Losing is no day at the beach, so rebuilding Tenino opened camp at the coast

While most of Thurston County’s high school football teams dealt with a nightmare straight from the title of a hit 1970s pop song — “Smoke From a Distant Fire” — Tenino’s players breathed clean Pacific Ocean air their first four days of practice.

The journey to Nahcotta Beach was a long-planned part of the Beavers’ preseason preparation, not a reaction to poor air quality that has driven most local teams indoors for at least a couple of practices. They stayed in rough cabins and practiced not on a pristine artificial turf field, but in what amounted to a pasture.

“We went to the beach to get the kids playing for each other. We’re trying to get the unity piece going,” said second-year coach Cary Nagel, who became Tenino’s third coach in three seasons a year ago. “It was awesome.”

Beaver players liked the camp’s balance. There were skits, there were physically-demanding tasks.

“It was fun to do something as a team,” said junior tight end and linebacker Paxton Russell, a second-team Class 1A Evergreen Conference pick a year ago. “We did a lot of football and did a lot of bonding.”

Some of the bonding exercises seemed snatched from a diabolical drill sergeant.

“The coaches put us into tough situations,” said Jace Griffis, a second-team Olympian All-Area wide receiver and first-team 1A Evergreen selection who will switch to running back in 2018.

“We were woken up by sirens at 4 in the morning, and sent outside to carry canoes over our heads in a circle. Nobody really talked, but we all knew we had to get it done so we pushed to get through it as a team.”

The players appreciate Nagel’s toughness and commitment to the program.

“If there was anybody in town who was trying to be on this team only halfway committed, he gave them the boot,” Griffis, a three-year starter, said of Tenino’s 25-man roster. “We want 110 percent commitment on our team.”

When long-time coach Randy Swilley left Tenino after the 2015 season, Tim Bullus came in on a wave of enthusiasm. But with his background at an urban east coast Catholic school, Bullus found a small town Washington public school a very different experience.

Enter Nagel, a former assistant at Franklin Pierce.

Though the Beavers finished 1-7-1 in 2017, Nagel doesn’t think the rebuilding starts this season.

“The first steps were last season,” he said. “I started with some things that a lot of kids weren’t comfortable with. Now we’ve had a whole year under our belts, so I expect improvement. It’s all about getting the kids bought in, getting them committed.”

Griffis and Russell are obvious team leaders, as is new quarterback Karl Hisaw, a senior who previously played wide receiver and defensive back.

“He’s without a doubt the guy who leads the ship around here,” Nagel said.

Hisaw is ready.

“I like being in a leadership spot, it gives me a chance to grow and show what I’ve got,” he said. “It’s going to take some of the younger guys a while to get used to playing both sides of the ball at the high school level, but I’m confident. The guys we’ve got work hard. We have them under our wings.”

Standouts thus far include freshman Takari Hickle and senior Zach Robson, who has stepped up his game from past seasons.

“We’ll trust the process and see where it takes us,” Hisaw said. “But there’s no doubt in my mind we can finish with a winning record.”