Kingbowl -- In Prosser, Football Is Way Of Life

When Scott Kukes gets hungry, his ego gets fed.

Trips to the Prosser Food Depot, one of only two main grocery stores in town, net snacks for the stomach and strokes for the soul.

"When you have a good game and you go to the store, you walk up and down the aisles and everybody just walks up to you and calls you by your first name and just start talking to you," said Kukes (pronounced KU-kus). "That kind of makes you feel good. Everybody knows who you are."

Celebrity status, and some pressure, goes with the territory when you play football for the powerful Prosser High School Mustangs.

Even when you're a lineman, like Kukes.

In a town of fewer than 5,000 people, with no movie theaters and one high school, Fridays mean football. And winning. The top-ranked Mustangs (12-0) bring a 25-game winning streak into Kingbowl XVII Saturday seeking a second straight Class AA title, against No. 4 Gig Harbor (12-0) at 5 p.m. at the Kingdome.

"In a small community like this we're the big show," Prosser Coach Tom Moore said. "You could have a great high-school game over there against two Renton schools and nobody knows it's going on. It's not a big deal. Here, it is."

Moore arrived from Chicago in 1986, taking over a program that had grown mediocre since winning a "mythical" state football title in 1969, when there were no state playoffs. After going an acceptable 4-5 that first season under Moore, Prosser dropped to Class A the next season (the school has jumped back and forth between A and AA with fluctuating enrollments) and began the current streak of seven consecutive playoff appearances.

Along the way, the love affair with football has heated up in this town, which lies between Yakima and the Tri-Cities. And with that love have come expectations.

"No question about it, there is pressure in a town like this," said Moore, whose eight-year record is 71-17. "When a player here goes to the store, everyone knows who he is, what position he plays and how he played Friday night."

Quarterback Aaron Sonnichsen, who hears his weekly reviews at Grace Brethren Church on Sundays, said, "People have been real supportive." But Kukes has had Friday nights when he didn't want to face potential critics at McDonald's, the postgame hangout.

"You might have a bad block or miss a tackle and everybody sees that, and you just think, `I just want to go home tonight,' " he said.

Sometimes, even winning isn't enough.

At halftime Saturday, Prosser was tied with Kennedy, 7-7.

"At that point, we've got a couple thousand people in the stands trying to help us call plays," said Kevin Lusk, Prosser athletic director and assistant football coach who was a standout quarterback at Tyee High School and the University of Oregon. "Who knows what's going to happen when we lose a game, but it's a fun thing to have to worry about."

The Mustangs went on to give their crowd a 33-7 victory. Afterward, though, Moore had to soothe his sobbing 5-year-old son, who had taken offense at a fan's comments about his dad's alleged coaching blunders in the game.

"He was bawling during the game because some big, half-drunken slob sitting behind him and my wife was calling me names," Moore said. "But that's not unusual for anyone. There's pressure in every community. Everyone likes you when you win. As soon as you lose, they sort of forget about you."

Or insult you.

The Mustangs, however, haven't lost since the 1991 Kingbowl, when they fell to O'Dea, their only loss of the season. And with at least some fans, last year's championship and all those playoff berths may have given them some license to fail.

"There are some fair-weather fans who have high expectations, but they've been so darn successful I'm just happy with whatever they do," said Jeff Hall, considered one of the school's biggest boosters.

Hall, a 1974 Prosser graduate, owns one of the town's two auto dealerships and employs several players during the summer. Despite the town's avid interest in the football program, Hall said he doesn't believe there is much pressure on the players.

"You can't put pressure on them, they're still 16- and 17-year-old kids," he said. "It's just been a great thing for the community to rally around."

And an enjoyable experience for the players, even though they might hunger for a little taste of life in the big city.

"I kind of want to move away," Kukes, a senior, said of his post-graduation plans. "But I know I'll want to come back. Everyone's nice here. You drive down the street and wave at everybody. When you go to Yakima or the Tri-Cities, you don't know anybody. It's kind of nice to see a friendly face."

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KINGBOWL XVII STATE HIGH-SCHOOL FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS.

-- What: Class AA state championship game.

-- Who: Prosser vs. Gig Harbor.

-- When: Saturday, 5 p.m. at Kingdome.

-- Records: Gig Harbor is 12-0, ranked fourth and Pierce County League's No. 1 entry; Prosser is 12-0, ranked first and Mid-Valley League champion.

-- Playoff results: Gig Harbor 27, Centralia 13; Gig Harbor 34, Hazen 0; Gig Harbor 21, Capital 14. Prosser 48, Ellensburg 7; Prosser 33, Hanford 14; Prosser 18, West Valley (Yakima) 13; Prosser 33, Kennedy 7.

-- Coaches: Gig Harbor, Steve Gervais; Prosser, Tom Moore.

-- Gig Harbor facts: After a 2-7 campaign in 1992, the Tides are the Kingbowl's surprise team. They are making their first appearance. Much credit goes to Steve Gervais, in his first year as head coach, who built Eatonville into a Class A power. . . . Gig Harbor's spread offense, which features up to five receivers at a time, gives defenses fits. Senior quarterback Christian Lindmark (6-2, 175), a first-year player with the Tides, has completed 126 of 218 passes for 2,144 yards and 29 TDs with nine interceptions. His top targets are senior Dave Vasquez (6-2, 180) with 44 catches for 890 yards and 12 TDs and junior Joe Jarzynka (5-9, 165) with 32 catches for 536 yards and nine TDs. . . . Don't think the Tides roll by pass alone. Senior running back Chris Schuller (5-11, 175) has 1,367 yards and 28 TDs in nine games. He sat out three weeks with what had been feared to be a season-ending knee injury, but returned against Hazen.

-- Prosser facts: The Mustangs have won 25 consecutive games, last losing to O'Dea in the 1991 Kingbowl. They beat O'Dea in last year's championship game. Only three starters return from that team, two on offense and one on defense. . . . Moore's eight-year record at Prosser is 71-17. He has taken teams to the state playoffs seven years in a row. Prosser was a Class A school until 1989. . . . The Mustangs use a no-huddle offense and up to five different offensive sets. . . . Senior QB Aaron Sonnichsen (6-0, 187) has completed 169 of 243 pass attempts (69 percent) for 2,374 yards with 27 TDs and six interceptions. Top receivers are seniors Chris Brown (5-9, 147) with 63 catches for 878 yards and 9 TDs and Derek Santo (5-7, 137) with 51 catches for 767 yards and 8 TDs. . . . Rushing attack is led by senior Maui Partida (5-9, 160), who has carried 154 times for 909 yards and 15 TDs, and junior Andy Harris (5-9, 187), with 102 carries for 736 yards and 10 TDs.