Former Marysville rivals cherish chance to play for UW in Peach Bowl

SEATTLE — Once rivals from Marysville, Austin Joyner and John Clark are today teammates on the University of Washington football team.

That much they have shared for two seasons. But this week Joyner and Clark will add another shared experience to their football careers, and it promises to be one of the most unique and memorable any college athlete could ever have.

Joyner, a defensive back and 2015 graduate of Marysville Pilchuck High School, and Clark, a defensive lineman and 2015 Marysville Getchell alum, are in Atlanta with the rest of the UW team, preparing for Saturday’s Peach Bowl game against Atlanta. It is a semifinal matchup of the College Football Playoff, with the No. 4-ranked Huskies and top-ranked Crimson Tide vying to reach the Jan. 9 national championship game.

“I think we all understand it’s bigger than anything we’ve ever done before,” Joyner said. “It’s the biggest game anybody on our team has ever played.”

And for a couple of young men from Marysville, the chance to play in the national playoff — college football’s grandest stage — is a moment beyond anything they ever imagined.

Joyner, who committed to Washington in January of 2015, said he knew the program was on the rise under coach Chris Petersen, who had just completed his first UW season. “I thought we were going to be (very good),” he said, “but at the time I committed here I didn’t think (it would be) anything like this.”

For Clark, a Washington walk-on, this week’s game — and perhaps another game on Jan. 9 — is the payoff for all the hours of training and practice that went into the UW’s 12-1 season.

There were, he said, “a lot of early mornings and a lot of long days, and in the moment that kind of sucks. But 20 years from now, maybe having a ring and being able to tell the stories, I’ll know that I got to do something that not a lot of people get to do. And it’ll be something to be proud of.”

After beating Colorado 41-10 in the Dec. 2 Pac-12 Conference title game, Joyner sat in the locker room at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., “for a good 40 minutes, responding to everything.” Family and friends, knowing the Huskies were likely headed to the playoff, “were just blowing up my phone,” he said.

But over the ensuing weeks, some degree of normalcy returned. The team returned to Seattle and took a football break to focus on schoolwork and final exams. Then it was back to the practice field to prepare for the showdown with Alabama, and at that point it was pretty much business as usual.

“It doesn’t feel different yet,” Joyner admitted last week. “But as we get closer, maybe it’ll be hard to sleep. Maybe it’ll kick in then that we’re about to play the biggest game of our lives. It hasn’t yet, but I’m sure it will.”

The Huskies flew to Atlanta on Christmas Day, and at that point the sense of what they were undertaking began to grow.

“In a regular bowl game,” Clark explained, “you focus on the (location) more. It’s like, ‘Oh, we’re going to get these gifts and we’ll get to do these (pre-game) events and then, oh yeah, we’re going to play a football game, too.’ But this year it’s all about the game because the stakes are so much higher.

“It is,” he added, “pretty unreal. The opportunity to be in the playoff is a unique experience. … I’m just going to try to take it all in and enjoy the moment because it’s pretty (special) what we’re going to do.”

“This is much more than a typical bowl game,” Joyner agreed. “This is a playoff mindset. It’s not, ‘We’re going to go play this team and that’ll be it.’ We’re trying to advance and make it to (the championship game).”

Petersen arranged for former UW players to address this year’s team, and their messages often had a recurring theme. In particular, the current Huskies were urged to make the most of this opportunity because the memories will last for a lifetime.

“All the guys that came in and spoke to us, they remember (big) moments like this as clear as day,” Joyner said. “So with that in mind I know it’s going to be a great experience and something I’m going to remember and cherish.”