Gamebreakers

These prep athletes have a definite impact on the game

By Aaron Coe

Herald Writer

He jogged out on the field despite his injured knee knowing he had to complete this pass. After all, it was the state playoffs and his team needed a big play.

He is made for the big play.

He rolls to his right and delivers a 43-yard strike to set up his own touchdown run in a game his team eventually won.

The play was made because he was feared.

Kamiak’s Justin Washington threw that bomb when everyone expected him to run. After all, he is one of the state’s best running backs. In that playoff game against Tahoma last season, the Bears were so afraid of Washington’s gamebreaking running skills that they forgot Washington has arms in addition to a pair of legs that make him as easy to tackle as a greased pig.

Only pigs don’t hit this hard.

"I look for someone to hit the first time I run in a game," said Washington, who rushed for 951 yards last season and scored 16 touchdowns while splitting time with 2001 graduate Reid Wilson. "If I juke, I’m not going to show him anything. I run him over, and next time I fake like I’m gonna hit him again. I can see in his eyes he’s scared, then I juke.

"Then, I’m gone."

Washington is one of several exciting players in the new version of the Western Conference, a 19-team league with its share of exciting players.

The Western Conference 3A is gone, with six of its members moving to Class 4A. Meadowdale and Lynnwood are still 3A schools, but will compete against the Western Conference 4A schools. A 6-3 record would qualify either team for the 3A postseason. The top three 4A teams qualify for crossover league playoff games, the winners of which will earn a state bid.

Three players stand out as those who will join Washington as gamebreakers.

Stanwood’s Julian Bomar will beat you to death with 4-yard gains, then turn on the jets and out-run his hopeless chasers.

Jamie Lee is Everett’s punter. He’s also a gamebreaking halfback-cornerback who is capable of scoring on offense or defense.

Arlington’s Kevin McCormack may not have blazing speed, but the quarterback has a strong, accurate arm that will find Eagles receivers in the end zone.

Though they are just a handful of a solid group of Wesco players, these gamebreakers are the types of players that get the folks in the stands high-fiving.

They turn the best defense a coach can draw up into mush.

They make necks snap to the end zone and leave a trail of beaten defenders in their wakes.

They are just plain fun to watch.

Lee will have to fill the shoes of Ben Challman and Brian Price, a pair of Everett graduates who were very different from one another, but both piled up yards.

Lee, a junior, is smaller than the workhorse Challman, and not as quick as Price, a waterbug of a back that started ahead of Lee at the left halfback position last year.

At 6 feet, 1 inch and 195 pounds, Lee is perhaps a perfect blend of the two. He can bull over defenders or use his quickness to fake them out of their cleats.

He is going to embarrass his share of opponents this season with the big play.

"I’m gonna have to do that for us to be competitive," said Lee, who was an honorable mention All-Conference cornerback last season as a sophomore. "That’s what I’ll be trying to do."

Less than a year ago, Lee thought his athletic career might be over.

Lee, who started at point guard for the Seagulls as a freshman, began feeling a little woozy during his first basketball practice last year. The team trainer was concerned and referred him to a heart specialist. Lee was initially diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat, and it was thought that a pace-maker might be necessary. After several more tests, the heart was found to be fine.

"It was terrible," said Lee, who missed six weeks of basketball. "They told me they thought I was done. I totally broke down.

"Being given a second chance, you push yourself even harder."

Bomar, a senior, has been one of the area’s best backs since taking over a couple of games into his sophomore season. He rushed for 1,300 yards as a junior, and new coach J.J. Hanson doesn’t expect anything less this year.

"I watched the tapes from last year, and there were times he maybe wasn’t utilized enough," said Hanson, a former University of Washington linebacker who played football and was an assistant coach at Kentwood. "He makes things happen."

McCormack, a senior who is entering his third season as the starter, led the Wesco 3A league in passing yards last season with 1,666 yards while throwing 13 TDs. He will play defense this year for the first time, something he’s been trying to talk his coaches into for three years. The 6-foot-2, 200-pounder looks forward to delivering some blows this season.

"I just like hitting people," said McCormack, who has many colleges interested in his passing skills. "Every year I’ve wanted to play defense, but they’ve wanted to protect me. Finally, I’m getting my chance."

"Yeah, we babied him a little bit," Boitano said. "Not any more. We need him on defense this year."

Washington might not be remembered for his passing skills, but he’ll get the ball in a variety of ways. He was the state’s leading punt returner as a sophomore. His electrifying 50-yard return against Snohomish that year helped solidify Kamiak’s perfect conference season. Washington, who is being recruited by most of the Pac-10 programs, will also line up as a receiver on occasion.

"He’s an explosive runner who has the innate ability to make people miss," Kamiak coach Dan Mack said. "He’s got terrific hands and catches the ball very well. We are expecting an outstanding season from him."

So when Friday night comes, put down the remote control and watch these guys play. What they’ll do on the football field will be much more memorable than Nick-at-Nite reruns.

Other Wesco gamebreakers: Jason Morris (Jackson), Markee Broussard (Mariner), Joseph Boitano (Arlington), Justin Balunsat (Lake Stevens), Kyle Kendrick (Mount Vernon), Tom Foisy (Snohomish), Derrick Bradley (Kamiak), Scott Olson (Lynnwood), Chris Rohrbach (Meadowdale).