Five years ago, playing for a state championship was an elusive dream for Anacortes football.
Athletics director and former head coach Justin Portz sometimes wonders if he’s still in that dream ahead of the No. 2-seeded Seahawks’ upcoming 2A state title bout with No. 1 Tumwater.
“I wake up every day going, ‘Is that real? I wasn’t dreaming, right?’” Portz said. “We’re really doing this. We’re really playing for a championship on Saturday.”
It was just four seasons ago that Anacortes fielded only a junior varsity team, as Portz and the coaching staff began an ambitious and impressive rebuilding effort.
Now the Seahawks are set to appear in their first state title game in program history after winning their first state semifinal game on Saturday, Nov. 25 over No. 3 Enumclaw.
“It’s a little surreal … after this weekend, that’s it,” Portz said. “There’s two teams left. You know, for Anacortes, this is new territory for us.”
Seahawks head coach Travis Anderson said the players and coaches “can’t go anywhere” without being stopped by community members to discuss the team, its success and what’s next.
The buzz is unlike anything he’s seen in the Anacortes community, Anderson said.
“I’m just excited for the memories that these boys are going to make,” Anderson added. “They’re going to be 40, 50 years old at a reunion talking about some of the memories that are going to be made on Saturday.”
While the hype around Anacortes is at its highest, so are the stakes.
“Our biggest thing this week is we can’t let the lights get too bright,” senior quarterback Rex Larson said. “You can’t let the moment get too big. We’ve just got to go out and do our thing.”
Anacortes (12-0) is coming into the game against Tumwater (13-0) off the semifinal win that Anderson said was “by far” the team’s best offensive performance of the season. Portz and Anderson both said the team, as a whole, is peaking at the right time, and they certainly have the most explosive offense in Class 2A.
The Seahawks offense is led by Larson, who tossed five touchdown passes in the win over Enumclaw on 20-of-25 passing while piling up 372 yards through the air.
“[Larson] did everything we asked and more. It was one of the best performances I’ve seen out of a high school quarterback,” Anderson said. “I’m so proud of him — his leadership, his composure, his trust in us [as coaches].”
Senior wide receiver and linebacker Rylin Lang pulled in three of Larson’s TD passes, finishing the game with seven receptions and 117 yards receiving.
“Rylin is a phenomenal football player; he does everything,” Anderson added. “All the balls that you do not think anyone has a chance of catching, he finds a way to come down with them. He plays the game harder than anyone I’ve ever seen.”
Anacortes is loaded with offensive talent beyond just Larson and Lang. But the Seahawks’ defense will also have to stop an age-old offensive system that Tumwater employs: the Wing-T.
It’s typically a run-heavy offense — almost exclusively, in fact — but the T-Birds do tend to throw the ball around a bit. Just not nearly as much as Anacortes, which employs a pass-heavy offense.
Perhaps Tumwater’s biggest advantages are its sheer number of players and historical success.
This is Tumwater’s 12th state championship appearance (6-5 title game record), and every jersey number from 10–100 on the roster has a name next to it — many of which play one position.
Anacortes has 47 players listed on its state roster, which means most players play offense and defense.
Win or lose, reaching a state title game has been what Anderson, Portz and the rest of the Seahawks coaching staff have worked towards for years.
It’s a culture-building achievement that the coaches have confidence will ripple through the program for years to come. They expect to, at the very least, be competing for Northwest Conference championships every year going forward, Portz said.
“I think we’re a team that’s going to be here long term,” he added. “We’re always going to be a team that people are worried about playing every year, and the years that we’re leaner in talent, I think our culture is going to keep us competitive no matter what.”
Larson said the underclassmen have bought into the system like he and his fellow seniors did four years ago. The elusive dream is now a reality, but the standard of excellence in future years has to be carried on by those filling the roles of the graduating seniors.
“Everybody’s pushing everybody, and I think that’s what makes a great program,” Larson said. “If we can do our best to pass that leadership on to them and have them pass that leadership on to the next, I think the program [will be] in good hands.”
How to watch: The No. 2-seeded Seahawks’ upcoming 2A state title bout with No. 1 Tumwater is at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 2, at Husky Stadium in Seattle. The game will be streamed live on the NFHS Network for those with a monthly subscription ($11.99). No free streams are available online.
