Big turnout provides extra boost to outlook for Colfax grid season

Blocking sled travels extra yards. With a lot of senior power returning to the Colfax Bulldog line, the blocking sled with Assistant Coach Jason Cooper aboard can really cover the yards in practice sessions. Coach Craig Culbertson is at right.

If pre-season numbers are an indicator of potential for season success, Colfax football should be off to a great start. The Bulldogs have 42 candidates out for football.

“That’s the highest turnout we’ve had in my 12 years,” Coach Mike Morgan commented. The tally is about seven players over the norm for the Bulldogs.

The lineup includes 16 freshman, nine sophomores, eight juniors and nine seniors.

Culbertson reminds players to take a sharp left after clearing the bags during agility drills at the start of Monday's on-field practice session.

“It helps everything you do at practice, every drill,” Coach Morgan commented.

Morgan credits the junior high program with turning out the freshmen for the high school team.

Colfax Monday wrapped up the two-a-day practice schedule and staged down to single practices in an after school time mode Tuesday.

Biggest plus for Colfax going into the new season is the veteran Bulldog line.

“They’re not only big and in shape, but they know their business,” Coach Morgan commented.

He noted the Colfax line this year reminds him of the front half of the Colfax teams who made it all the way to the state finals in 1997 and 2001.

Seniors Sam Mellor and Ryan Conrad return after being named all conference players for offensive and defensive lines as juniors. Tyler Morse was named to the all-conference offensive line as a junior. The Bulldogs also have Austin Neu back at center as a junior and Tuffy Hickman, also a junior, stepping up.

Lone graduate out of the line last year was Shane Riebold, now cranking up for a year of service as a state FFA officer.

Brent Conrad, now a sophomore lineman, and Kellen Morgan, a junior tight end, both return bigger and stronger this year.

Morgan was named to the conference second team as a receiver last year after his sophomore season.

Behind that veteran line the Bulldogs have Alex Teade who won all-league honors as a sophomore QB list year. Teade figures to have more time and space to make the offense click this year with Kellen Morgan, Will Hatley, Justin Berarducci and David Moore back in the receiving ranks. Damon Buck, who missed last season, is back as a junior receiver.

Kellen Morgan and JJ Robinson, who figures to play a lot of slots on the field, are also understudies at QB.

The big pre-season task for the Bulldogs will be to plug in a backfield to replace grads Ethan Smith and Joe Cammack.

Coach Morgan said he’s pretty confident the Bulldogs can come up with the runners to replace Cammack and Smith, also named all confab backs and line backers. He noted last year at this time the team needed to find running backs and the Cammack/Smith solution worked out.

Stetson Steiger, a senior recruit from the line, Tyler McNannay and Alvin Li could be the solution.

Steiger was the fourth-ranked finisher in the 2B sprint finals and figures to break open field gains through holes made by the line.

Coach Morgan noted McNannay, also an all-leaguer for his kicking last year, has a lot of misdirection moves which bode well for the upcoming season

Sophomore Li, who booked some varsity game time as a freshman runner last year, will also get a lot more time on the field this year.

Colfax will have a team scrimmage Saturday morning followed by a team potluck for parents. They’ll roll to Ritzville Sept. 4 for a jamboree and have been booked to play Freeman and Kittitas.

Pomeroy and DeSales, both out of the SE, will be at Colfax for back-to-back games when the regular season gets underway Sept. 11 and 18.

DeSales and Colfax played twice last year with the second matchup coming in the quarter-final round of the state playoffs at Kennewick.