s quarterback, translated his knowledge of the position to spark what started as another dismal season — five losses until a 35-13 win over Rainier — for Paul Christianson’s Warriors. Bishop accumulated over 70 tackles, two interceptions, and — according to his coach — missed only a few tackles all season.
“He was really good at reading other quarterbacks, because that’s what he played on offense,” he said. “He would read their eyes and read their feet and then make the play.
“If you were running at him, he would always make the tackle,” Christianson added.
Two backs who weren’t easy to wrap up this season were Centralia’s Dominick Courcy and Zack Baldwin, the Tigers’ 1-2 punch. Courcy was also an exceptional kick returner and receiving back, and Baldwin, a junior, was unable to better his school record-breaking season in 2008 due to a concussion suffered early on. Baldwin still managed to produce two 200-yard games and received first team EvCo honors with over 800 rushing yards and eight touchdowns.
“He had an awesome junior year,” Tiger coach John Schultz said. “Even though he missed three games, he was still one of the toughest runners in the conference. He’s one of the best players we’ve had and we’re fortunate to have one more year with him.”
Schultz said that Courcy is one of the most unbelievable backs he’s ever had the privilege to coach. A notable athlete from the gridiron to the baseball diamond, Courcy is looking to potentially take dual-sport rout in college, according to Schultz.
“He’s one of the most skilled runners we’ve ever had,” said Schultz of his prized back, who ran for around 950 yards, caught around 450 and had 13 total TDs. “His ability to make people miss is just absolutely unbelievable.”
Another notable back was Napavine senior Micah Brown, whose 1,578-yard, 20-touchdown season was crucial to the Tigers’ run as the defending state champions, which ended in a 37-6 state quarterfinals loss to rival Adna.
Fellow Napavine seniors Damon Garnas (offensive line), Joe Johnston (defensive line), and Matt Waltenburg (receiver) were also instrumental in the team’s successful run in the Central 2B League and further. Waltenburg had just over 1,000 yards receiving on 59 catches and 14 TDs.
“All those guys will be missed — a lot,” Napavine coach Josh Fay said. “Those guys had a pretty good ride the last couple of years. Each one contributed in different ways for us.
“Micah and Matthew provided the big plays,” he added. “And Joe and Damon were the kind of guys that bring their lunch pail to work and don’t get a lot of praise.”
All four are looking to continue playing college ball, Fay added.
Also of note, were a pair of immovable forces on the offensive line in the C2BL: Mossyrock senior Jake McLean and Pe Ell junior Dylan Toepelt.
“Dylan’s just been real solid for us,” said Trojan coach Ron Dorothy. “He really plays the game at the speed it should be played and that’s where I think he stands out … Often times you’ll catch him 20-yards down field throwing a block for the running back, and that just shows a real passion.”
While Pe Ell (6-4) was eliminated from post-season contention in the regular season, Mossyrock was able to earn a District IV pigtail berth with a crucial win in Cathlamet over Wahkiakum (22-12). The Vikings, however, lost 20-0 to South Bend to fall just short of a trip to state.
