After several coaching transitions, Capital seniors say they’re ready to lead the Cougars back to success
Terry Rose is Capital High School’s third football coach in three seasons. He’s never coached in the area, having spent the past five years building up his business, CrossFit Olympia, after serving as offensive coordinator at Bountiful High School in Utah.
Fortunately for Rose, the Cougars’ roster is loaded with veterans — 21 of the 22 offensive and defensive first string are seniors.
“I never gave them a sales pitch, I’m not trying to sell myself, I’m selling what we’re trying to do,” Rose said. “I put a lot of responsibility on the seniors. None of this is about me, it’s about the team.”
Rebuilding a Capital team that missed the playoffs after a 4-6 season in 2017, and hasn’t reached the state playoffs since 2012, is a task this group of seniors is happy to take on.
“The seniors talked about it,” said senior quarterback Grant Erickson, a second-team Class 3A South Sound Conference and Olympian All-Area selection last season.
“We want to win games, but more importantly we want to set the tone that we’re going to compete and have a great attitude about everything. If we do that this year, that will get the program going.”
Chris Penner, Erickson’s favorite target who is a two-time Olympian All-Area and 3A SSC first-teamer, has led Thurston County in receiving the past two seasons, catching 57 passes for 1,066 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2017. Penner, now a senior, sees a mentorship role for the upperclassmen.
“We can help outside of practices with players who don’t quite understand something,” he said. “In practice, we can bring along the underclassmen who aren’t sure what to do.”
Rose calls Erickson and Penner’s leadership “amazing,” but also points to Mason Bertelli, Eric Jackson, Regan Divina and Nate Smith as others who set examples.
“As coaches, we’ve been blessed to come into a situation where we have a senior group that’s been absolutely outstanding,” Rose said. “They’ve stepped up and been a part of everything we’ve asked them to do. They’ve been great with the younger kids.”
Last season was a difficult one for Capital as interim coach Darren Tinnerstet took over midway through the summer when longtime coach J.D. Johnson — who is now the defensive coordinator at Black Hills — resigned after accusations his staff hadn’t provided adequate supervision at a team camp.
Erickson and Penner admit the Cougars weren’t always fired up during the transition. That’s changed.
“There’s so much more energy, people are excited to be here, hyped up, looking forward to game time. It’s a fun environment,” Penner said.
Friday night’s season opener against Lakes at Harry E. Lang Stadium in Lakewood will be a key moment, Rose says.
“A lot of kids are still uncertain how the season is going to go,” he said. “After we get the first game under our belt, we’ll be able to take a deep breath.”
With Erickson throwing to Penner — a sporting combination that’s existed in one form or another since the two played mini-soccer together at age 4 — Capital has one of the more established offensive threats in the area.
“I can read Chris and throw to a spot rather than where it’s drawn up to be,” Erickson said. “You know he’s going to make a play on the ball. There’s a lot of trust that’s grown over the years.”
Nonetheless, Rose promises some new wrinkles.
“We’re going to a modern spin on an old school-style offense,” he said. “We’re breaking away to a totally different defense.”
Erickson sees success coming, and not just from established playmakers.
“We’ve been working crazy hard during the offseason. Coach Rose has been kicking our butts in the best way possible,” he said. “I think a lot of guys are going to do surprise people by doing amazing things this year.”