When head coach Steve Supple took over the Lake Washington football program in 2010, he had a vision of where he wanted the Kangs to be.
Entering his third year, the skills and work ethic are there – but the numbers, not quite yet.
“If you watch us practice and see the things we are doing in practice, you can see we are a football team,” said Supple, whose team started out 2-0 last year before dropping their last eight games of the season. “Guys are well-coached, we know and they know what they’re doing. What we don’t have yet, what hasn’t been established, is the depth you need to compete in this league.”
The Kangs cleared 90 kids for spring ball and about 80 turned out this fall, certainly an improvement over recent years, but not nearly ideal for a school of LW’s size.
Supple said that while most teams’ backup players are juniors, with the occasional sophomore in the mix, most of his “twos and threes” will be sophomores and freshmen.
While the numbers game is difficult to overcome, the Kangs still possess a good deal of talent.
Shawn Gray, the team’s starting quarterback, is back and healthy after being derailed by a season-ending knee injury against Bellevue only four weeks into last year’s campaign.
“He’s had a really good offseason, works real hard and spent a long time throwing in the summer, went to team camp,” said Supple on Gray, a 6-foot, 175-pounder.” He’s been doing a good job.”
Max White, an athletic tight end/defensive end and Gavin Santjer-Goetz, a vocal leader who plays a solid halfback and defensive end, will also be go-to guys for the Kangs.
Undoubtedly, the key piece to the Kangs’ puzzle will be Gray, as he was effective during the team’s two early victories last year against Garfield, 14-0, and Redmond, 39-17, before getting injured.
“My knee feels good, and I’m excited to see what we have this year,” Gray said. “It’s a small group, but we have some good talent. We gotta play fast.”
Lake Washington did drop to the 2A classification for this season, due to enrollment numbers, which greatly improves the team’s chances to play in the postseason.
“We’re a 2A team and Sammamish is a 2A team, so one of us is going to be in the 2A playoffs,” explained Supple, adding that whichever team has the better league record will advance. “That’s what our goal is, to be playing for something in November.”
Supple, who formerly coached as a defensive coordinator at Redmond and Eastlake High, maintained that his team’s key to success will be to go out and compete daily, regardless of the opponent.
Should the Kangs be fortunate enough to earn the 2A playoff spot, their loaded schedule, which includes games against top-tier teams in the 3A Kingco league, will have them well-prepared.
“It doesn’t matter if we’re playing Bellevue, Liberty or Mount Si, it’s an opportunity to compete,” he explained. “We know the league is difficult – they’re all good programs. People are doing good things, so it’s a matter of focusing on… when you have opportunities to compete and win, you have to take advantage of that. (Kingco) is a difficult place to play.”
The Kangs opened up their season with a 56-20 win over Foss last Friday, and will play Cedarcrest on the road this Friday at 7 p.m.
