Key Players
OL Sam Watson (5’11, 230, ’16) – Watson will be a key along an offensive line where he is the only returning regular starter. He’s smart, he plays a physical brand of football and the coaches rely on him for his leadership skills.
QB Erik Lind (6’4, 200, ’16) – Lind returns after a solid junior season. He has a nice frame and that ability to be a threat as a runner, however, the coaches are looking for him to stay in the pocket and get the ball to his receivers down the field.
DL Tyler McDonald (6’2, 225, ’16) – MP likes their guys to go one way if at all possible, but McDonald is a guy who could play on both sides of the ball. However, the likelihood is that he will start along the defensive line and be a difference-maker up front for the Tomahawks.
LB Daryl Cerdino (5’10, 200, ’16) – Cerdino is one of three starters returning on defense and he’ll be counted on to be a leader from his middle linebacker spot where he posted over 50 tackles last season.
OL Jerrod Lee (6’1, 225, ’16) — Lee looks like the prototypical high school offensive lineman with his quick feet, aggressive nature and solid athleticism. His lack of size won’t get him recruited by many colleges, but he’ll be a nice addition to the starting offensive line this fall.
Overview
Marysville Pilchuck head coach Brandon Carson has his work cut out for him this fall.
Aside from having to replace the State Player of the Year (Austin Joyner), he also needs to replace all but five of his 22 starters.
“We’re going to be inexperienced, but honestly, I am excited about my guys,” Carson said. “We’ve had a great offseason and I think we have a really good group of kids. We’ll need to outwork everyone since we are so inexperienced, but I think, as the season goes along, we could be a pretty tough team.”
Carson has senior quarterback Eric Lind (6’4, 200) back to run the offense. The senior is a solid leader with enough athleticism to be a dual threat in the offense.
The tailback position will be handled by a committee this fall.
Leading the way are juniors Dino Fajardo (5’10, 180), Keshaun King (5’9, 185) and Garrett Anderson (5’10, 180) who all bring the ability to get into space and make people miss.
Sophomores Ray Pimentel (5’9, 160) and Justin Trueax (5’10, 175) will also see carries as well.
Receiver has two returning players — seniors Tristen Southard (5’9, 180) and Trent Tingelstad (6’0, 175) — but the rest of the wideout spots are up for grabs.
Along the offensive line, senior center Sam Watson leads the way and he will be joined, in some capacity, by seniors Jerrod Lee (6’1, 225) and Riley Hougan (5’10, 190).
Defensively, senior Tyler McDonald (6’2, 225) is the big name up front. From his defensive end spot, he can get after the quarterback or he can move inside and stop the run.
Seniors Brenton Cooley (5’11, 230) and Austin Brown (5’8, 235) will handle the defensive tackle positions.
The linebackers are led by seniors Daryl Cerdino (5’10, 200) and Dylen Boomer (5’9, 175).
The secondary will have newcomer senior Jaime Hernandez (6’1, 180) at one of the safety spots and the coaches couldn’t be more excited to see him on the field this fall.
The other three positions will all be decided during fall camp.
The Bottom Line: Last season, behind a very good senior class, the Tomahawks went all the way to the state semi-finals where they lost a heartbreaker to Bellevue, 20-10. This season, Carson and his staff have a lot of inexperienced talent that could wind up being pretty good. They likely won’t go as far as they did last season, but there’s no reason to think they won’t be able to play for the WESCO 3A title at the end of the regular season.
Key Games
Vs. Lake Stevens (9/11)
Vs. O’Dea (9/18)
Vs. Oak Harbor (10/23)
