Tumwater has 2 of its leading rushers back. And there’s plenty more where that came from

For more than three decades, the football coaches at Tumwater High School — first Sid Otton, now Bill Beattie, and their assistants — have been committed to mastering the wing-T offense. And through that system, the program has produced plenty of talented running backs.

None of that will change in 2018.

The T-Birds will still rely on the rushing attack that has earned them five state titles and appearances in nine championship games — including last year’s Class 2A matchup against Hockinson, which resulted in a 35-22 loss.

The only difference this season is Beattie, now in his second season coaching at Tumwater, has a fun puzzle to solve — the T-Birds have even more depth at the running back position than usual. There are nine players that could make an impact.

“They’re all guys who can run the sweeps, they catch, they block,” Beattie said. “It’s a good competition right now.”

The T-Birds return last year’s leading rusher in junior Dylan Paine, who was a first-team 2A Evergreen Conference and Olympian All-Area pick, and earned an honorable mention all-state nod by the Associated Press as a sophomore.

Paine nearly broke the program’s single-season rushing record, compiling 1,803 yards and 24 touchdowns on 312 carries. He was just short of the record mark Zach Johnson, who later went on to play at Eastern Washington as a linebacker, set in 2006 (1,918 yards).

With two seasons remaining, Paine could also contend for Tumwater’s career rushing record — 4,303 yards, set by Derek Lowe between 1991-93 — though he puts more value into the program’s success than his own.

“It’s all about the team,” Paine said. “Whatever I can do to help the team is what I’m going to do. We’ve got a lot of running backs this year. If everyone can do their job, we’re all going to rush for a lot of yards.”

Zane Murphy, a senior who was an honorable mention 2A EvCo pick in 2017, is also back. He was one of four T-Birds running backs who tallied over 500 yards rushing last season, finishing with 820 yards on 113 carries and eight scores.

“We have like four or five running backs who I believe could carry any team,” Murphy said. “We’re just out there working. Really, I think it just pushes (us) to get better at our jobs. We all want to score, but we all want to see each other score. It’s a great unit.”

Apart from the two veterans, Beattie mentioned senior transfer Dylan Loftis, who joins the T-Birds from Minnesota, and sophomore Turner Allen as players who could have significant carries.

“Paine brings the quickness and the familiarity at fullback — that hard-nosed, up-the-middle quick hitting,” Beattie said. “Loftis is going to bring that buck sweep and counter, and Allen is going to bring both.

“He’s a hard-nosed runner around the outside. He’s the fastest of the three. Zane is probably the best blocker of all of them, he’s got good hands.”

Beattie and his players could go on about the amount of depth the T-Birds have in the backfield this season.

“We’re just stacked,” Murphy said. “I love it.”

Elsewhere on the offense, the T-Birds return 2A EvCo first-teamers in senior center Caden Hicks and senior tight end Thomas Drayton.

Tumwater also has three players vying for the starting quarterback position in junior Ty Gilliland, senior Wyatt Palmer and sophomore Cody Whalen.

Beattie said the T-Birds, while continuing their run-based system, will aim to throw the ball more than in past seasons.

“We’re trying to change our philosophy (on passing) a little bit,” he said. “Our goal is to double our passing output from last year. That seems like a lot, but we only averaged four passes per game.”

On defense, the T-Birds return two first-team 2A EvCo selections in senior linebackers Mason Burbidge and Jack Prentice.

Gilliland is also returning as Tumwater’s punter after setting a Gridiron Classic record last December with a 64-yard boot in the state title game.

Tumwater opens the season on the road against 3A programs Timberline and Yelm, and hosts 4A Bellarmine and 6A McNary (Oregon) before beginning league play at the end of September.

“It’s great,” Paine said. “We always try to get a tough schedule before we hit our league games and the postseason. (Playing those teams) is only going to make us better and prepare us.”