The EMAK Report. The 2017 Knights demonstrated what EMAK Football is all about. Photo by Dianna Roach

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1 The EMAK Report The 2017 Knights demonstrated what EMAK Football is all about Photo by Dianna Roach December 15, 2017

2 The EMAK Report The EMAK Report: Volume 8 Issue 10 K I N G S H I G H S C H O O L F O O T B A L L B U I L D I N G C H A M P I O N S W H I L E P U R S U I N G C H A M P I O N S H I P S December 15, 2017 The 2017 Knights went out like men Their mental toughness was put to the test..they passed By Sam Roach It was one of those halves of football. It was a playoff game on the road in Deming, Washington, home of the Mount Baker Mountaineers. Four inches of snow had fallen the night before and, although the field was clean, it was still crisp and cold. The Mountaineers celebrated senior night on their field just before kickoff. Then the game started and for twenty four minutes, as far as the Knights were concerned, everything that possibly could have gone wrong, did. Down 31 to 0 at the half, they went into the locker room to regroup. On the one hand, it had been one of those kinds of seasons. At the beginning of the 2017 campaign, during the first week of spring practice in June, Coach Shapiro had recognized that his team needed to develop mental toughness and he and the rest of the coaching staff began to preach that message. At the time he had no idea that circumstances would assist him in reinforcing that message. During team camp, the Knights line was operating short handed and the running backs subbed in at guard when they weren t playing their normal position. Linemen like Ryan Dent and David Galloway never left the field some days. At the end of the day, they did what they had to do to make it work. Then came the regular season. Beginning with Atley Shapiro s high ankle sprain suffered in the first defensive series of the Burlington - Edison game, in Coach Shapiro s words, we had ten years worth of injuries in one season. It s a well known fact that everyone says they want to be mentally tough until it comes time to actually be mentally tough and then many aren t so sure about that process. For many players on the Knight s squad it would have been easy, especially late in the season, to just mentally check out and get ready for the next endeavor, whatever that was, however, this team stayed the course. Camden Hauck for example, after suffering a concussion at Granite Falls, came back determined to finish what he started. It came down to choices. In retrospect, choices is what the second half at Mount Baker was all about. It was a calm locker room, not a lot of yelling and nobody got chewed out. Shapiro talked a little bit about adjustments but not much. It was mostly about a choice that the Knights had to make. They could either pack their bags and go home or they could play a second half of football that they could be proud of. They could either choose to show that they were mentally tough or they could choose to demonstrate that they hadn t learned anything in four years. It was up to them. They chose mental toughness. King s went toe to toe with Mount Baker in the second half. Early in the third quarter, Brennon Blevins scored on an 18 yard run and Jace Fransen added the PAT to put the Knights on the board. Mount Baker had done whatever they pleased during the first half passing for 133 yards and rushing for another 123. In the second half, the Mountaineers were limited to 102 yards of total offense. King s defense, led by Logan Perrigo and Jerad Stretton with twelve tackles apiece and Atley Shapiro, Chase Root and Jace Fransen with six tackles each, was stingy. In addition, defensive tackle Taylor Schoenfeld made his presence felt and drew three Mount Baker holding penalties in the second half prompting Shapiro to tell the senior, Taylor, he wants your shirt. Take him to Target and buy him a gift card. Offensively, in the second half, King s moved the ball like they knew they were capable of moving it. Blevins completed eight of fourteen passes for 118 yards spreading the ball to five different receivers including a thirty yard strike to Root in the third quarter that set up King s first score. If there was any question concerning whether the 2017 King s Knights had become mentally tough the final four minutes of the 2017 season erased all doubt. Trailing 45-7, Blevins found the end zone again on a seven yard run. King s tacked on a two point conversion when Blevins hit Schoenfeld on a tackle eligible pass in the back side flat. When the scoreboard horn sounded for the final time, the Knights, while disappointed that the season was over, they held their heads high. They had played a half of football that they were proud of. They had outscored Mount Baker They went out like men.

3 The EMAK Report: Individual Awards All photographs appear courtesy of Dianna Roach Taylor Schoenfeld Second Team All Area Offensive Line First Team All Conference Offensive Line and Defensive Line

4 The EMAK Report: Individual Awards All photographs appear courtesy of Dianna Roach First Team All Conference Awards Jace Fransen (4) Wide Receiver and Kicker Taylor Schoenfeld (79) Offensive and Defensive Line Johnathan Chen (12) Secondary Jerad Stretton (54) Linebacker

5 The EMAK Report: Individual Awards All photographs appear courtesy of Dianna Roach Second Team All Conference Awards Brennon Blevins (7) Wide Receiver John Hollinrake (50) Offensive Line Atley Shapiro (14) Secondary Avery Hamann (53) Defensive Line Logan Perrigo (27) Linebacker and Running Back Levi Bundrant (8) Wide Receiver

6 The EMAK Report: Individual Awards Individual Awards as Voted by the Team Varsity Offense MVP - Brennon Blevins Varsity Offense Skilled Player - Camden Hauck Varsity Defense MVP - Jonathan Chen Varsity Defense Skilled Player - Atley Shapiro Varsity Defense Skilled Player - Jerad Stretton Varsity Offense and Defense Lineman - Taylor Schoenfeld Varsity Special Teams MVP - Jonathan Chen Varsity Most Improved - Max Lane Varsity Every Man A Knight & Varsity Coaches Award - Logan Perrigo JV Offense MVP - Casey Needham JV Offense Skilled Player - Lachlan McGregor JV Offense Lineman - Ryan Dent JV Defense MVP - Josiah Siers JV Defense Skilled Player - Davis Campbell JV Defense Lineman - Keenan Schott JV Every Man A Knight - Ben Edwards JV Every Man A Knight - Anthony Scherrer JV Coaches Award - Isaiah Bullock