Skyline, Eastlake Football Open up State-Title Hopeful Seasons Friday

For the past several years, had dominated the tough KingCo 4A Crest Division and, for that matter, most of the state. The Spartans have won three of the past four state championships and advanced to the title game the other year.

But 2011 could signal a changing of the guard, as fellow Sammamish-school, , is poised to make a run at Skyline. Skyline starts the year ranked number one in The Seattle Times 4A state football rankings, with Eastlake just behind it at number two.

Eastlake is coming off of an 8-3 season in which it advanced to the state tournament for the first time in three years, before falling to SPSL power Curtis in the first round. The Wolves are returning just three offensive starters, but have a strong offensive line, led by 240-pound standout Gino Bresolin and a senior quarterback in Keegan Kemp. Kemp actually attends Bellevue Christian, which will field a football time for the first time this season, but was allowed to continue to play at Eastlake under a grandfather clause. Kemp shined in 2010, throwing for 1,258 yards and 13 touchdowns, while tossing just one interception. Kemp also rushed 60 times for 356 yards and five touchdowns.

On defense, the Wolves return six starters from a unit that allowed just 15 points per game in 2010. Eastlake posted two shutouts last season and four times held opponents to single-digit scoring outputs.

Skyline, on the other hand, is dealing with a number of key losses. National Prep Football Player of the Year (1,579 receiving yards, 21 touchdowns) is now catching passes from Keith Price at the University of Washington. The second-leading receiver from last season, Jordan Simone (1318, 15 touchdowns) has joined brother Gino at Washington State University. Running back Kai Jandoc (939 yards, 6 touchdowns) also graduated out of the program.

The good news for the Spartans is that junior quarterback Max Browne will be back. Browne had a breakout sophomore season, throwing for 4,182 yards and an eye-popping 50 touchdowns in 2010 and is now one of the nations’ top junior quarterback prospects. Unfortunately, most of the touchdowns Browne threw in 2010 were to players now graduated. But Browne’s talent should translate well to almost any group that comes in.

On the defensive side, Skyline is dealing with more losses to graduation, but does return linebacker Peyton Pelluer, the latest in the line of Pelluer brothers to shine for the Spartans. Pelluer tallied 110 solo tackles as a sophomore, along with two sacks and two interceptions.

Both Skyline and Eastlake open the schedule with some tough games. Skyline will open against 2010 state quarter-finalist Liberty – which beat Skyline 39-34 to open last season. Liberty lost talented running back Chandler Jenkins, but has had a run of success that includes three straight state tournament appearances. The Spartans schedule only gets tougher in the next two weeks, as it takes on Bellevue at home and then travels to Oregon to face Lake Oswego.

Eastlake opens the year against Central Kitsap, a team that beat the Wolves 13-10 in the season opener in 2010. Eastlake then has a bit of an easier stretch before facing Mariner and Issaquah back-to-back in October.

The two teams finally meet in the regular-season finale on October 21 at Eastlake. If both programs live up to expectations, the Crest division crown could be on the line.

Editor's note: Read a preview of Eastside Catholic's football prospects for the 2011-2012 year.