Just a mere six months ago the Newport Knights completed a season for the ages at the Tacoma Dome.
The Knights, who finished the 2014 season with an overall record of 10-3, were eliminated in the Class 4A semifinals courtesy of a 37-19 loss to the eventual state champion Bothell Cougars Nov. 29, 2014. While the Knights have closed the book on last year’s season, the lessons learned from their epic run last fall haven’t escape them during the early June spring football practice sessions.
Newport head coach Drew Oliver said his squad is focused on continuing a tradition of success.
“We talk about last year from a standpoint of the foundation and tradition that was set forth by those guys but we also talk about this year being this team’s chapter of their own. We can’t live off last year that’s for sure,” Oliver said. “I think what we’ve seen in the spring especially is a boon in our numbers. I think that is a natural off-shoot of our success, which is a good thing. The new guys are trying to learn our football culture as we go.”
The first day of spring practice sessions saw 75 athletes suit up for the Knights. The majority of the Knights starters on both sides of the ball were seniors last season, creating an opportunity for a dearth of players to enter the starting lineup on the varsity for the first time in their high school careers this fall.
“Everything is open and everything is fair game,” Oliver said with regard to offensive and defensive starters. “We’re focusing a lot on competition. We are competing every single day. Our focus is to compete in everything we do.”
The Knights triple option offense calls for running plays 80 to 90 percent of the time. Oliver said the gameplan won’t change despite losing offensive lineman Calvin Throckmorton (University of Oregon) and Nolan Richardson to graduation.
“We’re still a triple option offense and that defines who we are and what we do. That won’t change,” he said. “We will have different personnel and different guys in different spots offensively and defensively this year. It makes you have to be a little bit more creative, but the foundation of what we do doesn’t change. There is no real surprise about that.”
Newport running back Thomas Day, who is one of the few returning starters at running back and defensive back, isn’t concerned about the graduation of the majority of last year’s starters.
“We’re going to replace those guys with the will of the underclassman. We will have a lot of guys who will be starting this year who spent last season on the sidelines dreaming and waiting for their opportunity,” Day said. “Those guys are hungry. They’ve been working hard and are ready to go. I think that will be our ace in the hole this season.”
Day said the Knights play with a chip on their shoulder.
“Last year nobody believed in us and everyone thought we weren’t going to be successful,” he said. “It is the same thing this year. We got the confidence now this year knowing that if we do what we need to do, that we can succeed. We proved that last year. We know that even if something bad happens, we can prevail through anything.”
Shaun Scott: 425-453-5045; sscott@bellevuereporter.com
