The 2012 high school football season begins on the North Olympic Peninsula with two games featuring area teams facing off.
Chimacum travels to Forks in 1A nonleague action tonight, and Quilcene plays at Crescent in Joyce for a 1B nonleague match-up Saturday.
The rest of the area teams play on the road as far away as Idaho in Sequim’s case.
On Friday, Neah Bay begins its state title defense on the road against Taholah, Port Angeles plays W.F. West in Chehalis and Port Townsend begins the new Nick Snyder era at Klahowya in Silverdale.
Sequim journeys to Pocatello, Idaho, to play a team with a potato for a mascot in the Rocky Mountain Rumble on Saturday.
Clallam Bay has a bye and won’t play its first game until next Friday.
The big story of tonight’s Forks and Chimacum game is who won’t be there.
Both teams will open their season without their standout running backs.
Cowboys head coach Shawn Meacham said Mel Thornton won’t suit up for the Cowboys due to a scheduling conflict.
Thornton will be back for Chimacum’s second game against Klahowya.
For the Spartans, the loss of their star is permanent.
During a football camp at Linfield College in June, Shane WhiteEagle made a cut on a sweep and tore his ACL.
“He’s so tough, he played three more plays before coming out,” Forks head coach Mark Feasel said.
Unfortunately, it takes more than toughness to fix an ACL. WhiteEagle had surgery and is out for the season.
It’s an unfortunate ending to an outstanding career.
WhiteEagle was the Spartans’ leading rusher last year and was selected to the All-SWL-Evergreen Division first team.
However, Thornton’s absence might be the bigger blow.
After missing Chimacum’s first six games in 2011, Thornton came on strong, scoring seven touchdowns in four games.
But what the Cowboys will miss the most is the human body that would occupy Thornton’s helmet, uniform and pads.
As of last week, Chimacum only had 19 players come out for football this season.
Uncommon foes
As if the voids of WhiteEagle and Thornton didn’t provide enough mystery, both teams enter tonight’s game largely unfamiliar with each other.
The Spartans and Cowboys haven’t faced each other since 2009, when Forks won 18-6.
Even if most of the players who participated in that game hadn’t graduated in the intervening years, film from that game won’t reveal much because of the overhaul Feasel has given Forks since taking over last year.
Chimacum hasn’t seen Feasel’s version of the Wing-T offense, and Feasel has never faced Meacham and the Cowboys.
“I do know they’re well-coached, they’re athletic, and they play hard,” Feasel said.
“They’re going to come to play.”
Even without WhiteEagle and Thornton, both offenses will likely rely on the run.
The Spartans have tabbed the duo of Mitch Leppell and sophomore Dimitri Sampson to replace WhiteEagle.
Though neither has much experience, Feasel is excited about their potential.
Forks also has two running quarterbacks in Braden Decker and Mark Jacobson.
Though quarterback Alex Morris will be in charge of keeping the Cowboys’ flex option efficient, Chimacum’s hopes might rest on the shoulders of players who won’t carry the ball — namely, Darryl Settlemire and Seth Ham.
As key cogs on Chimacum’s offensive and defensive lines, it will be up to Settlemire and Ham to open holes for the Cowboys and plug them when Forks has the ball.
Sequim vs. Shelley, Idaho
POCATELLO, Idaho — The Wolves open the season in uncharted territory.
Not only is it their first-ever match-up with the Shelley Russets, but they’re also beginning their season outside of Washington state for the first time.
Sequim will face Shelley at Holt Arena in Pocatello, Idaho, on Saturday in the Rocky Mountain Rumble, which features three Idaho teams playing against teams from Utah and Washington.
The Wolves’ spread offense will be led by Jack Wiker, who has moved over to quarterback permanently after finishing the season there when Olympic League co-MVP Frank Catelli went down with an injury.
Lopaka Yasumura will get the bulk of the carries.
If the offense has one question mark, it is the inexperienced offensive line, but Sequim head coach Erik Wiker said he expects it to perform as well as last year’s line did.
Shelley has won four 3A state championships in the last 10 years.
This year, the team has a new coach, Travis Hobson, and a new offensive system, switching from the wing-T to a spread.
Wiker anticipates the Russets will employ both offenses in equal amounts Saturday.
The Shelley offense is off to a solid start so far, putting up 42 points in a 42-14 win over Idaho Falls last week.
Wide receiver McKay Cannon caught eight passes for 268 yards and five touchdowns.
The Sequim-Shelley game can be watched online at http://www.idahosports.com. Kickoff is at 1 p.m.
Neah Bay at Taholah
TAHOLAH — Neah Bay begins the defense of its 1B state championship by traveling to Taholah to face the Chitwhins.
Most of the starters from last year’s title team return for Neah Bay, including quarterback Josiah Greene, who was the 1B state player of the year in 2011.
Red Devils head coach Tony McCaulley expects the Chitwhins’ misdirection run game to provide a stiff challenge.
“They’re one of the toughest teams in the south [division],” McCaulley said.
“They’re pretty good, a team we could see in the playoffs this year.”
McCaulley said Taholah has added a few transfers this season that should help it improve on last year’s 5-4 record.
Port Angeles
at W.F. West
CHEHALIS — The Roughriders, who lost a ton of starting seniors from last year’s 6-4 team, will have their hands full against the perennial state-caliber W.F. West, which lost in the state 1A semifinals last year.
The game starts at 7 p.m.
“This game will be a challenge for us,” Port Angeles coach Tom Wahl said.
“We’re looking to show our guys the level of play we’re aspiring to be at. We want to show them right away how we stack up against a team like W.F. West and what we need to do to improve.”
Port Townsend
at Klahowya
SILVERDALE — The Redskins open the new Nick Snyder era tonight at the Eagles beginning at 7:30.
Snyder was the head coach in Port Townsend during the 2000-2002 seasons.
The Redskins, 0-9 last year, are still young with only four seniors on the team.
Quilcene at Crescent
JOYCE — The Loggers eliminated the Rangers from the playoffs in the final regular-season game last year.
“We’re looking forward to this game after losing to them last year,” Quilcene coach Nic Dahl said.
“We would like to start our year better than the way we ended it last year.”
The Rangers could have their work cut out for them, though, with only 11 players eligible for the game and no room for error.
Some players don’t have enough practices in to be able to compete while one athlete is ill and five are suspended for two games for breaking team rules.
Crescent made the playoffs last year and finished 6-4 while Quilcene concluded the season at 4-5.