Sports correspondent

First-year Evergreen football head coach Shaun Tarantola hopes to bring a high level of understanding and similar success as to where he was before through simplifying the offense to a basic level of play on the gridiron.

The four-year Liberty High School offensive coordinator will put things in place offensively simply even though he had much success complicating things for defenses while at the Kingco school that finished 8-2 and was ranked top 10 in the final 3A state polls. Tarantola also offensively handled things against teams like two-time state champ Bellevue, who they gave the second best game of the season, 47-30. The only other close one for Bellevue was against Ferndale in the 3A title game last November.

"We are going to be running a "fly" offense, with balance running and throwing the ball, even though we will probably run more than we throw," said Tarantola.

For a first year team, a lot of times coaches need to go through a lot, of fundamentals more than anthing else but this team, seemingly, is past that stage with the last day of two-a-days Aug. 19.

"We have got the most we can out of two-a-days," said Tarantola, who also has taught at Evergreen the last two years as well as helping coach football at Liberty. "We have already got a base offense and base defense in place."

And that offtense looks like it will be easy to run for Tarantola's team, but not for the other team to stop.

"The 'fly' offense is complicated for defenses and pretty simple for us," he said, smiling. "Complexity in simplicity."

The Wolverines are looking to improve over last season and with a successful coaching staff from Liberty, including Tarantola bringing with him defensive coordinator Eddie Antuna and offensive coordinator Andy Arena, it looks like the 5-5 fourth place season can be improved upon.

"I would be disappointed if we weren't in the playoffs," said Tarantola.

The two-a-days ended after two grueling weeks and the players, speaking of the leaders in the game, have a pretty good feel for where things are headed this year as opposed to last. None are captains but players vote and Tarantola picked out these three for words to the press.

"We have a lot more intensity," said junior Tobias Togi, a fullback that will explode with power pushing opposing defenses backward with his 6-0, 225 frame.

"He's an outstanding leader," said Tarantola. "He's an inside linebacker, too, on defense and he is a core guy on this team, well respected."

Another player that likes his new coach is senior center , 6-0, 290, Mannix Tautolo.

"He's someone we can talk to when we need help," said Tautolo, another captain. "He helped me get my grades up, tutoring me, saying for his free time I could come into his class."

What really is a sign of Tarantola's success maybe more than anything else is the sheer number of players out for this fooftball season as opposed to last.

"We have 55 players out this year," said Marvin Taufi, a wide receiver. "We only had 25, maybe 30 players last season."

So that's a huge jump.

The players like Tarantola for coaching that has meaning and understanding, literally.

"He understands that as kids we are going to have good days and bad," said Togi, who has been all good in school himself, a 4.0 student.

"He practically encourages us all the time," said Taufi of Tarantola. "He's not just a coach, he's a good advisor."

And on the same thought there talking and listening was Togi, adding, "He's a good friend, mentor."

These guys are excited about the season. Tthere's a long ways to go, but they feel things are in place with Tarantola's leading, and Arenas and Antuna, and also other coaches Nate Green, David Green, Wayne Gasper and Dan Assink.

"We have good coaches," said Togi.

Tarantola is young, 27, and already now a main man on the gridiron for a high school team. He looks a little like that Tampa Bay NFL coach John Gruden, with his short, cut blonde hair and 5-5 size.

"This is my first year as head coach,. It is a perfect place for me. I've been teaching here at Evergreen for a couple years now," said Tarantola.

The practices have been regimented well just watching the players line up and go through drills in a recent two-a-day. That organizaton can be attributed to Tarantola, who learned a lot from his Liberty coach, Steve Vallach.

"He taught me a lot about the value of coaching," said Tarantola.

Tarantola's got things scheduled out from 3:00 to 5:40 with pretty much everything in 10-15 minute increments. The players were hopping from whistle blow to whistle blow, going from station to station from Tarantola's leading .

"We try to have a pace to practice," said Tarantola. "When coaches know what's going on players can sense it. They can go, there's this and this and then this. There are mental sessions and physical sessions and that way they can gauge themselves for what to do. A good pace where players know what they are doing helps practices run a lot smoother."

The team is hoping for a smooth transition to the new coaching and schemes of Tarantola. There are four returning starters on offense, including Togi, Tautolo, Taufi, and Senior Kelemete. On defense, five starters return including Mannix at defensive tackle, Tony Tupuo, Taufi, Togi, and free safety Johnny Jackson.

Speaking of players like Jackson, who will add to the mix of others aforementioned, Jackson is a sophomore, 6-0, 180 but "He is going to be phenomenal," in Tarantola's words. "He is an intense player, going to be a good one. He's a tackler."

The sophomore defensive end 6-3, 170 Vincent Cordova, who will also be wide receiver on offense, is ready for this level.

"He did well at state in the high jump and long jump. He is a guy who can definitely play football."

At quarterback, a couple guys will get time, 6-2, 175 Luther Leonard, a sophomore, as well as 6-0, 170 junior, Isaiah Green.

"We have two qb's," said Tarantola. "Leonard is a protypical quarterback, a good passer. He can get the ball deep downfield. And, Green is more with intangibles. He is experienced and calm under pressure, and is an outstanding athlete.He started at Chief Sealth last year and has transferred here. They are both too good not to play, in a perfect world each will play a half. Either would start for 90 percent of the teams in the state."

The furture looks bright for Evergreen if just a little bit of the coaching magic of Tarantola can get infused in these players and coaches' minds.

"We gave Bellevue its second best game of the season, after the Ferndale (championship 3A) one, we lost 47-30," said Tarantola. "We ran and threw for over 2000 yards last season when I was at Liberty. We only turned the ball over on offense six times all year. That is the standard that we are setting at Evergreen."