PREP FOOTBALL PREVIEW: Shorecrest Hoping to Maintain Momentum of 2010

The Shorecrest football team has not had much success in recent years. Since the days of running back Jesse Hoffman (currently with the Seattle Seahawks) in 2006, the Scots have failed to post a winning season, winning as many as five games only once.

But 2010 added some hope that Shorecrest may be returning to the level of competition that saw them advance to the state tournament in 2005 and 2006. Shorecrest finished the season at 4-5, but posted a winning record in the WesCo conference, its first since 2006.

Shorecrest will be facing an uphill battle in maintaining that kind of WesCo success. The Scots return just eight starters from the 2010 squad and will be playing inexperienced sophomores and juniors at many key positions.

Shorecrest should get some help from the small, but game-tested group of seniors on the roster. On the defensive side, 265- pound middle linebacker Ian Bolstad will attempt to anchor a group that will feature many first-time starters.

“From a defensive standpoint, it’s a whole new team out there," head coach Brandon Christensen said. "So we’re going to have some bright-eyed kids out there. We’re dealing a little adversity, but there’s a lot of heart on this team and a lot of seniors that have taken the time and put the effort in.””

Offensively, the Scots have already taken a major hit, losing left guard Brandon Mills to a dislocated shoulder in the first full-contact practice of the season. Mills was expected to team with right guard Bolstad on the offensive line to open up running holes for the new running backs.

“We felt pretty good about our running game and without him in there, it’s going to come down to a young kid probably getting a lot more repetitions," Christensen said. "You don’t really know what you’re going to get with a sophomore in that kind of spot until Friday night.”

At quarterback will be a familiar name for Shorecrest fans. Ted Hammond enters his third varsity season with lofty expectations after a solid junior season. But Christensen warned that Hammond will have to depend on the rest of his offense stepping up more so than in recent years.

“While Ted is a phenomenal, fundamental quarterback, he knows the offense in and out, he’s the extra set of eyes and ears out on the field, he needs the other ten guys on offense to step up and play hard and help him do what he can do best.”

That concern runs through almost everything Shorecrest is projecting for the season. The inexperience of the starting unit means that the Scots will almost have to use the season as one long learning experience.

“I can tell you we will be a whole different team experience-wise and the type of style and everything we play from September 2^nd until we play our final game…they will be two different night and day teams,' Christensen said.

Ultimately the success of the Scots season will come down to how well the unproven new starters step into their roles. But Christensen said the success of the 2010 campaign has changed the environment in his program.

“Our kids have that expectation now that ‘we’re not a doormat anymore’, we go into each game expecting to win it," Christensen said. "Whether we have 35 guys suited up or 64 guys suited up, our goal is the same. We want to win the WesCo title and we want to get into the state playoffs and we want to take a shot and everything we can do to be a state championship team.”

Shorecrest opens up the season at home Friday, Sept. 2 against Meadowdale at 7 pm.