Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Colton returns to the football field this fall with new faces – a coach, aassistant and a quarterback after its slated starter, senior Jon Bean, moved to Nampa, Idaho with his family two weeks ago.
The team lost 13-year coach Clark Vining from last year, and for players; Luke Vining, Parker Druffel and Reece Chadwick, all to graduation.
The Wildcats’ new coach is Jim Moehrle, Colton’s athletic director, who stepped in after the school received no applications for the open job.
Moehrle, though, has 16 years’ experience as an assistant under three coaches at Colton; Tim Sperber, Ray Hobbs and Vining.
The team has 16 players out for 2019, a mix of a few experienced kids and others who have a year here and a year there of football, coming back to the program after time away.
Returning are four starters: senior running back/defensive back Chris Wolf, who will now be a quarterback, with no experience at the position; Jackson Meyer, another senior, will return at center/defensive line, and junior Trent Druffel returns at running back/defensive back, who may play quarterback, too.
“Maybe a platoon-type situation to start with,” said Moehrle.
Sophomore Jaxon Moehrle will play right guard and defensive line/linebacker.
New faces expected to play key roles are Kelton Devlin, junior; Brady Pecora, junior; Grant Wolf, freshman, and twins Wyatt and Angus Jordan, both freshman.
Where everyone will play is being decided.
“It’s definitely a learning process right now,” Moehrle said.
The team will complete in an expanded Southeast 1B league this year for football, adding four teams; Tekoa/Rosalia, which will play 8-man again on approval by the WIAA; Lyle/Wishram; Yakama Tribal, and DeSales, a bigger school playing down at 8-man, which will not be eligible for playoffs.
Rounding out the league are regular Southeast 1B members Pomeroy, Touchet, Sunnyside Christian and St. John/Endicott/LaCrosse. Garfield/Palouse does not have a team this year.
Colton will play its first game of the year Sept. 6 at home against SJEL, in what will count as non-league.
“We’ve got the next week and a half of trying to figure out where we’re gonna get our best athletes on the field right now,” Moehrle said.
The team’s first league game is Sept. 13 at home against DeSales
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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