Wildcats just reload for another run

As I walked to the Mt. Spokane football team’s practice field Monday with Wildcats coach Mike McLaughlin, he stopped to caution me.

“You do realize you’re not the most popular guy out here,” McLaughlin said.

My lack of popularity was because of my Greater Spokane League predictions. I picked defending champion Mt. Spokane to finish seventh.

Two weeks into the GSL season, though, there’s no doubt which team is the big surprise.

The Wildcats (2-0) opened with a 33-27 win over Central Valley and followed up last Thursday with a 33-19 win over preseason favorite Gonzaga Prep.

“The key now is to continue to get better and not to think it’s some sort of fluke,” McLaughlin said. “We’re not a fluke.”

Mt. Spokane returned the fewest starters in the league. It had many question marks. There was, however, quality among last year’s juniors.

Quarterback Travis Ward, slotback Nate Blackham and running back Colten Williams led the Wildcats to the GSL title and State 3A playoffs last year.

In stepped senior quarterback Carson Blumenthal and junior running back Chase Naccarato – reserves a year ago – and senior fullback Kellen Clute, a two-way starter last year.

After two weeks, Blumenthal ranks first among QBs. He has completed 70 percent of his passes (26 of 37) for 543 yards, five touchdowns and one interception. He’s also rushed for 131 yards and one TD.

Naccarato ranks second in rushing with 204 yards on 28 carries (7.3 per carry) and two TDs. Clute has five catches for 132 yards and two TDs.

“The bottom line is our juniors last year, although they didn’t start, got quite a bit of playing time late in the season,” McLaughlin said.

Three athletes, all seniors, who had played previously at the lower levels, came back out and the Wildcats got an influx of players from the baseball team.

The team speed is as good, if not better, than last year.

“We’ve got talent. I’m not doing anything special,” McLaughlin said. “Skillwise, we’re every bit as good as last year.”

Blumenthal spent a little more time preparing for the football season this summer.

Blumenthal rushed 25 times against G-Prep.

“That’s probably not going to happen every game, but I want him to run 20 to 25 times a game,” McLaughlin said.

McLaughlin coached Naccarato’s father, Scott, at Mead in the early 1980s.

“He’s probably as fast as his father, but he catches the ball better,” McLaughlin said. “He’s a tough, smart kid. He’s a quality guy and he’s as good as I’ve coached. He can do it all.”

Naccarato said the team didn’t like the preseason prediction.

“We took that as disrespect,” Naccarato said. “It didn’t sit well with us.”

Clute, who has given Oregon State an oral commitment, is probably the Wildcats’ glue. OSU recruited him to play tight end, but he’s also a force at linebacker.

“He’s got size and speed obviously,” McLaughlin said. “He’s another dimension when we use him in the backfield.”

Clute admitted the Wildcats had some question marks.

“Every team does,” Clute said. “I was pretty confident we were going to be a good team. It was a matter of us going out and proving it. We’ve got a lot of heart and we’ve got a lot of guys who want to work hard. We wanted to go out and show people we’re not the seventh-best team in the league.”

So far, so good.

• Lummi’s 119-74 nonleague football win over Wellpinit last Saturday broke state records for most points scored by a winning team, most points scored by a losing team and most points combined. The previous record was Lummi’s 118-72 win over Crescent in 2007.