Since 2004, Decatur has won a total of 20 football games. In that timespan their best season was in 2011 when they finished 4-5.

Last year the Golden Gators finished 1-9 under Levi Suiaunoa in his first year. Going into his second year, he’s feeling much more confident in the direction the team is heading.

“I feel good,” Suiaunoa said. “All-around as a team we’re better than last year. We just so happened to have two really talented guys last year. But as a whole, this team is a lot more talented.”

Decatur gave up 497 points last year, more than any of the previous year since 2004. The goal this year is for the defense to match the offense.

“We need to be better at defense; we were last in defense last year so there’s nowhere to go but up for us,” Suiaunoa said. “We also played a lot of young, inexperienced players on defense last year. We played about four or five freshmen. Now they’re sophomores and they look pretty good. If we shore up the defense and keep scoring touchdowns, we’ll be alright.”

“I think we’ve gotten a lot faster at all positions,” Suiaunoa said. “I think we’ve also gotten a lot stronger at a lot of the positions. In the physical aspect, I think we look good. But you never know until you’re lined up.”

The Gators also had their most prolific offense last year as they finished with 315 points scored. They managed at least 21 points in all but one of their games; they were shut out against Beamer. In the 10 years prior, the highest point total they managed was 233 in 2006.

A huge part of that offense were Isaiah Diggs and Isaiah Hatch, both of whom have graduated. Diggs alone accounted for 1,998 all-purpose yards last year. Both were first-team All-SPSL Northwest last year.

They also lose their only other first-team all-league player from last season in offensive lineman Teban Mansaray.

Diggs was also a second team all-league defensive player. They will lose another second team player in Keandre Blackshire who graduated.

They will return second-team all-league players Christian Siva (running back), Zach Green (wide receiver) and Jeremiyah Viena (offensive lineman).

“Areas that we were young and inexperienced at last year, we are now experienced,” Suiauanoa said. “But areas we were experienced at last year, we’re inexperienced at now.”

“I think one of our biggest strengths is that the kids get along. They play for each other. They’re always doing things together. That’s a good thing. It wasn’t like that last year. I think a lot of it has to do with our great senior class.”

Suiaunoa says that after the final game of last season, they challenged the upcoming seniors to lead by example. So far, he’s seen them answer that challenge.

Another thing that Suiaunoa believes will help change the culture at Decatur into a winning one is having players from other sports on the team. Wrestlers and baseball players like Tyler Swanson and Tim Hughes are always welcome to Suiaunoa because they have shown they know what it takes to win at Decatur.

“Our seniors have won about three football games since they’ve been here,” Suiaunoa said. “They were challenged at the end of last season, now they’re out here after practice running routes, collecting water bottles and throwing the football. We’re changing the culture, or at least we’ll try.”

Decatur begins their season on the road Friday, September 4 at 7 p.m. against the Spanaway Lake Sentinels at Art Crate Field.

Thomas Jefferson Raiders

Last year Jefferson was looking to build on a playoff appearance in 2013. They came close to making the playoffs once again, but fell one game short.

It will be head coach Jeff Zenisek’s second year at the helm for the Raiders and being around the team more this season has him feeling more comfortable in his position.

“Last year I wasn’t around the kids until around the summer,” Zenisek said. “I was still working at Tenino and trying to get up here for spring ball and I was only really around the kids for three hours at the time. Now we’re getting the philosophy in and what the expectations are early.”

They finished the year with a 3-7 record and in third in the South Puget Sound League Northwest. In their week 9 crossover game to earn a playoff spot, they pushed Tahoma to the limit before falling 10-7.

“Even though we finished third, it was a pretty good year,” Zenisek said. “We really could have finished 5-5 with one more score here or there. Especially against Tahoma where we only lost by three points. We were driving at the end and fumbled.”

Since then, Zenisek said the attitude has changed from football being just something to do to being pretty important to the kids.

He says that there has been a core group of around 50-60 kids who have been lifting and practicing together each day since they began in the spring.

“It’s about competition in everything we’re doing,” Zenisek said. “We set some expectations for spring ball and one of them was that they couldn’t get their gear until they maxed. It’s been about challenging to get things like their locker and their jerseys. We bought new jerseys and they have to get their number they want.”

At the beginning of the season last year, Jefferson had a lot of injuries in the first four games that coincided with an 0-4 start. The opponents in those games (Puyallup, Graham-Kapowsin, Kentwood and Federal Way) were no slouches. The goal for this year is to stay healthy and keep the starters in.

They return six starters on both offense and defense for the upcoming season.

The team has a few key losses for the upcoming season. Lonyae Jones, who was second-team all-league as a wide receiver and first-team as a defensive back, has graduated. Roberto Ramirez-Vazquez, a second-team all-league offensive lineman and Hen Yong, a second-team all-league defensive back, have also graduated.

