Springfield Hopes on the line.

I almost called some of my central Oregon buddies to tell them to bring in the cattle trucks to rustle a few of the blue ribbon heads of beef on the Springfield practice field and skedaddle back to the Redmond cattle auction. Where did coach Raish get all these guys? The Millers are loaded with a lot of experience on the line and, boy, are they big. If they can move those little hooves quick enough, they just might give their backs enough time to develop into a high scoring machine.

Here’s what I gleaned from my talk with coach Raish.

GH is Gary Haliski
SR is coach Skip Raish

GH: What’s your approximate turnout?
SR: We have 124 total, that includes 44 frosh. We’re carrying 43 on our JV’s.

GH: Who do you have as returning starters or returning with significant playing time?
SR: All leaguer offensive guard Clanton Self (6’ 1”, 295), all leaguer center Isias Giron , all league kicker Ashton Summer. Summer is a junior, he plays soccer. He led the league in field goals last year and made 100% of his PAT’s. John Emerald (6’ 1”, 175) returns as an all league defensive back.

GH: On the field you mentioned you were experienced on the line, and the boys looked pretty big to me. Who is filling in the other O line spots.?
SR: Chase Towlerton (6-2, 295) will be the other guard and has college potential. Junior Bryan Stanwood (6’ 2”, 230) will be at tackle. Jordan Haas (6’ 5”, 240) , a soph, has a slight edge at the other tackle spot. He’s fighting it out with another soph, Hunter Hastings (6’ 4”, 235).

GH: Everyone in the league lost their starting quarterback? All of the coaches are concerned. Have you settled on anyone yet?
SR: We haven’t settled on our starting quarterback for league. It’s a competition between Britton Auxier (6’ 2”, 220) and junior Ty Manilla (6’2 230). Manilla will play a little defensive end. Each of them is going to get two quarters in the Silverton game this Friday.

GH: That looks like a fun offense?
SR: Yes, it’s an awful lot of fun.
GH: I couldn’t keep track of all of the formations. And who were those guys in the backfield?
SR: We’re running the spread. You saw us go with an empty backfield, one back, two backs and even three backs.
GH: Who was the bowling ball back?
SR: That’s called a fullback. That’s Elijah Gelman-Price. He’s 6’ 1”, 280 pounds. He’ll also be playing defensive tackle.
GH: Did I see Price under center?
SR: You did, but we were running the scout team and our quarterbacks were doing another drill. But he could play quarterback if he had to. Another running back will be Dylan Piquette. Also, Jevon Garcia (5’ 10”. 180, a junior.

GH: Is Dylan related to Thurston’s coach Piquette?
SR: Coach Doug Piquette is Dylan’s uncle.

GH: Who are your receivers this year?
SR: We have several seniors, Austin Banks (6’ 1”, 170) and Alistar Jorkan (5’ 8”, 160), as well as Emerald.

GH: Offensively, you lost a lot, including Green, Spikes and Davidson. Fortunately, you have a lot back on the line. How do you feel that will come together?
SR: This is probably the best offensive line I have had in 25 years. They’re strong and smart. And there are a lot of them.

GH: The Millers were a high scoring team last year, but the defense had trouble. Any changes to address that area of opportunity?
SR: We have better athletes up front this year. We have four real fine athletes in Stanwood, Codie Jantze (6’2, 310), Price and Manilla. In the secondary we have Blake Taylor, a transfer from Willamette, at rover. Daysean Price-Clark well be in the secondary.
GH: Is Daysean (5’ 10”, 180) related to Elijah (6’ 1”, 280)? They’re not quite built the same.
SR: They’re cousins. Garcia and Jorkan will be at corners. Looks like Jake King and Ben Ogletree will be at linebacker.

GH: Any outstanding leaders or characteristics of the team that stand out?
SR: I think this is a very good football team. They have all phases of the game covered; we don’t fall off in any phase. I think this group has finally got the football team to turn the corner. This summer we had sixty to eighty kids in the weight room on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and then conditioning on Tuesdays and Thursdays. What I really love is the positive attitude. You have to have that. You can have all of the talent in the world, but you have to have a positive attitude. That’s the fun part of coaching these kids. I’m really pleased with this group of athletes. They are always on time. There’s no quarreling, no little hastles. They have a shot at doing some good things. We’ve told them they have to take ownership. We can’t be on the field showing them what to do during a game. They’ve got to do it for themselves.

GH: Anything else?
SR: I think the Midwestern League has always been a fine league. There’s a lot of parity. On any Friday night, anyone can win. The addition of Eagle Point and Ashland has made us a little stronger. The Pac 10 added two and so did we. It made us better. You just can’t overlook anyone. If I had to pick a team to win the league, it would be Marist. It’s Marist until somebody beats them.

That's the end of my discussion with  coach Raish.
 
As I was driving home I was thinking that with all of the  unknowns at quarterback throughout the league, it took me six teams to find one who hadn't settled on their starting QB.  And it will be the experienced Springfield line that will be buying time for the new Miller QB and running backs to learn their game.  I had the sense that the Springfield linemen knew what's on the line for the team, and that all eyes will be on the Springfield linemen.  Now that's unusual, putting the pressure on linemen and not the 'skills' guys..  Coach Raish put the line through some 100 yard down and backs.  That's not a drill a 300 pound kid wants to be doing.  But there they were, lumbering  along, like the big beef that they are.  And finishing their drills, just like they're going to have to do every Friday if Springfield is going to win.  Springfield hopes really are all on the Line.

I'll be tweeting from the Marist - Corvallis game.  You can follow the tweets at http://twitter.com/#!/mwlnow