EVERETT

This isn’t a year of redemption.

The Archbishop Murphy football team overcame tragedy at the start of last season when head coach Terry Ennis passed away from cancer and then the Wildcats ended their march to an undefeated season on a sour note after the team was declared ineligible for the playoffs.

Now under a new coach in Dave Ward, under a new offensive system and starting the year with a clean slate, Archbishop Murphy resumes its trek to the playoffs, hoping for nothing but a state title.

But to call this year one of redemption is a bit of a reach.

“I’m not going to use that word,” Ward said. “While that may sound like a good storyline, it’s just a challenge much like any other year.”

Archbishop Murphy athletic director and interim head coach Rick Stubrud agrees with Ward’s sentiment.

“Redemption is too strong of a word,” he said. “(Last year) gave them a chip on their shoulder — not a horrible thing, just something to motivate them more and get them out to win.”

Using redemption to describe this season is the wrong word, according to the players, too.

“We’re doing this season for last year’s seniors,” senior linebacker J.J. Quinlan said. “They left hanging their heads. We need to get some pride back for them and for the school.”

Seemingly at the center of it all is senior split end J.D. Melton, the player whose expired paperwork resulted in the forfeiture of eight games. As with everyone else on the team, this is a new year and a new opportunity for Melton to win.

“This year, for me, I just want to get out there and work hard,” he said. “With everything that happened last year, we want everyone to know that we’re not down and out. We’re going to play hard and prove ourselves to bring back the Murphy reputation.”

While last year left a lot of room for debate, most of the Wildcats would just leave the matter closed.

Replacing the fire and focus

At the entrance to the team’s locker room and school weight room, a photo of Ennis is taped to the wall. Throughout the locker room, notes, sayings and scribbles of “T.E.” are scattered around. Outside, Terry Ennis Stadium waits for fresh paint on the field.

Without question, Ennis is still the embodiment of Wildcat football.

Since 2000, when Ennis began the program, Archbishop Murphy went a combined 75-12 and moved up to the 2A classification after back-to-back state titles in 1A in 2002 and 2003.

It seemed only fitting to replace a local legend with another legend, and Archbishop Murphy took no time in hiring Ward last spring. Ward brings 17 years of coaching experience and success at the 4A level with the Oak Harbor Wildcats.

Ward ended on a high note, with the 2006 4A state title. It took another set of Wildcats to bring him back to the sidelines.

In terms of change, while it hasn’t been drastic for the players, it’s certainly a different look, and definitely a different feel for the game.

“With coach Ennis, he would get fired up and everything. It’s just different,” senior lineman Jeff Hassebrock said. “Coach Ward is a lot more calm and collected. Just really laid back.”

Stubrud thought the school struck gold in Ward’s hiring.

“We wanted someone that wouldn’t fill Terry’s shoes, but someone with their own success and their own pedigree and background to come in,” he said. “Also, we got lucky in that he’s an outstanding teacher, so he fit the bill pretty well.”

Despite whatever pressure or shoes Ward came to fill, he came to Archbishop Murphy not to be Terry Ennis, but to bring his own style.

“The players have memories that they can hang on to for strength,” he said. “The pressure really comes from inside of me, to keep this tradition going. Terry and I take two approaches to coaching, and both have proven effective. Any coaches that try to copy someone else doesn’t know themselves.”

According to Ward, if a coach hopes to improve by thinking what Terry would do and try to apply it, that’s up to them. If it works, that’s fine.

“I don’t want coaches to yell. I want them to communicate and express themselves clearly,” he said.

With his previous success and the success of his new team, the stakes are already set high for Ward, but he’s taking it all with a laid-back approach.

“Oak Harbor became so successful that our expectations were pretty high every year,” he said. “I think some people expect us to win every game by 40 points. While that’s not really realistic, what is realistic is to strive to be the best player and teammate you can possibly and that’s what will get us to success.”

Taking to the skies

Last year, the Wildcats ran for 3,223 yards and threw for 558. Quarterbacks Patrick Kelly and Alex Martinez completed 24 of 43 pass attempts.

So when coach Ward took over and planned to implement a balanced passing attack, several players raised their eyebrows.

Luckily for them, the move from a heavy ground attack to a viable passing threat was a much smoother transition than what they originally thought.

Ennis and the Wildcats ran a “Wing-T” style of offense, with heavy emphasis on a big, blocking offensive line and a power running game. Ward continued the use of the Wing-T, but added a passing game to complement it.

Ward doesn’t hope to reinvent the system, but add to the capability and availability. Practices, even without Ennis’ intensity, are still picking up and at a high energy level.

“You can tell that it’s been amped up a lot. We’ve been focusing a lot harder and getting ready,” senior offensive lineman Collin Huggins said. “I think our game next Friday will be very intense. We’ve been pretty good.”

The transition, contrary to initial thought, became a welcome addition for some players.

“The lineman like it, because on pass plays we aren’t running as much,” Hassebrock joked. “We’re still a grind-it-out team, but now we won’t have as much of a problem when defenses put seven or eight guys in the box and we have a tough time running on them.”

The players are definitely confident in their abilities to accommodate the change and as a team overall. The defense only lost two starters and while the offense lost most of their offensive line, the new group of seniors, according to Hassebrock, have definitely stepped in and kept the energy high.

“We still have a lot of work to do, but our conditioning is looking great and I think we’ll have an awesome defense this year,” Melton said. “Coach Ward has been amazing for us.”

The team also has full confidence in their new quarterback, sophomore Austin Vanderwel.

“The playbook is pretty big, and we started out messing up, but we’re really rolling through and working hard,” Quinlan said.

At the top of it all is coach Ward, running the offense and gearing the team’s practices in preparation for its first game against Lynden.

“We’re making progress every day and things are coming together slowly but surely,” he said. “We’re getting the routes down and concentration up. We’re good with the traditional ground attack. The first week, I had my doubts, but these guys just needed the reps. These are some real good athletes.”