SHORELINE — Jon Glancy picked up right where he left off last November during the Shorecrest football team’s annual spring workouts.
The durable quarterback led the Western Conference South Division in passing yards, attempts and completions last year and his coaches are counting on an even better senior season.
With just a handful of starters returning on both sides of the ball, Shorecrest’s fortunes in 2004 weigh heavily on the performance of Glancy and a promising passing game.
“We’re hoping he will draw other people up to his level,” Scots coach Mike Wollan said. “We’re going to rely on Jon to make plays and he should make plays. We expect a lot out of him.”
Glancy took every snap for Shorecrest in 2003 and closed out the season on a high note by throwing for 255 yards and three touchdowns in a 42-7 pounding of Mountlake Terrace.
It was just the third victory of an up-and-down season for the Scots, who lost three league games by 13 points or less and finished eighth in the division.
“Our trouble has been turnovers,” said Glancy, who threw more interceptions than touchdowns last year. “But you can’t work on that in the spring. You’ve got to work on fundamentals and make sure guys are going to the right places.”
Most of Shorecrest’s offensive exercises this offseason were devoted to strengthening the connection between Glancy and a new crop of receivers.
The Scots took their skill players to a passing camp at the University of Washington at the start of June and continued to sharpen their air attack during a low-key scrimmage with Shorewood two weeks later.
Shorecrest wrapped up its offseason schedule this week at Western Washington University team camp.
“The coaches are devising a nice offense and it’s working out for us. I’m throwing the ball where they tell me,” said Glancy, one of three Scots to earn all-league honors on offense in 2003.
“We’re spreading the ball out a lot. We’re throwing the ball deep and short. The receivers are making nice cuts to get open for me.”
Shorecrest won its four-team pool at the UW camp and moved the ball well against the crosstown Thunderbirds, but more importantly got several players involved in the offense.
The format for the passing camp and the scrimmage were the same — six offensive players (a quarterback and five receivers) against seven defenders (three linebackers and four defensive backs).
“More than anything we were trying to create competition at some different spots and take a look at different guys to see how they react in different situations,” Wollan said.
“We had a pretty limited playbook because we wanted to work on a few things. For the most part, guys responded.”
Glancy’s favorite target against Shorewood was junior tailback Jesse Hoffman. The two hooked up for a 20-yard score to cap an opening drive that saw Glancy complete his first five passes in a row.
“A lot of people are going to be keying on Jesse, so hopefully that’s going to allow some other guys to step up,” Wollan said.
Wollan was encouraged by how the Scots executed at the beginning of the UW camp, but some dropped passes and missed coverages on defense proved costly.
“The challenge is to come back the next play and compete,” Wollan said. “We’ve got some work to do in that area.”
The area Wollan is most concerned with as the 2004 season approaches remains the same as last year — defense.
While the Scots improved their results against teams that utilize wing-T sets, they weren’t as successful stopping pro-style offenses favored by Wesco South teams like Edmonds-Woodway, Jackson and Kamiak.
“Our guys up front need to do a better job plugging holes,” Wollan said. “We hope with some of the bigger bodies we’ve got this year we’re going to do a better job of that.”
The lone returner on the line is senior Chris Lindsey. Wollan expects the 6-foot-4, 220-pound tackle will serve as an ideal role model for the less experienced linemen.
“Chris is one of our hardest workers,” Wollan said. “You don’t hear anything but positives out of his mouth.”
With Meadowdale moving up to the 4A classification in the fall, the path to the playoffs for Wesco’s remaining 3A teams is changing.
At the end of the regular season, Shorecrest and Lynnwood will face the two 3A teams from the upstart Cascade League. The winners play the Northwest 3A League’s second- and third-place finishers in state-qualifying games.
Glancy likes Shorecrest’s chances.
“We’re going to battle a lot harder than we did last year,” he said. “For sure.”
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