Pop Kennedy Stadium will be rocking when the Juanita Rebels invade to battle the Inglemoor Vikings in a non-league game. These two rivals, seperated by just over 2 miles, played last season at Juanita with the Rebels coming out on top 21-17. Both teams are 1-0 on the season, Juanita beat Redmond 48-16 at home and Inglemoor traveled to Snohomish and walked away with a 10-0 victory. I sent emails to both head coaches, Juanita's Shaun Tarantola was the only response.
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The Vikings are guided by Head Coach, Frank Naish. Inglemoor has some very skilled players but do lack depth on both sides of the ball. Juanita Coach, Shaun Tarantola listed RB/DB Junior Vi, OL/LB Mikey TuPou and OL/DL Titus Makasini as three players from Inglemoor to keep an eye on. He went on to say that Vi is "very fast and athetic", TuPou ".. does a nice job and is very physical" and Makasini "is very quick and athletic".
This is the 33rd year for Naish at Inglemoor and they are coming off a 5-4 season in 2010. As long as Naish is at the helm, Inglemoor will always be a tough team to beat. It seems like every year the Vikings lose some big names, but never seem to drop like they should. Last season the Vikings would get to the preliminary round before losing to the Newport Knights 28-17.
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Juanita Rebels
The Juanita Rebels are a team on the rise. Last season the Rebels finished 9-2 and made the playoffs for the first time since 1994. They would lose in the opening round to Camas, but it was a season a team can build on. At points last season they would be ranked as high as 3rd and beat #1 ranked Liberty before losing the following week to #1 Bellevue. This year they do have big losses due to graduation, but after winning big last week over Redmond, they are now the 7th ranked 3A team in the state. Senior Offensive Tackle, Nathan Dean committed to the University of Washington and is ranked by some as the third best OL recruit in the state. Juanita is big up front, and very fast behind. TE/DE Matt Nilsson is a big athletic target, but offensively the Rebels best days are gonna be on the ground. Rebels Head Coach, Shaun Tarantola was nice enough to answer a few questions for me, this is what he had to say.
WHSF: What would you consider your teams offensive strengths?
ST: Speed and Great OL play.
WHSF: What would you consider your teams defensive strengths?
ST: Speed and pursuit to the ball.
WHSF: What would you say are your keys to winning this friday?
ST: Protecting the football and eliminating turnovers. Winning the special teams battle.
WHSF: Is there anything that suprirsed you about your team in the win over Redmond?
ST: How quickly we were able to start and the amount of big plays we had on offense.
WHSF: What is it gonna take to get your team to the Tacoma Dome this year?
ST: Getting better every week.
WHSF: In just your second year, you got Juanita to the state playoff, I believe for the first time since 1994. What do you attribute to your early success and how do you keep that success going?
ST: Players bought in quickly to our vision and made a full committment to football.
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My Outlook:
Anytime you have a rivalry game things can go either way. This is a game that Juanita needs to win if they want to be among the states elite teams. The Rebels offensive line and speedy running backs should lead them to victory. Juanita wins 34-10.
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Other links & notes:
- Juanita reached the state playoffs in 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1994 and 2010. Last playoff win was in 1989, a 20-14 first round win at Cascade. Best playoff runs were in ’84, ’85 and ’86. Juanita won back-to-back AAA State Championships in 1984 (41-27 over South Kitsap @ King Dome) and 1985 (28-13 over Gonzaga Prep @ King Dome). Juanita finished 2nd in AAA in 1986 losing 14-7 to Gonzaga Prep @ King Dome in a rematch of the 1985 AAA Championship game
- Here is a YouTube highlight video of Juanita OT Nathan Dean...
- Inglemoor played in the 1993 Kingbowl against Tumwater, they would lose that game 33-7. I was at the game and remember it like it was yesterday, here is a link to an article about the Vikings.
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I will be tweeting from this game, providing I can make it, if not I will be at the Kentlake vs Kentridge game at French Field. Either way I will can be followed @HSFootballWA for live game updates.
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I wanna say "Hello" to my reader from South Korea. Welcome!
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