Prep football preview: Plenty of new faces on and off the sideline for Mountlake Terrace

Senior linebacker and kicker Mike Jensen takes on the starting quarterback position for the Hawks this season. (Photos by Doug Petrowski)
Senior linebacker and kicker Mike Jensen takes on the starting quarterback role for the Hawks this season. (Photos by Doug Petrowski)

After a history-making 2014 season, the Mountlake Terrace football team opens its 2015 campaign on Friday, Sept. 4, with an entirely new look: on offense, on defense and on the sidelines.

The Hawks take on4A Mariner at Edmonds Stadium; kickoff is slated for 5 p.m.

Last year Mountlake Terrace compiled eight wins – the most in school history for one season – picked up a post-season victory – a school first – and played in a state championship bracket playoff game for the first time ever. But many of the elements that helped make the 2014 season are now gone for this year.

Longtime head coach Tony Umayam resigned the post to pursue other interests while a number of key players on last year’s squad graduated. If the Hawks are to repeat the success they enjoyed last season, they will have to do it with a new coaching staff and players stepping up into new roles.

Kelly Dougan is taking over the head coaching duties for Mountlake Terrace after coaching the freshman team at the school the past two seasons. “It’s been a whirlwind for sure,” Dougan said of his first off-season at the helm of the football program. “First putting a coaching staff together, and then getting everyone on the same page — and we’re still working on that — it just takes time.”

Not only has Dougan brought in a number of new assistants to the coaching staff, but he is installing all-new offensive and defensive schemes.

So far Dougan and his coaching staff are pleased with what they have seen in practice from the offense. “I think our offense is going to be fairly potent,” Dougan said.

The offense is loaded with seniors, but many will be in new roles – most notably new quarterback Mike Jensen, who has seen all of his game action the past three years as a linebacker and a kicker. Playing the quarterback position on a full-time basis will be all new for the senior.

“I don’t think he’s ever played that position,” Dougan said of Jensen. “He never played it in youth football. I think that over the past couple of years he may have taken snaps in practice, sort of in the event of (being) an emergency guy, but not any of any significance. He certainly wasn’t coached up to be ‘the guy’.

“We’re taking a linebacker and turning him into a quarterback,” Dougan said with a smile.

Terrace coaches hope to get the ball into the hands of junior receiver Daniel Johnson as much as possible.
Mountlake Terrace coaches hope to get the ball into the hands of junior receiver Daniel Johnson as much as possible.

While still learning some of the nuances of playing quarterback — the footwork, the timing, the reading of defenses — Dougan feels that Jensen has all the tools needed for succeeding at the position.

“He’s doing a good job. He’s picked up on the offense pretty good, I think he’s got a great arm — he just has a naturally strong arm. He’s a confident kid. He’s big and he’s strong; he can run the ball. So we like what we’re seeing from him,” Dougan said.

Mountlake Terrace has always emphasized running the football, and this season will be no different as seniors Tanner Munnis, Riley Morrin and Jordan Bishop will all get their chances to carry the pigskin.

“I think Jordan Bishop could have a really big year for us,” Dougan said. “We’ll load him up, carries-wise. He’ll probably carry the ball 20 times a game.”

Dougan hinted that the team may put the ball in the air a little more this season than in the past. At more than 6-foot-1, junior receiver Daniel Johnson gives Mountlake Terrace a big, speedy outside threat that the squad hasn’t had recently. The team may even use him some at the quarterback position just to get the ball into his hands more often.

Dougan also pointed to his offensive line as a key part of this year’s team. “Our offensive line is senior-heavy; we’ve got four seniors and a junior on that starting line. They should be our most game-ready, reliable group that we’ve got,” he said.

There is some concern on the defensive side of the ball for Dougan. “Defense — we’re still learning,” he said. “We put in a new defense and (we’re) trying new things — it’s still a work in progress. Hopefully we just don’t give up some ridiculous big plays and dig ourselves a hole there. But we’re improving quite a bit.”

Will the new coaching staff and new-scheme offense and defense be ready for the Hawks’ opener on Friday? “We have to be ready,” Dougan said. “We’ll be as ready as we are, and we won’t really know how ready we are until we show up. It’s going to be a tough game for sure — we know that, having squeaked one out against Mariner last year by a point.”

Mountlake Terrace slipped past the Marauders 14-13 in a thriller to open the 2014 season.

The game will mark the return of former Meadowdale coach Mark Stewart to Edmonds Stadium. Stewart coached the Meadowdale for 12 years and compiled an 87-49 record with the Mavericks from 2000-2012.

Mountlake Terrace finished last season with a mark of 8-3, a record that Dougan thinks is reachable for this year’s Hawk squad.

“If we stay healthy and the ball bounces our way a couple times, I think we’ll have a really good season,” he said. “If you lose the wrong guy or you have a little back luck, which happens in football, that can change your fortune.”

“If things go our way I could see us 7-2 for the regular season; if things don’t go our way I could see us 4-5, or somewhere in-between.”

To view the entire 2015 Mountlake Terrace Hawks football schedule, click https://www.wescoathletics.com/index.php?league=3&page_name=game_schedule&school=40&sport=1.

– By Doug Petrowski

New head coach Kelly Dougan is installing new offensive and defensive schemes.
New head coach Kelly Dougan is installing new offensive and defensive schemes.

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