“Ready, ready, hike!” yelled Centralia senior quarterback Cameron Erickson as Chase Sobolesky streaked downfield, juked a defender, caught a bullet pass mid-stride and coasted into Tiger Stadium’s end zone untouched.
No, this was not Nov. 1, 2019, the last time the Tigers football team played a home game. This was Friday afternoon as the Tigers and players from W.F. West, Rochester and Toledo banded together for a player-led 7-on-7 jamboree.
No coaches. No pads. No tackling. Just two-hand touch football as the sun beamed down on a surprisingly sunny mid-January afternoon in Centralia. Masks were worn by most of the players, though the competition did flout some Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) rules and guidelines, which require practices to be in pods of six or less and three-on-three drills.
The jamboree started when Centralia senior Santos Lafferty contacted senior football players from Rochester and Toledo, and then Toledo players got in touch with W.F. West, with plans of having a 7-on-7 competition.
“All the seniors wanted to get out here and get some games in before we get to play,” Erickson said. “It’s so fun, just to get back with our guys.”
The first game kicked off at 1 p.m. with Rochester taking on Toledo, then Centralia vs. Toledo in game two and finally W.F. West facing Centralia in the finale before Centralia Athletic Director Scott Chamberlain arrived at the stadium and shut the jamboree down.
Rochester junior Talon Betts, who was running receiver routes with his Warriors teammates all afternoon, said he’s optimistic about the upcoming season taking place and was grateful to get the opportunity to participate in the 7-on-7 jamboree Friday.
“We all have the same drive. We just want to get some work, and we’re trying to get ready for the season,” Betts said.
Toledo senior defensive end and back Jacob Marley, who signed to play running back for Dickinson State, was the field general for the Indians Friday, directing the defense as it fought off Rochester and Centralia in back-to-back games. He even hauled in a long-bomb touchdown reception against the Tigers.
“It feels pretty cool, especially with my dogs,” Marley said. “Toledo ain’t really a 7-on-7 team, but it’s always fun to just come out and play football. Our normal practices are once a week and we can only stay in pods of five. It’s, like, crazy.”
The jamboree came just one week after the WIAA unveiled its updated sports schedule, moving traditional fall sports to Season 1 with a Feb. 1 start date. Season 1 is planned to span seven weeks in length, beginning with practices on Feb. 1 with the season ending March 20. Season 1 sports were previously set to start March 15.
The updated schedule came after Gov. Jay Inslee’s Jan. 5 announcement of the two-phase Healthy Washington plan, which allows most high school sports to play games once a school’s region is in Phase 2. The plan breaks the state into eight regions and uses metrics to determine when the counties in each region can move through phases.
All the regions began in Phase 1 on Jan. 11. Lewis County is in the four-county West Region with Thurston, Grays Harbor and Pacific counties.
Each region must meet four metrics before moving into Phase 2. Those include:
• A 10 percent decreasing trend in case rates during the previous two-week period
• A 10 percent decrease in COVID-19 hospital admission rates during the previous two-week period
• An ICU occupancy rate that is less than 90 percent
• A test positivity rate of less than 10 percent.
In Phase 1, low-risk indoor sports may practice in groups of no more than five, while low and moderate risk outdoor sports may practice in larger groups.
In Phase 2, moderate-risk indoor sports and all outdoor sports will be allowed to play games, with a maximum of 200 spectators. Tournaments are not allowed. Low- and moderate-risk indoor sports may also hold competitions.
The West Region came close to hitting all four metric numbers in the latest Roadmap to Recovery Report released by the state Department of Health Friday:
• Trend in 14-day rate of new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population, Dec. 6–Dec. 19 vs. Dec. 20–Jan. 2: -30 percent (-1 percent last week)
• Trend in 14-day rate of new COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 population, Dec. 13–Dec. 26 vs. Dec. 27–Jan. 9: -7 percent (+3 percent last week)
• Average seven-day percent occupancy of ICU staffed beds Jan. 3–Jan. 9: West: 82 percent (86 percent last week). Statewide: 81 percent (80 percent)
• Seven-day percent positive rate of COVID-19 tests, Dec. 20–Dec. 26: 8 percent (10 percent last week). Statewide 8 percent (9 percent)
While the WIAA provided a season schedule, it has also granted each league or district around the state the ability to reschedule seasons to best fit their local communities.
Athletic directors in the 4A, 3A and 2A Greater St. Helens leagues announced Thursday and Friday that cross country, boys golf and boys tennis will begin practices on Feb. 1, following the guidelines laid out by WIAA last week.
For now, players are patiently waiting for the opportunity to play again. Official football practices are just 6 days away. Whether they’ll get a shot at playing a season remains to be seen.
Erickson remembers the exact day the Tigers played their last game, an away game against Hockinson on Nov. 9. 2019. It was the day after he asked his girlfriend out.
“I’ll always remember that day,” Erickson said. “But it’s just been too long. For real. It’s been too long. I just want to play a football game … I’m hopeful, I’ll say that. You never know what’s going to go on. We just have to go with the flow and hope and pray.”
