RAINIER — The Rainier Mountaineers feel like they’re in a different position than the custom.
In a typical year following the graduation of a hefty group of seniors, head coach Andy Bartell understands that there will typically be some growing pains with the rebuild.
This isn’t one of those years, even after the graduation of three program leaders in Jake Meldrum, Hunter Howell and Kieler Jackson.
Only a small number of position groups will face learning curves this fall, but the rest boast depth and experience, giving Bartell and his staff confidence that the Mountaineers won’t miss a beat.
“With those guys being gone, it’s sad on one hand, but on the other hand, it gives these guys an opportunity to step up and take over that leadership role,” Bartell said. “It’ll be a different look for us. It’s a fresh start. That’s what our motto has been. It’s a fresh start — a new group of seniors that are able to bring a different skill set, so let’s maximize that skill set. That’s what our game plan is.”
Rainier has no doubts about where its leadership will come from, as seniors Dorien Cano and Jayden Alegarbes are two pillars of the program. Bartell even told them back in their sophomore year that someday they could “take the team over.”
With that aspect established, the Mountaineers have been working all summer to identify who their starting quarterback will be. Oddly enough, Bartell may not even know that answer until Week 3; he wants to give both freshman Jackson Stockdale and junior Bryce Keller reps during Rainier’s nonleague games the first two weeks. Sophomore Riley Lynch will also be in the running for reps after backing up Meldrum last fall.
“Jackson took most of the reps at camp and has shown that he can handle it, but it’s a lot different when the lights are on,” Bartell said. “[Bryce] is not too foreign to the position. He brings an element where he can run the ball a little bit. He’s a bigger kid who can play some fullback when he’s not at the quarterback position. We’ll give each guy reps in games just to see how they react and who runs the offense the best.”
Cano and Alegarbes are the thunder and lightning, respectively, of the Mountaineers offense; Cano is a one-man wrecking ball who can break through tackles while Alegarbes is a threat to touch paydirt any time the ball is in his hands.
“I feel like at first we’ll struggle a little bit because there’s not a lot of chemistry right now, but this is a strong team mentally and physically,” Cano said.
The two seniors will run behind one of the bigger offensive lines Rainier has seen, led by Yelm transfer left tackle Kaynen “Tootsie” Barger, Bartell’s nephew. A 6-foot-1, 305-pound sophomore, Barger has starting experience for a 4A state playoff team and also has a state powerlifting championship to his name.
However, Barger is ineligible to play for the first four games of the season due to transfer rules, but he will eventually be a problem for defensive linemen along with an experienced offensive line featuring three-year starters.
“I want to make it to state. I want to win state,” Barger said. “I want to bring a strive to be great like Yelm had. I want to bring that to Rainier now.”
On defense, Barger will man the middle of the defensive front, with Blake Roberts, Dominic Cano and Elliott Drake filling the other spots. Cano, Keller and Christian White will be the run-stoppers at linebacker, and the secondary will feature three seniors in Alegarbes, Jordan Pringle and Kaden Goodman. On special teams, Alegarbes will likely be the best kick returner in the league, if not the 2B level.
The Mountaineers have been curbstomped in the district crossover game each of the last two seasons, losing 42-12 to Pe Ell-Willapa Valley in 2023 and Adna 69-12 last year. In a loaded Central 2B League, Rainier hopes to be one of the contenders to punch a state berth, which would be its first since 2019.
“If we keep that attacking mindset, we should be able to compete with them,” Bartell said. “We’ve always kind of been around for maybe the first quarter and played tough sometimes into the second quarter, but then we just wear down. We want our tempo to be up so that way we don’t wear down and we can still be around in the second half of games.”
