Hockinson football team looks to build on success

There’s nothing that will put a smile on a football coach’s face quicker than seeing his players in the weight room during the offseason, especially when the offseason is just underway.

“We had kids in the weight room lifting yesterday and that’s a good thing,’’ Hockinson coach Rick Steele said Tuesday, just three days after the Hawks’ storybook season came to an end with a 52-28 loss to Lynden in the quarterfinals of the Class 2A state high school football playoffs. “I’m excited about the future and where we can go from here.’’

The image of some of his players in the weight room is significant to Steele because he firmly believes that’s the very place where the seed was planted for his team’s success this season.

Long before Hockinson won 11 straight games, claimed the 2A Greater St. Helens League championship and advanced into the quarterfinals of the state playoffs for the first time, the Hawks were in the weight room, where their coach said they made themselves into football players.

“This group of seniors has been the group that finally bought into the weight room and they did it as freshmen,’’ Steele said. “We just couldn’t keep this group out of the weight room. They did it all four years.

“When you spend time in that room, going through the hard work, sweat and pain – when you go through that together, that’s the thing that holds you together,’’ Steele said. “When they came in (to high school), they were a bunch of skinny-looking kids who weren’t very athletic. Now, these kids have really packed on the weight and they turned themselves into football players.’’

Steele laughs and shakes his head when he talks about this year’s record-setting team.

“It was a weird group in that these guys are a bunch of mutes; they don’t say a word,’’ Steele said. “We didn’t have a single ‘rah-rah’ guy on the team. We were waiting for that to happen and it never did.’’

But, Steele said what his team lacked verbally, they more than made up for in chemistry.

“They’re all good buddies; they do everything together,’’ Steele said. “I’ve had teams before that were good but they had different clicks. This year, it just wasn’t like that. They all hang out together and they’re all buddies. There’s not a vocal one in the bunch. They just lead by example. They practice hard and they play hard.’’

Steele said he entered the season with some concerns about this year’s team, particularly in the offensive line, which is where the coach believes all the team’s offensive success is born. He knew guard Aaron Burns and tackle Will Ortner had the left side of the line covered but the rest of the line was full of question marks.

Junior Josh Wade was supposed to be the starting center but he hurt his shoulder in the first week of the season and never returned. Sophomore Ryan Bishop stepped in at center and Josh Carter was moved from tight end to the line. The final spot was filled by junior Peter Schultz-Rathbun who was coming back after a one-year absence while rehabbing after a surgery to remove a brain tumor.

“Coming into the year, we were really worried about the offensive line,’’ Steele said. “That’s why we were sweating bullets to see how that front five would turn out.’’

The season started with a win over La Center and then in the second week the Hawks routed Prairie 41-0. That provided Steele with a glimpse of how good his team could be.

“I was kind of worried about them because they were bigger and more physical that teams we normally play and the last two times we played them I think they beat us like 50-7 and 55-7,’’ Steele said of Prairie, which plays at the 3A level. “We just kind of manhandled them. That’s when I thought we were going to be OK.’’

A lopsided win over three-time league champion Mark Morris in Week 4 was another significant achievement for the Hawks as was a hard-fought win over previously unbeaten Woodland in Week 8.

Hockinson then defeated North Kitsap, in Poulsbo, in the district crossover game. That was the first time the Hawks had won a crossover playoff game after six previous losses. Hockinson then followed with a wild, come-from-behind win over Black Hills in the first round of the state playoffs, setting up their matchup with Lynden in the quarterfinals.

The Lions had won the 2A state title in each of the last three years and five out of the last six. Hockinson threw an interception on its first possession and then Lynden scored on its first play when a Hawks’ defender fell down.

“We could see on film that they were really good,’’ Steele said of Lynden. “We knew going into the game that we couldn’t make mistakes. On the first drive we throw an interception and on their first play from scrimmage they throw a fade route and our cornerback falls down.’’

Hockinson did respond with a scoring drive of its own, culminating in a 13-yard touchdown pass from Mitch Lines to Kedrick Johnson to tie the game at 7-7. But, Lynden scored the game’s next 42 points, including touchdowns on the last play of the first half (on a Hail Mary pass) and the first play of the second half (on a kickoff return).

“Two touchdowns in two plays, that kind of broke our back but we didn’t give up,’’ Steele said. “We came back and put three more touchdowns on the board.’’

Lines finished with three touchdown passes, two to Kedrick Johnson and one to Cameron Loos. Gage Seekins came off the bench to add a touchdown pass to Austen Johnson.

Lynden was able to hold Hockinson running backs Tommy Harshaw and Austen Johnson to a combined 75 yards. Both Harshaw and Johnson finished the season with more than 1,000 yards rushing.

“In the end you’re disappointed but I told the kids for the first time being in a game like that, we weren’t physically manhandled,’’ Steele said. “We were just as physical as them but they had players on the field that were more athletic than we were.’’

Steele knows the experience will be a positive one for his returning players.

“It was good for kids at all levels of our program to see what that experience is like,’’ the coach said. “It got us over the hump as far as thinking we could compete at the state level. I told them that football is 80 percent mental – thinking you can, that’s the big hump.’’

Despite losing a talented group of seniors, Steele is excited about the Hawks who are returning.

“We’ve got a lot of good kids coming back,’’ he said. “We’ve got good kids in the program. I’m excited for the next five or six years. This season we really solidified the weight lifting program so kids come in and they see that’s what is expected of them and that’s what they do.’’