High School Football Preview: R.A. Long ready to put it on the line in '25
Red & Black Attack – Lumberjacks will rely on experienced linemen, Jaxson Rivenes under center
Nick Sisson for Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
The Basics
Team: R.A. Long Lumberjacks
Coach: Jon Barker, 6th season
Helmets: Black
Last Year’s Record: 3-6, (2-5 league)
6th place finish in 2A Greater St. Helens League (No playoffs)
LONGVIEW MEMORIAL — Last season wasn’t necessarily a historical campaign for R.A. Long football, but how success is measured simply comes down to individual perspective. It is often, but doesn’t always have to be measured in terms of wins, losses, or league championships.
R.A. Long found success in discovering their identity as a team and taking a small step forward as a program last season. There was a three-game win streak. And there was “Pirate energy,” or so it was dubbed by the red and black mob.
On the surface, it might seem a silly for a rough and tough and high school football players to embrace the unlikely rallying cry. I think we all let out a little internal chuckle at the thought of Sloth from The Goonies screaming out, “Hey you guys!” and sliding in to save the day with some late heroics.
Regardless of how you envisioned it, to R.A. Long head coach Jon Barker the mantra represented the principals the Lumberjacks’ coaching staff had been working to instill in the program. And the first month of the season was fruitful for the swashbuckling Jacks and their “take no prisoners” attitude.
They went for two and the win in overtime against Centralia on the road, and then survived a back-and-forth gut-check league opener with Hudson’s Bay. Then it all came together on the Lumberjacks’ sideline following a 47-14 romp over Hockinson at home. Coach Barker went through the celebratory rounds of players and students with a paper mache parrot perched on his shoulder.
And everyone ate it up. The student section was decked out in buccaneer attire and the players posed for pictures with that parrot as if it had just been named homecoming king and queen. It represented the first three-game winning streak for the Jacks since 2014, and saw them tied for first place (!) in the league standings as September came to an end.
Too bad there was a red October to come.
The Jacks went 0-5 in the final month of the season. The final blow was a thorough 51-7 defeat at the hands of their rivals from Mark Morris. Despite the long slide to end the season, a lot of folks forget that R.A. Long was just one win game away from potentially forcing a Kansas tiebreaker with MM and Columbia River going into Week 9.
This season R.A. Long will look to build on those initial steps forward. The Jacks are aiming for a winning season that will have them close to the X on the map in their quest for a playoff spot
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