High-school football / WesCo 3A and 4A

Mark Stewart knows he has a major rebuilding task, but his Meadowdale Mavericks appear receptive to their new football coach.

Stewart, a former Husky linebacker who has enjoyed success everywhere he has coached, started practice at the Lynnwood school Monday. The Mavericks did not win a game last season under Coach Kevin Ryan. Stewart was hired this summer.

Meadowdale jumped into two-a-days right away, with Stewart spending a good deal of time with the offensive linemen. The Mavericks are a relatively young team that will rely on experienced players at skill positions.

Stewart has a 49-28 career record as head coach at Renton, Garfield and Highline high schools.

Eagles look to repeat

Arlington started two-a-day practices yesterday with 100 players from four grades. "It's a little less than usual," Coach John Boitano said of the Eagles' turnout.

Fifty-five players will make up the varsity Eagles as they attempt to defend their WesCo 3A title. Those may not include Nick Yoney, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound split end and defensive back of whom several recruiting analysts spoke highly.

Yoney, who also plays basketball and baseball, did not attend a team camp at Pacific Lutheran University this summer and missed three games last season for disciplinary reasons, Boitano said.

Still, Boitano hopes Arlington can crack the top three in the standings, and he'll have eight starters back on offense from a team dominated by juniors in 1999.

Quarterback Kevin McCormack, a second-team all-conference player a year ago as a sophomore, returns to guide the Eagle offense. McCormack will have 6-1, 170-pound senior Josh Hammer behind him at running back. Hammer was a second-team all-WesCo selection on defense in 1999.

Top returning defensive players include Jesse Childress, a 6-3, 280-pound lineman, and linebacker Josh McKinney.

"Defensively, we should be pretty good," Boitano said. "It's kind of a funny year. But the bulk of the team is coming back."

Seagull line shows promise

At Everett High, the Seagulls figure to improve on last season's 2-5 conference record. Coach Paul Lawrence said about 55 sophomores, juniors and seniors turned out - "about average."

Lawrence said he has been particularly pleased with his offensive line.

"We moved a number of people around (during June practice) and it seems to be the right move," Lawrence said.

Junior Jason Hawkins moved from fullback to guard and will provide quickness. Junior David Turner moved from tackle to guard and Brian Jones from guard to tackle, which Lawrence said will add more speed.

"We don't have real big kids," he said, "but we're more physical than last year."

Paperwork slows Royals

Problems with paperwork hampered Lynnwood's efforts to start football practice Monday, so the Royals had one long workout before Coach Jim McKinnon sent players home at 12:30 p.m.

McKinnon said 60 players in all grades turned out for practice, with another two dozen either on vacation or still trying to get clearance from the school's athletic office.

A small crop of upperclassmen is a concern. Only six seniors and seven juniors were at practice Monday. McKinnon blamed that on a low turnout when those players were freshmen.

"What we find is that we're going through a cycle," McKinnon said. "We're looking at a good core of seniors but a lack of depth. There is going to be a large group of sophomores that are going to get a lot of playing time."

Panthers reload

Snohomish Coach Mark Perry said 65 players will be at practice by the end of this week, and that's just the juniors and seniors. Perry estimates that 40 to 45 sophomores will also suit up. Snohomish has four teams in its program - freshman, sophomore, junior-varsity and varsity.

The Panthers are among the early favorites to win the WesCo 4A title after finishing 6-3 last season, including heart-wrenching losses to Cascade and eventual co-champion Kamiak that kept Snohomish out of the state playoffs.

Tight end Andy Heater, listed high on college-recruiting lists, already figures to become a bigger part of the Panther offense, but Perry is trying to find a position for the 6-4, 242-pound senior on defense.

"Heater's worked his tail off in the weight room," Perry said. "He went to four football camps this summer."

Perry calls his team's schedule the toughest in the conference. The Panthers play both co-champions from 1999, Kamiak and Sehome.

More depth for E-W

Coach John Gradwohl led his Edmonds-Woodway Warriors through testing Monday. The E-W staff tested players on speed, agility and strength, among other areas, with weightlifting, running, broad jumps and triple jumps.

Gradwohl said 120 players from all four grades turned out. The Warriors will start two-a-days Friday in full pads.

"Skill-level-wise, we're about the same (as last year)," Gradwohl said. "We have a little more depth than in the past. The test scores were the best overall in my career here."

Gradwohl singled out seniors Gavin Riach, Frank Coccia and Jeff Bahl for solid test results. Riach, a tight end and defensive end, "showed good speed," Gradwohl said, and Coccia, an offensive lineman and inside linebacker, "improved his agility and speed."

Gradwohl said Bahl, a wide receiver and defensive back, also looked faster.

Notes

-- At Marysville-Pilchuck, Israel Silva, a 5-10, 270-pound offensive and defensive lineman with two years varsity experience, has been unable to practice with a shoulder injury. Coach Dick Abrams said Silva, an all-conference honorable-mention selection last season, may miss at least the first two weeks of this season.

"We'll get a good read on our kids Saturday and see where they fit in," said Abrams.

-- WesCo 4A has four new coaches. Jamie Plenkovich replaces Ted Flint at Sehome, Alex Barashkoff takes over for Andy Bush at Mountlake Terrace, K.C. Johnson replaces Greg Tacon at Shorecrest and Jeff Weible replaces Tom Bainter at Shorewood. In WesCo 3A, there are two new coaches: Stewart and John Custer at Stanwood.