High School Football Preview: Wahkiakum ready to run it back in '25
Back for More – Mules gunning for league title; deep State run in 1B ranks
Jordan Nailon for Blast Zone Media / blastzonenews@gmail.com
High School Football
The Basics
Team: Wahkiakum Mules
Head Coach: Ryan Lorenzo, 5th season
Helmets: Red
League: 1B Southwest Washington
Last Year’s Record: 8-4, 2nd place league
Lost to Neah Bay 70-14 in first round of State
CATHLAMET — The Mules were among the first teams to hit the field this season when they conducted their annual Midnight Mayhem practice on Aug. 20. And it was not a sleepy eyed group spread out on the natural grass field at Wahkiakum High School. With a little encouragement from Uncle Sam, the Cathlamet Crew jumped out of their offseason fox hole and hit the ground running.
That’s what a season of success can do for a program. And after a season of making adjustments to the 8-man game, it’s safe to say Wahkiakum has enjoyed its time back in the 1B ranks so far.
“We were in that 2B league for so long and we were really just getting murdered in that that league,” Wahkiakum head coach Ryan Lorenzo said. “The guys were able to recognize that they were just overmatched in 90% of our games… Now we’ve got that hope, and I think there’s a new energy in the weight room.”
After finishing second in the 1B Southwest Washington League, and making it to the Round of 16 in the state tournament, the Mules are set to return seven starters on both sides of the ball. They only lost one senior from last year, and will boast nine seniors this time around.
The Mules will also feature six juniors, eight sophomores, and four freshman with some varsity experience under their collective belt. Compared to where Wahkiakum was one calendar year ago (see: trying to figure out the rules of 8-man football), the potential is practically boundless in the state’s smallest county.
“Well, I know we’re going to play 8-man football!” Lorenzo noted.
And what, exactly, made the learning curve so steep in the early going last season?
“I’d probably say how fast the game is and on defense how well you have to execute,” Lorenzo said. “I think defense is the hardest in 8-man, because you have to defend anything.”
And Neptune help a defender who whiffs on an open field tackle.
“You miss a tackle, it’s a touchdown,” Lorenzno noted.
— Wahkiakum football players get warmed up to begin their season at midnight, Aug. 20, in Cathlamet. The Mules went through a series of workouts with the U.S. Marine Corps to jumpstart their gridiron campaign. / Video by Skyler Smith for Blast Zone Media —
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