Bubba good as his name

RATHDRUM – It doesn’t say “Bubba” on Bubba Bartlett’s birth certificate.

It should. It’s really the only first name the Lakeland High three-sport standout has known. It says “Justin” on the birth certificate, but that’s because Bubba’s father signed off on the name while his wife was undergoing a C-section delivering their 8-pound, 2-ounce son.

“My mom wanted Joseph,” Bubba said. “But dad wanted Justin.”

Dad won. But it was a brief victory.

Mom refused to call her son by his given name. She makes exceptions from time to time, and Bubba knows he’s in trouble when he hears her utter the other name.

“It’s really a cool football nickname,” Lakeland assistant coach Mike Bayley said. “Everybody in town knows Bubba. He’s nice to everybody. I don’t think he has an enemy anywhere.”

The 6-foot-1½, 225-pound Bartlett, a two-way starter at linebacker and fullback, wants to play the game in college. Judging by the interest – Idaho, Montana, Montana State and Idaho State are in regular contact – he will.

That’s not foremost on his mind these days, though. Lakeland is one win away from securing no worse than a better than .500 record for the first time since moving to the 4A ranks in 2004. Victories over Sandpoint and Moscow would give the Hawks their first 4A playoff berth.

If it happens one can be sure Bartlett, a three-year starter, will be in the middle of things. He leads a balanced offensive attack in rushing and is by far and away the leading tackler on defense.

His contributions at fullback have given Bayley, Lakeland’s offensive coordinator, more options to go along with running backs Chase Roberts, Shawn Hiebert and Scott Carr.

Bartlett moved from tight end to fullback this year after experimenting at the position while at a summer camp.

Through weight lifting/conditioning Bartlett cut his 40-yard dash time down by a tenth of a second from a year ago. He did so even as he gained another 15 pounds.

Bartlett put his increased speed in perspective.

“I went from slower than molasses to something a hair faster than molasses,” he said.

The move to fullback had coaches dreaming of Bartlett flattening defensive backs. Lakeland Tim Kiefer saw it played out live last Friday when a Post Falls cornerback, all of about 150 pounds, took on Bartlett.

“Holy smokes, Bubba broke loose on the sideline and here comes a poor little cornerback,” Kiefer said. “Bubba bulldozed the kid. To the kid’s credit, he took him down. But it took over 7 yards – from contact to landing.”There’s no doubt where Bartlett is most valuable, though. It’s at linebacker, the position he’ll likely play in college.

“As a complete linebacker, he’s pretty close to being one of the best we’ve ever had,” Kiefer said.

One of the biggest differences in Bartlett this year over last season is his aggressiveness. Perhaps the best way to describe it is Bartlett may have been too nice in the past.

“A friend of mine who has college coaching experience saw us play early in the season and he liked Bubba,” Bayley said, “but he said he didn’t see Bubba finishing guys, annihilating guys. I told Bubba that. It hasn’t been an issue since.

“It’s not necessarily in his nature to be nasty, but he’s learning to use his physicality better. That’s a good way to put it.”

One area where Bartlett can’t be accused of being soft is injuries. He chipped a bone in a knuckle in Lakeland’s 42-14 win over West Valley, and the back of the hand swelled up like a grapefruit.

Bartlett didn’t take a play off. He suffered what was termed a micro tear of a tendon near his calf muscle last Friday. He went out for one play and finished the game without flinching.

“To have guys lead by example and play with a few owies now and then is unbelievable,” Bayley said. “Those are life lessons. Some days you have to go to work in the real world when you don’t feel like it. You suck it up and go do it.”

Just like Bubba.