I had a special assistant with me on Wednesday when I drove to Mill Creek to see the Jackson High School football team.
My daughter Fiona, who is almost six months old, accompanied me. It was Fiona’s first football practice. Judging by her generally happy mood while we watched the Timberwolves and when I did some interviews, I think she is a football fan.
But I don’t think she likes my messy handwriting. Strapped into a Baby Bjorn carrier and facing out, she kept reaching for my pencil and notepad.
Here are some excerpts from my conversations with Jackson coach Joel Vincent and several Jackson players. (By the way: the Timberwolves kick off their season Friday against Marysville-Pilchuck at Everett Memorial Stadium.)
Joel Vincent, Jackson High School football coach
Interview at practice on Sept. 1
*Jackson’s strengths this year
“Team speed is definitely a strength for us, and the amount of experience that we return, especially at the offensive skill positions: both receivers (Kyle Olson and John Wilde). (Running back Trai Patrick) started those games last year when (Riley Carr) was nursing that ankle.”
Vincent also heaped praise on first-year starter Austin O’Keefe, a 6-foot-5, 215-pound receiver who is known as a great basketball player. This is his second year of high school football.
“He’s more seasoned, mature and ready to go. Last year was his first year of football. The difference between him last year and this year is night and day. He completely understands the offense now. He understands the nuances and how he needs to alter routes depending on the coverages he sees. I think you’re going to see him have a big year.”
Jackson’s new tight end is 6-4, 220-pound junior Josh Gilbert.
*Jackson’s speedy defense
“Defensively, I think that’s where you’re going to see the strength of the team speed really benefit us. The guys that we roll out there will be able to run and track stuff down.”
*New starting quarterback Sam Brown
“He’s different than (previous starter Andy Gay, who is now at Dartmouth College). Both are great kids and great high school quarterbacks, but they’re different. Andy was more your prototypical pocket passer — big, tall, rangy kid. Sam’s that 6-foot kid that’s got good change of direction, great vision and who’s maybe more (likely) to run the ball either on designed runs or when pass protection breaks down.”
“The overall command that (Brown) has of the offense — any time you look at a first-year starter you’re going to have concerns, but I don’t have that with him. He’s a highly intelligent, highly capable, confident kid so I think we’re going to be just fine with him.”
Brown got some varsity time at QB last year at the end of games Jackson won by big margins. He started at wide receiver.
Fun note: according to Vincent, Brown is the first left-handed QB in school history.
*Starting the season against defending Wesco North champ Marysville-Pilchuck
“I don’t know how that draw happened right out of the gate, but our kids are excited about it. There’s a certain amount, obviously, of rivalry between Wesco South and Wesco North.”
Jackson has won two straight Wesco South titles and M-P won the last two North titles.
“Honestly, that’s the last two years. We have our goals for this year. They have theirs. Our goal is to win another Wesco title. I’m sure theirs is too. But you know what, it’s 2010 and not 2009 and our kids are excited about the matchup. I think it will be a good litmus test for us to see where we’re at.
It’s not the be all, end all. In the grand scheme of things it’s a non-conference game.”
*New Wesco South alignment: five teams four league games
“(Jackson players) understand with this new alignment they’ve got a four-game league season; they mean everything. Obviously the margin for error within the league season is zero now. You get four games. One loss and you might be on the other side looking in.”
Vincent explained the new 4A Wesco playoff format: In week nine, the North and South champions will play a seeding game that will also determine the overall 4A Wesco champ. That same week the North No. 2 finisher will play the South No. 2 finisher for seeding. All four teams advance to the quad-district playoffs. But another week-nine game will match the North No. 3 finisher against the South No. 3 finisher. The winner advances to the quad-district round; the loser is eliminated.
So altogether, five 4A Wesco teams will move on to the quad-district playoffs.
Sam Brown, junior quarterback
Interview at practice on Sept. 1
*Things are coming together
“We’ve been working really hard in practice. Things are really starting to come together. We’ve got high expectations this year. We’re the two-time (defending league champions) and we’re trying to go out and win another Wesco title, so we’ve been working really hard in the offseason and the spring to get ready.”
