Last season’s tough-luck 2-7 record for the Mustangs football team was not indicative of the talent Redmond had on the field.
The green and gold’s ill-timed mistakes made wins elusive. But head coach Mike Pluschke is ready to start anew in 2009 with an inexperienced squad brimming with potential.
“We’re young, and we need to try to find our identity,” said the sixth-year coach, adding that 34 out of the 50 athletes trying out were sophomores. “Right now, all the seniors and probably all the juniors will be starting at some point … we need them to step up and play key roles for us on both sides of the ball.”
FILLING IN THE GAPS
The Mustangs lost a number of big names from last season’s squad, but none bigger than the laser-guided throwing arm of David Gilbertson, who plans to walk on at Washington State University.
Pluschke, however, thinks he has his new triggerman in junior Michael Conforto, who was a running back last season.
“While David was phenomenal in the passing game, Michael Conforto this year brings us a dimension that we haven’t had at Redmond for quite a while, as a guy that can truly run the football,” he said. “He certainly can make plays both with his speed and with his arm.”
Conforto, now a junior and one of the young stars of the division-champion Mustangs’ baseball team, is up for the challenge.
“It’s amazing coming in junior year,” he said of getting the job as starting quarterback. “We have a whole new offense so it’s a lot of stuff to learn, but we got a lot of good coaches this year and a lot of good talent coming back.”
Redmond also lost a pair of talented wide receivers in John Martino, who suffered a season-ending torn ACL early in the year, and Cameron Sandquist, who broke school records for receptions in a game (15), yards in a game (244), season receptions (66) and yards in a season (940).
Tyler Coffman, one of the team’s 10 returning seniors, has been watching and learning from the Martino and Sandquist combo for the last two years and will finally get a chance to start.
“He’s ready to take on that role as our go-to guy, and he’s got great hands,” Plushke said of Coffman. “He runs good routes, he’s one of those guys that will surprise some teams.”
A SLENDER LINE
Last year, Redmond had one of the most physically imposing lines in the league, averaging a hefty 265 pounds. To say the Mustangs will have a new look in 2009 would be an understatement.
“Our line is a polar opposite from last year, we’re very thin,” Pluschke admitted. “We have a bunch of 190, 200-pound guys on our offensive line and our game is going to benefit those guys because of the way we can block things at the point of attack.”
A key lineman will be 6-foot-5, 225-pound junior James Boker, who has bulked up and will start on both sides of the ball.
“He has ‘college prospect’ written all over him,” Pluschke said of Boker.
With many sophomores turning out, Pluschke knows that the Redmond roster is thin on experience, giving a new meaning to “staying healthy.”
“There’s no room for injury, and we know how that goes with football being a physical sport,” he noted. “It puts us in a disagreeable position when you play the opponents we have to play in our league.”
Opponents like Bothell, which faces the Mustangs in their Kingco 4A opener on Sept. 18, or Sammamish Plateau powerhouses Issaquah and Skyline, the defending state 4A runner up, and champion.
“We’re going to try and take the series, which is to win two of three in our nonleague games, three of five in our league games and come up with a 5-4 record,” said Pluschke on his team goals. “We want to play for a playoff spot. Honestly, that’s what it’s all about.”
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RHS FOOTBALL AT A GLANCE
• Head Coach: Mike Pluschke, 6th season, (20-25 career record)
• Last year: 2-7
• Returning starters: 10
• Turnout numbers: 50
TOP RETURNERS
• Jr. Michael Conforto, QB/DB: Former running back will get the chance to start at quarterback this year, and add a new dimension to the team’s ability to run the football. Excellent all-around athlete will make plays “with his speed and with his arm” according to Pluschke.
• Sr. Tyler Coffman, WR/DB: Learned from two of the school’s best receivers in Cameron Sandquist and John Martino the last two years. Six-foot-two, 180-pounder has great hands, runs good routes, and may surprise some teams.
• Sr. Andrew Rohrbach, WR/QB/DB/K: Experienced utility man will have an impact at many different positions.
• Jr. James Boker, OL/DL: Six-foot-five, 225 pound lineman has “college prospect” future. Will be a threat on both sides of Redmond’s slenderized line this season.
KEY NEWCOMERS
• Jr. Billy Del Torro, FB/DL: Quick fullback will help Redmond pick up some slack in the run game. Tough, hard hitter on defense.
• Jr. Alex Hall, RB/CB: Great athlete who has played Premier League soccer for many years; Pluschke says he may be the fastest kid on the team.
BIG GAMES
• Sept. 18 at Bothell: Matchup against one of Kingco 4A’s powerhouse programs will be a true test for the Mustangs’ league opener, at Pop Keeney no less. The Blue Train lost superstar RB Patrick Ottorbech and a few key players, but have plenty of depth to reload.
• Oct. 23 vs. Skyline: Could be a must-win game for the Mustangs late in the season in a push to make the postseason. Problem is, Skyline is the defending 4A state champion, and have two Division I senior athletes in QB Jake Heaps and WR Kasen Williams returning to the team.
DID YOU KNOW?
Due to the new $275 per-sport athletic fee, football programs across the Lake Washington School District have reported significantly decreased turnout numbers. Juanita only fielded 35 this year, but no school has been hit harder than Lake Washington in Kirkland, which only has 26 kids in its program, according to Pluschke. By comparison, Bothell had 116 kids come out for football on their first day of practice this year.
