EAST-WEST FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK: Meadowdale grad excited to join West squad
Published 9:07 am Wednesday, June 23, 2010
EVERETT — On Monday night, Danny McDonald was relaxing at a friend’s house, looking forward to an upcoming trip to Mexico.
A few hours later, he was scrambling to pack his bags and join the West All-Star football team.
McDonald, a Class of 2010 Meadowdale High School graduate, was one of three players added to the West roster for Saturday’s Class 3A/4A East-West All-Star Football Game at Everett Memorial Stadium.
McDonald, a quarterback/defensive back, Cascade linebacker/tight end Brandon Blinn and Kentwood receiver Allain Songco were West team alternates. That changed Monday when McDonald and Blinn were invited to join the West squad. Songco was added on Tuesday.
Several East-West players dropped out Sunday and Monday, forcing East-West coordinator Paul Lawrence to scramble for new players. McDonald and Blinn happily accepted the offers.
“It feels good to be able to play with the best players in the state,” Blinn said. “It’s kind of an honor, actually, to be able to play with all these people and get to know them. It’s a privilege.”
“It means a lot,” said McDonald, who will play football this fall at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma.
Blinn was in street clothes Monday during the West team’s lone practice. But he and McDonald suited up and participated in the squad’s two practices Tuesday.
Lawrence also added linebacker Jordan Patterson of Lakes to the East team roster.
The revamped West team has 30 players and the East 31. Ideally, each squad has 30 players every year, Lawrence said.
Meadowdale’s McDonald found out he was invited to play for the West team on Monday evening while he was hanging out at friend Connor Hamlett’s house. Coincidentally, Hamlett, also of Meadowdale, withdrew from the West team on Sunday, indirectly opening the door for McDonald to play.
McDonald said he is excited to play one more time for West head Mark Stewart, who coached McDonald at Meadowdale.
After the East-West game on Saturday, McDonald will pack his bags again. He’s headed to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, for a one-week vacation. He leaves Sunday.
Roster shuffling
Lawrence, the longtime East-West Game coordinator, said he has never seen anything like the roster changes that affected this year’s teams. For a wide variety of reasons (including illness, schedule conflicts, fear of injury, etc.) the current team rosters look much different than the one Lawrence originally compiled. As of Tuesday afternoon, the East team lost eight players from its initial roster and added five alternates. The West team is 11 alternates deep into its list, and even some of the alternates ultimately backed out.
“We’ve never had that many just drop,” Lawrence said. “The last time we had to bring a kid in the week of the game was in 2003.”
East-West All-Star Game returns to Spokane in 2011
After taking place in Everett in 2009 and 2010, the East-West Game returns to Spokane next year. That continues the cycle (two years in Everett, one in Spokane) that’s been used since the Tri-Cities dropped out as an East-West host. The cycle likely will continue unless another city expresses interest in hosting, Lawrence said
“Hopefully it will come back to Everett for two years (starting in 2012),” he said. “It seems to be a pretty good schedule. It gives us a break for a year.”
Mike Cane: mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/doubleteam.