*Taking over at QB
“It’s been fun. Obviously (Andy Gay) was a great quarterback. He was a really good pocket passer, and I’m a little bit more mobile so we can still do the things we’ve always done but we can also do some more things, so I’m excited about our offense this year.”
*Lots of weapons on offense
“Our core receivers are really fast: John Wilde, Kyle Olson and Austin O’Keefe. (Traishawn Patrick) is fast, our running back. We’ve got good team speed and that’s one of the things we need to implement this year and use to our advantage.”
“It’s definitely nice. I’ve been a quarterback my whole life and I’ve never had this many options to go to, so it’s definitely something we’re going to use to our advantage.”
*Baseball is Brown’s main sport
“My goal is to play baseball in college.”
Brown plays outfield and pitches for Jackson’s baseball team, and he plays outfield for his summer team, the Seattle Stars. Jackson’s Wilde and Olson also play for the Stars.
Walker Evans, senior offensive lineman/linebacker
Interview at practice on Sept. 1
*Players are in great shape
“We’re flowing, we’re hitting. We’ve got a lot of guys going two ways but we’re all conditioned and we’re ready to go. This is the second year with our strength coach (Andy Taylor) and so we got in good shape. We had high numbers in the weight room and everyone was willing and ready to work out.
*Evans is Jackson’s only returning OL starter
“I’ve been answering (the other linemen’s) questions and I’ve just got to make sure they know what they’re doing. We’re always talking on the line to make sure we go where we’re supposed to. I think we’ll be pretty good this year.
Evans played center on the OL the past two years but switched to guard this season.
“It’s been good. I like pulling a lot more, getting out in the open field and being able to use my speed.”
*New QB Sam Brown
“We’re going to have a lot more options with him running the ball. He’s a lot faster than (previous QB Andy Gay). We’ve just got to get downfield and get our blocks and let him do the rest.
Ryan Feiock, senior running back/linebacker
Interview at practice on Sept. 1
*Jackson’s multi-faceted offense
“Our running game’s really strong this year. We’ve got really, really good backs. We’ve got good backups for those people too. I think our offense is going to be overall high-powered.”
*Jackson’s hard-hitting defense
“As far as our defense goes, we’re a bunch of smash-mouth kids. We all love to hit and we’ve got depth in all the positions so I think we’re going to be strong.”
Daniel Sullivan, senior kicker
Interview at practice on Sept. 1
*Sullivan’s eventful summer
Before he traveled with his family to Norway this summer, Sullivan attended a kicking camp at Boise State University. Going against about 30 other kickers, he ended up winning Boise State’s kicker competition.
“I wasn’t really sure if I was any good, honestly, because I had never done any competition stuff (before the Boise camp). It was an awesome experience to win it.”
*Recruiting interest
Sullivan also plays soccer but about a year ago he decided to devote himself to trying to get a college football scholarship.
“With soccer, realistically I could maybe go D-II and with football I could actually have a shot at going to a D-I school and actually going somewhere.”
Sullivan said he has received interest from Boise State, Eastern Washington University, the University of Colorado and the University of Washington.
*Career bests
The longest field goal Sullivan has made in a game is 46 yards. He did it last season against Mountlake Terrace. The longest one he’s made in practice is 60 yards, he said.
*Sullivan’s famous uncle
Fun fact: 1971 Heisman trophy winner Pat Sullivan is Daniel’s uncle.
“We go to Alabama every year for Thanksgiving (and visit Pat Sullivan). Last year I was on the sideline — he’s the head coach at Samford. I got to hang out with him and talk to him a little bit. I got to kick in their stadium.”
“I just think it’s cool that I can actually say, ‘Yeah, my uncle won the Heisman.’ But we play two opposite positions, quarterback and kicker.”
Has Daniel seen his uncle’s Heisman trophy? No, but Daniel saw the next best thing.
“He donated the actual (Heisman trophy) to the Auburn museum but he had a replica made and I’ve seen that one.”
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