An old football axiom holds that if you aren’t big, you had better be fast.

That’s crucial for this year’s Bonney Lake High football team, which possesses an abundance of speed.

It’s hoped the Panthers’ quickness will swiftly erase the disappointing memory of losing 30-16 to O’Dea High in the preliminary round of the Class 3A playoffs a season ago, a loss that concluded a respectable 6-3 campaign.

With five home games on this year’s docket, coach Chad Barrett is hoping Panther fans will enjoy the team’s no-huddle, spread offense.

“It is thrilling for our players to have the opportunity to play before the large crowds that come out, make a lot of noise and root on the Panthers,” explained Barrett, who added that this year’s contingent will be one the Bonney Lake faithful can certainly be proud of.

The regular season commences with three straight Friday home affairs set in the friendly confines of Sunset Chev Stadium. The opener will be By Brenda Sexton

Staff Writer

Although it’s been several months, Sumner High’s football squad hopes to feed off the late-season run it made in 2009 – the Spartans are hungry for a league title and postseason play.

“Where Unstoppable Starts” is the theme.

The 2010 campaign gets under way at 7 p.m. Thursday at Auburn Memorial Stadium against Auburn Mountainview.

It’s a fitting start since it was the Spartans’ Oct. 21 victory over the Lions that sparked the wave of momentum. The Spartans, winless to that point, won three of their last four contests to finish at 3-7 overall.

Coach Keith Ross, starting his ninth year at the helm, thinks the Spartans’ maturity, experience, offseason work ethic and move to the South Puget Sound League 2A will make a difference.

“Things are really looking up here at Sumner,” Ross said.

“We’re talking league champs, which we usually don’t talk about, but we’re talking about it this year,” Ross said.

It’s literally a whole new league for Sumner.

The Spartans, along with fellow SPSL 3A Clover Park, Franklin Pierce and White River, make the move to the SPSL 2A classification this fall. Rounding out the league will be former Nisqually League members Eatonville, Fife, Steilacoom and Washington.

“It should be a pretty good race this first year,” Ross said. “There’s no clear-cut favorite like Lakes.”

“Fife and Eatonville have been great double-A teams.”

The smaller classification isn’t hampering turnout. When all is said and done, Ross expects 85 on the field, many freshmen and sophomores who will get their experience on the C-team, but 18 returning starters in key positions.

Running offensive coordinator Mike Ernaga’s offense will be 6-foot-4, 190-pound Aaron Clark. The junior has been barking signals for the Spartans for the past two years.

“We’re looking at him to be the best quarterback in the league,” Ross said.

He’ll have an experience line to protect him.

“They’re all back,” Ross said, including all-league, second-team, senior Sean Dorfler. “All six are back and bigger and stronger.”

Clark will have a strong receiving group, Ross said – one of the deepest in recent history. A group of veterans will be joined by twin-tower transfers Dan and Dave DeVries.

But the Spartans’ strength will be its defense with three-year starter, senior Cody Haavik at linebacker.

Haavik, a 5-10, 190-pound, first-team, all-league selection led the league in tackles with 112, was second in sacks and third in tackles for loss.

“He knows the defense as well as I do,” said Ross, who serves as the team’s defensive coordinator.

Defensive lineman Ben Taua, a three-year starter, currently sideline with an ankle sprain, also returns, as does Tyler Salisbury at linebacker.

Back this year are also Joey Ziegler, who started as a sophomore, and sat out last season with a back injury, and Talis Abolins, who started as a sophomore but took last year off to concentrate on his advanced studies. He was a two-way starter and kick returner.

If there’s a downside, it’s the loss of all-league punter Zach Powers who moved to Virginia. But special teams will be boosted by the return of senior Peter Marth, who in addition to receiving and defensive back duties, returns kicks and punts.

Friday at 7 p.m. against White River, a Class 2A school this year. The next two Fridays feature local rival Sumner High and the Foss High Falcons.

The Panther story begins with the experience and speed that Bonney Lake boasts at the majority of its skill positions. At receiver the Panthers are fortunate to put senior targets Austin Marshall, Lee Bogan and Nathan Day on the field. Athletic White River senior transfer Markus Kaelin will round out the receiving corp.

In the backfield, tailback Tyler Babukus is a shifty, slashing speed merchant and fellow senior D.J. Williams is a human battering ram, perfectly suited for converting in those short yardage situations. The alternate back that makes up the three-headed ground attack is junior Joey Surber.

Orchestrating the show will be sophomore quarterback Chris Brown, who Barrett called a worthy and adept candidate to take over the quarterbacking duties. “He has a great arm and has grown up playing the position, so there is no doubt in my mind that he is the guy to lead the offense,” Barrett said.

And how does Barrett intend to give Brown enough time to find his open receivers?

“The offensive line is a huge priority for us, because everything begins and ends with the guys blocking up front,” he said. “If you can’t protect your QB or make holes for your running backs to zip through, you just aren’t going to be very successful.”

The Panther linemen are inexperienced as a whole, but Barrett likes the way they have jelled during workouts.

Defensively, Barrett maintains that the speed factor will be equally devastating for Panther foes week in and week out.

“From our defensive front, to our linebackers, to our defensive backs we are extremely quick,” Barrett said.

The Panther coach figures the league will be tough again this year.

“Last year Peninsula, Enumclaw, Lakes and Bonney Lake all made it to the postseason and Auburn Mountainview will have a new head coach this season,” he said. “The unknown element is going to be the newcomer to the league in Decatur. The Gators were Class 4A in 2009 and, as an opposing coach, that is about all I need to realize.”