For Kent-Meridian High School quarterback Ben Woods and his fellow senior teammates, it’s a bittersweet beginning to their last season of high school football.
While the core group of players who have been together since the seventh grade look forward to leading the Royals to success, they know its their last chance to be on the same team.
“It is exciting and sad that it is my last year with my brothers,” said senior lineman Castle Lolagi.
Woods began his football career as a seventh-grader at Mill Creek Middle School.
“That was the first year my parents would let me play football,” Woods said. “I had to beg them, even though my brother (Sam) did it in seventh grade. He begged them, too.”
During his first season, Woods said his team became like family.
“After seventh grade, I fell in love with the guys around me,” he said. “I couldn’t leave them. I couldn’t let them be alone on the field.”
While at Mill Creek, coach Jeff Kuolt took Woods away from his position as lineman and taught him to play quarterback.
“He knew I played baseball and knew I had an arm,” Woods said.
Although he still misses his former position, Woods said he enjoys playing quarterback.
“It’s fun to see the game in a different way then everyone else,” he said. “It is fun to have people not necessarily look up to you but follow your lead. It’s an honor…. Being quarterback you really don’t have a choice. You are a leader, so you have to be an example.”
As a senior, Woods said he has a desire to see the young Royals team succeed.
“I feel like if they believe in me, I know I can help them. The coach can help them,” he said. “If they believe in this program, they are going to be fine. That is one thing that K-M is blessed with – a good program.”
This year’s team is more tight-knit than any Woods has seen at Kent-Meridian.
“The senior leaders are pushing the younger guys (saying) ‘You can’t be afraid. You’ve got to attack, face adversity head-on,'” he said. “I really see this team, more than anything I’ve played on, just jelling together.”
Miah Williams, a running back and inside linebacker, said that cohesiveness is essential.
“Chemistry is going to be tough this year, having to work for everybody and just being the whole team not leaving anyone out,” he said.
Wood said his younger teammates seem eager to learn and play football.
“I trust the young guys,” he said. “Their improvement is faster than I’ve seen any young group especially from the offensive standpoint. Their improvement is tenfold each day.”
This year, Kent-Meridian coach Brett Allen taught the team about the Japanese concept of kaizen, which Woods has taken to heart.
“Kaizen means small but consistent improvement,” Woods said. “I’ve been harping on them, (coach Allen) has been harping on them, the leaders have been harping on them saying, ‘Look, you don’t need to become a star overnight. Just make small improvements every practice, every day, and we will get to where we want to be no doubt.'”
For Woods, his team’s success is more important than his personal goals.
“We could go 0-10 and I’ll throw for 3,000 yards, and I think that is a failing season,” he said.
Woods, a catcher for Kent-Meridian’s baseball team, said he hopes to play baseball in college.
“I have never really pictured myself playing football (in college) because baseball is my No. 1 sport, my favorite sport,” he said. “I couldn’t see myself playing in college but you never know what is going to happen.”
Defending the Taylor Trophy
They Royals kick off the season at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 2, at home at French Field against the Auburn High Trojans, with hopes to defend the Taylor Trophy in the annual showdown between the two schools.
The more-than-century-old rivalry is even at 50-50 and six ties. Kent-Meridian has won the past two years, after a 15-year losing streak.
The game is particularly meaningful for the Royals seniors, who hope to take back the series.
“We’ve talked about ever since we were sophomores,” Woods said.
Although Woods was injured and unable to play in the game two years ago, he recalls the excitement.
“We all circled around the K-M (in the end zone at French Field) because it was the first time we won it in 16 years,” he said. “I remember speaking to everybody, ‘Seniors, this is for you guys. You finally got over the hump of beating Auburn.’ I was like, ‘Juniors and sophomores, we have the chance of not only getting over Auburn but taking back the series.’… We really want to be that senior crew that won it three times straight and took it back for K-M.”
The Royals were 6-4 overall last season, and finished third in the South Puget Sound League Northeast Division with a 2-2 record. This year the Royals are in the North Puget Sound League Cascade Division, but it’s a nonleague game against Auburn, which plays in the Olympic Division.
Talk to us
Please share your story tips by emailing editor@kentreporter.com.
To share your opinion for publication, submit a letter through our website https://www.kentreporter.com/submit-letter/. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) Please keep letters to 300 words or less.
