Blaine football looks to challenge with strong vets, talented youth

Graduating a large crop of talent, more often than not, automatically puts the ensuing season into question, but Blaine coach Jay Dodd is convinced his young team is up to the challenge.

“We are really excited about our entire team,” Dodd said. “We think we will be able to put a really, really good team out there that will make our high school proud of us.”

That’s due to the wealth of talent replacing those no longer in the program combined with the return of some key veterans.

The Borderites made a ton of progress a season ago, evidenced by their near upset of state-runner up Lynden during the final week of the regular season, and Blaine will be looking to follow up on that momentum this fall.

A good place to start will be the defense, which was one of the NWC’s better units at stopping the run last season.

Although Blaine graduated standouts Adam McShane and Jon Fakkema, Dodd has high hopes for a collection of big bodies that includes senior leader Armando Moser-Hernandez, newcomer Shaq Woods, John Kramme and Porter Schmidt.

Woods is a particularly intriguing prospect. He stands 6-foot-6, weighs in the mid 300s and plays varsity basketball. His ability to plug up rushing lanes could be a game-changer.

Behind the line is a solid corps or linebackers headlined by three-year starter Josh Fakkema, who is moving from outside to inside. He’ll most likely be complimented by junior Layton Hagee and senior Marcus Potts.

“We feel really good about our linebackers,” Dodd said. “(Josh) was really good outside, but we gave him a look at inside during some (summer) scrimmages and he tore it up.”

Anthony Ball and Riley Fritsch are back manning the safety spots, and corners Jonathan Starcer and Alfonso Dermendziev add to what should be a very strong secondary.

Like many of the Northwest Conference teams, quarterback will be a question mark after Blaine graduated Nate Kramme, but Dodd has been pleased with new starter Jalen Kortlever’s development during the offseason.

“He has really grown as a passer,” Dodd said of Kortlever. “He is just a really smart kid, 4.0 GPA, and mechanically he can really deliver the football down the field.”

He’ll be throwing to a deep group that includes Ball, Starcer, Dermendziev, Hagee and Josh at TE, and one of the best backs in the NWC, Fritsch, returns to the Borderites’ backfield.

This story was originally published September 2, 2015 at 5:01 PM with the headline "Blaine football looks to challenge with strong vets, talented youth."