Spartans a young, talented group

Published 6:00 am Wednesday, August 23, 2006

First-year football players need to develop that ‘Friday night experience.’

For many high school football players, the bright lights of the football field shine brightest on Friday night.

It’s there that Spartan football head coach Andy Grimm hopes many of his young players won’t wilt under the glare.

“It’s just a matter of seeing how they adjust to Friday night,” he said. “I call it ‘Friday Night experience.’ We’ve got those guys who have been there Friday night, (now) it’s bringing those other guys along.”

The Spartans are young, but have a promising number of players ready to step up as they compete to get to the state tournament for the 2006 prep season.

Bainbridge started off the right way last year with a 4-1 start, earning victories over North Kitsap, Sequim and Seattle Prep. But a three-game losing streak to O’Dea, Bishop Blanchet and Eastside Catholic derailed any playoff hopes.

They finished 6-4 with a win in the Metro League crossover game over West Seattle.

Bainbridge lost 18 players to graduation, including All-Metro linemen Jake Hinton, James O’Malley, Nate Draper, Josh Truan and Tom Hannuksela.

They also lost All-Metro running back Carter Williams, along with quality backups Clif McKenzie and Dan Peck.

But several returners are ready to make a name on Friday nights for the Spartans.

Senior Quinton Agosta returns to the quarterback position with junior Cameron Johnson backing him up.

Nick Stone and Max Kauffman are the two who will get the start in the backfield. The seniors combined for 872 rushing yards and nine touchdowns last year, while Stone was the leading kick returner. Neither will be eligible for the North Kitsap game, due to not having enough practices.

Senior Dane Hiett will get some time at running back as well.

Several newcomers are looking to get some time in the backfield as well, including senior Patrick Wauters, sophomores Ross Cobb and Kyle Szarzynski and junior Dayton Gilbreath

Dayton, Bryan’s younger brother, sat out last season with a broken leg, but will start at fullback for the North Kitsap game.

Alex Carter and Mike Walsh are the wideouts that Agosta will rely on along with Bryan Gilbreath at tight end.

On the line, seniors Gabe Culkin and Kyle Petheram are the lone returners, but senior Adam Tyner, junior Gary French, senior Dan Inch and junior Jethro Cotton are expected to fill the voided spots.

Several newcomers in sophomores Zane Sackett, James Herman, Kiyle Playter and Chad Kakela will get some playing time as well.

“We know they’re athletic enough,” Grimm said. “That’s why they can pick up (well) at the varsity level. They work real hard in practice and they’ve done a great job in camp.”

Culkin agreed.

“We have good guys coming in,” he said. “Nobody’s complacent about practice. Everybody’s working real hard and conditioning real hard.”

On the defensive side, Grimm said he’ll move Bryan Gilbreath from the weakside defensive end position and put him at middle linebacker. Dayton will get the start at Bryan’s old position.

Kyle Petheram, a end last year, is moving with Bryan to the linebacker position while junior Kaukia Peleti will get some playing time as well.

Johnson will line up at free safety while Agosta will start at cornerback. Walsh, Stone and Kauffman will get some playing time at the corner position as well.

With the change in the playoff allotment this year, the top three teams in each division will move onto a play-in game for the expanded 32-team state pool. Grimm thinks they’ll be fighting for a spot.

“We’ve got to take care of ourselves to be in that position and be ready,” he said. “(We need to) be ready to take those big games on and make them meaningful.”

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Spartan football

9/1 – at North Kitsap, 7 p.m.

9/8 – vs. Bremerton, 7 p.m.

9/15 – vs. Sealth, 7 p.m.

9/22 – at Eastside Catholic, 7 p.m.

9/29 – vs. O’Dea, 7 p.m.

10/7 – at Lakeside, 2 p.m.

10/13 – at Seattle Prep, 7 p.m.

10/19 – vs. Blanchet, 7 p.m.

TBD – League crossover game at Memorial Stadium in Seattle, opponent, date and time to be determined