Loggers Look to Roll Competition

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ONALASKA — The walls of the coaches office at Onalaska High School is a mishmash of knickknacks, historic photos and yellowing newspaper clippings. While a crew of football men occupy the office these days, at least half the space is reserved for basketball memorabilia since the space is shared by the two programs as the seasons dictate.

Such is the life of a small town coach.

This year though the Loggers football team is looking to make the right moves to establish itself as the pride of Onalaska.

“There’s a buzz in the hallways,” said Loggers coach Mazen Saade, who counted 36 players at the end of Week 2. “Onalaska has always been a football town and people are really starting to get excited about football again.”

Last year, Onalaska finished 3-3 in SWW 2B Mountain Division play and 5-4 overall to earn a spot in the crossover playoffs where they were defeated by Kalama on the Chinooks’ run to a state title. That team was powered primarily by a class of overachieving sophomores. This year that group is seasoned and ready to put their experience to work.

“We all had to fill in our spots early,” said Lucas Kreger, a junior who will return to his spots at quarterback and linebacker, in reference to his classmates that assumed a heap of varsity responsibility last year as underclassmen. “As long as we continue to work hard and practice like champs we’ll be alright.”

Kreger said the team is determined to contend for a conference title.

A quarterback built in the mold of Mighty Mouse, Kreger has limited opportunities to throw the ball due to the ground-and-pound nature of Onalaska’s triple-option offense. Last year Kreger averaged more than 8 yards per carry for a total of 627 yards and six touchdowns. He also completed 30 of 50 passes for 515 yards and five touchdowns.

The Loggers believe Kreger can air it out when he needs to, and Saade is at least pretending that the Loggers will look to throw the ball more often this year.

“If it’s there, then we're going to throw the ball more so than in years past,” insisted Saade. “This is the first year in awhile that we’ve had a guy who can read it and actually throw it.”

Setting up those opportunistic pass plays will be a double-trailer load of assorted rushing attempts. That ground game will be powered by the locomotive bursts of fullback Ashton Haight, who last year rushed for more than 1,400 yards at 7.5 yards a clip and punched in 14 touchdowns. The backfield will also feature a likely three-headed tailback crew with Hazen Inman, Cade Lawrence and Dyllon Dublin. Lawrence will also serve as the team’s backup quarterback.

The Loggers rush attack will depend on a big push from their linemen and Saade has been encouraged by the effort of that unit in the early going.

“We’re really excited about our offensive line,” said Saade. “We’ve got some big boys and they like to hit.”

An early sketch of that offensive line has B.J. Cleveland Barrera, a sophomore, returning to his spot at center, along with Kayden Allison at tight end. The Loggers will need to replace one guard and a tackle battle kept things interesting in camp. Spencer Hamilton, a sophomore, will hold down the left guard spot and Tristen Lawrence, who returns to the team after a one year hiatus, has thrust himself into the conversation for one of the open spots.



“He has been an absolute bright spot on the offensive line. He likes the job,” said Saade.

Whenever the Loggers do get around to putting the ball in the air, Kyle Hamilton is as likely as anyone to come down with it. Newcomers Matt Kurzeika and Cole Christensen are also expected to get time at wide receiver, while Kreger will also be able to hit Allison and Alex Frazier in their tight end routes.

Still, surely as the sun will rise in the east, the Loggers will lean on their run game to grind out victories. Last year the team rushed for an average of nearly 330 yards per game.

“The reality is everyone knows what we are going to run and we know what they are going to run,” said Saade. “We have to get better and do things better than we did before… We’ve got to go back to work and be Loggers.”

Perhaps most important to the team’s success this year, according to Saade, will be limiting turnovers and penalties on offense, particularly in the red zone.

“I think holding on to the football is a big thing,” said Haight, who noted that the Loggers coaching staff has challenged the team to limit their mental mistakes this season.

Kreger agreed in the merits of that goal.

“We know we can move the ball. We realize it's just taking it the rest of the way to the endzone,” said Kreger.

Defensively the Loggers are also set up for a season of success thanks to their battle tested players. Onalaska will run a 4-4 front with familiar faces donning gold helmets at most positions.

“We return a lot of guys at a lot of positions,” said Saade.

Those returners include Kayden Allison at defensive end, Barrera at tackle, Inman at linebacker, Cade Lawrence at cornerback, Haight at safety, along with Kreger and Frazier at outside linebacker positions. Of those returners Inman posted the most impressive statistics last year with 23 tackles total, half of which were for a loss.

Saade said that Dyllon Dublin, along with Kolby Mozingo are both expected to play snaps at free safety and linebacker, respectively.

Both Haight and Kreger are confident that their team is fortified by their shared experience and stand primed to work opponents over this year. Looking down the line the two juniors were most excited for some of the toughest matchups on their schedule.

“We’re pretty excited to play Adna and Napavine but the big one we picked up this year is Wahkiakum, which is nice because they will bring us a different look,” said Kreger.