The team will have a few all league players back still. Justin Madden is returning after a first-team all-league effort at linebacker. Jacob Kauhane (offensive lineman/defensive lineman) and Kenneth Turner (defensive lineman/running back) were both second-team all-league last year and are entering their senior year.

Mason Delacruz also returns at quarterback for the Raiders after starting as a sophomore. He was also all-league for special teams.

“It will be critical to see how Mason [Delacruz] preforms this year,” Zenisek said. “Last year he was just a sophomore and made sophomore mistakes. With one more year under his belt, he’s his getting reads down so far. At the end of the year last year you could see him take a big step. Not necessarily at just throwing the ball, but his reads and progressions, knowing when to scramble and slide, his leadership and how far to get the first downs.”

Zenisek has been pleased with the team and fan base at Jefferson in his first year. He stated that last year when they were another team’s homecoming game yet they had more fans was one of the more impressive things he has seen.

“We got good kids here that really surround the teams with support,” Zenisek said. “They have good family support. You’ll hear us break with our cheer of ‘family’ because that’s what we are, a family. You really see that here.”

Thomas Jefferson will begin the year with a home game on Friday September 4 against the Puyallup Vikings at 7 p.m.

Todd Beamer Titans

Todd Beamer had their best season in school history last year. They finished with a winning record for the first time in school history and made an appearance in the state playoffs.

After never finishing higher than fourth in the South Puget Sound League South, they finished in second place in the SPSL Northwest last season and were seeded third from the entire SPSL North in the playoffs.

Darren McKay, the head coach now going into his fourth season, was named SPSL Northwest coach of the year. The team has improved under him in each season.

It was their second time making the postseason in school history. They last made a playoff appearance in 2010 where they lost to Skyview in the play-in round to the state playoffs. Last season they defeated Kamiak 17-13 to earn a state playoff berth. They fell to Gonzaga Prep 23-0.

The team was led by their punishing defense. After falling to Rogers 28-21 in the season opener, they won their next six games by outscoring their opponents 221-22. They shut out three opponents in that span.

They were in the hunt for the division title until the end of the regular season when they lost to Federal Way.

They will have to replace a lot of key talent this year. Gone are all-SPSL Northwest players Christian Stafford (wide receiver, special teams), Gabe Mojarro (offensive lineman), Chris Flaovau (running back), JJ Silao (offensive lineman), Jordan Jennings (defensive lineman), Chaz McKenzie (defensive back), Kepa Sharpe (defensive lineman) and Chris Fa’amalele (linebacker).

Brody Martinez, who was the SPSL’s leading rusher in 2013 and suffered and injury prior to the 2014 season and Taylor Davis, the Titan’s starting quarterback last season, are both gone as well.

Andrew Tofaeono, who was first-team all-league offense and defense, is entering his senior year. Christian Serrano, also a senior, will be the only other all-league player returning as he was named first-team offense last season.

Todd Beamer will begin their season on the road on Friday, September 4 at 7 p.m. against Rogers of Puyallup at Sparks Stadium.

Federal Way Eagles

After not making the state playoffs from 1976-2007, Federal Way has made a trend of being the state contender talk.

Last season marked their fourth straight state playoff appearance and their fifth since 2008. They have become a powerhouse under head coach John Meagher who enters his 18th year with the team.

After starting the season with two losses to championship caliber teams Union and Camas, the Eagles won nine straight games. In that span they averaged 47 points per game. They would bow out of the playoffs in the quarterfinals against Newport of Bellevue.

When talking about Federal Way football last year, it was almost guaranteed that one word would show up at some point: Chico.

Chico McClatacher has since left for the University of Washington, but last season he was the leader of the Eagles’ explosive offense that scored 470 points. He ran for 2,283 yards and 31 touchdowns. He returned four punts or kicks for touchdowns and made all-league as a defensive back as well. He was named one of the league’s players of the year and also was named first-team all-state.

Other key departures for the Eagles include all-league linemen Robert Savusa (also SPSL NW offensive and defensive player of the year), Jared Pulu, and Alu Taito and all-league linebackers David Tiumalu, Chris Tuiasosopo and Charlie Taumoepeau.

Despite the losses, the team still has tremendous talent. The Eagles’ running back and linebacker, Andrzej Hughes-Murray, has climbed recruiting lists in the offseason and looks to improve upon last year when he was second-team all-league at linebacker.

D’Jimon Jones returns with a year under his belt at starting quarterback. The Washington State commit was second-team all-league last year and may handle more passing duties this year.

First-team all-league receiver Bobi Sims and first-team all-league defensive back Ben Koler are also expected to be leaders on the team. Sam Han, a special teams player of the year last season, is also back.

The Eagles are expected to once again be in the discussion for the division title. Their goals, however, are likely far greater.

Federal Way begins the season on the road on Friday, September 4 at 7 p.m. against the Union Titans at McKenzie Stadium in Vancouver.