TENINO — A decade ago was the ‘Killer B’s’ era of the NFL with Le’Veon Bell, Antonio Brown and Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers. While no rings were won, it was an electric trio that won a ton of games.
Mosey on down to Tenino High School in 2026 and there’s a similar sentiment with their own trio that share the opening consonant in their last names.
Parker Minerich. Jeremiah McKague. Mason Metcalf.
There’s no official nickname yet.
“Eventually, just got to figure it out,” McKague admitted.
They’ll let their performance on the field dictate any moniker to be decided. And they could be a primary reason for the success of the Beavers this fall.
Those three plus six others began their prep careers in flux as freshmen, not knowing who would be leading the program after Cary Nagel, now the head coach at Olympia, resigned in July of 2023. Darren Tinnerstet took over and now gets to his first senior class all the way through.
It could have been easy to walk away. From buying in as underclassmen to a playoff triumph last year, the seniors get one final chance to leave their mark at Tenino.
“All of us have been through a lot,” Minerich said. “All of us have been captains since sophomore year, so the trust we built has been growing and growing.”
“They know the ways and I’ll go out on a limb and say they are the best group of seniors in my 20-year career,” Tinnerstet added. “I trust them.”
The biggest news for the Beavers to come out of the summer was Metcalf making the switch from quarterback to running back. It was brought up during the offseason and they gave it a trial run at the Thurston County Team Football Camp held at Tumwater District Stadium.
It’s been a smooth transition back to a position Metcalf played in middle school.
“You don’t really see a whole lot of 5-11, 200-pound QBs so I was like ‘I’d think shine more at running back,’” he said. “It fits where I should be.”
There were two other incentives to make the switch.
Number one, it creates a thunder and lightning combo in the backfield with Minerich and Metcalf. It’ll be the first time in Tinnerstet’s tenure in the Stone City he’s got two tailbacks he can rely on.
In the past, it’s been a true bellcow like Michael Vassar in 2024 and Michael Lanning last year.
“You either got it or you don’t,” Metcalf said.
Number two was to put Evan Morey firmly as the starting quarterback. The 6-foot-1 sophomore has an experienced line to protect him with McKague, Sawyer Noonan, Isaiah Stanberry and Lucien Mckendall all back.
Senior Zadun Sadler plus a pair of sophomores in Easton Miller and Jaxton Cutting will be the primary options in the passing game.
“It has been a pretty awesome transition and it’s going to be fun to watch (Evan) for the next three years,” Tinnerstet said. “He is a student of the game.”
McKague will anchor the defensive line after posting 10 tackles for loss, Minerich will lead the linebacker unit as a first team all-league honoree and 93 total tackles. Nine total starters from that side of the ball that held five of their opponents to under 10 points return.
Former defensive coordinator JD Johnson retired, so Tinnerstet went out and got David Gray, formerly the DC at Shelton. It’s a similar scheme that prides itself on relentless pressure and forcing takeaways.
There hasn’t been a drop off in knowledge ahead of Week 1 versus Rainier.
“It is more of an advanced 3-3 stack; it is going to take us to the next level,” Minerich said.
Tenino remains in the chase to close the gap versus Montesano and its two cracks at the Bulldogs last year went sideways quickly. In the regular season and Round of 12 meetings, the Beavers were outscored 98-7.
Those results still stick with them. The seniors get one more shot in the final week of the regular season at home. Tenino also faces a pair of 2B powerhouses Napavine and Toledo in the non-league and gets Rochester at home for the Scatter Creek Showdown.
“We have to play up to the competition and last year, we didn’t and we got smacked in the mouth,” McKague said. “We can’t have that mentality.”
