No apology needed

Sometimes an athlete apologizes to a coach for not meeting expectations. Every once in a while the expression of regret is reversed.

Following an ego-bruising 2006 season, Darrington High School coach football coach Fred Emerson apologized to his players. The Loggers went 2-7 in

Emerson’s first season with the team, including an 0-6 record in Northwest 2B League games.

Emerson, who turns 72 in March and started coaching in 1959, had never endured a losing season at the high school level.

“At the end of the year, I apologized to the kids after that last game (a one-point overtime defeat against Concrete) and told them I didn’t think I did the job I wanted to do,” Emerson said. “I thought I could teach them how to win. I’ve always been able to do that.”

He still can, but it took a bit longer than he had hoped.

Last year a young Darrington squad, featuring just three seniors who made significant contributions, started 2-0 before losing its final seven games. There were signs of improvement though.

“(Losing) was a new thing for me and it was kind of frustrating,” Emerson said, “except I could see we were getting better.”

Progress continued this season as Darrington outscored its first five opponents 195-35 and rose quickly in the Class 2B rankings. The suddenly dominant Loggers (7-0) are still undefeated after blasting Orcas Island 56-0 Friday.

Many of Darrington’s top seniors have started since they were sophomores. Two of them — offensive lineman/linebacker Conner Rounds and quarterback/cornerback Mark Jones — are four-year starters on both sides of the ball.

Even though Darrington hadn’t had a winning season since 2002 and lost all its league games the past two seasons, the Loggers’ resurgence wasn’t a complete shock, Rounds said.

“We were expecting this to happen this year,” said Rounds, a powerful 6-foot-2, 215-pound player who leads the team in tackles and shares captain duties with Jones.

“Last year we were all down on ourselves ‘cause we were losing,” Rounds added. “(But) this year I feel we’re a lot closer as a team. This year it’s a completely different story.”

It’s one of the most impressive turnarounds in the state. With two league contests remaining, Darrington has a realistic chance to complete an undefeated regular season. Its primary goal is to advance to the state playoffs for the first time since 2001.

“Everybody wants to make it to state. We want to see the (Tacoma Dome). That’s what we’re in it for,” said Rounds, referring to the 2B state semifinal and title games scheduled to take place in Tacoma.

With an experienced, comparatively big group of offensive linemen opening space for some outstanding ball carriers, Darrington — tied for third in the current Associated Press 2B poll — seems capable of getting there.

Darrington’s O-line, which has helped the team rush for more than 2,000 yards, includes four seniors: Rounds (right guard), Matthias Metzger (6-3, 220; center), Nick Olsen (6-4, 260; right tackle) and Kody Wesson (5-9, 170; left guard). All of them have started at least three seasons.

Sophomore left tackle Moe Hyde (5-11, 250), senior fullback Joe Dolph and junior tight end Scott Regelbrugge (6-2, 240), a transfer from San Diego, have also made vital contributions. The main beneficiaries have been speedy running backs Justin O’Dell (812 yards rushing) and Mike Parris (634), who each average about 10 yards per carry.

Darrington has mainly relied on its ground attack, but Jones, the QB, has 510 passing yards.

“We’ve got three amazing backs,” Jones said of O’Dell, Parris and Dolph, “and (opponents) have to choose which one they want to stop because they can’t stop all three of ‘em.”

Key position changes have worked well for Darrington. Last year Jones was a running back, Parris was a wide receiver and O’Dell was QB. The switches helped Darrington make better use of its speedy runners, Parris and O’Dell, coach Emerson said.

Darrington has been challenged just once this season. The Loggers needed a 61-yard touchdown pass and a two-point conversion run late in the fourth quarter Oct. 5 to beat Concrete 15-14. The TD pass, from Jones to Cory Hoveskeland, came on fourth-and-14.

Concrete travels to play Darrington Oct. 26 in the final regular-season contest for both teams. Regardless of the result, coach Emerson probably won’t need to apologize to his players, who are flourishing after struggling for several years.

“These kids have never won (consistently until this fall),” Emerson said. “They’re learning now, and they’ve decided that winning is pretty good.”

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