Published: Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Marysville-Pilchuck football coach says team must 'man up' after transfer of five players
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Heidi Hoffman / The Herald
Marysville-Pilchuck's Jarret Finau (81) and Tyler Thompson (29) take down Lake Stevens' Tyler Reside (25) during a game last season.
High School football coaches are used to filling in gaps in their rosters. Seniors graduate. Injuries happen. It's all part of the annual cycle.
But an exodus of players that hit the Marysville-Pilchuck football team ahead of this season is out of the ordinary. When the Tomahawks gather today for their first practice of 2010, they will be without five players who were expected to make major contributions, including three 2009 All-Wesco performers: defensive end/tight end Jarett Finau, and hard-hitting linebackers Siti and Suli Tamaivena.
The Tamaivena twins, Finau, Ryley Caldwell and Dom Chadwick all transferred to Juanita High School in Kirkland. As juniors last season, the twins and Finau played key roles in M-P's run to the Class 4A state playoffs.
Caldwell, a senior running back/defensive tackle, and Chadwick, a junior linebacker, got some varsity experience a year ago and likely would have made more significant contributions this fall, M-P coach Brandon Carson said.
But the five student-athletes left M-P during the second half of the 2009-2010 school year and enrolled at Juanita. They did not tell Carson why they left and the coach said he did not hear from them all summer.
Juanita High football coach Shaun Tarantola said the five players arrived at Juanita within a month of each other in February and March.
"It was kind of an interesting situation. I've never experienced anything like that before," said Tarantola, who's beginning his third season coaching the Rebels.
The players all moved within Juanita's enrollment boundary, Tarantola said.
"As far as I know, they are good to go and have done everything they need to do to make sure they are eligible," he said.
The Herald was unable to contact the former M-P players for this story.
Finau, the Tamaivena twins, Caldwell and Chadwick will be "difference-makers" for Juanita, said Tarantola. "We felt very good about our team at the end of last year ... and then the addition of these talented players (is a) huge plus."
As Carson and his Marysville-Pilchuck coaching staff prepare for the 2010 season, they have just two returning starters on offense and two on defense. The impact of losing five transfers, especially Finau and the Tamaivenas, is "tough," Carson said, "but the cool thing is that you have to man up. That's the way football is. We've got a pretty good senior class and we'll see what happens."
Asked about the transfers, Marysville School District athletic director Greg Erickson said he's never seen anything like it and was also not told why they left.
"Here's the deal: We coach the kids that show up," Erickson said. "That's what we have to focus on. We just move on."
Marysville-Pilchuck is coming off two of the best seasons in its history. In 2009, the Tomahawks went undefeated in the Western Conference North Division for the second consecutive year and finished 10-1, losing to Auburn 25-22 in a 4A first-round state playoff game. In 2008, M-P made the preliminary playoff round, losing to Issaquah 36-18 to end the season 9-1.
Juanita, a Class 3A school, has not been to the state playoffs since 1994 but improved in recent years. Last season, the Rebels finished 7-3 (3-3 in 3A/2A KingCo). In 2008, Tarantola's first season, Juanita was 6-4, the team's best record in a decade.
In terms of talent, potential and team chemistry, this is the best group of players he's coached, Tarantola said. "I'm really excited about what we can accomplish," he added.
Finau is the most highly regarded of the five who left M-P. The 6-foot-3, 232-pound tight end/defensive end verbally committed to the University of Washington in June, picking the Huskies over Washington State, Arizona, Hawaii, Brigham Young and Utah State, according to Scout.com. In the 2010 SuperPrep preseason football magazine, Finau is ranked the state's 12th-best Class of 2011 recruit. He was a 2009 All-Wesco North first-team selection on both offense and defense.
Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at www.heraldnet.com/doubleteam.
But an exodus of players that hit the Marysville-Pilchuck football team ahead of this season is out of the ordinary. When the Tomahawks gather today for their first practice of 2010, they will be without five players who were expected to make major contributions, including three 2009 All-Wesco performers: defensive end/tight end Jarett Finau, and hard-hitting linebackers Siti and Suli Tamaivena.
The Tamaivena twins, Finau, Ryley Caldwell and Dom Chadwick all transferred to Juanita High School in Kirkland. As juniors last season, the twins and Finau played key roles in M-P's run to the Class 4A state playoffs.
Caldwell, a senior running back/defensive tackle, and Chadwick, a junior linebacker, got some varsity experience a year ago and likely would have made more significant contributions this fall, M-P coach Brandon Carson said.
But the five student-athletes left M-P during the second half of the 2009-2010 school year and enrolled at Juanita. They did not tell Carson why they left and the coach said he did not hear from them all summer.
Juanita High football coach Shaun Tarantola said the five players arrived at Juanita within a month of each other in February and March.
"It was kind of an interesting situation. I've never experienced anything like that before," said Tarantola, who's beginning his third season coaching the Rebels.
The players all moved within Juanita's enrollment boundary, Tarantola said.
"As far as I know, they are good to go and have done everything they need to do to make sure they are eligible," he said.
The Herald was unable to contact the former M-P players for this story.
Finau, the Tamaivena twins, Caldwell and Chadwick will be "difference-makers" for Juanita, said Tarantola. "We felt very good about our team at the end of last year ... and then the addition of these talented players (is a) huge plus."
As Carson and his Marysville-Pilchuck coaching staff prepare for the 2010 season, they have just two returning starters on offense and two on defense. The impact of losing five transfers, especially Finau and the Tamaivenas, is "tough," Carson said, "but the cool thing is that you have to man up. That's the way football is. We've got a pretty good senior class and we'll see what happens."
Asked about the transfers, Marysville School District athletic director Greg Erickson said he's never seen anything like it and was also not told why they left.
"Here's the deal: We coach the kids that show up," Erickson said. "That's what we have to focus on. We just move on."
Marysville-Pilchuck is coming off two of the best seasons in its history. In 2009, the Tomahawks went undefeated in the Western Conference North Division for the second consecutive year and finished 10-1, losing to Auburn 25-22 in a 4A first-round state playoff game. In 2008, M-P made the preliminary playoff round, losing to Issaquah 36-18 to end the season 9-1.
Juanita, a Class 3A school, has not been to the state playoffs since 1994 but improved in recent years. Last season, the Rebels finished 7-3 (3-3 in 3A/2A KingCo). In 2008, Tarantola's first season, Juanita was 6-4, the team's best record in a decade.
In terms of talent, potential and team chemistry, this is the best group of players he's coached, Tarantola said. "I'm really excited about what we can accomplish," he added.
Finau is the most highly regarded of the five who left M-P. The 6-foot-3, 232-pound tight end/defensive end verbally committed to the University of Washington in June, picking the Huskies over Washington State, Arizona, Hawaii, Brigham Young and Utah State, according to Scout.com. In the 2010 SuperPrep preseason football magazine, Finau is ranked the state's 12th-best Class of 2011 recruit. He was a 2009 All-Wesco North first-team selection on both offense and defense.
Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at www.heraldnet.com/doubleteam.
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