Nov. 6—West Valley football coach Craig Whitney has had some good teams in his 20 seasons at the helm of the Eagles. He thinks the 2024 edition stacks up with the best of them.
“We talk about the ’09 team that played for the state championship. The 2017 team that played in the semifinals. Each team was a little bit different,” Whitney said. “But this one is as good as those guys. But we have to play well every week, including this one coming up.”
The Eagles, ranked No. 5 in 2A by the state media poll and No. 3 in the RPI system, are undefeated after nine games heading into this weekend’s Round of 32 game against Mark Morris (4-5, RPI No. 30), which they host at 3 p.m. Saturday. The winner will be seeded in the state Round of 16 next week.
West Valley has outscored opponents 370-173 and is averaging 405 yards per game on offense. But always the coach, Whitney won’t let the team get complacent despite the record or prior successes.
“Seems like we talk about cleaning something up, and the next week there’s something else. I guess it makes for job security,” Whitney said. “There’s always stuff to work on. They’re high school kids. We as coaches, we don’t know everything. But we watch film and we’re nitpicky with them.”
He’s always looking for a new wrinkle.
“Our playbook keeps expanding on the players’ abilities, what we think they can do,” Whitney said. “We’ll keep progressing until the very end.”
Tailback Austin Clark garners a lot of attention, as he should. The senior led the Greater Spokane League 2A division in rushing by more than 300 yards with 1,085 yards (9.4 average), and 24 touchdowns on the ground and one through the air.
“He has good vision, has good patience,” Whitney said of Clark. “He’s powerful enough to run through arm tackles, and then he’s got the speed to finish runs.”
Clark scored eight touchdowns, which tied the league record, and had 333 rushing yards in a 58-44 win over second-place Clarkston on Oct. 11.
“We needed every one of those touchdowns,” Whitney said. “We thought we might get a couple of stops on defense — and we didn’t. But we kept handing it off to him and it would be 5 yards, 8 yards, 10 yards — then 40 yards. I said, ‘Hey, you got any more sprints in you?’ We finally got a stop at the end which gave us a little bit of breathing room.”
“That game I think we were all feeling ourselves on offense,” Clark said. “I was in the mode where I step on the field and was like, ‘I gotta score this.’ It was run the ball, run the ball, run the ball.”
Clark’s a quiet guy who gets “in his zone and doesn’t really want to be messed with,” during games, Whitney said. “Everybody understands it. We kind of just let him rock and roll his way. I just hope he keeps getting in that zone.”
Whitney gives a lot of credit for the team’s success to his big, experienced offensive line.
Quinlan Hyatt, who committed to University of Montana, is a big high schooler regardless of classification, but especially in the 2A level. He stands 6-foot-7 and weighs 255. He’s bookended on the line by fellow senior tackle Trey Raiford at 6-3, 242.
Senior guards Bryson Maidhoff (5-10, 205) and junior Blake Gipson (6-1, 210) flank sophomore center Jace Carson (6-2, 226). Senior tight end Andrew Royston (6-1, 210), a converted lineman, completes the blocking set.
“My offensive line is amazing,” Clark said. “We have a D-I commit, but I think they all are on that level. They’ve really helped me shine.”
The 5-11, 185-pound Clark can get lost behind some of the “road graders” in front of him — until he hits the jets and is running away from defenders.
“It’s really fun when (Hyatt) is pulling and I can get in behind him and push him where I want,” Clark said.
Royston has enjoyed the position switch from lineman to occasional ball carrier for his senior season.
“I already knew about using leverage and positioning myself to seal off blocks,” he said. “It’s just from a different position and place on the field.”
Though he’s in the position for his blocking expertise, he has also amassed 300-plus total yards in offense this season.
“The guys still give me a hard time when I get the ball,” he said. “They still think of me as a lineman.”
If the linemen are the “engine of the offense,” as Whitney put it, Clark is the spark plug who gets things going. He credits a rigorous offseason training program for the elevation of his game this season.
“We all definitely came together as a group in the summer,” Clark said. “We all just have a love for the sport and we all really wanted to go far when we looked at our team. We’ve taken it game by game and have dominated for the most part.”
There’s no real secret to the line’s — or the team’s — success, Hyatt said.
“We’ve put in the work,” Hyatt said. “We’ve been working hard in the weight room, on the field, everywhere we can work we’ve put in the time.”
The unit is of a singular mindset on the field.
“We always drive our opponents and get them upfield as far as we can, looking for pancakes,” he said. “It’s all about getting that ‘DOLA,’ dominant offensive line attitude. I think that’s what makes us so great.”
Hyatt had several Big Sky offers but close ties within the West Valley program helped draw him back to Montana.
“I went to a ton of Big Sky schools (on visits) and around the Pacific Northwest,” he said. “But with the Grizzlies, it just clicked. My former offensive line coach, Rick Kuhl, went there; my head coach played there. I have former teammates who played there. It’s a great community out there in Missoula.”
