Prep Football / Wesco AAA South Division Preview -- Marauders Aiming For Title -- Mariner Out To End Reign Of Cascade

EVERETT - Most have been friends and teammates since the seventh grade.

They knew the athletic program had been decimated by boundary changes when a new school was built. And they were aware many sports fans had pitied them and underrated them.

But this 1996 Mariner High School football team has been determined to debunk that conventional wisdom.

United in a pride forged by friendship and hardship, this class that entered Mariner the year that Kamiak opened nearby, aimed its sights at winning the Western AAA Conference championship.

And they almost did it last season, using a string of five shutout victories to finish 5-1 in the South Division and 8-2 overall.

This year, only one big obstacle appears to stand in their way - the Cascade Bruins. Cascade, which hopes to earn an eighth straight WesCo AAA championship, was the only league team to beat Mariner in 1995.

WesCo followers are anticipating the Sept. 27 meeting. But fourth-year Mariner Coach John Ondriezek has different priorities.

"Right now, we've got our concerns with Everett," he said, referring to tomorrow's 7 p.m. season opener against the Seagulls at Everett Memorial Stadium.

But there's no denying that third game against Cascade at Mariner's Frank Goddard Stadium is critical for both teams.

"We respect their program," Ondriezek said, "and we're proud of our program.

"We have a very intelligent football team, a very dedicated, competitive group," he said, "and this year they're going in believing in themselves. They want to win the conference championship, and they have just as good an opportunity as anyone else."

Tim Rambow, All-WesCo AAA quarterback, will make sure. The 5-foot-11, 180-pound senior not only has the utmost confidence of the Marauder offense, but he expresses his more aggressive side as a linebacker, helping control the field position he'll have.

"He started at linebacker as a sophomore, because we had some injuries," Ondriezek recalled. "Then he started at quarterback his junior year. It probably worked out well in his case. It gave him less time on the sidelines to worry about what he'd do at quarterback."

It hammered home, too, Mariner's emphasis on defense. Ondriezek is quick to remind that great defenses fuel champions.

"Look at the last five NCAA football champions. Four of five have led the nation in defense, and the only one that didn't - Nebraska - was second only to Miami."

Seniors Wayne Parker (6-0, 190) and Dwayne Sigh (5-9, 175) will anchor the line as defensive ends.

Parker, a 4.0 student who has applied to all the service academies, also is an offensive guard whose weight-room work has beefed him up from 125 pounds as a freshman. And Sigh, who doubles as a halfback, brings intensity and aggression as well as quickness and strength to the weak side.

Joe Vodegel (5-9, 170), Ivan Kicey (5-8, 170) and James Douglas (5-8, 160) - all seniors - form the linebacker corps. Vodegel and Kicey, both wrestlers as well, are among the Marauders who started as sophomores - in a program, Ondriezek noted, that did not accord the same honor even to Shane Fortney, former QB and current University of Washington starter.

Vodegel is known for seldom being out of position on the field, and Kicey is a weight-room fixture at 6:15 every morning.

Douglas, Ondriezek said, "is another tough kid with great athletic sense. He's always going to be close to the ball." Douglas is one of seven defensive starters among 22 returning lettermen.

Mariner has one of the premier wide recevers/defensive backs in senior Lamont Brightful (5-10, 155). A starter since his sophomore season and an intense competitor, Brightful impressed coaches at the June Reebok combine with his 4.5 speed in the 40-yard dash.

Twin brothers Jason and Jarvis Terry will help offset the graduation loss of Riall Johnson in the offensive backfield. Both are 6-foot-2 and weigh about 205 pounds. Jason is a defensive back, and though Jarvis is primarily a halfback, he'll play linebacker, too.

Ondriezek has another able replacement for Johnson in junior fullback Saul Kiwanuka, whom he calls "a miniature Mike Tyson." Kiwanuka (5-9, 180) distinguished himself as a wrestler who qualified for the state tournament as a sophomore.

Senior Jeff Epstein (5-9, 180) should be a leader on the young offensive line, and junior wide receiver Koire King (6-0, 170) is a threat downfield.

"Winning means a lot to these kids," Ondriezek said. "Two years ago our theme was `Pride.' Last year it was `Expect to win,' "

They do. They can. They will, if their will is any measure.

----------------------------------------------------. . WesCo AAA South football forecast.

Predicted order of finish for the 1996 Western AAA Conference's South Division football race, based on a Seattle Times survey of division coaches. First-place votes in parentheses.

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'95 record. . 1. Cascade (4) 10-2. . 2. Mariner 8-2. . 3. Shorecrest 4-5. . 4. Kamiak 5-4. . 5. Edmonds-Woodway 1-8. . 6. Shorewood 2-7. . 7. Mountlake Terrace 0-9.