The Centralia Tigers are tired of sitting at the bottom of the totem pole. They’ve been perched there for four seasons, with just two wins to their name in that span.
A senior-heavy group and a new coaching staff in 2025 are not letting the past define what their future can be in Centralia.
Tyler Gedney takes the helm for a team entering another fall looking to climb out of a trench, especially after last year’s 0-9 campaign. The Tigers will lean heavily on the leadership of their seniors, who are anxious to turn the program around before their prep careers expire.
“We’re the underdogs right now. Last year 0-9 and the year before 1-8. For me, I’ve loved football all my life, and I’m not trying to go out in my last season like that,” senior center Jorge “Chino” Leal said. “I want to change this program around. I want to do something different.”
Gedney described the group of 12 seniors as “hungry,” proving their dedication in the weight room this spring and summer.
“One thing we’re not really struggling with is senior leadership. They set the tone for this program, and they make my job a lot easier,” Gedney said. “They just want more and more. They’re hungry.”
In order to do something different in 2025, the Tigers will need a lift from their offense, a unit that scored just seven total points in their final four contests last fall. That spark may come from a new quarterback, whether it be sophomore Alex Frias or freshman Caden Erickson.
“[Frias] is a really good runner and throws the ball well,” Gedney said of the sophomore. “[Erickson] has a great arm. For a kid just coming out of middle school, he can really sling the ball. They’ll be competing all through camp, and we’ll see who gets the job.”
The new quarterback will be supported by a veteran offensive line, including four seniors in Leal, Sammy Volavola, Caiden Tukes-Parke and Alika Vargas. Sophomore Martin Sanchez-Ramirez rounds out the likely starters up front.
The trench monsters will carve running lanes for senior Malcolm Tukes and sophomore Bubba Coronel. Senior wide receiver Hudson Waterfield is the top returning receiving threat, although he is still recovering from an injury suffered during baseball season so his availability for this season is in question.
Stylistically, Gedney wants a run-heavy offense and dominance along the line of scrimmage.
“I think we’ve got a really good offensive line up front. We’re gonna try to run the ball a lot and control the clock,” he said.
Defensively, the Tigers will have to replace a couple of playmakers in first team all-EvCo defensive lineman David Daarud and linebacker Donovan Galloway. But the group, led by defensive coordinator and former Rochester head coach Eric Snelson, has room to grow after allowing 42.8 points per game last year.
Senior defensive end Owen Sharp will handle some of the leadership responsibilities on defense in his second year at the varsity level. He’s helping the team turn around its mentality, one that he said suffered last year when the Tigers started losing games.
“One thing that I noticed was, especially starting out with a couple losses, it really came down to: how much do we believe we can do this? We have to go into games with a winning attitude,” he said. “We have to go into games expecting to win. You can’t go into a game doubting yourself. You lift each other up, and you make sure that everybody believes that we can do what we need to do.”
Centralia’s schedule is a tough one, featuring non-league contests against Elma, R.A. Long, Foster, Tenino and Tumwater. Of course, the Tigers will face heated rival W.F. West, which they have not defeated since 2008, as well as reigning league champion and 2A state runner-up Tumwater to close the season.
“I just hope we play with a lot of energy and we play four quarters without looking back. If you watch the film, they put a lot of good quarters together early, but you’ve got to come out and finish games,” Gedney said. “Kids have got to come out with the attitude that they expect to win.”
Centralia opens the season against Elma on Friday, Sept. 5 at Tiger Stadium at 7 p.m.
