I hit three practices on the first day of the high school football season on Wednesday and I wasn’t the only reporter making the rounds. Here are some reports from around the state:

– Mike Cane of the Everett Herald wrote this story on Marysville-Pilchuck losing five players to other schools, including four that landed in Juanita. Seems odd because Juanita is about 40 miles south of the M-P.

Cane also made it out to a few WesCo practices. One piece of vitally important information I gleaned from Cane’s report is that South Whidbey has a player named Chuck Norris.

– Over in Spokane, Greg Lee has this story about Central Valley quarterback Gaven Deyarmin almost dying from a burst appendix. Lee also hit practices at 4A powers Gonzaga Prep and Ferris.
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Lakes coach Dave Miller is hoping an offseason commitment to conditioning will help the youthful Lancers persevere through some growing pains. Lakes has reached the Class 3A state semifinals in each of the last two seasons, but only two starters on each side of the ball are back from the 2009 team.

“This is probably the most inexperienced group we’ve ever had,” said Miller.

On offense, quarterback Cedric Dozier and tackle Zach Banner are back, Linebacker Mane Manaea and defensive lineman Eddie Releford return on defense. Non-starters typically see the field in varsity games for Lakes, though.

“One of the things that’s good about our program, when we’re up at halftime we get a lot of young kids in the game,” Miller said. “It’s not at crunch time, but it’s experience.”
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It’s a small sample-size, but Curtis football coach Clay Angle enjoyed what he saw during the first practice of the season on Wednesday.

“We are farther along with our installation packages than we’ve been in the past,” he said. “We’re very pleased with the retention we had from off-season and seven-on-seven drills. We have a large veteran group back that played as juniors and sophomores last year. They remembered it and we’re ahead of where we’ve been in the past.”

At Curtis, where players and coaches are dodging construction crews to get from the locker room to the field, the Vikings are looking to capture a third straight SPSL South championship crown.

“We’re not going to sneak up on anybody,” Angle said. “We know that other people are pointing toward us.”
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A year ago, I never would have considered hitting Stadium High School while making the rounds at prep football practices in the South Sound, let alone on the first day of the season.

This year, there’s reason to believe the Tigers will be competitive.

“We’re very optimistic,” said Stadium coach Jess Nelson, who’s entering his fourth season. “We’re in year four now. All the player know me and my staff and our philosophy and our systems. Every year we have goals and those have been building. It’s going to be a real great breakout season.”

The Tigers have plenty of reasons for their optimism. For the first time in more than a decade, Stadium scored more points than it allowed in 2009. The Tigers ended last season with a pair of shutout victories over Auburn Mountainview and Shelton. After losing close games — contests Nelson believes the team should have won — to Wilson and Lincoln, Stadium reeled off confidence-boosting wins over Foss and Mount Tahoma. The Tigers even hung with Narrows League powers Olympia and South Kitsap before falling in those games.
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High school football teams around the state will take to fields on Wednesday for the first official practices of the 2010 season. I’ll be making the rounds at practices over the next two weeks and will post updates here on the blog.

For now, on the eve of the 2010 season, here are five things to watch for throughout the 2010 season:

1. How will realignment affect local leagues?
In the South Sound, the most intriguing league to watch might be the newly-formed Narrows League 3A. Foss, Lincoln and Wilson are now competing with schools of their size and that should help when it comes to securing playoff berths. The three Tacoma schools won’t have an easy time in the new league, though. Capital and Timberline have had success lately and Yelm has shown flashes of potential.

The new SPSL 2A is also intriguing. Former Nisqually League members Eatonville, Fife, Steilacoom and Washington joined with ex-SPSL 3A schools Clover Park, Franklin Pierce, Sumner and White River. What teams will assert themselves as league powers?
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Central Kitsap graduate Drew Vettleson signed a contract with the Tampa Bay Rays today. Vettleson, who was named The News Tribune’s 2010 All-Area Baseball Player of the Year in the spring, was a supplementary first-round selection and received a signing bonus of $845,000.

The Rays also signed the 17th overall pick, Bishop Blanchet outfielder Josh Sale, to a contract worth $1.62 million.

Austin Seferian-Jenkins audio (8-16)

Darren McKay audio (8-16)

Yes, he was nervous.

How many times does a five-star, blue-chip football recruit get the opportunity to announce his college decision?

Once.

And in front of 125 people at the Gig Harbor Yacht Club on Monday evening – 40 Gig Harbor High football teammates, his coaches, friends, family and school district officials – Seferian-Jenkins announced he was going to attend the University of Washington over Texas.

Before Tides coach Darren McKay handed over the microphone, he looked at his star tight end. “The big, nervous guy,” McKay said.

To which …

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Austin Seferian-Jenkins will be a Washington Husky.

The elite tight end prospect from Gig Harbor ended months of speculation when he made the declaration in front of more than 100 friends and family members at a party Monday night at the Gig Harbor Yacht Club. Seferian-Jenkins, ranked as the No. 1 tight end in the nation by Rivals.com, picked Washington over the University of Texas. He also had scholarship offers from nearly every big-time college football program.

Seferian-Jenkins is the South Sound’s most sought-after recruit since running back Jonathan Stewart played at Timberline High School in the early 2000s. Seferian-Jenkins …

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