Why would a perfectly clean-cut football coach like John Ondriezek encourage the continued expansion of his quarterback’s hair?
If Moa Palepale’s hair keeps getting bigger, it means Mariner is still winning games.
“As long as he continues to run our offense the way he runs it, he can wear his hair any way he wants,” said Ondriezek, laughing. “We want it to get as long as it can.”
Palepale shaved his head before Mariner’s season began, vowing to let his hair grow as long as the team was winning. Nine weeks and nine straight victories later, Palepale takes a little longer to put on his helmet these days. When he wears a hat, it rests on top instead of fitting snugly over a scalp that has long since disappeared from view.
He hopes to avoid the scissors for a few more weeks. His ‘do faces its biggest test of the season on Thursday at Goddard Stadium when Mariner (8-0 in the Western Conference South Division, 9-0 overall) plays Jackson (8-0, 8-1) for the division title. The winner of that game plays Snohomish in a district playoff. The loser plays North Division champion Oak Harbor. Each district winner earns a state playoff berth, which has been Mariner’s goal all season.
“Our team worked hard after the end of last season,” said Palepale, a senior. “I shaved my head at the beginning of the season, and it’s just getting longer. It’s not coming off.”
Teammate Trenton Tuiasosopo, who prefers a less adventurous look for himself, is rooting for the continuation of PalePale’s expansion project.
“If he keeps winning, he’s going to keep it,” Tuiasosopo said. “The day we lose – if – is the day his mom told him he has to cut it. We’ll try to keep it.”
Border clash: Lake Stevens cross country runner Amber Nickelson, who will try to win her second straight Class 4A individual state title on Saturday, lives just two blocks from Amanda Stopa, who hopes to lead Snohomish to its second consecutive team title. Both have Everett mailing addresses. The two runners, who are good friends, live inside the boundaries of their respective school districts, leaving a pair of coaches thinking about the possibilities if only the dividing line had been a couple of blocks one way or the other.
“I wouldn’t mind having Amanda on my team,” Lake Stevens cross country coach Cliff Chaffee said. “And I’m sure (Snohomish coach Dan Parker) wouldn’t mind having Amber.”
Ouellette chooses Gonzaga: Kamiak senior Brian Ouellette has given a verbal commitment to play baseball at Gonzaga University in Spokane. Ouellette, a pitcher, finished his junior season 6-1 with a 2.10 earned-run average for the Knights. He struck out 52 batters in 55 innings. Ouellette chose Gonzaga over Washington State.
Cochran picks Southern Miss: Lake Stevens’ Whitney Cochran has selected the University of Southern Mississippi as the place to continue her softball career. Cochran, a two-time All-Area first-team outfielder, chose Southern Miss over Kent State University (Ohio), Saint Mary’s College of California, and Cal State-Hayward. She is the fourth Lake Stevens player from last year’s Wesco North Division-champion squad to earn an NCAA Division I scholarship.
Stadium geography: When the Jackson football team travels to Goddard Stadium on Thursday, it will be a shorter trip than when the Timberwolves play home games at Everett Memorial Stadium. Kamiak, which plays its home games at Goddard, traveled farther than Jackson when the Knights hosted Jackson earlier in the season.
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