League Roundup

Thurston in familiar role as MWL favorite

By Danny Penza

Mail Tribune

It doesn’t take long to identify who the rest of the pack in the Midwestern League will be chasing entering the 2021 season.

That’s just what happens when you’re Thurston and you’re the team that has won the last two state titles at the Class 5A level.

The senior-dominated and high-powered Colts, who won state titles in 2018 and 2019, were a unanimous pick to finish atop the Midwestern League this season in a vote by the league’s coaches.

“We replaced quite a few really good seniors, but we have another very large senior class this year, so I’m very excited about this year’s senior class,” Thurston head coach Justin Starck said. “We’re just really happy to get back out on the field. We have a lot of optimism and excitement for the season.”

Thurston went 5-1 during the sixweek spring season, outscoring their opponents 233-72.

And while the Colts lost 17 seniors from that team, Starck knows he’s still got plenty of talent on this season’s roster, one that has 26 seniors.

“They’re a tight-knit group and have been together for a long time,” Starck said. “They’ve played together in a lot of Pop Warner games through the years.”

Senior tight end Jacob Newell and senior running back Gavin Knights are the centerpieces of an offense that averaged nearly 39 points per game in the spring.

Starck joked that he’s lost track of how many offers from Division I schools Newell has received. The 6-foot-4, 230-pounder — who will also feature at defensive end for the Colts — had 19 receptions for 249 yards and six touchdowns in the spring.

Knights had a monster junior season despite its shortened nature. A

Thurston senior Jacob Newell, center, will be a major factor at both tight end and defensive end for the Colts this season.

CHRIS PIETSCH / THE EUGENE REGISTER-GUARD

losing just 11 seniors from that squad.

“I think our team is a year older, a year more experienced and they worked really hard in the offseason, so we’re hopeful they can translate that into success,” Robinson said.

SEE MWL, 15

5-foot-8, 160-pound senior, Knights rushed for 956 yards and 13 touchdowns, averaging 11.8 yards per carry.

“Jake’s such a matchup problem with his height,” Starck said. “He just does a really good job going up and getting the ball. Gavin is an exceptional, exceptional high school running back and I believe he can play at the next level. ... The Division II, Division III, NAIAs are just drooling over him because he’s a game-changing kind of kid.”

Knights will team in the backfield with senior Bryce Indell, a transfer from Willamette who was the Wolverines’ leading rusher as well as tackler in the spring. The 6-foot, 210-pound Indell will be one half of an inside linebacker tandem with junior Vaun Halstead that Starck described as “as good as you will find anywhere.”

At quarterback, Starck said it’s been a battle between sophomore Darien Witham — who started two games last season — and senior Alex Boring, who is working his way back from ACL surgery last summer.

“We feel really good about our depth at that position,” Starck said.

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