Bainbridge High School football coach Andy Grimm isn’t one to get overly excited before his team has played a game, but there are some signs of optimism moving into tonight’s season opener against North Kitsap.
“If we stay healthy we’ll be a competitive team and we should be in the playoff hunt in a couple of months,” he said Wednesday. “We’ve got a good group of seniors and a strong group of juniors who were role players last year and are ready to contribute now.”
The Spartans were 7-3 a year ago, when they made the Metro League playoffs only to lose to Seattle Prep in overtime in the second-place game. That led to a big loss to eventual state champion Bellevue.
The Spartans are only about 100 students above the 3-A classification minimum, which means they can get over their heads a bit when playing the more powerful Seattle and Eastside teams.
“We have decent size this year, which is good for us because the Seattle teams usually have bigger and faster kids,” he said. “So we need to rely on technique to compete.”
Fortunately, the Spartans have an experienced quarterback in senior Chris Bell, who played receiver and then quarterback last year when an injury hit the starter.
Bell is a multi-talented athlete, which is an important attribute when operating Grimm’s Wing-T option attack.
“He’s got good speed, size and a strong arm,” Grimm said. “Offensively, with Chris and three capable running backs, we should be able to control the clock by pounding it on you. And our play-action out of it is pretty balanced.”
It also helps that Bainbridge has several experienced linemen returning, beginning with three-year starters, tackle Logan Dietrich (6-3, 315) and guard Sam Orrey (6-0, 210). Other two-way starters up front will be seniors Bobby Miller, Josh Molskness, Cameron Brink and Max Edenhol.
“If our defense can do the job,” Grimm summarized, “we’ll return (to the playoffs).”
The schedule is also a positive with six of eight regular season games at home; its only road games are against perennial champion O’Dea and Bishop Blanchet.
Still, non-league home games against 2-A teams North Thurston (Oct. 7) and Kingston (Sept. 9) will be more of a challenge this year than in the past, said Grimm.
“Both are close to our enrollment now, being only about 100 or so under us,” he said. “So the gap is not what it used to be.”
One thing that’s unchanged is that O’Dea “is still the team to beat,” he said. “After that, our division should be wide open.”
2011 Bainbridge Football
Offensive coordinator: Andy Grimm
Defensive coordinator: Sean Eaton
Strengths: Quality of returning starters and the senior class
Weaknesses: Quality of varsity depth; young players need to step up by Metro League play
Offensive set: Wing-T
Defensive set: 4-4-3
Top returners: Logan Dietrich (SR OL/DL 6-3, 315), Sam Orrey (SR OL/LB 6-0, 210), Chris Bell (SR QB/DB 6-2, 190), Connor Kenyon (SR RB/DE 5-10, 180), Josh Molskness (SR OL/DE 6-0, 180), Alex Coplan (JR WR/DB 5-10, 170), Jake Brigham (SR RB/LB 6-1, 210), Cameron Brink (SR TE/DE 6-5 190), Nik Moore (SR OL/LB 6-4, 190).
Top varsity newcomers: Dan Drewry (JR OL/LB 5-11, 190), Max Edenhol (SR OL/DL 6-0, 220), Josh Fitch (SR RB/LB 5-10, 175), Brian Hulbert (SR RB/DL 6-0, 215), Paimon Jaberi (JR QB/LB 5-10, 175), Sam Kallas (JR WR/RB/DB 5-10 170), Kyler Mikami (JR WR/DB 5-10, 175), Bobby Miller (SR OL/DL 5-10, 230), Matt Stone (JR RB/DB 5-10 165), Max Wysong (JR RB/LB 5-10 205), Justin Totura (JR OL/DE 6-2, 190), Connor Teddy SO QB/LB 6-1, 170).
