Entering its Class 2A Northwest District Playoff game against Archbishop Murphy, the Squalicum football team has had 485 offensive snaps so far this season - 365 running plays and 120 passing plays.

Though senior Lane Covington hasn't been on the field for every one of those, it's safe to say he's had his hands on the ball most of them as the team's starting center.

And as far as he can remember, Squalicum has had only one fumbled snap so far this year, which came in the season opener against Kingston.

Pretty good, right? That means that approximately 99.79 percent of Squalicum's offensive plays have gotten off to a good start.

"It's not perfect, though," Covington said in phone interview.

In case you haven't guessed yet, Covington is a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to successfully transferring the ball to the quarterback.

In fact, he works hard to be perfect in nearly everything he does.

"He does a great job at snapping," Squalicum coach Reed Richardson said in a phone interview. "We haven't had hardly any problems with our center exchanges this year."

That's not as easy as it might sound.

Covington has had to become a master at his craft.

"He has an amazing attention to detail and focuses on doing it right every time," Richardson said. "It's all about repetition. It helps that he and Clark (Hazlett, Squalicum's sophomore starting quarterback) have worked together for the past two years. They just do it over and over together.

"And we switch from under center to the gun. That's not easy to go back and forth like that for a center. But Lane has practiced it so many times before. He's worked his butt off to do it right every time."

And, for the most part Covington does it right every time.

He doesn't even cut himself any slack if it's raining, which it has been known to do on Friday nights here in the Pacific Northwest.

"Rain definitely makes it more difficult," Covington said. "We're pretty fortunate, because we've only had two games that weren't played at Civic Stadium. That means there has been no mud on the ball. But if the ball's slippery, I just go up to Clark and ask for one of his lucky towels. ... He always has two of them. If it's raining, he'll let me use one to dry my hands."

You've got to love a quarterback that takes care of his lineman.

Of course, Covington has shown he's pretty good at taking care of his quarterback and opening holes for his running backs, too.

"It's not easy to snap the ball and then get ready to block," Richardson said. "Center is one of the toughest positions to play. You need to be a pretty good athlete."

And Richardson said Covington wasn't a natural athlete when he came to the program.

But he got good at blocking the same way he got good at snapping - through a whole bunch of hard work.

"My freshman and sophomore years I was overweight, honestly," Covington said. "My sophomore year, I was second string playing JV, and I really wasn't playing much on varsity. The starting center that year was a senior. I knew they were looking at me to step up.

"So going into my junior year, I really started to work hard in the weight room. I got together with our strength and conditioning coach, and he really helped me. That April, I went on a diet plan, and I lost over 40 pounds in four months, and that really helped me get in shape. It's one of the main reasons I started as a junior."

It's also one of the main reasons he's continued to start ever since.

It's a story Richardson could tell pretty much up and down his offensive line.

"All of those guys have kind of made themselves into athletes through hard work," Richardson said. "Pretty much all of them fit that mold. (Jacob) Hamm, (Spencer) Koch, (Joel) Jensen, (Ben) Bartel, Lane - they've all worked hard in the weight room. Our only lineman who was kind of a naturally gifted athlete is Neall Koetje, but they've all made themselves into players in the weight room. Those guys have jelled together and worked really hard to get it done."

That's not the only place Covington and his linemates have worked hard.

Richardson said most of Squalicum's linemen also are excellent students in the classroom.

"There are a lot of smart guys in school, and that translates well to the football field," Covington said. "We all know what we're supposed to do and help each other out by making calls, and we're pretty much always on the same page."

That could be particularly important on Friday, as Squalicum battles an Archbishop Murphy squad that has been to the Class 2A state championship game the past two years and the state semifinals the past four years.

Squalicum, meanwhile is attempting to qualify for state for the first time in school history.

"I think we've definitely got a shot," Covington said. "This is a lot different than last year, when we were playing in a consolation game (in Week 10). It's a lot different than last year, because we're playing for something. Things are a lot more upbeat. We know it's going to be a really tough game, but we know we have got a shot. Guys are working hard to get ready for Friday night. We know that we can be right there with them and we can play four quarters with them. We know we are capable of getting a win if we give our all and play to the best of our abilities."

At least the Storm knows that every offensive play should get off to a good start.

Reach David Rasbach at david.rasbach@bellinghamherald.com or 360-715-2286.

Reach DAVID RASBACH at david.rasbach@bellinghamherald.com or call 715-2271.