NEAH BAY — Neah Bay brings back most of the team that made it back to the Class 1B State Football Tournament last season, but the Red Devils have three huge pairs of shoes to fill.
And in eight-man football, replacing three starters is big.
Neah Bay graduated it’s main contributors in Keith Johnson, Jay Brunk and Billy Parkin III.
Greene said Parkin, who had a “monster game” with 300 yards rushing in a district playoff win over Tacoma Baptist and led the defense from the middle linebacker position, will be the hardest of the four to replace.
“He was our workhorse. He led us in rushing and tackles almost every game,” Coach TJ Greene said.
The good news for Neah Bay is as usual, a large number of kids are coming out for the team. Greene said 28 players attended spring scrimmages.
Last year’s team that made it to the final eight at state after a year’s absence was youthful, with most of the team made up of sophomores and freshmen. An eighth-grader, Andre Greene, even started several games last year for the Red Devils. Those young players are one year older and more experienced this season.
Johnson and Brunk brought a lot of speed to the team, but Greene pointed out the Red Devils still have a lot of burners.
The Neah Bay 4×100 relay team finished third at the state track meet in May and three out of those four kids (Toby Croy, Robert Richardson and Josey Tyree) are on the football team. The fourth member was Johnson.
“They give us some decent speed,” Greene said. All three of them play wide receiver and defensive back, with Tyree also playing a lot of snaps the past couple of years at quarterback.
At quarterback, Neah Bay’s plan is to have Meric Soeneke play behind center. The Red Devils have been forced to use numerous quarterbacks the past two years because of injuries. So, if Soeneke can’t go, Tyree does have experience at the position.
But Greene likes Tyree at the receiver position. He didn’t play much last year because he broke his hand. In fact, the past two seasons, the Red Devils have been hit hard by the injury bug.
“He’s a good leader and has a lot of size,” Greene said of Tyree.
Croy will likely get much of the workload at running back, but in eight-man football, these skill players move all over the field.
Based on what he has seen in seven on seven scrimmages, the team looks improved from last year “right from the start,” Greene said.
In addition to the skill players of Soeneke, Croy, Tyree and Richardson, the Red Devils have a lot of size on their line, with more than 900 pounds of players on their three-man line.
Returning is center O’Shea Wachendorf, who weighs in at 325 pounds. Dave Martinez hasn’t played much football, but Greene called him a great prospect at 6-foot-3 and 360 pounds. Aric Lyons, a 220-pound sophomore, will see time at the guard position.
Also returning is Andre Greene, who grabbed a hold of the starting defensive end position last year as an eighth-grader.
“If you have young guys that are your best player, you put him in there and he’ll add to it every year,” coach Greene said.
Zandel Aguirre is another newcomer, a freshman, that Red Devils fans should keep an eye on, Greene said.
“He has pretty good hands,” he said.
One of Neah Bay’s goals this year is finishing with a winning record. Despite making it to state last year, the Red Devils finished with a 5-6 mark. That’s a step down for a program that won four state championships from 2011-2016.
“We haven’t had a winning record for a couple of years now,” Greene said. “We haven’t been winning our early games.”
Last year, Neah Bay started off 1-2 and the year before that, they started off 1-4 before getting hot. Greene is looking for the Red Devils to get off to a faster start in 2019.
Neah Bay is still trying to finalize its schedule. A home game Sept. 13 against Oakville was canceled and the Red Devils are still looking for an opponent for that week to make the trip to Neah Bay so they can have four home games.
Neah Bay will again play in the Northwest Football League’s top division along with Crescent, Lummi, Darrington and Naselle again this season.
The Red Devils start on the road with a league game at Crescent (Sept. 7) and an interesting game at state semifinalist Quilcene (Sept. 21). The Red Devils get their first home game Sept. 27 against rival Lummi, then travel to Naselle Oct. 5 and Darrington Oct. 11.
They have home games Oct. 18 against Taholah and Oct. 25 against Crescent before finishing up at Lummi on Nov. 1. At the moment, that is just eight games and three homes games.
Most years, the Red Devils play up against a larger classification school for an 11-man game, but there isn’t an 11-man game scheduled as of now.
Greene expects the Oct. 5 Naselle game to be big. This was a team the Red Devils have struggled against recently, losing two contests to the Comets by wide margins last season and in the district playoffs in 2017.
“They really handled us last year,” Greene said. “They’re the team to beat on the west side [of the state].”
Odessa a wake up
In the state quarterfinal that the Red Devils qualified for after Parkin’s spectacular performance, Neah Bay ran into eventual state champion Odessa, getting beat 71-8. Greene said that loss was a wake-up call to his young players that they have to work year-round to reach the same level as Odessa.
“They put in the summer work. Getting beat the way they did by Odessa made them realize they had to put the work in [year-round],” Greene said.
Neah Bay Red Devils
• Head coach: TJ Greene, second season (5-6).
• Last year: 5-6 overall, district playoff win, lost in Class 1B state quarterfinals)
• Contributors: QB Meric Soeneke, jr. QB/DB/RB Josey Tyree sr.; OL/DL O’Shea Wachendorf, jr.; WR/DB Toby Croy, soph.; OL, DL Aric Lyons, jr. OL/DL Andre Greene, fr.
• Expected team strength: Speed. Three-quarters of Neah Bay’s 4×100 relay team that finished third in the state is on the football team. Big offensive and defensive lines should dominate.
• Question marks: Neah Bay has had difficulty staying healthy the past two years. The Red Devils also have to avoid early season stumbles. And they need to replace Billy Parkin III’s productivity.
• Game to watch: Sept. 27 in Neah Bay against rival Lummi. This game should give the Red Devils a good sense of where they stand.
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Sports Editor Pierre LaBossiere can be contacted at 360-417-3525 or plabossiere@peninsuladailynews.com.
