Kentwood football: Sticking with the program

A familiar place, not-so-familiar faces.

That seems to be the story of the Kentwood High School football program. The Conquerors (12-1) are back in the 4A state championship game for the third time in four years and face Capital (10-2) of Olympia Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the Tacoma Dome. The year Kentwood fell short, in 2000, the Conquerors were one win shy, losing to eventual champion Pasco in the semifinals.

Kentwood's success is due to more than just a run of good athletes. While each title-game team has been anchored by a core of returning starters, the development of new faces has made the difference. Most are what Coach Tom Ingles calls "program kids" — those who played predominantly on the junior varsity or saw minimal time with the varsity. Guys like junior quarterback Kalen Roy, who tutored under Carl Bonnell as the Conquerors captured their first state title.

Bonnell was the common thread between the 1999 team that lost the championship game to Richland and the 2001 group that finally got the job done. The three-year starter blossomed into one of the state's winningest quarterbacks and earned a scholarship from Washington State.

Without Bonnell, as well as 2,000-yard rusher Kevin Jones and several other key cogs in last year's machinery, few expected Kentwood to make another title run. Sure, they'd be good — the Conquerors have never had a losing season — but good enough to win it all again?

After last weekend's semifinal victory over Mountain View of Vancouver, Ingles beamed about the way last year's no-names have taken center stage.

"They've just really come up big," he said. "This is just a great effort by a bunch of kids who have been program kids or have come off an undefeated JV season and have kind of stepped up and just think it's their turn."

Of course, getting a quality transfer in junior running back Will Thompson has made a difference, too. But even when Thompson missed 3½ games for various reasons, someone else filled the void.

Ingles cites a variety of reasons for the success of the program: A dedicated staff of assistant coaches, most of whom teach in the building; quality junior-high programs that have been abolished in some other districts; consistency in the defensive scheme from year to year; strong support from parents and other members of the community.

And then there's the idea that winning breeds winning.

"You can get kids who have won to do things that you can't get kids who are losing to do," Ingles said. "If you come to one of our practices this week, you'll see the kids practicing just as hard as they were in August. Therein lies the expectations.

"We goal-set the same as probably every other team in the state of Washington. Everybody wants to win their first game and everybody would love to win their last game. We also have a Coach Ingles goal, and that's that we want to get better every day."

Ingles also emphasizes having fun.

"We're pretty focused most of the time, but we have coaches who are really fun people," he said. "I'm probably the most critical among the coaches, but that's kind of my job, riding herd on the guys."

It has been quite a four-year ride for the Conquerors. And it could well continue next season, when a new crop of program players decide it's their turn.