Bellevue returns most of the key players from last year's state title-winning season.
Photo by Jeff Napier
Bellevue enters the 2011 season after a 38-0 blanking of Kamiakin in the 3A state finals. The Wolverines return most of their key pieces from a year ago and have some impressive young talent poised to contribute. Head coach Butch Goncharoff has both impressive skill players and mobile linemen with size, a deadly combination in his methodical offense.
Tyler Hasty will take command of the Wolverines' offense. He's fast, athletic, and has great bloodlines, as his older brother J.R. was a star at Bellevue.
He'll be joined by a loaded group of running backs that features 2010 leading rusher
Latrell Dukes,
Ari Morales,
John Nguyen, and
Bishard "Budda" Baker, a sophomore who may be the team's fastest player.
The team's offensive line returns three starters, including 6-foot-5, 275-pound
Jake Eldrenkamp and equally massive teammate
Michael Kneip, both of whom are Division I-caliber players.
Defensively, although Hasty will be a big factor in the secondary,
Sean Constantine should be the team's leader. The 6-2, 220-pound junior is already attracting Pac-12 interest and should be a force at linebacker for the Wolverines.
Bellevue will need to replace Marcus Henry on the defensive line as well as Kenderick Van Ackeren in the secondary.
Nick Santa (defensive end) and
Michael Carlson (safety), both part of Bellevue's stellar junior class, will assume more responsibility.
Despite all of the young talent on this squad, the pieces are in place for Bellevue to have a really strong year. The offense has the potential to be utterly dominant. If the defense plays as well as it did last season, the Wolverines might run the table.
Local look: "Every year the Bellevue football program seems to open the season as the favorite to win Washington's 3A classification and, in eight of the last 10 seasons, Goncharoff's Wolverines have claimed state titles. They have won three straight championships and are the favorites again in 2011 with a stable of talented backs running behind a very good offensive line. Given the nature of high school football, it would only seem natural for a program to have a few down seasons. Not Bellevue. The years go on. Players graduate. The Wolverines keep winning."
- Mason Kelly, Seattle Times
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