Jim Shapiro knew this season’s King’s football team was going to be a good one.
When the members of the Class of 2016 were in the eighth grade, Shapiro told them they had the chance to do something special. The players believed him, and made it all the way to the Class 1A state championship game for the first time in the program’s history, earning Shapiro The Herald’s 2015 Prep Football Coach of the Year award.
After the title game, which King’s lost to top-ranked Royal 28-7, Shapiro met in the locker room with those seniors, who he called “a very special group to coach.”
“I spent some private time with the seniors only,” Shapiro said. “There were some emotions but it was a special group. They reminded me when they were eighth graders at King’s and I told them, ‘You could win a state championship if you work hard.’ Obviously, we fell a few points short, but my prediction was right. They were a state championship team. Because of their caliber, I saw something special in them.”
Shapiro has had several star players pass through Woolsey Stadium in his 19 years as King’s head coach, enough to get him to the state quarterfinals seven consecutive years. The seventh time was the charm for Shapiro and the Knights, who after six tries, finally reached the Tacoma Dome for the state semifinals — then returned the following week for the championship.
Getting two games in Tacoma was special for Shapiro and his team.
“It’s been a personal dream of mine,” he said. “Every Thanksgiving I’m driving by that place because my wife’s folks live down in Portland and I’m knowing teams are playing in there. To personally walk in with the team and compete was a big deal. It’s a big deal for the program, with 65 years of football being played here and to actually make it to the finals is pretty cool.”
While the Knights fell just short of their ultimate goal, the future appears to be on an upward trajectory. From the current batch of juniors to the underclassmen — and beyond.
“I got a message from a ball boy’s mom, I think he’s in fifth grade, and he went home crying,” Shapiro said. “He cried himself to sleep and said, ‘Football is over and I want more. When you have that going on in your community, and with the fifth-graders, you’re going to be all right.”
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