TUMWATER — When the 2024 season ended short of a state championship, it was just the beginning of an offseason filled with questions for the Tumwater High School football program.
More than a handful of starters on the defensive side of the ball were seniors. It wasn’t just the two stalwart linebackers in Cash Short and Beckett Wall, but Jaylin Nixon and Sunny Nguyen in the secondary. And, literally, two of the biggest and impactful defensive linemen Malijah Tucker and Mehki Richardson graduated.
Tucker, now at Washington State, had 17 tackles for loss and six sacks. Richardson posted 13 sacks and 12 TFLs. Add in fellow lineman David Gilliland’s three sacks and six TFLs to the mix, too.
Simply put, a lot of talent, leadership and production in the trenches wasn’t coming back.
“We knew it was going to be a younger group,” T-Birds head coach William Garrow said. “They were really raw at the beginning. It is the unknown; not really worried. We knew we had some good players in that group.”
The tradition for the green and gold has been to reload rather than rebuild, leading to a new crop of defensive linemen stepping into bigger roles.
They’ve more than answered the bell.
Coming off eight sacks and 11 tackles for loss versus No. 15 Washougal, second-seeded Tumwater is aiming to see its d-line group continue the upward trajectory into Saturday’s state quarterfinal versus No. 7 Franklin Pierce.
Kickoff is slated for 2 p.m. at Tumwater District Stadium.
“We try to get one more week together,” senior Mason Houskeeper said.
The make up of the group isn’t one to bull-rush offensive linemen and be powerful. They’re tall, have long arms and quickness to get around blockers. Houskeeper is 6-foot-2, Vann Hannikaine stands at 6-4, junior Landon Anchors is 6-2 and Nathan Lowery’s height is 6-5.
Pass rush is the one area Garrow admitted hasn’t shown up consistently. It did last week.
“It is an area we’ve been working hard over the last month,” Garrow said. “That is tough for a lot of those guys to understand how to use their leverage. They’ve gotten a lot better over the last month.”
Being a d-lineman for Tumwater is far from a walk in the park. There’s plenty of nuances to it, which has led to coaches Rick McGrath and Nick Edwards being the constant for a room that, prior to Week 1, lacked significant varsity snaps.
“We (had) to come together and trust each other,” Anchors said. “We adapted to becoming the 1s and living up to their standard.”
Houskeeper heads into the second week of the playoffs with five sacks and six TFLs. Despite his listed weight of 200-pounds, he’s been consistent. He stated how much he appreciated what Tucker and Richardson taught him a year ago.
“You’re always a little nervous, but having that example, you get back into the groove of doing things,” Houskeeper said. “They always told us to never regret what we do on the field.”
One of the most eye-opening stats is Anchors having two pick-sixes. Both instances were jumping screen passes and taking them to the house.
That’s to go with 22 total tackles and five tackles for loss.
“A lot of film study and trusting my techniques,” Anchors said.
If the defensive line is to have any impact versus the Cardinals, gap protection will be the top priority.
It’ll be the Power-T coming from Pierce County and Franklin Pierce’s trio of backs has given teams plenty of fits this fall. Bryson Allen is close to 2,000 yards and his current touchdown number is 30. Ja’Mire Ford is the speed threat on sweepers; he’s at 12 touchdowns.
Tailback Anthony Lomiga and quarterback Jeremiah Orcutt also can turn in chunk plays. The Cardinals finished with 313 rushing yards versus W.F. West last week.
“They’re really fast,” Garrow said. “They do a really good job of hiding the football. They don’t do a whole lot outside of (their scheme). Some coaches don’t have the patience to run the Power-T over and over again. They just execute.”
“Stay in our gaps and tackling,” Anchors added.
All Garrow, Houskeeper and Anchors said repeatedly before practice on Monday was “do your job” when asked about slowing down Franklin Pierce.
Simple enough, right?
“We try to get better each week and we’ve done a great job doing that,” Houskeeper said.
