Could Issaquah be the dark horse of KingCo 4A Crest? | HS Football

A combination of veteran players and one of the largest groups of lineman in the newly formed KingCo 4A Crest division has some coaches picking the Issaquah football team as a “dark horse,” or surprise team, this season.

Second-year head coach Chris Bennett gladly accepts the recognition from his fellow coaches, but he knows talk means nothing in what is arguably one of the toughest leagues in the state.

“Our kids feel that we’re going to be good,” he said. “The rankings are neat for them. The notoriety is neat, but we try to keep it all in perspective and know that if we don’t play well, no matter who we play ... We’re asking for trouble.”

Issaquah was 6-4 last season and advanced to a state qualifying game against Lakes, before losing 42-14. The team has gained early respect among league coaches for several reasons, including a strong core of returning running backs. Junior Grant Gellatly leads that group. The 5-foot-11, 170-pound back carried the ball 133 times for 725 yards (5.5 per carry) and had seven touchdowns last season.

“Gellatly is kind of a little of everything,” Bennett said. “He has great vision, he’s got good speed. He can be the tough runner when he needs to be and he’ll make you miss, too.”

The team also returns seniors Dustin Talley and Kyle Hanson. Talley, described as the biggest back, carried the ball 42 times for 266 yards and five TDs, while missing a significant chunk of the season with a high-ankle sprain. Hanson, more of a speed back, rushed 32 times for 181 yards and four TDs.

“We’ve got some good running backs,” Bennett said. “We need to make sure those guys get their touches.”

The running backs are helped by one of the largest offensive lines in the league. Senior left tackle Christian Rennie stands 6-foot-5, 260. He started 10 games for the Eagles last year and has already received an offer to play football for Air Force. Senior center Dillon Reagan, 6-foot-3, 275, started 10 games last year and also has had college interest. Junior right tackle Daniel Fleischman stands 6-foot-6, 250 and junior left guard Greg Finch is 5-foot-8, 230 and squats 440 pounds. In addition, 6-foot-4, 230-pound senior tight end Sean Stuby will also help fill out the line.

“We always tell our guys, bigger doesn’t always mean better, but if they can play like they’re supposed to with the backs we have, we feel pretty good,” Bennett said.

Senior quarterback Joey Bradley hasn’t started a varsity game prior to this year, but he did see time last season, throwing 34 passes for 364 yards, two TDs and four interceptions.

Bennett said he has looked sharp this summer, as he lifted the Eagles to a win at the University of Puget Sound 7-on-7 tournament and a second place finish to Skyline at the University of Washington 7-on-7 tournament.

“He has really quick feet,” Bennett said. “We’ll roll him out and we’ll sprint out with him. At the same time he’ll sit in the pocket and throw the ball. He’s ... 6-foot-2 and has a strong arm. He’s probably the most mobile quarterback feet-wise that we’ve had in a while.”

Senior receivers Brennan Miller and Ross Zuhl will likely be two of the prime targets for Bradley. The duo combined for 525 yards and three touchdowns last year.

The defense also looks strong as several of the offensive lineman will play both ways. The secondary returns three of four players, including Gellatly, Hanson and Ryan Tiernan, while sophomore linebacker Nik Landdeck is the lone returner to the linebacker core.

Special teams will see the return of sophomore second-team all-league kicker Gavin Schumaker, who was 6-for-6 on field goals and 25-for-27 on extra points last year.

While the KingCo 4A Crest league will present several large challenges in Skyline, Eastlake, Redmond, Newport and Garfield, one of the largest obstacles the Eagles could face this year is not being able to play at their home field. Due to construction at Issaquah High School, home games may be moved to Mount Si in October. All home games were originally slated to be played at Mount Si starting in September. School officials announced Wednesday, however, that all September contests for football and volleyball will take place at IHS because construction schedules changed.

Facilities and construction progress will be reevaluated in the beginning of September.

Bennett said he’s pleased by the way his team has handled the possibility of not playing at home part of the season.

“They understand just because we’re not going to play here, it’s not going to impact our season,” he said. “People will say ‘Oh you’ve got to travel,’ but it’s Mount Si, it’s only a couple of exits up the road. They have a great facility. The field’s 100 yards long, there’s two goal posts. It’s football, we’ve just got to go play.”

Issaquah kicks off its season at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 4 at Bothell.

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